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New UN Envoy: Peace Talks Should be Afghan-led
VOA News January 25, 2012
The new United Nations envoy to Afghanistan says any peace talks with the Taliban must be Afghan-led in order to be successful.
Romney doubles down against the Taliban
Washington Post By Jackson Diehl 24/01/2012
Mitt Romney took some heat after saying in South Carolina last week that he would not negotiate with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Commentators such as my colleague David Ignatius pointed out that he was contradicting one of his top advisors, Mitchell Reiss, who has advocated talks. Others said he was ruling out the only possible route for ending the war.
Afghan House Secretary Elected
TOLOnews.com By Saleha Sadat Tuesday, 24 January 2012
The Afghan lawmakers on Tuesday elected House secretary and deputy secretary, a day after the deputy house speaker was elected.
Famous Afghan Businessman Held for Forgery, Bribery
TOLOnews.com By Shakeela Abrahimkhil Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Afghan Attorney General's Office on Tuesday said it has arrested Gulbahar Habibi, a famous Afghan businessman and the owner of Gulbahar Business Centre over forgery and bribery to construct the building on a government land.
Karzai Flies to Europe to Sign Strategic Partnership Agreements
TOLOnews.com By Sonil Haidari Wednesday, 25 January 2012
The Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday night left Kabul to Europe to sign strategic partnership agreements with Britain, France, Italy, and Turkmenistan, the President's Office said.
France Opts Not to Pull Forces From Afghan War
Wall Street Journal By NADYA MASIDLOVER JANUARY 25, 2012
PARIS - France won't speed up its exit from Afghanistan, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said Tuesday, indicating that it won't follow through on a warning that it might pull out of the country amid concerns over the security of its troops.
2 killed, 7 injured in rocket attack in Afghan Kapisa province
KABUL, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Two civilians were killed and seven others were injured Wednesday when two rockets fired by suspected Taliban insurgents hit a house in the country's Kapisa province.
20 more Taliban rebels surrender in N. Afghanistan
PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Twenty more Taliban insurgents surrendered to government in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan, a police official said on Wednesday.
US Has No Plan to Experiment New Political System in Afghanistan
TOLOnews.com By Lotfullah Najafizada Tuesday, 24 January 2012
The US has no plan to change the political system in Afghanistan or divide the country, US ambassador Ryan Crocker said on Tuesday, three days after President Karzai said his country was not a lab for foreigners to experiment new political system once a while.
U.S. envoy in Kabul denies partition rumours
Globe and Mail By Graeme Smith Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012
ISTANBUL - A senior American diplomat has issued an unusually blunt denial of rumours of a U.S. plan to break up Afghanistan as part of a peace deal with the Taliban.
Afghan police, home ministry must join graft register
Reuters Jan 24, 2012
KABUL - Top Afghan police and officials working for the powerful interior ministry will have to declare property portfolios and assets, including cash, in the latest drive to tackle endemic graft pervading the country.
Over 300 tons of drugs seized in Afghanistan in 2011
Xinhua Jan. 24, 2012
KABUL - Afghan forces and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) during operations throughout last year had seized over 300 tons of illicit drugs, a spokesman with the ISAF said on Tuesday.
In Afghanistan, Worried Mother Of Sextuplets Gets Help
By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan January 25, 2012
MAZAR-E SHARIF, Afghanistan -- The dismayed mother of six newborn Afghan babies won't be relaxing anytime soon, but she will get some comfort to go with her bundles of joy.
Heavy snowfall worsens traffic mess in Kabul
by Abdul Haleem, Yangtze Yan
KABUL, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The continued snowfall over the past days has worsened the traffic chaos, especially in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
Afghan Avalanche Death Toll During Past Week Rises To 46
January 24, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Officials in Afghanistan say heavy snow and avalanches in the country's far northeast have killed at least 46 people during the past week.
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New UN Envoy: Peace Talks Should be Afghan-led
VOA News January 25, 2012
The new United Nations envoy to Afghanistan says any peace talks with the Taliban must be Afghan-led in order to be successful.
Jan Kubis told reporters in Kabul Wednesday that no major party should be excluded from the discussions, which must be part of an Afghan-owned negotiating process in which members of the country's civil society also take part.
Kubis took over the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan from Staffan de Mistura, who was the U.N. secretary-general's special representative to the country until the end of 2011. Kubis has been meeting with Afghan officials, including President Hamid Karzai, since arriving in Afghanistan last week.
