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Petraeus Expects Increase in Afghan Violence
VOA News February 9, 2011
The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan expects an increase in violence this year, saying NATO forces have taken control of areas “that matter to the Taliban.”
Karzai Calls for Release of Taliban Official From Guantánamo
The New York Times By Rod Nordland, Sharifullah Sahak 08/02/2011
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that he wanted to bring a Taliban official being held at the Guantánamo Bay prison back to Afghanistan to join in reconciliation talks.
Two NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed Wednesday in insurgents attack in Afghanistan's restive southern region, the military alliance said in a press release.
New military strategy looks beyond Afghan war
Reuters By David Alexander Tue Feb 8, 2011
WASHINGTON - The military on Tuesday issued its first new statement of strategy in seven years, moving beyond a focus on the war in Afghanistan to address the rise of China and other strategic challenges.
Afghan government accuses 16 security firms of violations
By Joshua Partlow Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, February 8, 2011
KABUL - An Afghan government probe of private security companies has accused 16 firms of violations that include employing too many guards, failing to pay taxes for up to two years, and keeping unregistered weapons and armored vehicles.
Up to 35,000 insurgents active in Afghanistan: official
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The strength of Taliban insurgents and other anti-government elements estimated to be between 25,000 to 35,000 in the militancy-hit Afghanistan, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said on Wednesday.
PRT a Crucial Need in Afghanistan: Abdullah
TOLOnews.com Tuesday, 08 February 2011
Abdullah, leader of the opposition party, Tuesday slammed President Karzai's comments about disbandment of Provincial Reconstruction Teams.
Congressman: Small withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in July
CNN By Charley Keyes, CNN Senior National Security Producer February 9, 2011
A senior Congressman just back from Afghanistan painted an upbeat picture of military operations there, but predicted only a small number of U.S. forces will be withdrawn this summer.
Afghan leader: NATO reconstruction bases must go
The Associated Press Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's president pushed his case for greater sovereignty Tuesday, saying he wants international bases that run reconstruction and development programs to shut down as Afghan forces start to take the lead in securing the country.
US Permanent Bases Vital to Afghanistan: Experts
Tolo news February 9, 2011
Establishment of the US permanent bases is crucial and vital for Afghanistan, some Afghan experts said on Wednesday.
Karzai set to name areas Kabul will take over from NATO control
The Globe and Mail SUSAN SACHS Tuesday, Feb. 08
KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai, showing more confidence than NATO, said that he will announce next month the first areas of the country that his government can run on its own.
Report: Two Afghan Children Killed Daily In 2010
February 9, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
A rights group says at least two children were killed every day in the Afghan conflict in 2010.
The Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM) said in a report released today that of the 2,421 civilians the group has registered as casualties in conflict-related incidents in 2010, about 739 were under the age of 18.
UN urges more action on child rights
KABUL, 9 February 2011 (IRIN) - All parties in Afghanistan should do more to protect children in armed conflict: Taliban insurgents must stop recruiting child soldiers or using them as suicide bombers, while the government must clamp down on the recruitment and/or sexual exploitation of boys by pro-government militias, the UN and human rights organizations say.
Afghan Army Recruits Face Tougher Screening
Wall Street Journal By MATTHEW ROSENBERG FEBRUARY 9, 2011
KABUL - Afghan and coalition forces are stepping up efforts to screen children, drug users and potential Taliban infiltrators from recruits for Afghanistan's fast-growing army and police forces, a senior coalition official said.
News Analysis: Stalemate over electing speaker to prolong Afghan parliamentary crisis
By Abdul Haleem, Zhang Jianhua
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The lawmakers' continued failure over the past two weeks to elect speaker Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of Afghan parliament, has reached to deadlock as none of the contesters has bagged majority votes to secure the slot.
Wikileaks: No 10 urged commander to play down Afghanistan failures
A senior adviser to Gordon Brown put pressure on the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan to play down the “bleak and deteriorating” situation to reduce criticism of his government, leaked documents disclose.
Telegraph.co.uk By Steven Swinford, and Christopher Hope 08 Feb 2011
Mr Brown, the prime minister at the time, visited the country and met Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US military commander, who described the growing threat posed by the insurgency and warned that the Afghan authorities faced a crisis of confidence.
Can the U.S. Make Amends After Blowing Up an Afghan Town?
TIME By Jason Motlagh and Muhib Habibi / Tarok Kolache Wednesday, Feb. 09, 2011
Haji Abdul Hamid pulled out a satellite photograph featuring a cluster of mud-brick compounds engulfed by thick pomegranate orchards. It was labeled "before." "These were my houses," says the 60-year-old Afghan farmer, outlining a row of buildings. From a bundle of papers he then produced a second image labeled "after" and nodded
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Petraeus Expects Increase in Afghan Violence
VOA News February 9, 2011
The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan expects an increase in violence this year, saying NATO forces have taken control of areas “that matter to the Taliban.”
In an interview Wednesday with NATO TV, General David Petraeus said the Taliban is “losing momentum” in some key places and will “have to fight back.”
He said although there has been considerable progress, the coalition effort will get “harder before it gets easier.”
Petraeus also said that at the end of the month he will recommend to NATO which provinces he believes can begin the process of transitioning to Afghan control.
NATO has set 2014 as the deadline for Afghan forces to take full responsibility for their country's security.
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Karzai Calls for Release of Taliban Official From Guantánamo
The New York Times By Rod Nordland, Sharifullah Sahak 08/02/2011
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that he wanted to bring a Taliban official being held at the Guantánamo Bay prison back to Afghanistan to join in reconciliation talks.
