 |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serving you since 1998 | ||||||||||||
|
|
Taliban Website Hacked As Afghan Cyberwar Heats Up
April 27, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Unidentified hackers have broken into the main website of the Afghan Taliban, replacing the usual militant claims of victories with images of executions carried out by the militants and messages condemning violence in English, Arabic, and Pashto.
Pakistan, Afghanistan, U.S. consider safe passage for Taliban peace talks
By Mahawish Rezvi | Reuters
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States said they would explore ways to arrange safe passage for Afghan Taliban militants who wish to engage in peace talks, officials from the three countries said on Friday.
Pakistan-Afghan-U.S. to work for Taliban names removal from UN list
ISLAMABAD, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States Friday agreed to form a group at the United Nations to coordinate activities in New York and to work for the removal of Taliban leaders names from the UN black list.
Taliban closes dozens of Afghan schools
By Kevin Sieff, April 26 The Washington Post
KABUL — The Taliban has shuttered or partially shuttered about 50 schools in southeastern Afghanistan this week, a bold display of the insurgency’s power in a part of the country now at the center of the U.S. war effort.
Taliban attack kills NATO soldier in Afghanistan
KABUL, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Taliban attack claimed the life of a soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the southern region of Afghanistan on Friday, bringing the number of fatalities to four over the past two days, said a statement released by the military alliance here.
Congressman calls Afghan president ‘corrupt prima donna’
CNN (blog) By CNN's Gregory Wallace April 26th, 2012
A U.S. congressman barred from visiting Afghanistan over the weekend minced no words when characterizing the incident.
ASF plans sporting & cultural event inside Afghanistan
press release April 27, 2012, 9:00 a.m. EDT
ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 27, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Afghan Sports Federation (ASF) held its first official Board of Directors meeting for 2012 on January 30th with all the Directors present.
Afghan amputee dreams of Paralympics success
By Mohammed Jamjoom and Mitra Mobasherat, CNN April 27, 2012
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Inside a sparkling new pool house off a dusty, bustling street in Afghanistan's capital, sits a young man with a dream.
Herat Mayor Dismisses Land Grab Accusations
TOLOnews.com Thursday, 26 April 2012
Herat mayor Mohammad Salim Taraki rejected yesterday's corruption accusation of Afghanistan's anti-corruption chief against himself and the Afghan Minister of Energy and Water, calling his comments "nonsense".
US envoy in Pakistan to discuss supply routes
Associated Press April 26, 2012
ISLAMABAD - A top U.S. envoy met Pakistani government and army officers Thursday in Islamabad in an effort to get the country to reopen American and NATO supply routes to Afghanistan.
Afghan Youth Group Targets Former Warlords Ahead Of Contentious Holiday
By Frud Bezhan April 27, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
A new Afghan youth group is making waves in Kabul with an unprecedented campaign against the country's former warlords.
Members of the Afghan Freedom-Loving Youth Group swept through the streets of Kabul this week, putting up hundreds of posters and spraying graffiti messages critical of the strongmen, many of whom still wield significant influence on the country's political affairs.
Taliban flex muscles over motorbikes ban
Kevin Sieff, Kabul April 28, 2012 The Sydney Morning Herald
THE Taliban have shut down or partially shut about 50 schools in south-eastern Afghanistan, a bold display of their power in a part of the country at the centre of the American war effort.
In Afghanistan, chillin’ and interpretin’
The Washington Post By Al Kamen Friday, April 27, 2012
After a decade of war, Afghan interpreters working with the U.S. Army speak a version of English gleaned from years spent with young American soldiers, reports our colleague Greg Jaffe , who recently returned from his sixth reporting trip there.
Afghans defy ban as poppy season opens
26/04/2012 AFP
Kandahar - It is the start of Afghanistan's poppy season and at Kandahar bus station thousands of men and boys, some as young as 10-years-old, are gathered to seek work harvesting the opium crop.
Back to Top
Taliban Website Hacked As Afghan Cyberwar Heats Up
April 27, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Unidentified hackers have broken into the main website of the Afghan Taliban, replacing the usual militant claims of victories with images of executions carried out by the militants and messages condemning violence in English, Arabic, and Pashto.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the Reuters news agency that the Al-Amara website was broken into twice on April 26 and blamed Western intelligence agencies.
A NATO spokesman declined to comment on the claim.
Some of the images posted by the unidentified hackers on the Taliban website showed women being beaten or killed by militants, while one message in English condemned the killing of innocent people.
The Taliban has in recent months waged an intensifying information war with NATO forces in Afghanistan, including by distributing antigovernment messages on mobile-phone networks and Twitter.
Based on reporting by Reuters and INP
Back to Top
Back to Top
Pakistan, Afghanistan, U.S. consider safe passage for Taliban peace talks
By Mahawish Rezvi | Reuters
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States said they would explore ways to arrange safe passage for Afghan Taliban militants who wish to engage in peace talks, officials from the three countries said on Friday.
