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Afghan defense minister quits, hands Karzai a security headache
By Mirwais Harooni and Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi | Reuters
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak resigned on Tuesday after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving President Hamid Karzai scrambling to find a replacement for one of his top security tsars as insurgent attacks mount.
'Green-on-blue' attack ends bloody Afghan day
By Usman Sharifi | AFP
A US soldier was killed in the latest in a series of "green-on-blue" attacks by Afghan allies in a bloody day across the war-torn country on Tuesday.
Bomb Attack Kills Nine Near Afghan Capital
VOA News August 7, 2012
A roadside bomb killed nine people Tuesday near the Afghan capital and a bomber rammed his truck into a NATO base in eastern Afghanistan.
Truck bomber wounds soldiers at Afghan NATO base
By Sabawoon Amarkhail | AFP
A powerful suicide truck bomb exploded at a NATO military base south of the Afghan capital Tuesday, wounding three soldiers and at least 17 civilians, Afghan police said.
French soldier, 10 Taliban killed in Afghan firefight
AFP
A French soldier and around 10 Taliban fighters were killed in an early morning ambush and subsequent firefight during a joint operation on Tuesday with the Afghan army in Kapisa province, officials said.
Video: Taliban Welcomes Rogue Afghan Who Shot US Soldiers as a Hero
By MUHAMMAD LILA and ALEEM AGHA | ABC News
A new online video shows a rogue Afghan soldier receiving a hero's welcome from Taliban commanders, after returning from a mission where he killed an American soldier in cold blood.
11 foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan within 7 days
by Farid Behbud, Chen Xin
KABUL, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Up to 11 soldiers with the NATO-led coalition or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have been killed in Taliban-related attacks and bomb blasts across the insurgency-hit Afghanistan since Aug. 1.
Taliban has no office in Iran: Iranian spokesman
TEHRAN, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast rejected reports that Tehran has allowed the Taliban to open an office in the Islamic republic, Press TV reported on Tuesday.
Pakistan, Afghanistan Tensions Flare Cross-Border Attacks
Sharon Behn VOA News August 6, 2012
ISLAMABAD — Tensions are rising between Pakistan and Afghanistan over deadly cross-border attacks on both sides of the porous border.
Keeping each other honest in Afghanistan - will it work?
Foreign Policy By William Byrd Monday August 6, 2012
The Tokyo meeting on Afghanistan of July 8 exceeded expectations in terms of both the total civilian aid funding indicated by donors ($16 billion over four years, or $4 billion per year on average) and the commitments agreed to by the Afghan government. This favorable outcome in turn has generated expectations for the future.
FEATURE-Entrepreneurs serving Afghan expats see good times ending
Reuters By Miriam Arghandiwal Tue Aug 7, 2012
KABUL - Behind high villa walls in Kabul's heavily guarded diplomatic district, restaurant owner Saju D'Cruz sits in a sun-washed courtyard and gives himself two more years in a country he has called home for a decade.
Finance Officials Involved in Corruption
TOLOnews.com Monday, 06 August 2012
Ministry of Finance officials have allegedly taken a $3 million bribe to reduce Global Link's taxes, a private company, by more than $12 million, the Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office Chief Abu Baker Rafiee said.
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Afghan defense minister quits, hands Karzai a security headache
By Mirwais Harooni and Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi | Reuters
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak resigned on Tuesday after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving President Hamid Karzai scrambling to find a replacement for one of his top security tsars as insurgent attacks mount.
Wardak, in charge of the army and one of the country's two key security ministers, told reporters he accepted parliament's decision, which has clouded NATO plans to hand security responsibilities to Afghan forces before the end of 2014.
"I respected the parliament's decision to twice appoint me as defence minister, and now I accept the parliament decision to remove me. I resign my position," Wardak told journalists.
Karzai's increasingly unpopular government was already under a cloud, with Finance Minister Hazarat Omar Zakhilwal vulnerable as a result of accusations aired on Afghan television that he stashed more than $1 million in overseas banks.
The fractious parliament voted on Saturday to remove Wardak and Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi after recent insurgent assassinations of senior officials, as well as cross-border attacks blamed on Pakistan.
While Karzai opted to keep him in place in an acting role to underpin stability, Wardak's decision to quit immediately leaves one of his most vital Cabinet posts vacant at the peak of the summer fighting months and as U.S. and French troops draw down.