His remarks seconded a request by the government’s High Peace Council calling for the release of the Taliban figure, Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa, who has been held at the prison on the United States military base in Cuba since 2002. Mr. Khairkhwa, from Kandahar, reportedly had been the Taliban interior minister and also the governor of Herat province during the Taliban regime.
“If he wants to talk, we welcome him,” Mr. Karzai said in response to a question at a news conference. “We would talk to him, we would arrange his release.”
American officials declined to comment immediately. But they have expressed reluctance to release Taliban figures held at Guantánamo ever since one high-profile prisoner, Mullah Abdul Quyam Zakir, was turned over to the Afghans and later ended up back with the Taliban, where he rose to second in command. Mr. Karzai suggested that Afghan officials would be able to win Mr. Khairkhwa’s release.
Efforts to start reconciliation talks with the Taliban are a high priority of Mr. Karzai’s government, which last year formed the High Peace Council, whose 70 members include a dozen former Taliban officials. One of those, Mullah Arsala Rahmani, who now heads the council’s political prisoner committee, also called for Mr. Khairkhwa’s return to Kabul.
Mr. Rahmani said the initiative began when Mr. Khairkhwa’s American lawyer, Frank Goldsmith, wrote to Mr. Karzai recently saying that his client would be eager to join the peace process. His e-mail was passed along to the High Peace Council, which recommended asking for his release. As Mr. Rahmani envisions it, Mr. Khairkhwa would be sent to Kabul and given protection but kept there under house arrest.
“He is a very smart guy, a very good Muslim and a good person to help us in our aim, which is bringing peace and stability to our country,” Mr. Rahmani said.
The move is yet another possible point of contention between the Afghan president and American officials. Mr. Karzai also said Tuesday that he was seeking more information on the death of an Afghan Taliban detainee at Guantánamo, Awal Gul, 48, who American officials said died at the prison camp last week after exercising.
Mr. Gul’s body was returned to his hometown, Jalalabad, over the weekend, and a funeral service there on Monday drew several thousand mourners, many chanting anti-American slogans and vowing revenge for what they said was his murder. A statement was read at the funeral from a prominent local Taliban commander, Anwar al Haq Mujahid.
Mr. Karzai also repeated his call, first made during a security conference in Munich on Saturday, for the dissolution of Provincial Reconstruction Teams around the country. The teams, staffed by American and other NATO civilians, are in charge of disbursing large-scale aid and development projects in support of the war effort, with an overall budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars. They are a cornerstone of the NATO strategy in Afghanistan.
Afghan officials would prefer that such funds flow through their own government ministries, but American officials have resisted that because of concerns about widespread corruption and a lack of adequate staffing in the ministries to handle the funds responsibly.
“We seriously and insistently want them to be removed,” Mr. Karzai said of the reconstruction teams. “I hope the international community would deal with us from Afghanistan’s point of view, not from the point of view of their own national interest.”
There has been little concrete progress toward reconciliation since the High Peace Council was convened in September after months of political infighting over its composition.
The group met last month with Pakistani officials, calling on their country to hand over prominent Taliban political prisoners so they could engage in the peace process as well. The two countries agreed to set up a joint commission on the peace process, but Pakistani officials have made no commitments about releasing prisoners.
Among at least eight prominent Taliban members being held in Pakistan is Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was captured by Pakistani officials early last year, effectively ending what had been negotiations between Mr. Baradar and Mr. Karzai, according to diplomats and officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, the I.S.I., organized his arrest, reportedly carried out in cooperation with the C.I.A., because they were angry that he was negotiating with Afghan leaders without Pakistan’s approval.
Sharifullah Sahak contributed reporting from Kabul, and an Afghan employee of The New York Times from Jalalabad.
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Two NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed Wednesday in insurgents attack in Afghanistan's restive southern region, the military alliance said in a press release.
"Two International Security Assistance Force service members died following an insurgents attack in southern Afghanistan today," the press release said.
However, it did not reveal the nationalities of the victims, saying it is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.
Troops mainly from the U.S., Britain, Canada and Australia have been stationed in the southern region to fight Taliban militants.
Over 40 NATO soldiers, most of them Americans, have been killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year.
Presently more than 140,000 international forces have been stationed in Afghanistan.
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New military strategy looks beyond Afghan war
Reuters By David Alexander Tue Feb 8, 2011
WASHINGTON - The military on Tuesday issued its first new statement of strategy in seven years, moving beyond a focus on the war in Afghanistan to address the rise of China and other strategic challenges.
The 2011 national military strategy by the Joint Chiefs of Staff reaffirmed U.S. commitment to fighting violent extremism with allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan but said the military must broaden its horizons to address developing threats elsewhere.
"While we continue to refine how we counter violent extremism and deter aggression, this strategy also rightly emphasizes that our military power is most effective when employed in concert with other elements of power," Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in his "Chairman's Corner" blog.
The strategy is a broad statement on how the military intends to use its forces and prioritize aid and training to help achieve U.S. security goals.
Military officials say a "whole-of-nation" approach involving not only security forces but diplomacy and nongovernmental organizations will be necessary to address many future security challenges.
"This whole-of-nation approach to foreign policy, with civilian leadership appropriately at the helm, will be essential as we address the complex security challenges before us," Mullen said.
While the last national military strategy, produced in 2004, called for the military to protect the United States, prevent surprise attacks and prevail against adversaries, the current document goes beyond that.
In addition to countering violent extremism and deterring aggression, the 2011 strategy seeks to strengthen global security through regional and international partnerships and aims to reshape the military force to meet future challenges.
"We focus more toward the future and strengthening global and regional stability and shaping the future force," a senior military officer said on condition of anonymity.
The national military strategy addresses in broad general terms how the military forces will be used. By law it must be reviewed every two years, but it is not necessarily revised unless changes are needed.