While not yet making an iron-clad guarantee, officials told a news conference in Islamabad they would form a group of experts to consider the proposal.
"We need to be able to find them, those who are willing to talk wherever they are," Afghan deputy foreign minister Jawed Luddin said. "We need to provide ... a safe passage and an environment where they feel safe and confident that they can engage in peace talks without any consequence."
Representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States were meeting in Islamabad for two days as part of an initiative to revive stalled peace talks with the Afghan Taliban and to smooth relations between Washington and Islamabad.
Washington's Special Representative Marc Grossman led the U.S. delegation. He was the highest-level American official to visit Pakistan since a Nov 26 cross-border attack by NATO forces left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead and the U.S.-Pakistan relationship in tatters.
The United States has been working for more than a year to revive stalled peace talks with the Afghan Taliban as it prepares for the withdrawal of most foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.
That campaign has become central to U.S. strategy as officials conclude the Afghan war will not end on the battlefield alone.
"We really welcome this ... initiative of the safe passage, which will mean our experts can meet and take this process further," Luddin said.
Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Jalil Jilani said the formation of the group exploring safe passage was a tangible accomplishment.
An "important aspect of this group will be an establishment of the subgroup on the safe passage," Jilani said.
Efforts to salvage the peace process follow a series of U.S. setbacks in Afghanistan: bloody riots caused by soldiers' burning of the Koran; a staff sergeant's alleged massacre of 17 villagers; and an 18-hour militant assault of Kabul last week.
Still, officials point to statistics charting a drop in 'enemy-initiated attacks' this spring. They were encouraged by recent steps to finalize a deal outlining the U.S.-Afghan relationship, along with statements of support for the peace process by Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.
U.S. officials hope to use all these developments to coax the Taliban's leadership, under pressure from less senior fighters who oppose negotiations, to formally resume talks.
(Writing by Chris Allbritton; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Back to Top
Back to Top
Pakistan-Afghan-U.S. to work for Taliban names removal from UN list
ISLAMABAD, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States Friday agreed to form a group at the United Nations to coordinate activities in New York and to work for the removal of Taliban leaders names from the UN black list.
The UN Security Council still has nearly 140 names of top Taliban leaders on its sanctions list and the Taliban negotiators in Qatar are demanding removal of their leaders names for success of peace talks.
Top Pakistani, Afghan and American diplomats told a joint news conference in Islamabad after their talks that the group will comprise permanent representatives of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States at the UN.
Special U.S. Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman and Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Luddin led their delegations in the talks while Pakistani side was headed by the Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani.
They said that the three countries agreed that the group will to accelerate the process of Afghan reconciliation.
The 6th meeting of the trilateral core group also agreed to establish a sub group on safe passage for those Taliban and other Afghan groups renouncing violence.
Recognizing that Afghanistan and the region is passing through a defining moment, the core group meeting held threadbare discussion on the Afghanistan reconciliation process and extended full support to it. The three countries also expressed support for other regional and international processes for peace in Afghanistan.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbass Jilani told the news conference that Pakistan has reiterated support to Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
He said Pakistan will facilitate any process that could bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.
U.S. Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Marc Grossman said his country will only open the doors of dialogue for those Taliban with whom the Afghan government gives permission to.
He reaffirmed support for Afghan peace process and said his country is looking for better outcome of this process.
Recognizing Pakistan's role in peace and stability of Afghanistan, Marc Grossman said the immediate neigbours of Kabul need to play an extremely important role for peace and prosperity of Afghanistan.
Responding to a question, the U.S. envoy rejected the notion that the three countries share distrust on the reconciliation process.
Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Luddin said there is a dire need to make the political process successful so that those renouncing violence could be brought into the mainstream.
The Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister said, "we need to provide a safe passage to those shunning violence and in this context a sub group is being established to facilitate their return to normal life."
He said Afghanistan desires to engage in direct talks with the Taliban and other groups to achieve the objectives of reconciliation. He appreciated the support of Pakistan for an intra Afghan peace process.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Taliban closes dozens of Afghan schools
By Kevin Sieff, April 26 The Washington Post
KABUL — The Taliban has shuttered or partially shuttered about 50 schools in southeastern Afghanistan this week, a bold display of the insurgency’s power in a part of the country now at the center of the U.S. war effort.
The closings apparently were in response to an Afghan government decision to ban motorcycles in the southern districts of Ghazni province. In the fall, officials in Ghazni outlawed the use of the vehicles after insurgents used unmarked bikes to carry out attacks on civilians and local authorities.
The ban, which is supported by the United States and its allies, has drastically restricted insurgents’ movements, according to Afghan security officials, and increased friction between the Taliban and the government.
Militants responded this week by warning educators and families to keep children at home, Afghan officials said. The message spread quickly through traditional social networks. Of the 36,000 students who usually attend schools in southern Ghazni, about half have yielded to the Taliban threat, officials said.