It was not immediately clear how soon Karzai would be able to replace the veteran four-star general and ethnic Pashtun from eastern Wardak province, who is credited by Western diplomats with helping forge the fledgling Afghan National Army into an increasingly effective force against insurgents.
Karzai faced constraints in finding a replacement who could maintain ethnic harmony in his inner circle, while also needing to win over lawmakers whose backing he needs to deliver a corruption crackdown promised to Western donors.
"Karzai's next moves will be watched very closely by many sides, in particular in the context of his recent announcements of a long list of new ‘reform' and anti-corruption measures," said Fabrizio Foschini of the respected Afghan Analysts Network.
"Karzai will have to operate carefully. There are already grumblings about the provisional solution of keeping the two ‘impeached' officials as acting ministers, even though this may be mainly motivated by the need to avoid troubles in the security organs at a critical stage of transition," he said in a blog posting.
FINANCE MINISTER STANDS HIS GROUND
Finance Minister Zakhilwal held a near-simultaneous press conference to Wardak's, promising to send a list of his assets to the attorney general to look into claims against him.
But he declined to pass the dossier to the country's top anti-corruption watchdog, who has asked Karzai to have him stood down pending completion of an investigation.
"For me today the most important issue is the confidence of the people," said Zakhilwal.
Zakhilwal, in an interview with Tolo TV on Wednesday, denied any wrongdoing and said there was nothing untoward in the transfers, which were the result of legitimate work and business interests before entering government.
On Tuesday he accused both Tolo and Afghanistan's High Office of Oversight and Anti-corruption chief, Dr. Azizullah Ludin, of conspiring against him.
"The head of the oversight department discussed information in public which was unethical, not based on fact," he said. "It's obviously based on personal differences he has had with me from time to time."
Violence in Afghanistan is at its fiercest since U.S.-led Afghan troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001. Militants have extended their reach from traditional strongholds in southern and eastern areas to parts of the country once considered relatively safe.
Just hours before Wardak quit, an insurgent detonated a remote-control bomb under a mini-bus on Kabul's outskirts, killing nine civilians, while a truck bomb exploded outside a NATO base east of the city, wounding 15 people, including three U.S. soldiers.
A foreign soldier was killed in the south by an improvised bomb, while another died in the volatile east, the NATO-led coalition said.
(Writing by Rob Taylor; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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'Green-on-blue' attack ends bloody Afghan day
By Usman Sharifi | AFP
A US soldier was killed in the latest in a series of "green-on-blue" attacks by Afghan allies in a bloody day across the war-torn country on Tuesday.
The day began with a pre-dawn remote-controlled explosion which killed nine civilians in a minibus on the outskirts of the capital Kabul, followed hours later by a suicide truck bomb attack on a NATO military base.
A French soldier and around 10 Taliban fighters were also killed in an early morning ambush and subsequent firefight during a joint operation with the Afghan army in Kapisa province near Kabul, French officials said.
But in a country where roadside bombs, firefights and suicide attacks are commonplace, it is the death of the US solider at the hands of men he was working alongside that will resonate most deeply with Western forces.
"An International Security Assistance Force service member died when two individuals wearing Afghan National Army uniforms turned their weapons against ISAF service members in eastern Afghanistan today," ISAF said.
A US defence official confirmed the soldier was an American, and said the two suspected shooters were in custody. An investigation was under way to determine whether they were Taliban infiltrators.
The shooting is the latest in an increasing number of attacks in which Afghan soldiers have turned their weapons against NATO troops helping Kabul fight a decade-long insurgency by hardline Taliban Islamists.
The death takes the green-on-blue toll this year to at least 30, in 21 such incidents, according to an AFP tally.
Some of the attacks are claimed by the Taliban, who say they have infiltrated Afghan army ranks, but many are attributed to cultural differences and antagonism between local and US-led allied forces.
The powerful truck bomb exploded at a NATO military base some 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of the capital Kabul, in Logar province, amid growing unrest in areas neighbouring the Afghan capital.
Afghan police said at least 17 civilians and three soldiers were wounded.
ISAF acknowledged that some soldiers were injured in a blast at the base, but gave no figures.
"I was on my way to school when there was suddenly a huge explosion which knocked me down," schoolboy Samiullah told an AFP reporter at the scene.
"I saw thick smoke and flames rising from the inside of this camp."
Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack.