The senior military officer said the security environment facing the United States had changed substantially in seven years since the 2004 strategy was issued.
The United States faces a broad range of challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, from the rise of India and China, to North Korea's nuclear program, the shifting global economic balance and a fierce competition for natural resources, he said.
The strategy calls for improving global security by forging deeper military-to-military relationships and cooperation with China and other Asia-Pacific countries.
The senior officer said the U.S. military had to "achieve our mission" in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also must look beyond those conflicts and "start recognizing that the strategic environment that's elsewhere needs to be dealt with."
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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Afghan government accuses 16 security firms of violations
By Joshua Partlow Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, February 8, 2011
KABUL - An Afghan government probe of private security companies has accused 16 firms of violations that include employing too many guards, failing to pay taxes for up to two years, and keeping unregistered weapons and armored vehicles.
The allegations, contained in a list being circulated in Kabul, represent the most detail to date about the government's case against several prominent U.S. and British security firms in Afghanistan. The government has moved away from threatening to disband these firms, which it considers "major" violators, and appears intent on imposing fines.
In addition, seven security firms with connections to high-ranking Afghan officials are expected to be ordered this week to disband, Afghan officials said.
The allegations detailed in the list, which was obtained by The Washington Post, are disputed by company representatives, who view the investigation as further evidence of President Hamid Karzai's push to eventually replace them with government guards.
Since August, Karzai has called for phasing out the thousands of private security guards working in Afghanistan, whom he describes as "thieves by day, terrorists by night." The firms say their departure could derail foreign-funded development projects as well as security provided for NATO convoys, embassies and military bases.
The investigation found, for example, that the British firm G4S - the parent company of ArmorGroup North America, which provides security for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul - employed 1,358 guards more than allowed, kept 27 illegal "bullet-proof" vehicles and used embassy vehicles for off-base, non-diplomatic purposes, according to a copy of the violation list. Other, slightly different lists of violations also have been circulating in Kabul.
Another company, Washington-based Blue Hackle, is alleged to have employed 1,257 guards more than permitted, kept 385 unregistered weapons and "would not reveal the location" of its armory, the document said. Blue Hackle guards Camp Eggers, a NATO military base in Kabul, and has contracts with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others.
Half of the companies on the list were accused of failure to pay taxes. Others were cited with failure to pay insurance to the families of slain guards. The list also accused one firm of killing an Afghan driver and burning his vehicle. It said another firm killed four people and wounded four, and did not report the casualties as it should have.
"We have heard literally almost every different type of allegation," said one security company official, who along with other sources spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize their business in Afghanistan. "If you do put the U.K. and U.S. governments' protective security providers on your [violators] lists, it's going to make it very difficult to operate here."
A spokesman for G4S, Patrick Toyne-Sewell, said that the company has not received any official notification from the Afghan government about the alleged violations and that "we do not comment on speculation."
The president of Blue Hackle North America, Tony Koren, said his company does not have an armory in Afghanistan and has registered all its weapons. Although the Afghan government once had established a 500-person cap for private security companies, Koren said, an exemption included those guards who worked on U.S. government contracts.
"The 500 cap, up until a couple of months ago, was just not an issue," Koren said. "Everybody knew the major companies exceeded that."
The Afghan government does not plan to order the 16 companies to disband in the near term but rather will levy fines based on the severity of the violations, said Syed Abdul Ghafar Sayidzada, the head of the Interior Ministry's anti-terrorism department.
"We're not going to disband them all because they're providing security for coalition bases, foreign organizations and foreign embassies," he said. "But they will be fined. Once the Afghan security forces improve their capacity and ability to provide security, they will be disbanded."
Sayidzada said seven other private security companies - including Watan Risk Management, run by two brothers who are distant cousins of Karzai, and NCL, associated with the son of Defense Minister Rahim Wardak - will receive disbandment orders in the "next couple of days" over connections to high-ranking Afghan officials.
The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Rajiv Shah, is in Kabul this week and is expected to raise the private-security issue with Karzai, Western officials said.
In a recent meeting with Karzai and U.S. Embassy officials, Afghan officials conceded that government guards were not yet ready to take over for private firms and said that they would present a report to Karzai by mid-May on the future of private security companies in Afghanistan, a NATO official said.
The companies, meanwhile, have been meeting with Afghan and U.S. officials regularly to determine how to continue working in the country.
"It's the crisis du jour," said Koren, the Blue Hackle president. "And we just have to live with it."
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Up to 35,000 insurgents active in Afghanistan: official
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The strength of Taliban insurgents and other anti-government elements estimated to be between 25,000 to 35,000 in the militancy-hit Afghanistan, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said on Wednesday.
"There is no accurate statistic on the number of insurgents in Afghanistan, but according to our assessments it could be been 25, 000 to 35,000 persons,"Azimi told a regular weekly press conference here. The number of militants frequently changes, he said.
He also said that Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are ready to take responsibilities of security from NATO and U.S. forces as per scheduled.
"Afghan National Army (ANA) is capable enough to start taking responsibilities from international forces, according to timetable, " he emphasized.
The process of taking security responsibility will start in coming months by ANSF from NATO-led troops and will be completed by the end of 2014, Azimi further said.
"A commission has been set up to assess which areas and provinces would be the first place for Afghan security forces to take the burden on their own," he said.
He also said the strength of ANA currently is over 152,000 personnel and the target is 172,600 by the end of this year.
More than 20,000 ANA soldiers and officers are currently under training in more than 17 training centers across the country, the spokesman further said.
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PRT a Crucial Need in Afghanistan: Abdullah
TOLOnews.com Tuesday, 08 February 2011
Abdullah, leader of the opposition party, Tuesday slammed President Karzai's comments about disbandment of Provincial Reconstruction Teams.