Despite calls by U.N. and U.S. officials that peace talks with the Taliban be Afghan-led, the insurgent group has not included the Afghan government in its comments on peace negotiations. Instead, the Taliban has called the government led by President Karzai a “stooge” administration.
Earlier this month, the Taliban said it reached a preliminary agreement to open a political office in Qatar. President Karzai says his government will accept the liaison office, despite his preference for it to be located in Afghanistan.
During a visit to Kabul earlier this week, U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman also endorsed the Taliban's move to open a diplomatic office in Qatar.
But he and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have said that the Taliban must renounce terrorism and endorse peace initiatives if they want to take part in talks to end the 10-year Afghan war. The U.S. embassy in Kabul on Wednesday reiterated the need for those steps, including breaking ties with al-Qaida, ending violence, and respecting the Afghan constitution, including its protections for women and minorities.
Separately Wednesday, NATO says a bomb attack killed one of its service members in southern Afghanistan. The coalition did not give further details.
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Romney doubles down against the Taliban
Washington Post By Jackson Diehl 24/01/2012
Mitt Romney took some heat after saying in South Carolina last week that he would not negotiate with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Commentators such as my colleague David Ignatius pointed out that he was contradicting one of his top advisors, Mitchell Reiss, who has advocated talks. Others said he was ruling out the only possible route for ending the war.
So in NBC’s Florida GOP debate Monday night, Brian Williams offered Romney a chance to back off his position — or double down. “Governor, how do you end the war in Afghanistan without talking to the Taliban?” Williams asked.
Romney doubled down: “By beating them,” he replied.
If Romney survives the challenge from Newt Gingrich, that answer could set up an important general election debate with President Obama. One of the administration’s most aggressive and ambitious diplomatic initiatives involves trying to jumpstart negotiations with senior Taliban leaders in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar. Administration officials have said they are considering the transfer of five senior Taliban commanders from the Guantanamo Bay prison to Qatar as part of a possible Taliban move to open an office there.
Obama will argue that a political settlement is the only way to end the war, and that by opposing it Romney is dooming the United States to an endless commitment of troops there. The president’s plan is to cease all U.S. combat operations by the end of 2014, though negotiations are underway with the Afghan government about an American military commitment beyond that date.
Romney previewed his side of the argument to Williams. In addition to defeating the Taliban, he said, the U.S. goal should be to “transition to the Afghan military” in a way that allows it to “hold off the Taliban” on its own. Obama, Romney added, had made failure in Afghanistan more likely by setting a deadline for withdrawals, by speeding up a troop withdrawal this year so that it will be carried out by September, and by allowing a bad Afghan presidential election in 2009 that weakened and discredited the government of Afhgan President Hamid Karzai.
Despite Williams’s skeptical tone, Romney’s position is hardly out the mainstream. In fact, it closely tracks with the views of senior U.S. military commanders and some NATO and U.S. diplomats in Kabul — not to mention Karzai himself. Their assessment is that senior Taliban leaders are very unlikely ever to accept Karzai’s government, much less the Afghan constitution with its provisions for democracy and human rights. The generals also resisted Obama’s 2012 drawdown, which will be carried out before the November election — but also before the completion of this year’s “fighting season” on the ground.
Romney’s position could be undercut if Taliban leaders offer significant concessions as a result of the administration’s diplomatic efforts. But so far they appear unready to deliver anything very tangible in exchange for the opening of the Doha office and release of their leaders. U.S. officials are saying only that they hope to extract a statement renouncing international terrorism. The group has rejected the idea of negotiating with what it calls “the stooge Karzai administration,” as opposed to the United States. And it has not indicated any willingness to give up violence — though U.S. military operations in southern Afghanistan have greatly reduced its military clout.
A lot could change in Afghanistan between now and Labor Day. For now, however, whether or not to cut a deal with the Taliban — with all of its possible benefits and costs — looks like it could be a bright dividing line between Obama and his GOP challenger. When Williams invited Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul to support the prospective negotiations, all remained silent.
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Afghan House Secretary Elected
TOLOnews.com By Saleha Sadat Tuesday, 24 January 2012
The Afghan lawmakers on Tuesday elected House secretary and deputy secretary, a day after the deputy house speaker was elected.
Abdul Sattar Khawasi got 108 votes winning the house secretary seat, while Farhad Azimi won the deputy secretary with 114 votes.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Behzad and Jafar Mahdawi competed for second house secretary seat, but none succeeded to win 50+1 of votes.