Just hours earlier, a Taliban bomb killed nine people and wounded five when it struck a minibus on the western outskirts of Kabul.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, saying: "Terrorists who plant roadside bombs on public routes during the holy month of Ramadan, targeting and killing innocent Muslim civilians, are definitely neither Muslims nor Afghans."
The series of assaults will add to growing concerns over the country's future once some 130,000 NATO troops withdraw as planned by the end of 2014, handing responsibility for security to Afghan forces.
Western politicians keen to get their troops out of an increasingly unpopular war regularly talk up the ability of the Afghan army and police to cope on their own, but there is widespread fear of a multi-factional civil war once they leave.
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Bomb Attack Kills Nine Near Afghan Capital
VOA News August 7, 2012
A roadside bomb killed nine people Tuesday near the Afghan capital and a bomber rammed his truck into a NATO base in eastern Afghanistan.
In the first attack, a remote-controlled blast hit a bus traveling across a bridge west of Kabul. Nine civilians were killed and at least five others were wounded. The local police chief says the person who planted the bomb has been arrested.
Authorities also say a bomber detonated a truck full of explosives outside a NATO base in Pul-i-Alam, the capital of Logar province, wounding at least 11 civilians. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
NATO said the attack "failed to cause any significant damage to the base, but did result in the severe injury of a number of innocent Afghan civilians."
The coalition condemned Tuesday's "inhumane" violence, as examples of the "insurgency's destructive, vicious disregard for the Afghan people."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai also condemned the attacks, saying terrorists who target innocent civilians during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan are neither Muslims nor Afghans, and that they will "achieve nothing but public abhorrence."
Also Tuesday, France said one of its soldiers was killed and another wounded in a firefight with insurgents in Kapisa province. Since 2001, 88 French soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.
The coalition said another service member was killed in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan. No other details were released.
And NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen appointed Maurits Jochems as NATO's next senior civilian representative to Afghanistan. Jochems will succeed Simon Gass, who will return to Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office after serving as representative for 18 months.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Truck bomber wounds soldiers at Afghan NATO base
By Sabawoon Amarkhail | AFP
A powerful suicide truck bomb exploded at a NATO military base south of the Afghan capital Tuesday, wounding three soldiers and at least 17 civilians, Afghan police said.
Just hours earlier, a Taliban bomb killed nine people and wounded five when it struck a minibus on the western outskirts of Kabul, amid growing unrest in areas neighbouring the Afghan capital.
A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force confirmed "there has been an explosion outside an ISAF facility in Logar province" and that some troops were wounded.
"We have information that ISAF members were wounded but it is our policy not to confirm the number or condition of the injured," he said, adding that the cause of the explosion was under investigation.
Provincial police chief Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Lewanai told AFP: "A truck loaded with explosives detonated at the coalition forces' camp in (the provincial capital) Puli Alam city.
"So far we have information that 17 Afghan civilians and three ISAF soldiers have been injured," he said.
Most of the civilians worked at the base, he said. ISAF said the explosion was outside the base, near an Afghan bazaar.
An AFP reporter at the scene said the area near the base had been cordoned off by NATO forces and helicopters were flying overhead.
Although the first two checkpoints on the approach to the base were visible there was no sign of an explosion, he said, adding that police and residents told him that the blast happened further on towards the base.
"I was on my way to school when there was suddenly a huge explosion which knocked me down," said schoolboy Samiullah.
"I saw thick smoke and flames rising from the inside of this camp."
Provincial spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish said: "The explosives had been hidden inside a truck used for transporting and mixing cement. It happened at the gate of the base."
Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack, some 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of the capital Kabul.
"At around 9:00 am one of our mujahideen (holy warriors) carried out a suicide truck bomb attack on a big US forces' camp resulting in many deaths and injuries," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a text message.
In an earlier sign of increasing Taliban activity in Logar province, three Afghans who worked for NATO were kidnapped by the Taliban and their bodies dumped in the main bazaar of Charkh district last week, officials said.
In Kabul, President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack on the minibus near the capital, saying nine people had been killed, updating an earlier toll of eight.
"Terrorists who plant roadside bombs on public routes during the holy month of Ramadan, targeting and killing innocent Muslim civilians, are definitely neither Muslims nor Afghans," he said.
All the dead were men, apparently on their way to work from what had been a relatively peaceful area on the western outskirts of the city.
But in the same district in late June, militants armed with guns and rockets attacked a popular lakeside hotel killing at least 18 people.