“In response to the motorcycle ban, they spread the message through elders and mosques saying children should not go to school,” said an official at the Afghan Education Ministry.
By Thursday, dozens of schools across southern Ghazni — for girls as well as boys — were either empty or sparsely attended, according to the ministry.
American officials consider Ghazni a linchpin for stability in central and eastern Afghanistan. For years, the province has been plagued by insurgents, who have regularly attacked U.S. convoys along Highway 1, the main road that connects Kandahar province to Kabul, slicing through Ghazni for 90 miles. As NATO troops continue to leave Afghanistan, Ghazni is the only province that will see a net gain in the number of foreign troops on the ground in the coming months.
Over the past few years, the Taliban has closed or suspended dozens of schools — particularly those attended by girls — in restive parts of the country. But the mass closure of Ghazni’s schools is one of the clearest signs to date of the insurgency’s ability not only to combat NATO and Afghan troops, but also to limit basic social services that Western donors have spent a decade trying to bolster.
Education officials in Kabul worry that they have little leverage to reopen Ghazni’s schools until the provincial government lifts its motorcycle ban. Discarding the policy would be seen by many as a victory for the Taliban — a concession that Afghan and U.S. officials are unlikely to accept.
“We banned the use of such motorcycles because people were being assassinated by those riding them,” said Mohammad Musa Akbarzada, Ghazni’s governor. “But that should have no link with any threat to close down schools.”
Ghazni officials say security in the province has improved since the motorcycle ban took effect. With more than 15,000 students now out of school, however, Afghan officials are struggling to reconcile their push for stability with the Taliban’s response.
“Neither religion nor logic accepts their decision,” Akbarzada said.
Local officials have begun talking with the Taliban about when the schools might be reopened, said Amanullah Iman, a spokesman for the Education Ministry. Afghan officials said they were not optimistic about a quick resolution.
A Taliban spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Taliban attack kills NATO soldier in Afghanistan
KABUL, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Taliban attack claimed the life of a soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the southern region of Afghanistan on Friday, bringing the number of fatalities to four over the past two days, said a statement released by the military alliance here.
"An ISAF service member died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan today," the statement confirmed.
Southern region which includes Kandahar, Zabul, Helmand and Uruzgan provinces have been regarded as Taliban hotbed where Taliban-linked insurgents often target government interest and NATO-led forces.
However, the statement did not identify the nationality of the victim, saying it is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.
Troops mostly from the United States, Britain and Australia have been stationed in the southern region.
Three NATO soldier were killed on Thursday in a blast in eastern Afghanistan, the military alliance said in a statement released on Thursday.
More than 130 NATO soldiers with 88 of them Americans have been killed in the conflict-ridden Afghanistan so far this year.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Congressman calls Afghan president ‘corrupt prima donna’
CNN (blog) By CNN's Gregory Wallace April 26th, 2012
A U.S. congressman barred from visiting Afghanistan over the weekend minced no words when characterizing the incident.
Afghan president Hamid Karzai is a "corrupt prima donna," House Foreign Affairs Committee member Dana Rohrabacher of California said in an interview Wednesday on CNN's "The Situation Room."
Rohrabacher was en route to Kabul with five other members of Congress to meet with representatives of the Northern Alliance when the U.S. secretaries of Defense and State intervened.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called to say "that she'd been through a lot of mini-crises there in Afghanistan with the burning of the Qurans and the soldiers urinating on these dead bodies and one of them going crazy and killing civilians," Rohrabacher told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
"She just felt that another mini-crisis which might erupt," he continued, "because Karzai hated me so much that he would create a crisis and she just thought it would be disruptive to our ability to get her job done."
But Clinton is charged with executing diplomacy, and Rohrabacher is not.
"I thought she was asking me in a respectful way, but she was having to deal with this corrupt prima donna who heads that country," he said.
As chairman of the House Foreign Affairs' Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee, Rohrabacher said he suspects his examination of how U.S. funds have been spent in the war-torn country was a factor in Karzai's discomfort.
More than 1,800 U.S. service members have died in the country, according to the Department of Defense and the U.S. Central Command. The United States has nearly 90,000 troops serving in the country and spends more than $2 billion on efforts there every week.
Rohrabacher's scrutiny of the country's government was the reason for his visit.
"Members of Congress should be over there to see if the dynamics are such that we're not just wasting people's lives and money, and there are changes that need to happen for us to be able to succeed," he said.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that Clinton and Rohrabacher spoke, and that both Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta requested Rohrabacher not continue with the delegation.
"We were advised, as Congressman Rohrabacher made clear, that the sovereign government didn't think this visit was timely. So it was in that context that he made his decision after our advice," Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman, told reporters.
The congressman said he encouraged his colleagues to continue on the trip, as "we had leaders of the northern alliance, opposition members and political leaders in that country who wanted to talk to American congressmen to make sure that we were not going to leave the Taliban in charge of Afghanistan."