He called PRTs as a "serious need" in Afghan community.
Abdullah, Leader of the Change and Hope Party, warned that Afghan security forces wouldn't be able to ensure security by 2014 if the security situation continues to be the same.
President Karzai at a news conference on Tuesday once again highlighted the need for removal of provincial reconstruction teams that are functioning under Isaf in different provinces.
While hailing the teams for their service to the Afghan community in different parts, Abdullah said they are playing a key role in reconstruction and rehabilitation in the country.
"At a time when the government is unable to deliver basic services to people we should use this means to build fundamentals and to improve Afghanistan," Abdullah told TOLOnews.
Abdullah warned that following withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban would return back to Afghanistan.
"I'm sure that Afghanistan would not let wars happen again and we have become much more conscious compared to the past," Karzai said.
"Afghans have a characteristic that other people don't have and that is courage. We are brave and our forces could save their soil and homeland."
The comments came as President Obama said during his state of the union address in US congress that the US forces will begin to withdraw from Afghanistan by July this year.
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Congressman: Small withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in July
CNN By Charley Keyes, CNN Senior National Security Producer February 9, 2011
A senior Congressman just back from Afghanistan painted an upbeat picture of military operations there, but predicted only a small number of U.S. forces will be withdrawn this summer.
"I don't expect we're going to see a big withdrawal of troops at that time," said Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
"We asked the question several times, receiving no answer other than any withdrawal will be based on conditions on the ground."
During the trip, McKeon and two other Congressmen met with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. They also met with U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and various NATO and U.S. military officials.
McKeon did not specify whom they questioned about the troop withdrawals.
The Obama administration has said it will begin drawing down U.S. forces in Afghanistan in July, with the goal of all U.S. military personnel out in four years.
McKeon, a Republican from California, said the emphasis was on the 2014 full-withdrawal date.
"There was no indication of any set number, or type of troops, or MOS (Military Occupational Specialty), whatever, that would be pulled out in July. I think they are just waiting to see what happens in the spring offensive and they will make plans as we get closer to July," McKeon said.
McKeon, briefed reporters in Washington Tuesday afternoon, just hours after he arrived from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He said he was impressed that he and the two Congressmen he traveled with could walk down a central market street without body armor in the Marjah district of southern Afghanistan, which had been a hotbed of insurgent activity.
"Everywhere we went, things were really upbeat and I know I feel much better about the situation there," McKeon said
Rep. John Kline -- a Republican from Minnesota -- also said he was impressed by the progress he saw in Afghanistan.
"It was remarkable, as chairman McKeon said, that we were able to walk down the street in Marjah and visit with shopkeepers in a place where there was very heavy fighting only a year ago," Kline said.
Kline, who is chairman of the House Education Committee, cut the ribbon at the opening of a new school for 500 children.
"We spent two days in Afghanistan, travelling north and south, and we never wore body armor -- which it just to me absolutely amazing we could do that, walk around amongst the Afghans without body armor," Kline said.
Neither Congressman offered details on what security was provided for them in Marjah apart from the U.S. military accompanying them throughout.
A Congressional staff member on the trip told CNN that he was sure there had been an advance patrol and maintenance of an outer security bubble for the Marjah visit but the staffer said there was no sign of an overwhelming military force in or around the market and no evidence of combat vehicles or aircraft.
CNN was unable to get any further information from the military.
A U.S. military official said no special security arrangements were necessary for the market walk.
"Aside from a Marine foot-patrol, there was nothing that was done differently security-wise," said Lt. Alex Lim, a public affairs officer.
"There were no roof-top snipers, attack helicopters, or armored Humvees. The shops remained open and no roads were blocked off. We don't dictate its closure anyway. We had a routine Marine foot-patrol that escorted the guests through the market place just like they would on a normal day," Lim told CNN via e-mail.
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Afghan leader: NATO reconstruction bases must go
The Associated Press Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's president pushed his case for greater sovereignty Tuesday, saying he wants international bases that run reconstruction and development programs to shut down as Afghan forces start to take the lead in securing the country.
The announcement is the latest attempt by President Hamid Karzai to assert his power in the face of Western allies, following efforts to curtail the reach of private security companies and limit the visibility and intensity of U.S.-led military operations.
He has repeatedly criticized the so-called provincial reconstruction teams, or PRTs, for undermining the Afghan central government by offering alternative sources of funding and public works.
Karzai's comments appeared to set a timetable for their dissolution fairly soon.
The Afghan government has pledged to take over security gradually, on a province by province basis, starting this year with the goal of overseeing the entire country by 2014. Karzai plans to announce the first provinces that will shift to Afghan oversight next month.
He said Tuesday he wants the development bases to close as part of the transition in order to eliminate "parallel" government structures.
"The Afghans want to have a government of their own. The Afghans don't want a government from abroad," Karzai told reporters in Kabul. "The transition means giving the whole thing to Afghan ownership and leadership. Naturally then the PRTs will have no place."
Afghanistan's international allies have said they will continue development programs well past the security transitions. It was not clear if the country's 27 provincial reconstruction teams were included in this plan.
The PRTs are joint military-civilian organizations that are designed to help Kabul provide services, such as digging wells and fixing roads, outside of the capital where the central government's reach is limited. PRTs rely on foreign assistance because funds often don't trickle down from the national government.
Closing the bases could make it more difficult for aid donors to bypass the central government's top-heavy bureaucracy in Kabul, where deep-seated corruption remains a significant problem despite Karzai's repeated pledges to tackle the graft.
A NATO spokeswoman in Afghanistan declined to address the issue of the provincial reconstruction teams, saying it is too early to discuss specifics of how the handover to Afghan control will happen. Maj. Sunset Belinsky described the transition as "a conditions-based process."