The man who set off the bomb had been captured with the cooperation of local residents who beat him up, police said, describing him as a member of the hardline Islamist Taliban waging an insurgency against the Afghan government.
For the past five years the number of civilians killed in the war has risen steadily, reaching a record 3,021 in 2011, with the vast majority of the deaths blamed on insurgents, according to UN figures.
The latest attacks will add to growing concerns over the country's future once NATO troops withdraw as planned by the end of 2014, handing responsibility for security to Afghan forces.
Western politicians keen to get their troops out of an increasingly unpopular war regularly talk up the ability of the Afghan army and police to cope on their own, but there is widespread fear of a multi-factional civil war once they leave.
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French soldier, 10 Taliban killed in Afghan firefight
AFP
A French soldier and around 10 Taliban fighters were killed in an early morning ambush and subsequent firefight during a joint operation on Tuesday with the Afghan army in Kapisa province, officials said.
A statement from Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's office said a French soldier died and another was wounded "during a clash with insurgents" and that the wounded soldier was expected to survive.
The statement said the soldiers were from the elite 13th Chasseurs Alpin Battalion. The dead soldier was "part of an assistance team advising Afghan units," a statement from President Francois Hollande's office said.
The French military in Paris said that around 130 French soldiers came under small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade attack at around 6:00 am while securing an area near a bridge outside Tagab village.
Chief-of-staff spokesman Bertrand Bonneau said that around 10 Taliban were killed during the firefight that followed the ambush and that an Afghan soldier was also wounded.
Two wounded French soldiers were airlifted to Kabul but one died en route, the military said.
A total of 88 French soldiers have died in Afghanistan since they first deployed there in 2001.
French forces are now deployed only in Kabul and in Kapisa, an extremely unstable eastern province where French troops have suffered numerous deadly attacks from the Taliban.
The French military in July handed control of Kapisa to local forces, but French soldiers continue to help train them as preparations for the pullout go ahead.
France is the fifth-largest contributor to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is due to pull out the vast majority of its 130,000 forces by the end of 2014.
Before his election in May, Hollande vowed to speed up France's pullout so it would be completed by the end of 2012 -- a year earlier than Paris initially planned and two years before the NATO deadline.
Under Paris's timetable, of the 3,000 French soldiers currently deployed in Afghanistan, 1,400 will remain after the end of 2012 to oversee the return of equipment and train local forces.
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Video: Taliban Welcomes Rogue Afghan Who Shot US Soldiers as a Hero
By MUHAMMAD LILA and ALEEM AGHA | ABC News
A new online video shows a rogue Afghan soldier receiving a hero's welcome from Taliban commanders, after returning from a mission where he killed an American soldier in cold blood.
The video, released by the Taliban's media propaganda wing, shows the soldier returning to a Taliban village in Ghaziabad in Kunar province, with dozens of Taliban men lined up to greet him. The soldier, wearing an Afghan Army uniform, identifies himself as Ghazi Mahmood, or "Warrior Mahmood."
Men with white Taliban flags, some with their faces covered, others carrying rocket propelled grenade launchers, throng around him, parading him through the village as insurgents shower him with flower garlands and chant "Long Live Mahmood."
"I opened fire on three Americans who were sitting together," the man explains calmly in the video. "The reason I killed them is because they have occupied our country. They are enemies of our religion and they kill our innocent people."
In another scene, the rogue soldier is seated outside a wooden structure, surrounded by armed insurgents, some of whose faces are blurred. Standing in a row in front are dozens of young madrassa students, who pump their fists into the air cheering "Jihad, Jihad" and "Long Live the warrior."
The video offers rare glimpse into the world of Afghan Taliban-style chivalry, where those who kill Americans often receive fame, family honor, and in some cases, money from insurgent commanders to support their families.
In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson with the International Security and Assistance Force, or ISAF, suggested the video only serves to get more young Afghans to die for a "fruitless cause."
"The insurgents are well versed at taking a snapshot in time and then alleging that it reflects a broader movement," said James Graybeal.
"We know better… Today, the vast majority of the 350,000 members of the Afghan National Security Forces are serving honorably and defending their country against those with no positive vision for the future."
Although the video cannot be independently verified, its authenticity is supported by several corroborating facts on the ground.