Republic Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas, who led the delegation to Afghanistan, invited Rohrabacher after another lawmaker dropped out of the trip.
It is not the first time Rohrabacher has earned the ire of a leader.
In June 2011, Rohrabacher led a congressional delegation to Baghdad that was ordered out of the country by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki after the California congressman said Iraq should consider repaying the United States for what it spent since 2003.
- CNN’s Adam Levine contributed to this report
Back to Top
Back to Top
ASF plans sporting & cultural event inside Afghanistan
press release April 27, 2012, 9:00 a.m. EDT
ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 27, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Afghan Sports Federation (ASF) held its first official Board of Directors meeting for 2012 on January 30th with all the Directors present.
Upon reviewing the previous year's activities as well as taking into consideration all the suggestions & recommendations of participants at ASF's end of the year annual meeting on Sunday December 11, 2011, the Directors made the following decisions:
It was decided that the number of Directors should be increased from 3 to 5 members by the end of 2012. Mr. Atiq Panjshiri, a Board Director, former Executive Director and former ASF Soccer Commissioner, was selected to become ASF's Executive Vice President. Mr. Faiz Beghoman was appointed as the Creative Director for ASF's website ( www.afghansportsfederation.com ) which is the main source of information for all sporting events inside and outside of Afghanistan for fans and sports enthusiasts around the world. Mr. Aimal Ahmadzai was appointed as the ASF Social Media Coordinator. ASF's new "Official Facebook page" which has also been redesigned will be managed by the ASF team with daily updates.
The Afghan Sports Federation is a non-profit sports management organization established in 1998.
It was decided that ASF will pursue its plans of organizing inter-Afghan sporting and cultural events inside Afghanistan in conjunction with Afghanistan's National Olympic Committee and National Federations originally proposed last year. The events will potentially match teams with Afghan players from all over the world in this one event.
Afghan athletes have shown great resilience and success in the past years in regional and International events despite much difficulties and hardship in their war torn country. ASF hopes that this initiative will become an annual sporting & cultural event inside Afghanistan for all Afghans to show case their sporting talents.
ASF President Ajmal Ghani also announced the exact date of ASF's 15th annual "Afghan Cup 2012" sporting & cultural event to be held from July 5 to July 8, 2012 in the Washington D.C. area that should lead to the events in Afghanistan later this year.
The Afghan Sports Federation will be handing two small parks with volleyball courts, a basketball court, a mini soccer field, jogging/walking path and a playground for kids to the local municipality officials in Kabul. Two other similar parks, one in Jelalabad and one in Mazar-i-Sharif will be delivered to local officials as well in the coming weeks. This project was proposed by ASF and sponsored by the US Embassy in Kabul's Public Affairs Offices.
SOURCE Afghan Sports Federation
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghan amputee dreams of Paralympics success
By Mohammed Jamjoom and Mitra Mobasherat, CNN April 27, 2012
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Inside a sparkling new pool house off a dusty, bustling street in Afghanistan's capital, sits a young man with a dream.
Malek Mohammad, an 18-year-old double amputee, has already overcome so many challenges in his young life, some might be tempted to think he requires no assistance whatsoever.
But adversity has made him wise beyond his years, and Malek knows better. His struggle has been a lonely one.
"I need support, I need help because I'm representing Afghanistan -- especially disabled people," says Malek, who more than anything, wants to swim for his country at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Landmines took his legs at age 11 as he was walking through a field near Kabul's airport.
It was while he was in the hospital that an American visitor noticed Malek and paid for him to go the United States and get prosthetic limbs made.
During his two years recovering there, Malek was encouraged to participate in sports and he learned English. Then he returned to his family in Afghanistan.
Malek's younger brother, Samandar, beams with pride as he watches his sibling swim the length of the pool.
"He didn't lose his courage and power. He is very strong, and I am sure that he can take part in any competition. I am sure he will be successful and then the whole world can be proud of him."
At the pool, Malek shows us how athletics turned his life around, using his arms to lift his body off the tiles and then dive into the pool.
"I don't have any coach or any trainer to teach me how to swim, how to prepare for the games, so I'm doing by myself, because I love swimming," says Malek.
In a country torn apart by far too many years of war, Malek is far from the only athlete facing these types of challenges.
Female boxer trains in stadium where Taliban executed women
"I think the government of Afghanistan has given the Olympic Committee too little assistance and enough attention hasn't been paid to it either," says Olympic Committee member Sami Darayi.
"The budget that the government has allocated to the Olympic Committee is almost nothing while we have got more sport federations than a lot of other countries."
To date, Afghanistan has won a medal at the Olympics only once -- at 2008's Beijing games when Rohullah Nikpai won a bronze medal in taekwondo.
Nikpai, who was swimming in the same pool as Malek when we visited, is keenly aware how difficult it is to excel in athletics in Afghanistan.