An official at the coalition's headquarters in Brussels was more forthcoming.
"We support President Karzai's aim that more international funding be channeled through the Afghan government as agreed at the Kabul conference last July," said the NATO official, who could not be named under standing rules. "As transition to Afghan lead gets under way, NATO will also start to evolve the PRTs to a more traditional development support role."
Violence, meanwhile, remains a challenge.
Hours after Karzai spoke, a bomb authorities said was attached to a parked traffic police car exploded mid-afternoon in a busy downtown intersection in the capital, causing only light injuries.
Two other explosions struck the city of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, killing a civilian and wounding six police officers, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said. A bomb in the eastern province of Nangarhar wounded two civilians.
Elsewhere, NATO said international and Afghan forces detained two suspected Taliban leaders in southern Kandahar province, as a pair of homemade bombs killed a coalition service member and injured two civilians.
The multinational force said one of the Taliban leaders arrested in the raid in Kandahar's Panjwai district coordinated attacks on Afghan and coalition forces in the nearby Zhari district. The other is believed to have served as a district Taliban chief for the past three months, NATO said.
NATO separately said two of its service members were killed when homemade bombs exploded in the country's south. It didn't say where exactly the separate blasts occurred. The service members' nationalities were not released.
Eight service members with the international coalition have been killed so far this month, and 39 since the start of the year.
Last year was the deadliest of the nearly decade-long war for international troops, with more than 700 killed, compared to just more than 500 in 2009, which was previously the worst year of the war.
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US Permanent Bases Vital to Afghanistan: Experts
Tolo news February 9, 2011
Establishment of the US permanent bases is crucial and vital for Afghanistan, some Afghan experts said on Wednesday.
Experts argued that Afghan government should approve the United States' suggestion to build permanent bases in the country, because of preservation of national interests.
If the government fails to accept Washington's suggestion, neighbouring countries in particular Pakistan and Iran would apply more pressure on Afghanistan in order to attain their political and military goals, experts warned.
Following his recent visit to Germany, President Hamid Karzai said at a press conference that the US is willing to establish permanent military bases in Afghanistan.
During the conference the President said a decision would be made after consultation with Afghan officials and National Security Council based on national interests.
"Establishment of US bases is vital to Afghanistan, because the country is politically and economically vulnerable," Assadullah Walwaleji, a military expert, told TOLO news.
"Presence of permanent bases of US in Afghanistan would be unbearable to regional countries in particular Iran and even Russia," said Sediqullah Sahel, an Afghan military expert.
Experts believe that Afghanistan would plunge into another civil war if international forces leave before Afghan security forces stand on their own feet.
"We are afraid of the time when international forces abandon Afghanistan and Afghan forces are still not prepared enough to provide security. Obviously, in such a situation civil war will begin again," Atiqullah Amarkhil, an Afghan military expert, told TOLO news.
Officials in the ministry of defence showed signs of cooperation after the suggestion for permanent bases are approved by the government leadership.
"The Afghan Ministry of Defence is prepared to provide help for their establishment after the suggestion is accepted," said Defence Ministry Spokesman Gen. Zaher Azimi.
The initiative about US permanent bases in Afghanistan was firstly presented by a US Republican senator, but at first the idea was rejected by officials in Kabul and acting US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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Karzai set to name areas Kabul will take over from NATO control
The Globe and Mail SUSAN SACHS Tuesday, Feb. 08
KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai, showing more confidence than NATO, said that he will announce next month the first areas of the country that his government can run on its own.
Afghans will “take ownership” of their own security and services in specific cities, districts and provinces, marking the start of a gradual handover from foreign forces that can be completed by the end of 2014, he said.
NATO officials were less categorical, saying they appreciated Mr. Karzai’s eagerness to use the occasion of the Afghan New Year, which begins on March 21, to proclaim the start of the transition.
But NATO commanders will still determine how quickly it will unfold based on assessments of the readiness of Afghan troops and ability of Afghan officials to govern in each area.
“It’s premature to say anything about when the physical transition will take place, but it will be in the first half of 2011,” Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, speaking from the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
The different messages reflect the constant tension between Mr. Karzai’s need to show he is in control and the NATO-led coalition’s doubts about his government’s capacity to manage either security or public services.
More than 150,000 foreign troops are deployed in Afghanistan to tamp down anti-government insurgents and NATO countries, led by the United States, subsidize the country’s operating budget and pay the salaries of its security forces.
But the situation clearly chafes at Mr. Karzai and regularly leads to flare-ups between him and his international patrons.
He repeated his criticism of the foreign-run provincial reconstruction teams that spend the bulk of the billions of dollars in aid that is funnelled to the provinces.
Most of the PRTs, as they are called, operate on military bases and answer to the commanders of different foreign forces. Most NATO countries refuse to channel their aid money through the Afghan government.
Mr. Karzai called the PRTs “parallel structures that undermine our capacities” and said they must be closed down so that the Afghans see their government as the provider of projects and services.
“We are grateful,” he said. “But I want them to start packing up.”
Until last month, Canada ran the provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar province, a hotbed of the insurgency. It is now under American control, reflecting the influx of U.S. troops into the province and the scheduled pullout of Canadian forces this summer.
Afghan soldiers and police have already taken lead responsibility in some districts and cities in the north of the country, although few areas of Afghanistan are immune to attacks on government officials by Taliban insurgents and other anti-government groups.
The French government has indicated that one of the central Afghanistan districts where its troops have been operation will be a candidate for handover to Afghan security forces by the summer.
Kabul has also been mentioned as one of provinces that could be declared ready for transition this year, although it remains a target for insurgents.