On Wednesday new candidates are to run for the second house secretary.
Head of the Coalition to support law enforcement, Abdul Zahir Qadir, was elected as the first deputy of the house speaker on Monday and promised lawmakers to do whatever he can to get the Afghan constitution implemented.
The second year, sixteenth session of the Afghan National Assembly was inaugurated by President Hamid Karzai on Saturday when he urged Afghan lawmakers to make their decisions based on the national interests of Afghanistan.
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Famous Afghan Businessman Held for Forgery, Bribery
TOLOnews.com By Shakeela Abrahimkhil Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Afghan Attorney General's Office on Tuesday said it has arrested Gulbahar Habibi, a famous Afghan businessman and the owner of Gulbahar Business Centre over forgery and bribery to construct the building on a government land.
The Attorney General's Office accused Mr Gulbahar of forging the signature of the first Vice-President, Qasim Fahim, to prepare a decree authorising the construction of Gulbahar Centre and Gulbahar tower in Kabul.
Mr Gulbahar has paid a bribe of 150,000 dollars to get the signature forged.
The anti-corruption department of the Afghan Attorney General said it does not reject suspicions that some high-level Afghan authorities might be involved in the case.
Head of the department, Gen. Abubakr Rafie, said that Gulbahar Habibi also owes the Kabul Bank a sum of 27 million dollars, the department said.
He is accused of being linked with a mafia group that has made 50 fake stamps different government levels including the stamps of the presidential palace.
The anti-corruption department said Mr Gulbahar is now in custody and also barred from travelling out of the country.
Gen. Rafie said more information will be made public after the investigations are accomplished.
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Karzai Flies to Europe to Sign Strategic Partnership Agreements
TOLOnews.com By Sonil Haidari Wednesday, 25 January 2012
The Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday night left Kabul to Europe to sign strategic partnership agreements with Britain, France, Italy, and Turkmenistan, the President's Office said.
On Thursday President Karzai will meet Turkmen President, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and will discuss about economic and bilateral cooperation, it said.
Mr Karzai will fly to Italy to meet Prime Minister Mario Monti and other top officials to sign strategic partnership agreements; it added that President Karzai will go to France and London on Friday.
The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday said the period for strategic partnership with France will be 20 years which include economic, security and political cooperation with Afghanistan.
But no details were provided about the strategic partnership with Britain and Italy.
The Minister added that President Hamid Karzai would work out the framework of bilateral cooperation with international allies and that the President will soon give a clear definition of such cooperation.
The partnership agreement with France is to be signed at a time after four of its soldiers were shot dead and seventeen others were wounded by an Afghan army soldier in eastern Kapisa province on Friday.
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France Opts Not to Pull Forces From Afghan War
Wall Street Journal By NADYA MASIDLOVER JANUARY 25, 2012
PARIS - France won't speed up its exit from Afghanistan, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said Tuesday, indicating that it won't follow through on a warning that it might pull out of the country amid concerns over the security of its troops.
"We will not give in to panic," Mr. Juppé said in remarks during parliamentary question time. He said there must not be confusion between "an organized withdrawal and a rushed withdrawal."
President Nicolas Sarkozy threatened on Friday to pull all French troops from Afghanistan after an Afghan soldier opened fire on a group of French troops, killing four and seriously wounding eight. The attack was the second on French troops by Afghan forces since late December.
Mr. Sarkozy suspended all training and combat support operations in the country pending a review of security conditions for the roughly 4,000 French troops in Afghanistan.
Mr. Juppé didn't indicate whether the suspension of training and support would be lifted soon.
Defense Minister Gérard Longuet, who flew to Afghanistan after the deaths of the French soldiers to review the security situation there, returned to France on Monday.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is traveling to France this week to sign a strategic partnership agreement outlining France's long-term plans for development and reconstruction assistance in Afghanistan.
French Prime Minister François Fillon told Parliament that Mr. Sarkozy "will announce the conclusions of this evaluation, after having shared them with President Karzai."
About 1,000 French soldiers are slated to leave Afghanistan by the end of this year, in advance of the planned withdrawal of most international forces by the end of 2014.
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2 killed, 7 injured in rocket attack in Afghan Kapisa province
KABUL, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Two civilians were killed and seven others were injured Wednesday when two rockets fired by suspected Taliban insurgents hit a house in the country's Kapisa province.