On May 11th, a shooting took place in a camp run by the Afghan National Army, where American troops had gone to train Afghan soldiers. A rogue guard at the camp opened fire, killing at least one American and injuring two others before escaping. The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility, saying that a gunman named "Mahmood" was responsible and that he had returned to a Taliban camp in the remote region. The gunman's name was later confirmed by Afghan officials.
The attack happened at the beginning of the Taliban's annual summer offensive, amid heightening concern over an escalation in so-called green-on-blue attacks, where Afghan soldiers turn their weapons against their American partners. There have been at least twenty such attacks this year, a frequency much higher than in years past, complicating NATO's efforts to train Afghan soldiers ahead of U.S. troop withdrawal in 2014.
In the past, NATO and Afghan officials have said most of the attacks are motivated not by support for the Taliban, but for "private reasons" including grievances against local Afghan commanders, ethnic feuds, and depression. Senior U.S. officials have insisted the attacks don't indicate a high level of Taliban infiltration into the army.
Today's video shows otherwise, suggesting that rogue Afghan soldiers who kill their American counterparts will find strong support among insurgents. The presence of so many young children in the video also suggests a new generation of green-on-blue attackers could be waiting in the wings.
"Are there others who will carry out attacks similar to what you have?" the rogue soldier is asked during the video.
"Yes" he replies. "There are some people who are looking for the opportunity to kill infidels. They will carry out their jihad and join us."
Likely, to a hero's welcome.
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11 foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan within 7 days
by Farid Behbud, Chen Xin
KABUL, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Up to 11 soldiers with the NATO-led coalition or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have been killed in Taliban-related attacks and bomb blasts across the insurgency-hit Afghanistan since Aug. 1.
In the latest fatality received by the military alliance, a soldier with the ISAF lost his life in an insurgent attack in the eastern part of the country on Tuesday, the coalition forces confirmed in a statement.
"An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan today," the ISAF statement released here Tuesday morning said.
However, it did not reveal the nationality of the victim and did not provide details about the exact place of attack under the ISAF policy, saying "it is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities."
Troops mostly from the U.S. have been stationed in the eastern region.
In a related incident, another soldier with the alliance lost his life in the troubled southern region, ISAF confirmed in a separate statement released here.
"An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack in southern Afghanistan today," the statement said without providing more details.
Also on Tuesday, a car suicide attacked targeted a joint military base in Logar province 60 km south of capital Kabul, killing and injuring some Afghans and foreigners, according to locals.
On Monday, a foreign soldier with the NATO-led coalition lost his life in an insurgent attack in southern region.
Two New Zealand soldiers with the ISAF were killed in an insurgent attack in the relatively peaceful central Bamyan province over the weekend. The insurgent used small arm fire and RPG-7 in attack against the forces, according to media reports.
New Zealand has 189 soldiers within the framework of the NATO- led ISAF mainly stationed in relatively peace Bamyan province.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed in an IED attack in southern Kandahar province on Saturday.
The simple but difficult-to-be-detected Taliban weapon, the IED, is used in making suicide vests and roadside bombs and has proved a challenge for Afghan and NATO-led forces in the insurgency-hit country.
Two other U.S. soldiers with the NATO-led coalition were killed in an IED attack in eastern Paktika province on Aug. 1.
Also on Aug. 1, two American soldiers lost their lives in two separate IED explosions in Salim Aka area of Kandahar and the neighboring Helmand province.
Currently over 130,000 NATO-led ISAF troops with majority of them Americans have been serving in Afghanistan since the collapse of regime in late 2001.
The latest casualties bring the number of service members with the NATO-led forces that have been killed in Afghanistan to 276 so far this year.
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Taliban has no office in Iran: Iranian spokesman
TEHRAN, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast rejected reports that Tehran has allowed the Taliban to open an office in the Islamic republic, Press TV reported on Tuesday.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran only recognizes the lawful government of Afghanistan," Mehmanparast was quoted as saying on Monday.
In July, the Wall Street Journal reported that Tehran has allowed the Taliban to set up an office in the eastern Iranian city of Zahedan in May.
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Pakistan, Afghanistan Tensions Flare Cross-Border Attacks
Sharon Behn VOA News August 6, 2012
ISLAMABAD — Tensions are rising between Pakistan and Afghanistan over deadly cross-border attacks on both sides of the porous border.
Each country accuses the other of harboring militant groups that easily cross the border and launch deadly attacks.
Kabul says the Pakistan military has been shelling areas inside Afghanistan, displacing and killing civilians. Islamabad says it is defending itself from militants who are crossing the border from Afghanistan and killing Pakistani soldiers and civilians.