A bomb exploded Tuesday under a police van in a crowded market area of the capital , damaging shops and cars but causing no casualties. In a separate incident two weeks ago, a suicide bomber attacked a supermarket in a well-to-do area of the capital, killing and wounding at least 23 people. Two separate insurgent groups, the Taliban and Hezb-e Islami, claimed responsibility.
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Report: Two Afghan Children Killed Daily In 2010
February 9, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
A rights group says at least two children were killed every day in the Afghan conflict in 2010.
The Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM) said in a report released today that of the 2,421 civilians the group has registered as casualties in conflict-related incidents in 2010, about 739 were under the age of 18.
The ARM is an independent group that has been conducting annual reports on civilian casualties since 2008.
It said nearly two thirds of the children were killed in Taliban attacks, most of them roadside bombs.
U.S. and NATO forces were held responsible for 17 percent of the deaths, while pro-government forces caused 4 percent of the fatalities.
Around 15 percent of the deaths could not clearly be attributed to either warring side.
compiled from agency reports
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UN urges more action on child rights
KABUL, 9 February 2011 (IRIN) - All parties in Afghanistan should do more to protect children in armed conflict: Taliban insurgents must stop recruiting child soldiers or using them as suicide bombers, while the government must clamp down on the recruitment and/or sexual exploitation of boys by pro-government militias, the UN and human rights organizations say.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, special representative of the UN Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, and the Afghan foreign minister, Zalmay Rassoul, signed an agreement on 30 January outlawing the recruitment of children in the Afghan armed forces.
“We are not signing an agreement and going away,” said Coomaraswamy, adding that a taskforce comprised of UN agencies, government bodies and NGOs would monitor compliance with the agreement and set out recommendations to the UN Secretary-General.
The UN says the Afghan National Police (ANP) and several armed opposition groups (AOGs), including the Taliban, are using underage boys as foot soldiers. It has urged a government-appointed High Peace Council to include child rights issues in its peace-talks agenda with the Taliban, Coomaraswamy said.
“We recognize that [the Taliban] say in Rule 10 of their own code [of conduct] that children who have no `facial hair’ must not be recruited, but we would prefer it to be under 18s,” she said. No Taliban spokesperson was available to comment on the issue.
Pro-government militias
Afghan human rights organizations have voiced concern about the abuse of children by newly- formed local pro-government militias being hired by US/NATO for counterterrorism and counterinsurgency purposes.
Gen David Petraeus, the commander of all foreign forces in Afghanistan, has defended his policy of militia recruitment as the “mobilization of villages and valleys to defend themselves”.
“We had discussions with Gen Petraues on this issue and he [said that they] are setting in place certain kinds of vetting procedures which will require cross-checking from different actors [and] we hope these processes will work… but we have to keep monitoring the situation,” said Coomaraswamy.
She said under US law the recruitment and use of children for military objectives was illegal.
The sexual exploitation of boys by armed men, known locally as `bacha bazi’, is a grave concern of human rights groups.
The UN says the Afghan government is committed to stopping `bacha bazi’ in the armed forces. “Beyond the military forces all we can do is to push the government to prosecute the perpetrators, but as you know there are problems with the judiciary and the justice system,” said Coomaraswamy.
Scores of children killed every year
Afghan children have died in large numbers in the armed conflict over the past few years. In 2009, of the 2,412 civilian deaths over 340 were children, according to the UN and other human rights organizations.
In the first six months of 2010, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 176 children were killed (74 of these in suicide bombings or by improvised explosive devices) and 389 injured. UNAMA has also documented four cases of the extrajudicial killing of children by AOG’s on suspicion they were spying for the government.
Coomaraswamy said there was a widespread consensus in Afghanistan regarding the protection of children in war. “There is a need to galvanize the consensus.”
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Afghan Army Recruits Face Tougher Screening
Wall Street Journal By MATTHEW ROSENBERG FEBRUARY 9, 2011
KABUL - Afghan and coalition forces are stepping up efforts to screen children, drug users and potential Taliban infiltrators from recruits for Afghanistan's fast-growing army and police forces, a senior coalition official said.
The measures put in place over the past 15 months range from more intensive biometric tracking of recruits, such as collecting fingerprints and iris scans, to having trusted village elders and mullahs write letters on behalf of prospective soldiers or policemen, said Jack D. Kem, a civilian who serves as a deputy commander at the coalition training mission.
Taliban infiltrators are an especially difficult challenge. There have been a string of high-profile attacks on coalition forces by Afghan soldiers or police over the past two years.
When it comes to weeding out potential infiltrators, "no system is going to be complete, so I think we ought to acknowledge that up front," Mr. Kem said. But "we can put all kinds of steps in place."
Improving the quality of Afghan forces is crucial to U.S. and allied plans for bringing their troops home while leaving a viable Afghan government in place. The Afghan army and police are to begin taking over responsibility for some parts of Afghanistan this year, laying the groundwork for them to take complete charge in 2014.
Yet problems with the Afghan forces have fueled growing disenchantment with the war in the U.S. and Europe, raising concerns among those who support the effort—and the generals who command it—that President Barack Obama could face renewed pressure from domestic political supporters and foreign allies for an early withdrawal.
U.S. commanders are keen to counter the mounting criticism, although they, too, acknowledge Afghan forces, especially the police, have discipline problems, sometimes use underage recruits and have only limited abilities to operate without close coalition supervision. Among the police, drug use remains a major issue, too.
Some of those issues are being worked out by a surge in recruiting, in particular among police, Mr. Kem said. The police training facilities are currently at 97% of capacity, and that means "we can be more selective about who we let in," Mr. Kem said.
Every recruit is now being drug tested and undergoing more thorough medical examinations to ensure their conditioning is up to par and that they have the physical characteristics of 18-year-old, not a 15- or 16-year-old, he said.