"I know that we don't have enough resources for sportsman in Afghanistan," says Nikpai, "but the younger generations in this country love sports, so they are making efforts to try and go out of the country for competitions.
"They want to bring medals back home. That is why we are not hesitating and making every possible effort to compete on the worldwide scale."
Malek uses two pools in the city to practice, but neither are Olympic regulation size.
When he's not swimming, Malek spends time at the track running and working to stay in shape.
The tough regimen is rough on his prosthetic limbs and the tread on the bottom of them are wearing thin. Malik says replacements are impossible to come by in Kabul.
Nikpai is very happy to see Malek make progress. "He is super smart and full of energy. I am really hoping for him to compete in the London Paralympics," says Nikpai.
"Because at this point he has no legs but is still trying to serve his country in a way that he thinks he can and that is a very good thing."
Malek has others encouraging him to chase his Olympic dream. Friends and family also find hope in him -- something they say is missing in a country torn apart by far too many years of war.
"I am so happy to see someone like him, who has no legs, still swimming," says friend Raza Javed. "And often, even better than other people on the team."
As Malek waits to find out if he's earned a spot at the games, he remains optimistic.
He realizes the odds aren't exactly in his favor, but is sure things are bound to get better.
"I am sure someday I will have some professional trainer, good teacher, good support and [be] representing Afghanistan, and that my job will be to bring some medal for my country."
Malek knows that whatever happens, in a sense, he's already won.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Herat Mayor Dismisses Land Grab Accusations
TOLOnews.com Thursday, 26 April 2012
Herat mayor Mohammad Salim Taraki rejected yesterday's corruption accusation of Afghanistan's anti-corruption chief against himself and the Afghan Minister of Energy and Water, calling his comments "nonsense".
Speaking in a local ceremony Thursday, Taraki said he was ready to prove he is not a land-grabber and said the comments of High Office of Oversight and Anti-corruption chief Azizullah Lodin aimed to defame well-known figures in the country.
"In the presence of people, I am ready to prove I am not a land grabber," Taraki said.
"I have a legal deed and a legitimate claim on [the land], but unfortunately I am faced with irresponsible statements of Mr Lodin."
He said that the late Abdul Majid Khan Zabuli, who was a public figure in both business and government, had gifted a house in Herat to Minister of Energy and Water Mohammad Ismail Khan's wife.
However some government officials and lawmakers claim that all Zabuli's properties belong to the government, according to his final will.
Herat-based expert Mohammad Rafiq Shahid said: "These properties were given to educational organisations, but it was grabbed and documents were [falsely] made in Ismail Khan's name."
Meanwhile, some former Jihadi fighters have also criticised the statements of Lodin.
They said that he was trying to defame the "popular and honest" Mujahiddins.
Sayed Wahid Qetali, member of the Herat's Mujahiddin Council also criticised the media for publishing such stories.
"I don't blame the figures blaming each other. I blame the media for not publishing stories about Islamic events but following stories like this."
Lodin said Wednesday that Ismail Khan and other provincial officials were using state-owned land in Herat for private use.
Back to Top
Back to Top
US envoy in Pakistan to discuss supply routes
Associated Press April 26, 2012
ISLAMABAD - A top U.S. envoy met Pakistani government and army officers Thursday in Islamabad in an effort to get the country to reopen American and NATO supply routes to Afghanistan.
Pakistan shut the supply lines in November to protest U.S air raids that killed 24 Pakistani troops along the Afghan border. It has taken the government months to navigate the delicate path of resuscitating ties with the U.S., a difficult process in a country where anti-American sentiment is rampant.
The army used the deaths to try to extract better terms from Washington, which sees Pakistan as an essential — if unreliable — ally against al-Qaida and vital to the sustainability of any peace deal with insurgents fighting in neighboring Afghanistan.
The country has demanded that Washington apologize for the border killings and halt attacks by drone aircraft against militants in northwest Pakistan. The U.S. regards the airstrikes as essential in the fight against al-Qaida and associated groups.
Earlier this month, Pakistan's parliament finally approved new guidelines for the country in its relationship with the U.S., a decision that Washington hopes will pave the way for the reopening of the supply lines.
Marc Grossman, who is Washington's envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said he didn't expect to get an immediate commitment that the routes would reopen but that "the task now is to begin a conversation about how to move forward." Grossman also repeated earlier U.S. statements of regret but didn't apologize.
Washington wants the supply routes open before a May 20-21 summit of NATO leaders in Chicago.
Grossman met Pakistan's army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and foreign affairs ministry officials to discuss the supply routes.
On Friday, he planned to hold talks with Pakistan and Afghanistan officials about progress in peace talks with the Afghan Taliban. There has been very little progress, and the Taliban announced in March that they were suspending talks with the U.S.
Pakistan's army, which is considered the most powerful player in the country, has its own incentive to patch up ties: getting American military aid flowing to the country again.