According to Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai, both governments are discussing the situation. But on Monday he warned that continued rocket attacks from Pakistan would threaten the already fragile relationship between the neighboring countries.
“We have said the continuation of any kind of rocket or artillery attacks on eastern Afghanistan, or any part of Afghanistan, could have a serious negative effect on relations between our countries," said Mosazai.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has accused Afghanistan of harboring a top Pakistan Taliban leader known as Fazlullah. He said the Taliban leader had orchestrated a number of killings inside Pakistan.
Officials representing Afghan and international forces say Pakistan is not doing enough to eliminate Taliban and militant groups like the Haqqani network, which regularly lead assaults inside Afghanistan.
NATO spokesman Brigadier General Gunter Katz said Monday that talks were underway on a regional solution.
“Stability in this region rests on the strength of the partnership of ISAF (International Security Forces - Afghanistan), Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.
But mistrust between Islamabad and Kabul runs deep.
Analysts in Islamabad have said it appears that neither country is willing nor able to control the militant fighters within their borders.
Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a political science professor at Lahore University, warns that all those involved in Afghanistan will lose if cross-border security issues are not settled before international forces leave.
“If they leave a relationship between Afghanistan [and Pakistan] that is hostile and unfriendly, and where both countries use militant groups as a lever, much of the good work that the international security forces have done will be lost," he said.
NATO’s senior civilian spokesman, Dominic Medley, said Monday the whole aim of the mission in Afghanistan was to leave a secure and stable country that would never again become a safe haven for terrorists.
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Keeping each other honest in Afghanistan - will it work?
Foreign Policy By William Byrd Monday August 6, 2012
The Tokyo meeting on Afghanistan of July 8 exceeded expectations in terms of both the total civilian aid funding indicated by donors ($16 billion over four years, or $4 billion per year on average) and the commitments agreed to by the Afghan government. This favorable outcome in turn has generated expectations for the future. "Mutual accountability" is the framework for implementation established at Tokyo to ensure that such expectations aren't disappointed. Mutual accountability means that the Afghan government and the international community are both responsible for -- and are accountable to each other for -- achieving mutually agreed objectives in the areas of improving governance, political transition, and development performance (by the government), and delivering aid and improving its effectiveness (by the international community). But will mutual accountability work? A recent paper sheds light on this question based on international experience and Afghanistan's recent history.
This is not the first time that sets of commitments and benchmarks have been used to try to move forward progress in Afghanistan. The past decade has seen numerous declarations and agreements, reflecting the multiplicity of donors and the plethora of high-profile international meetings since 2001; some prominent examples are briefly discussed below.
The Bonn Agreement of December 2001 required a number of political and institutional actions on the Afghan side, and the international community undertook to provide support. Most benchmarks-such as convening of a national assembly (Emergency Loya Jirga), adoption of a new constitution, and presidential and parliamentary elections-were achieved, on-time. However, the broader objective of state-building was elusive, and progress toward stable political institutions and normal political life was limited. Moreover, the Bonn process did not set in motion self-sustaining dynamics for continuing progress after it was completed in 2005. On the contrary, there were reversals in some respects, and the second round of elections in 2009-2010 turned out to be more problematic than the first round in 2004-2005.
The Afghanistan Compact of 2006 is a good example of how not to do mutual accountability. The wide range of areas covered and the sheer number of benchmarks-well over 100 of them in some 52 different areas-represented a "Christmas tree" approach which included almost everything and thereby ended up prioritizing nothing. It soon became largely irrelevant. Moreover, the mechanism for overseeing implementation, the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB), became an unwieldy, largely diplomatic forum.
There has been good experience with policy-based budget support (funding provided directly to the Afghan government budget by international financial institutions, in return for implementation of an agreed set of policy measures as part of a coherent reform agenda), and also with the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund's Incentive Program (ARTF IP). These initiatives took on board lessons from international experience; supported reform constituencies in the Afghan government; and built constructive dialogue between government and donors. The ARTF IP, with its agreed benchmarks and financial incentives, is a good example of coordinated financing (pooled funding) by the ARTF donors. However, these initiatives accounted for only a small proportion of total aid, did not include political conditions, and did not work well where highly connected political and financial interests were involved. For example, the Kabul Bank crisis was of a magnitude that could not be effectively addressed through the ARTF IP and its
benchmarks; indeed the entire ARTF was put at risk as donor contributions dried up during the crisis.