"A mother along with her three-year-old child was killed and seven members of the same family injured as two rockets fired by enemies of peace hit their house in Alasay district of Kapisa province this morning," the country's Interior Ministry said in a press release.
The incident occurred at around 11:30 a.m. local time Wednesday, the release said, adding that all the injured were shifted to a hospital by Afghan police shortly after the attack.
The release blamed Taliban insurgents for the attack.
A total of 1,462 Afghan civilians have been killed in the first half of 2011 which indicates a 15 percent rise in non- combatants' deaths compared with the same period in 2010, according to a United Nations mid-year report released in Kabul in July, 2011.
The report attributed 80 percent of the civilian deaths in the first six months of 2011 to the attacks of Taliban insurgents and other armed groups opposing the Afghan government, a claim rejected by Taliban as baseless.
Another 14 percent of the deaths were attributed to Afghan and NATO-led forces and the remaining 6 percent were unattributed in the report.
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20 more Taliban rebels surrender in N. Afghanistan
PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Twenty more Taliban insurgents surrendered to government in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan, a police official said on Wednesday.
"A 20-member group of Taliban, including their commander namely Juma Khan, has renounced violence and joined the peace process in Baghlan-e-Markazi district Wednesday morning," police chief of the district Kamin Khan told Xinhua.
He said the former insurgents were active at the Baba Saqual area of the district in the province, some 160 km north of capital city of Kabul.
According to police chief Khan, the group who joined the peace process in the mediation of local elders has also handed over a handful of weapons to security officials.
This is the second group of Taliban to lay down their arms in Baghlan province over the past two days.
A total of 40 Taliban members surrendered to the government in the same district on Tuesday.
Militants loyal to Taliban outfit have been active in parts of the relatively peaceful Baghlan province over the past years.
According to Afghan officials, more than 3,000 anti-government militants have laid down arms and joined the government-initiated peace and national reconciliation process last year, but Taliban rejected the statement as groundless.
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US Has No Plan to Experiment New Political System in Afghanistan
TOLOnews.com By Lotfullah Najafizada Tuesday, 24 January 2012
The US has no plan to change the political system in Afghanistan or divide the country, US ambassador Ryan Crocker said on Tuesday, three days after President Karzai said his country was not a lab for foreigners to experiment new political system once a while.
Ambassador Crocker called it only rumours and said such an effort by Washington would "dishonour the sacrifice of more than 1,800 American service members who have died in the cause of a unified Afghanistan, governed by its Constitution."
Earlier this month, four members of the US congress met with some key Afghan opposition leaders in Berlin and they came up with a statement calling for a decentralised political system in Afghanistan.
"This centralised power has led to massive corruption, disenfranchisement of a large segment of the Afghan people, obstacles to economic development, massive abuses of power, increasing political instability, poor governance, and a vast undermining of law and order," the members of US Congress had said after the 9 January meeting in the German capital.
Opposition leaders Ahmad Zia Massoud, Amrullah Saleh, Mohammad Mohaqeq and Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum had attended the meeting, organised by Aspen Institute.
They had also called for a national dialogue on a revised constitution in Afghanistan.
President Karzai, speaking in the Parliament on Saturday, condemned such efforts, saying that Afghanistan was not a laboratory for foreigners for such experiments.
Speaking at the Government Media and Information Centre (GMIC), Crocker said "rumours that the United States has a plan to divide Afghanistan or change its form of government are, frankly speaking, lies".
"Simply put, the United States is committed to supporting the efforts of the central government, to build a strong, secure, democratic, and unified Afghanistan. We have no other aim or goal," Crocker said, addressing government spokesperson and some journalists.
Crocker also said his government supports an Afghan-to-Afghan peace talks with the Taliban, adding that it was an "absurd rumour" that the United States was seeking a secret deal with the Taliban.
"For a peace process to succeed, Afghans must talk to Afghans. The President also spoke of Afghan government contacts with representatives of Hezb-e-Islami. This is another example of an Afghan-led process that we are pleased to support," Crocker said.
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U.S. envoy in Kabul denies partition rumours
Globe and Mail By Graeme Smith Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012
ISTANBUL - A senior American diplomat has issued an unusually blunt denial of rumours of a U.S. plan to break up Afghanistan as part of a peace deal with the Taliban.
The statement issued Tuesday by Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Kabul, reflects the intensity of recent speculation about secret talks to end the war in Afghanistan.