Keeping teenagers and sometimes children out of the forces has been an especially difficult challenge in Afghanistan. Few people have birth certificates and literacy rates are so low—the national average is under 30%—that some potential recruits sometimes can't count as high as 18, thus making it impossible for them to know their precise age.
Write to Matthew Rosenberg at matthew.rosenberg@wsj.com
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News Analysis: Stalemate over electing speaker to prolong Afghan parliamentary crisis
By Abdul Haleem, Zhang Jianhua
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The lawmakers' continued failure over the past two weeks to elect speaker Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of Afghan parliament, has reached to deadlock as none of the contesters has bagged majority votes to secure the slot.
The third round of voting to elect house speaker was held Tuesday but ended in fiasco as none of the leading candidates was able to secure 50 percent+1 votes of the 249-seat Lower House.
In Tuesday's voting two candidates namely Amanullah Paiman and Abdul Qayum Sajadi secured 69 votes and 87 votes respectively in the 249-seat House, forcing the lawmakers to vote for a forth time on Saturday to elect house speaker, interim speaker of the house Mohammad Sarwar Usmani announced after wrapping up the noisy session.
Among the votes counted in Tuesday voting there were 40 white votes and 39 invalids that had erupted controversy. Some MPs had proposed that the white votes should be divided between the two candidates and anyone garner more deserve to become speakers; while other MPs disputed, saying white votes means that vote owners favor none.
President Hamid Karzai inaugurated the Lower House on Jan. 26 more than four months after holding parliamentary elections.
Afghanistan's second parliamentary election in the post-Taliban nation was held on Sept. 18 and the result was announced on Nov. 24, 2010.
In the first round of the race, held on Jan. 29, Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayaf, a former anti-Soviet Union and anti-Taliban resistance leader and his rival Mohammad Yunus Qanooni -- an ex- friend to Sayaf and former house speaker had secured 119 and 116 votes respectively.
To overcome the standstill, faced the Lower House at the moment, would take more times, observers believe.
"Overcoming the deadlock requires modifying the constitution and modifying constitution needs proposal of one third of house and backing by two third of lawmakers," an analyst and parliamentarian Mohammad Farhad Azimi told a television panel discussion.
He also asserted that besides the failed candidates would attempt to sabotage the next election process for, adding "both the government and opposition have their own role in electing the house speaker."
Another problem that the Wolesi Jirga or Lower House is facing is the setting up of a special court, constituted by President Karzai to investigate fraud allegations leveled against some now- seated parliamentarians.
Although, the parliamentarians have challenged the legality of the special court, the legally controversial body has already implicated three sitting legislators for alleged involvement in fraud and vote rigging; while MPs enjoy immunity. It is unclear what impact the special court's ruling would have on the sitting legislators.
Another political observer Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai said in the television panel discussion that "Involvement of certain circles in government has caused the current crisis in parliament."
With this perspective and controversies, electing speaker of Lower House would take more days if not weeks.
Afghan parliament is made up of two chambers -- Wolesi Jirga or Lower House and Mushrano Jirga or Upper House or Senate.
Mushrano Jirga or Senate is a 102-member house. One third or 34 members of the chamber are appointed by the President according to Afghan constitution. However, the house has already elected its chairman, deputy chairman, secretary and deputy secretary; while President Karzai has yet to appoint selected senators.
Wolesi Jirga has to pass bills, approve national budget, give vote of confidence to ministers, head of independent government bodies and legalize the presence of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan as proposed by some circles.
Still seven ministries out of all the 25 ministries are run by acting ministers and the Finance Ministry is expected to soon present the annual budget for Afghanistan's 1390 fiscal year begins from March 21, 2011.
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Wikileaks: No 10 urged commander to play down Afghanistan failures
A senior adviser to Gordon Brown put pressure on the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan to play down the “bleak and deteriorating” situation to reduce criticism of his government, leaked documents disclose.
Telegraph.co.uk By Steven Swinford, and Christopher Hope 08 Feb 2011
Mr Brown, the prime minister at the time, visited the country and met Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US military commander, who described the growing threat posed by the insurgency and warned that the Afghan authorities faced a crisis of confidence.
A cable states that a security adviser to Mr Brown told Gen McChrystal — with Mr Brown present — that his “bleak assessment” could result in negative press coverage.
Gen McChrystal, who was later forced to resign, refused to back down. The cable, passed to The Daily Telegraph by the WikiLeaks website, states: “COMISAF [Gen McChrystal] replied that while he was sensitive to that impression, he would maintain his intellectual honesty – and that what might be perceived by some as a bleak assessment, might be considered by others to be 'realistic’.”
At the time, Mr Brown was under scrutiny over equipment shortages and the number of British soldiers being killed. He was being urged by Army chiefs to “get more boots on the ground”.
The cable states: “COMISAF stressed that while the situation in Afghanistan was “serious and deteriorating”, the mission could still be accomplished with proper resources and a focus on ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces] expansion and partnering.
“Threats to security emanated from a resilient and growing insurgency, a crisis in confidence toward the government and its abilities and overall questions about Nato commitments.
“COMISAF said that without additional resources, current efforts would be “fixed” – but with more resources, enough terrain could be controlled to deny the Taleban strategic traction.” The meeting was held at Camp Leatherneck in Helmand in August 2009.
Mr Brown said that the British public needed to see more evidence of progress. “He repeated that the UK domestic audience needed to be able to judge successes 'month-to-month, not year-to-year’.”