The U.S. has given Pakistan billions of dollars in military aid over the past decade, but flows have largely been frozen since the middle of last year after Osama bin Laden was killed in a unilateral U.S. raid targeting his house in a Pakistani garrison town.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan issued a fresh security warning, saying on its website that its employees would be restricted from restaurants and markets in the capital, Islamabad, for the next two weeks.
It didn't say why, but the period covers the first anniversary of the May 2 U.S. raid that killed bin Laden. Militants have been known to stage attacks on or close to the anniversary of significant events.
U.S. diplomats already operate under tight security in Pakistan, which is home to an array of violent extremists.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghan Youth Group Targets Former Warlords Ahead Of Contentious Holiday
By Frud Bezhan April 27, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
A new Afghan youth group is making waves in Kabul with an unprecedented campaign against the country's former warlords.
Members of the Afghan Freedom-Loving Youth Group swept through the streets of Kabul this week, putting up hundreds of posters and spraying graffiti messages critical of the strongmen, many of whom still wield significant influence on the country's political affairs.
While Afghan security forces swiftly removed the derogatory placards and signs, the campaign adds fuel to rising public scrutiny of regional despots who once waged war against the ruling Taliban as leaders of the mujahedin.
Years later, they are viewed as enemies by some and even as war criminals by Human Rights Watch and Afghanistan's own Independent Human Rights Commission. But to their supporters, they have risen to hero status, with some carving out legitimate -- and often high-ranking -- roles within the government.
'Foreign Puppets'
The new group chose this week to make its debut -- just ahead of a contentious national holiday honoring the mujahedin -- but its members appear to be taking pains to protect themselves and their identities. On its Facebook page, the group identifies itself only as an unspecified number of "young, independent journalists."
The group says its mission is to "enlighten, raise public awareness, and launch civil action" against the former warlords, whom they describe as "murderous and unjust national traitors and foreign puppets" who have only brought "darkness, bloodshed, and destruction" to the country.
The group does not single out specific warlords by name but does make general mention of prominent cabinet ministers and provincial chiefs under the current government of President Hamid Karzai.
The group says it will remain underground for the time being and begin mobilizing supporters through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
In a statement sent to RFE/RL, which addresses the former leaders, the group declares: "Enough is enough! Stop playing with the destiny of the suffering Afghan people. We will no longer be a witness to your corrupt and predatory ways. We will no longer be served by people who -- in the name of religion, ethnicity, and language -- commit crimes against our people."
Reminder Of War
The remarks come just days before Mujahedin Victory Day, which on April 28 will honor those very same warlords.
This year's event will mark 20 years since the leaders of Western-backed jihadist groups, collectively known as mujahedin, toppled the leftist Afghan government and declared an Islamic state.
Despite its status as a "national day" in Afghanistan, the event is a painful reminder to many of the brutal civil war that soon followed the Islamist takeover.
The 1992-96 conflict left tens of thousands of civilians in Kabul dead, resulted in the rape of thousands of women and children, and the destruction of most of the infrastructure in the capital.
It was only natural, then, that the group's antiwarlord campaign has struck a chord with those Afghans who resent the glorification of the controversial strongmen.
Among those with ties to the current government are ethnic Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostum, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Afghan National Army; former ethnic Tajik warlord and current first vice president, Field Marshall Mohammad Qasim Fahim; and Hazara warlord and current second vice president, Abdul Karim Khalili.
'Huge Tragedy'
Following its debut campaign this week, the youth group has received a flurry of posts on its Facebook page offering support.
Aazaan Wyar, one of the 179 followers of the group on the social-networking site as of April 27, blasted the national holiday: "Why should we celebrate this day and squander millions of dollars! We don't spend that same amount on bridges, roads, and schools. How did the destruction and devastation they caused benefit us?"
Mohammad Kabir Ranjbar, a resident of Kabul, also expressed his anger at the former warlords, many of whom returned to prominence after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
"They brought about a huge tragedy, which we celebrate as our national day. I was witness to the tragedy for several years in Kabul. There has never been such an atrocity against the Afghan people as there was [during the mujahedin’s rule]," Ranjbar says. "That war didn't leave one home standing. More than 65,000 were martyred."
Many former mujahedin leaders have defended themselves as "freedom fighters" who liberated the country from the clutches of the "godless" Soviet Union.
Bashir, a resident of Kabul, backs the national holiday, describing the former strongmen as "liberators."
"This day should celebrate the victory of the mujahedin. It's is a positive thing," Bashir says. "They endeavored and succeeded in driving our enemies from our homeland."
This year's honoring of the mujahedin comes amid tight security around the country.
In Kabul, a military parade is expected, as well as speeches and a medal ceremony honoring the former warlords.
For the past few days, Kabul has been ringed by checkpoints, with security forces searching vehicles. The area near the Presidential Palace, where the official ceremony is expected to take place, has been blocked by troops, tanks, and armored personnel carriers.