The Tokyo Framework of July 8 clearly reflects learning from experience. There are 20-plus benchmarks for the government in five main areas, far fewer than in the Afghanistan Compact. There is a long-term perspective-the "decade of transformation" (2014-2025), and the responsibilities of Afghanistan and the international community are clearly set forth and demarcated.
However, major issues and challenges lie ahead in implementing the Tokyo Framework. On the international side, the multiplicity of donors means there is fragmented accountability, which could adversely affect coherence as well as the ability of the international community to be meaningfully held accountable for total funding, particularly given severe fiscal constraints faced around the world. Coordinated funding will be essential, but is it realistic to expect most aid to go through the Afghan government budget/trust funds? This would require a wholesale change from past patterns whereby the bulk of aid was fragmented, project-based, and off-budget.
For the Afghan government, uncertain political and security prospects raise doubts about its ability to meet commitments. The reform constituency may be weakening; there has been an inability to fully address issues where high-level political connections are involved (e.g. Kabul Bank); and more generally, political will for meaningful reforms understandably may decline as the security transition proceeds and the next election cycle approaches. Preparations for elections-presidential in 2014 and parliamentary in 2015-will be an important early test of political will, including as called for in the Tokyo Declaration developing a comprehensive election timeline by early 2013 and a robust electoral architecture to enable successful and timely elections. Fighting corruption, including meaningful asset declarations of senior officials in the executive, legislature, and judiciary, will be another good indicator of the extent of political will for reforms.
Moreover, it is doubtful whether major political issues can be adequately handled through an articulated mutual accountability framework with benchmarks and calibrated financial incentives. Other mechanisms, such as that set up to oversee implementation of the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the Afghan and US governments, may be better suited for handling "big-ticket" issues, such as the preparations for and conduct and quality of the next presidential and parliamentary elections.
Inability by the international community to deliver the level of funding committed could provide a justification for the Afghan government failing to achieve its benchmarks. Mutual accountability could then degenerate into each side accusing the other of not delivering on promises, rather than working as a framework with incentives to achieve positive results and improve behavior on both sides as intended.
How will achievement of benchmarks be monitored and enforced? Given past experience, there are doubts about how well the JCMB (mandated to oversee implementation), and the series of further high-level meetings agreed at Tokyo, will work. Declining aid for Afghanistan means the funding lever potentially will be stronger than in the past, when aid was increasing and pressures to spend more money were overwhelming irrespective of performance, but it is not clear how effectively it can be deployed given donor fragmentation and also that some funding (e.g. for Afghan security forces) is seen as an integral part of international drawdown strategy and hence will be difficult to hold back.
In conclusion, while the outcome at Tokyo exceeded expectations and hence was a success, the challenge henceforth will be implementation. Mutual accountability-the cornerstone of the Tokyo Framework-is intended to put in place a set of responsibilities and incentives for the Afghan government and for the international community that will foster better behavior and performance on the part of both. There are serious questions about whether and how well mutual accountability will work, most important among them the level of political will in the Afghan government for taking difficult actions and the degree of coherence of donors as well as their ability and willingness to use financial leverage both positively and negatively to encourage fulfillment of government commitments.
William Byrd is a visiting senior expert at the United States Institute of Peace. This note is based on his remarks on mutual accountability at a USIP panel discussion on the subject. The views expressed here are his own.
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FEATURE-Entrepreneurs serving Afghan expats see good times ending
Reuters By Miriam Arghandiwal Tue Aug 7, 2012
KABUL - Behind high villa walls in Kabul's heavily guarded diplomatic district, restaurant owner Saju D'Cruz sits in a sun-washed courtyard and gives himself two more years in a country he has called home for a decade.
Like many other entrepreneurs in an Afghanistan bracing for an exodus of foreign troops and aid workers in two years, D'Cruz thinks business can only get worse at his popular Namaste Indian restaurant, as expat customers vanish.
"Our customer base has decreased already. When international forces leave, we'll shut down," he said, gazing out onto a small lawn covered with empty plastic dinning tables.
D'Cruz came to Afghanistan from India after the 2001 ousting of the former Taliban government, convinced the inrush of political change would bring with it a demand from both Afghans and foreigners for services taken for granted elsewhere.