Just over a month later Mr Brown attended a similar meeting in London with David Miliband, then foreign secretary, Gen McChrystal and Adml Mullen, US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Simon McDonald, then head of foreign and defence policy, asked the Americans to show “sympathy for the pressure” that Mr Brown was under. Mr Brown “repeatedly and forcefully” underscored the need for Afghan forces to play a much greater role. According to the cable, Mr Brown said his challenge was “persuading the British people that there was a way forward and not a stalemate”.
It continues: “Given the lack of trained Afghan security forces and the casualties that UK forces are suffering, it is difficult to make that case presently. He repeated that there is a need for a much larger number of Afghan forces and they must become much more effective.”
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Can the U.S. Make Amends After Blowing Up an Afghan Town?
TIME By Jason Motlagh and Muhib Habibi / Tarok Kolache Wednesday, Feb. 09, 2011
Haji Abdul Hamid pulled out a satellite photograph featuring a cluster of mud-brick compounds engulfed by thick pomegranate orchards. It was labeled "before." "These were my houses," says the 60-year-old Afghan farmer, outlining a row of buildings. From a bundle of papers he then produced a second image labeled "after" and nodded in the direction of an American soldier standing nearby. "They changed it to that," he added, stabbing at the after image with his finger. There was nothing left.
It's been several months since the height of a major U.S. military push to evict the Taliban from the Arghandab valley, a bomb-ridden stronghold in southern Afghanistan. The militants have mostly fled, but a recent blog posting of before-and-after images of Tarok Kolache cast in jarring relief the wholesale destruction that took place there in early October, when it was hit by 49,200 pounds of American bombs. While no civilians appear to have been killed in the village and in two neighboring hamlets that were similarly leveled by air strikes (the residents had been told to leave beforehand), their fate raises fundamental questions about the American strategy and its aftermath: Does the end justify the heavy-handed means? And, is the U.S. military equipped to follow through with reconstruction of such pummeled communities in the long term, or predestined to fall short, leaving more anger and insecurity in its wake? (See pictures of Afghanistan by photographer Mauricio Lima.)
In more than a dozen interviews with displaced residents by a TIME reporter on the scene, locals expressed relief at the absence of the Taliban and the resulting decline in violence. With some exceptions, there was a general if fragile willingness to cooperate with U.S. forces. But it was shaded with doubt over whether the U.S. will make good on big promises to rebuild their village and restore lost livelihoods. Everyone said they had expected damage to their homes, belongings and fruit orchards. However, the total destruction they encountered on returning was a shock.
Fazal Mohammad, 45, spent weeks moving with his family of six between friends' homes, living on handouts and at times spending the night in animal stables. He went back to find his home turned inside out: strips of carpet hanging in the trees, his child's cradle smashed to pieces. Squatting amid the ruins, he rubbed his fingers in dirt specked with grains of wheat. "There were two tons of wheat in our store, food for a whole year. But in short time the Americans have mixed it with the earth," he says, his eyes wet with tears. Another returnee, Dad Gul, 62, risked harm from an unexploded improvised explosive device (IED) to salvage a single undamaged possession from the rubble of his former home: an iron pressure cooker. (See pictures of President Obama in Afghanistan.)
U.S. military commanders are apologetic yet maintain they had no choice. For months they say they tried to clear the homemade bombs made by Taliban in the area, but to no avail. Taliban militants had turned several villages into de facto bombmaking factories. IEDs littered landscape, and the dense, ambush-friendly vegetation made them more difficult to spot. During the campaign seven U.S. soldiers died and 83 were wounded, most by roadside bombs. To continue moving on foot, officers concluded, was to risk a slow bleed, much as Russian forces had experienced years ago. And because many of the 40-odd buildings were rigged with booby traps, there was no way to ensure that residents warned to leave could return safely once they were cleared. Blowing up Tarok Kolache was the only way to make the place safe again.
Work is now under way to put Tarok Kolache back together, under the supervision of village elders who have set the priorities. A couple hundred local men have been raised to rebuild the mosque and clean area canals and culverts to better irrigate their lands. Wells will be dug out, roads are being improved and there are plans to plant thousands of new fruit trees. With money to be made, "there are lots of people who really want to cooperate with the Americans," says Abdul Qayum, 55, who is taking part in the U.S.-sponsored cash-for-work program. He is paid about $8 a day. (Multimedia: Apocalypse Afghanistan.)
Still, these amount to piecemeal initiatives that employ just a fraction of able-bodied men, whose real expertise is farming. And many residents complain that American officers are offering them far less than what they deserve for their property. (Over $190,000 in compensation has been paid out so far, according to the U.S. military, with more coming in agreed upon monthly installments.) Hamid, the farmer with the satellite photos, was not alone in saying that he's yet to receive a dollar and is convinced that, based on the tough nature of negotiations, Americans will ultimately give less than 50% of what they promised. "It won't bring trust," he says.
That's to say nothing of future livelihoods. Apart from destroyed homes, area residents are almost entirely farmers whose crops — pomegranates, grapes, mulberries and peaches — were in some cases wiped out. This means they will have no steady source of income for at least five years — the time it takes for freshly planted trees to bear fruit. By then, the current battalion will be long gone; and multiple American units will have come and gone. There's the added possibility that troop levels in the area could be vastly reduced as the 2014 deadline for security transition approaches. Continuity problems, in turn, might undermine security, which is still tenuous. (Comment on this story.)
The killing of Dad Karim, a prominent village malik shot dead by a militant gunman in Kandahar city late last month, suggests the Taliban is down but not out in a region they've always held. Karim had worked with the Americans, and some saw his death as a sign the insurgents remain a "ghost power," able to threaten them from the shadows. Over time, some worry the militants will try to regroup and potential discontent over a lackluster reconstruction effort could work to its advantage. The worst of the violence in the Arghandab may be over, but the fight for hearts and minds is still under way.
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