American officials recently confirmed a flurry of talks with all three major insurgent factions: the Taliban, Hezb-e-Islami and even the notorious Haqqani network, whose leaders are named on U.S. terrorist lists.
Such direct negotiations would have been hard to imagine in recent years, as U.S. strategy focused on pushing back the insurgents with military might and building up the capacity of the Afghan government. Now that U.S. troops have started to withdraw, however, some Afghans are embracing conspiracy theories about the American exit strategy.
Mr. Crocker tried to address those rumours head on.
“Rumours that the United States has a plan to divide Afghanistan or change its form of government are, frankly speaking, lies that dishonour the sacrifice of more than 1,800 American service members who have died in the cause of a unified Afghanistan, governed by its constitution,” the ambassador’s statement said.
Tensions have existed for centuries in Afghanistan between the predominately Pashto-speaking south and the Dari-speaking north. Speculation about partition escalated anew this month after four powerful Afghan politicians f met with members of the U.S. Congress in Berlin. The powerbrokers, part of the Northern Alliance that fought the Taliban during its years in power, issued a joint statement calling for a decentralization of power from Kabul to the provinces. While not overtly suggesting partition or federalism, that statement represented “a push for decentralization [that] was probably never made so prominently,” said Thomas Ruttig, a leading Afghanistan expert, in his blog for the Afghanistan Analysts Network.
Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry reacted sharply to the Berlin meeting, accusing the United States of interference in the country's internal affairs and warning that such meetings should not happen again.
Even the Taliban expressed outrage, rejecting the notion of partition on the basis that the insurgents would never be satisfied with only partial conquest of Afghanistan. The group “rejects the poisonous propaganda of the enemy which depicts as if the Islamic Emirate will be content with having control of a few provinces,” a Taliban statement said.
Another Taliban press release declared victory in the war against NATO and Afghan forces that is now in its 10th year, saying that international forces were now “compelled” to start negotiations at a new office the Taliban have been invited to open in the Persian Gulf country of Qatar.
In his comments on Tuesday, Mr. Crocker sought to dispel any fears from Afghan leaders that any talks with the Taliban in Qatar would exclude the Afghan government or undermine its authority over the whole of the country.
“Let me also address another false and absurd rumour: that the United States is seeking a secret deal with the Taliban at the expense of the Afghan government and people,” Mr. Crocker said.
Like other American officials, the U.S. diplomat continued to call the negotiations an “Afghan-led process,” despite Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s obvious discomfort with talks happening outside the borders of his country and beyond its control. Afghanistan withdrew its ambassador to Qatar last month to protest against that country's role in trying to start negotiations.
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Afghan police, home ministry must join graft register
Reuters Jan 24, 2012
KABUL - Top Afghan police and officials working for the powerful interior ministry will have to declare property portfolios and assets, including cash, in the latest drive to tackle endemic graft pervading the country.
Police and ministry bureaucrats would join around 2,500 government workers, including ministers, deputy ministers and departmental chiefs, who have so far declared holdings, the government's anti-corruption watchdog said on Tuesday.
"I hope there comes a day when we can ask 'where did you buy all these properties, when you had no food to eat ten years ago?'," Azizullah Ludin, director general of the Afghan High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption told reporters.
The register is part of a compulsory scheme aimed at tackling government corruption, a massive barrier to economic growth in Afghanistan. Ludin is an appointee of President Hamid Karzai.
Once assets are registered, Ludin's oversight office can investigate official declarations and, if it finds anything suspicious, pass evidence to the Attorney General's office for further probes or prosecution.
Since the scheme was launched last year, at least 15 officials have been scrutinised by the Attorney General's office. Results of those investigations will be made public soon, an oversight official said.
Kabul has over recent years been enjoying a property boom fuelled by the small section of wealthy Afghans with international jobs and construction contracts.
In the past, Afghan officials have bought property and registered it in the names of family members. Under the oversight office's scheme, property belonging to officials' wives and children must be registered, but assets of other relatives are exempt.
Corruption is common at all levels of Afghan society. In December, a survey by Berlin-based graft watchdog Transparency International rated Afghanistan one of the world's most corrupt countries, ranked equally with Myanmar, and only slightly cleaner than North Korea and Somalia.