In 2008, militants attacked the ceremony with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic gunfire. The assault, aimed at the president, cabinet members, and foreign diplomats, killed five civilians and injured 11 others, including two legislators, four soldiers, and several security guards.
With additional reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan
Back to Top
Back to Top
Taliban flex muscles over motorbikes ban
Kevin Sieff, Kabul April 28, 2012 The Sydney Morning Herald
THE Taliban have shut down or partially shut about 50 schools in south-eastern Afghanistan, a bold display of their power in a part of the country at the centre of the American war effort.
The closings were apparently in response to an Afghan government decision to ban motorcycles in the southern districts of Ghazni province. Officials outlawed their use late last year after insurgents used unmarked bikes to attack civilians and local authorities. The ban, supported by the US and its allies, has drastically restricted the insurgency's movement, according to Afghan security officials, and added to friction between the Taliban and government.
Militants responded this week by warning educators and families to keep children at home, Afghan officials said. The message spread quickly through traditional social networks. Of the 36,000 students who usually attend schools in southern Ghazni, about half yielded to the Taliban threat, officials said.
''In response to the motorcycle ban, they spread the message through elders and mosques saying children should not go to school,'' said an Afghan education ministry official.
Dozens of schools across southern Ghazni - both for girls and boys - were empty or sparsely attended by Thursday, according to the ministry.
Ghazni is seen by American officials as a linchpin for stability in central and eastern Afghanistan. For years, the province has been plagued by insurgents, who have regularly attacked US convoys along Highway 1, the main road that connects Kandahar to Kabul, slicing through Ghazni for 140 kilometres.
As NATO troops continue to leave Afghanistan, it is the only province that will see a net gain in the number of foreign troops on the ground over coming months. Over the past few years, the Taliban have successfully closed or suspended dozens of schools - particularly those attended by girls - in restive parts of the country.
But the mass closure of Ghazni's schools is one of the clearest signs of the insurgency's ability not only to combat NATO and Afghan troops, but to limit basic social services that Western donors have spent a decade trying to bolster. Education officials in Kabul worry they have little leverage to reopen Ghazni's schools until the provincial government lifts its motorcycle ban.
Back to Top
Back to Top
In Afghanistan, chillin’ and interpretin’
The Washington Post By Al Kamen Friday, April 27, 2012
After a decade of war, Afghan interpreters working with the U.S. Army speak a version of English gleaned from years spent with young American soldiers, reports our colleague Greg Jaffe , who recently returned from his sixth reporting trip there.
Most of them curse with the fluency of an infantryman. A recent conversation in Wardak province, a particularly nasty, contested area, helped reveal one of the linguistic legacies of our long war.
The American battalion commander at Combat Outpost Sayad Abad asked his Afghan counterpart why he was short of soldiers for an upcoming operation. Khan, his interpreter, relayed the question to the Afghan officer in Dari.
The Afghan commander, who took a bullet through the chest when he fought on the side of the Soviets in the 1980s, spoke for about two minutes. By the end of his little speech he had worked himself into a minor fury, jabbing his finger in the air to make his point.
Khan, who is in his late 20s and learned much of his English from hanging around with soldiers, translated: “Sir, he’s very upset. He says his soldiers went home for their leave but they don’t come back. They are sitting at home, drinking their chai, not following orders, ----ing around when they are supposed to be at work. Sir, he says they are chillin’ like willens.”
“He said they are chillin’ like what?” asked Lt. Col. Robert Horney , a 41-year-old career Army officer from Lebanon, Pa.
“You know, sir. They are chillin’ like willens,” said Khan, struggling to get his lips around the unfamiliar “v” sound.
“Villains?” said Horney. “He really said that they were chillin’ villains? Those were the exact words he used?”
“No, sir,” Khan replied. “Not exact words. But I don’t just translate. I like to put it into words that you understand.”
“Okay,” Horney said. “Thank you, Khan. That helps.”
The birds and the don’t-bees
Thursday was “Bring Your Child to Work Day,” an annual event in which children all over the country are subjected to spending the day at their parents’ boring, toy-free offices.
In Washington, bringing tots into the workplace can sometimes get a little awkward — especially these days, what with all the talk of prostitutes.
At the State Department, for example, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland opened her regular briefing by welcoming the children of reporters and federal employees who were there to observe the grown-ups at work. But things got uncomfortable when the business at hand got a little risque.
Nuland was fielding a question from a reporter about reports that Secret Service officers may have hired prostitutes in El Salvador.
Nuland grimaced a bit before delving into her answer. “What a subject to be talking about on Bring Your Kid to Work Day,” she began.
After one reporter tried to keep the prostitution talk “G-rated,” Nuland seemed to give up.
“Parents, you can explain all of this later,” she said.
Bring a booster seat
We’ve heard of witness intimidation, and now we know one of Congress’s secrets to making those testifying before committees feel a bit . . . overmatched: low-slung chairs.