While the Taliban had bought only their own austere brand of oppression, Afghanistan's new freedoms saw businesses flourish, transforming Kabul from a city of empty, pot-holed streets and ruined suburbs into one of bustling shops and car-choked roads.
D'Cruz and his restaurant caught the investment wave as more than $50 billion dollars in reconstruction money flooded in, but now, like others, he is preparing for a receding tide, taking businesses with it.
As one of many foreign investors who offers expatriates a taste of comforts they enjoyed at home, D'Cruz employed Indian chefs and imported his foods from India to inject authenticity to his dimly lit restaurant.
With the average monthly salary of an Afghan in Kabul being $300 or less, Namaste's dishes costing up to $18 a plate are out of the reach of the majority of the Afghans who will be left behind after 2014.
"It's a lot to pay for and keep up with, without a steady customer base," he said.
The deputy chairman of Afghanistan's Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Khan Jan Alokozai, said with the end-2014 deadline for NATO's withdrawal telescoping in, D'Cruz's worries were being reflected in hotels, restaurants, guest homes and real estate, and even among companies supplying the Afghan and foreign military forces.
Businesses had seen a 40 percent decrease in profits already, with the expectation being only for worse, he said.
"We rebuilt Afghanistan. But we rebuilt it for foreigners," Alokozai said. "We didn't look at what our own people needed and now that they are leaving, we'll have to rebuild it again."
Alokozai said while businesses like Namaste had mostly appealed to foreigners, their closing would shut out vital job opportunities in a country where one in three of its 30 million population live below the poverty line.
If D'Cruz shuts his restaurant, for example, eight Afghans will lose their jobs.
VACANT
The World Bank, in its most recent assessment of Afghanistan, said while the economy had been expanding strongly in the past few years, bolstered by big aid flows helping real gross domestic product growth reach 8.4 percent in 2010/11, the pullout was expected to cut that by about half.
Donors meeting in Tokyo last month promised civilian aid worth $16 billion for Afghanistan over the next four years, but tied to a much stronger effort by President Hamid Karzai's unpopular government to combat the entrenched corruption that has seen millions of aid dollars stolen.
D'Cruz's woes are echoed in Kabul's real estate market, where luxury homes in areas once in high demand by diplomats and foreign workers now have vacancy signs out front.
"Homes that used to up for rent for $10,000 a month are down to $4,000. It's 90 percent due to the decrease of foreign customers," said Shafikullah Mohammedi, a 35-year-old real estate agent who has just moved to a smaller office to save money.
Mohammedi, who lived for a time as a refugee in neighbouring Iran, returned to Afghanistan in 2005 with his family to work in what was then a booming property market.
Working mostly with foreigners, he used to rent out between two and three homes a month. Now he struggles to let that many in a year.
"I'm not sure what will become of the properties, they're just sitting there," Mohammedi said.
"I haven't been able to rent anything to foreigners, and none of my clients wants to lease their property to Afghans. They'll never see the rent money," he said.
Afghan ministers met Karzai in March to discuss how to restructure the economy to make it less reliant on aid and boost income from potentially lucrative resource exports.
Geologists have identified large untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, including iron, copper, lithium and gold, that could be worth up to $1 trillion, if infrastructure and access for miners was improved.
In October, major oil companies will bid for the rights to explore oil and gas blocks in northern Afghanistan, which the Economy Ministry says could produce $12 billion annually in government revenue, and help the country achieve stability.
But for Mohammadi the government's plan may come too late.
"I don't want to plan to leave my country and become a refugee again, but the way things are going I might have to," he said. (Additional reporting by Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi; Writing by Rob Taylor; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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Finance Officials Involved in Corruption
TOLOnews.com Monday, 06 August 2012
Ministry of Finance officials have allegedly taken a $3 million bribe to reduce Global Link's taxes, a private company, by more than $12 million, the Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office Chief Abu Baker Rafiee said.
Rafiee alleges that Global Link imported 31 armored vehicles to Afghanistan and the company should have paid $12.5 million to the Afghan government, but officials have taken a $3m bribe to reduced the taxes to $1.5m.
"The company had to paid $3 million but after an investigation they [Ministry of Finance] increased it back to $4 million," Rafie said. Five ministry officials have been detained over the corruption allegations.
Rafiee would like to see the $12.5 paid to the government.
Last week, Finance Minister Hazrat Omar Zakhilwa's bank accounts showed that over $1.5m made outside of his office was transferred to his international and national accounts in the last 5 years.
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