Rep. Lynn Jenkins found herself on an unfamiliar side of the dais Thursday when she testified before a subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee—of which she is a member. The Kansas Republican, used to sitting with the members of the committee, instead sat in a witness chair to discuss expiring tax provisions. Jenkins is a CPA and the sponsor of a bill that would extend tax breaks for short-line railways.
But Jenkins, when called on, had trouble even seeing over the top of the table in front of her. “I would refer to my notes,” she said, “but I can’t see them. I’m wondering if there’s a phone book or something I could sit on.”
Jenkins, it turns out, isn’t exactly a tall woman—a staffer says she stands a mean five feet even.
As her colleagues laughed, she noted: “It’s a very intimidating chair.”
Exactly . . .
Stay the cursive
As one of the stoners in the classic arthouse film “Dazed and Confused” says, “Didja ever look at a dollar bill, man? There’s some spooky s--- goin’ on there.”
And amid the symbols and seals (and owls and spiders, if you believe some particularly fanciful observers) gracing the dollar, there’s Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner’s John Hancock. The secretary’s signature appears on the right side of bill faces, below the Treasury seal — and not just on the one-dollar bills but on all denominations.
True to the mysterious nature of bills, there’s more to the signature than you might think — or at least more thought went into it than typically goes into a name jotted on a piece of paper.
In an interview yesterday with Oregon Public Broadcasting, Geithner said he had to alter his typically unreadable scrawl to make it worthy of the nation’s currency.
He admitted he has “a completely illegible scrawl that did not seem suitable for the dollar bill. So I had to change it so people could see my name.”
We searched far and wide for an example of Geithner’s illegible penmanship, but the examples of his handwriting we found were on official correspondence — letters to Congress and the like — on which Geithner apparently either used an auto-pen or was as careful as he was on the dollar.
With Emily Heil
The blog: washingtonpost.com/ intheloop; Twitter: @InTheLoopWP
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghans defy ban as poppy season opens
26/04/2012 AFP
Kandahar - It is the start of Afghanistan's poppy season and at Kandahar bus station thousands of men and boys, some as young as 10-years-old, are gathered to seek work harvesting the opium crop.
Landowner Abdul Rahman travelled from his village in neighbouring Helmand province looking for workers to help him in the short harvest season. He has 10 recruits already and is looking for another 10.
"I own 50 hectares of land in my village in Khaneshin district and have cultivated them all with poppy," he said.
Two-thirds of the income from his fields will go to local Taliban militants in the form of protection money, but he says he will still be left with $10 000 - $15 000 depending on the price of opium on local and foreign markets.
"Where else can I make this amount of money?" he says.
Over a decade after a US-led invasion drove the hardline Islamist Taliban from power, Afghanistan produces 90% of the world's illegal opium, funding much of the militia's insurgency despite an expensive Western eradication programme.
Lucrative journey
The war-ravaged country produced 5 800 tons of opium in 2011, up from 3 600 tons the previous year, according to a UN report released in January, with Helmand alone accounting for 60% of the world's opium production.
On Saturday at Kandahar's huge bus station, a crowd of up to 2 000 men and boys wait to make the lucrative journey to Helmand to join in "neishtar".
Neishtar is a Persian word for the small lance used to make incisions on the poppy plants to let out the resin, which dries into solid opium residue.
Neishtar season lasts just 15 to 20 days each April, when the weather is perfect, and every year villagers from across southern Afghanistan travel to work in Helmand's vast poppy fields, earning up to 40 000 Afghanis ($800) for their work.
"I am happy I can go to Helmand and make a lot of money," says Lalai, a smiling 20-year-old from neighbouring Uruzgan province.
"This is the only time of the year when we can make a lot of money in such a short time."
No leniency
And while there are police checkposts, the poppy landlords who converge on the bus station to pick up their recruits hardly seem concerned.
A police officer, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said: "We are aware why these people are going to Helmand and we even know that some of them are Taliban fighters who have temporarily laid down arms to work on poppy fields.
"But we cannot detain them as they will simply deny the charges and accuse us of bothering them for no reason."
In Helmand, the governor's spokesperson, Daud Ahmadi, confirms the influx of people trying to reach poppy fields but says the local government is determined to stop them and says there will be no leniency for anyone breaking the law.
"We have witnessed a considerable surge for the past week in the number of people coming to work illegally and mainly on poppy fields here in Helmand," he said.
"We have arrested hundreds of them and have either repatriated them back to their provinces or tasked them with clearing the poppy fields."
Bribery
Ahmadi had a stark warning for anyone planning to work on the opium poppy fields: "This practice is a crime, we will punish anyone who tries to break the law."
But in a country where corruption is rampant even among higher-ranking officials, the proceeds from poppies not only fill the Taliban's pockets - they also lure local law-enforcement officers.
"We are not afraid of the police," said a 20-year-old harvest recruit boarding a bus to Helmand.
"If they [the police] get us, we can easily get rid of them by paying 1 000 or 2 000 Afghanis."
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).