"We have to ... confess what the reasons for the corruption are and to tackle that," said Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, administrative deputy for the interior ministry. (Reporting by Mirwais Harooni; Editing by Daniel Magnowski, Rob Taylor and Ed Lane)
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Over 300 tons of drugs seized in Afghanistan in 2011
Xinhua Jan. 24, 2012
KABUL - Afghan forces and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) during operations throughout last year had seized over 300 tons of illicit drugs, a spokesman with the ISAF said on Tuesday.
"The year 2011 was an outstanding year in seizing drugs in Afghanistan," ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson told reporters in a weekly press briefing here.
"Over 97,975 kg of opium, 8,823 kg of heroin, 61,168 kg of marijuana and 148,875 kg of hashish was seized during counter narcotic operations in Afghanistan last year," Jacobson said, adding that joint forces also found more than 160,500 kg of poppy seed in the same period of time.
The insurgency-hit Afghanistan remains the main producer of opium as about 90 percent of the world's opium, the raw material used in manufacturing heroin, according to reports, is produced here in this country.
According to officials, more than 5,800 tons of opium poppy was produced in Afghanistan last year.
With regard to a shooting incident on Friday that left four French soldiers with the ISAF dead and 15 others injured, the ISAF spokesman said that an investigation into the incident was going on.
"We know that the perpetrator was a member of Afghan National Army," he said, adding that the shooter was in the Afghan army custody.
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In Afghanistan, Worried Mother Of Sextuplets Gets Help
By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan January 25, 2012
MAZAR-E SHARIF, Afghanistan -- The dismayed mother of six newborn Afghan babies won't be relaxing anytime soon, but she will get some comfort to go with her bundles of joy.
First-time mother Sara Gul expressed joy upon giving birth to sextuplets in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif on January 24. But the impoverished 23-year-old was clearly daunted by the prospect of having to care for three girls and three boys.
During an interview at the hospital on the day of her delivery, Gul said she and her husband, Shukrullah, already struggle to make ends meet on his meager income. With six more mouths to feed, she said she was hoping for financial assistance from local authorities.
On January 25, she got some relief.
The administration of the Mazar-e Sharif hospital where she gave birth provided 6,000 afghanis ($120) to Gul, while the governor 's office of Balkh Province promised to provide $1,000 for the family.
Upon learning that she was pregnant with six children, Gul and her 27-year-old husband made some big life changes.
They moved from their home village to Mazar-e Sharif in hope that Shukrallah could find work.
Gul said the couple's extreme poverty also caused her to consider terminating her pregnancy.
"I wasn't happy with [being pregnant with multiple babies] and I tried to induce a miscarriage, but it didn't work," she said. "I took medicines, I jumped from walls, but nothing happened."
As the due date neared, Gul's fears remained.
"We are very poor. I wasn't sure if there would be doctors on hand when we needed them, and we don't have much to eat," she said.
So far, so good.
Malalai, an obstetrician in her hospital, said that while the sextuplets were born prematurely and are being kept in incubators, they are in good health.
Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by correspondent Zuhra Safi
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Heavy snowfall worsens traffic mess in Kabul
by Abdul Haleem, Yangtze Yan
KABUL, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The continued snowfall over the past days has worsened the traffic chaos, especially in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
"You can see the long queue of people who have been waiting for one hour for a bus to go home but no bus is available," Mohammad Arif, a Kabul resident, told Xinhua on Tuesday evening, pointing to the flocks of people waiting at a bus stop in downtown Kabul.
Standing and shaking in the freezing weather, the 40-year-old Arif shouted in anger and despair that "no bus is ever coming to take people."
But when a minibus did arrive, Arif still didn't succeed in grabbing a seat in the fight with a group of equally desperate home goers.
Over the past two weeks, the major parts of Afghanistan including the capital city have experienced heavy snowfall. More than 40 people have lost their lives in avalanches and cold spell in the northeastern Badakhshan province, according to officials, while some roads leading to central Daikundi's provincial capital Nili have been blocked due to snow.
"I have been waiting for more than one hour but no bus, taxi or private car is available," said another Kabul resident Haroon, 35.
The temperature had dived to minus 13 degrees centigrade, forcing many drivers to stay at home to avoid accidents on the icy and congested roads.
Normally, few public buses are roaming in Kabul with over 4 million residents. There is no subway in the capital city to transport commuters.
However, some 400,000 vehicles, mostly private cars, are driven on the bumpy roads in Kabul, with a considerable number of private cars working as taxi.
The private car owners prefer to stay at home though they are more needed in heavy snowfall and freezing weather.
"I do not want to make accident and plunge myself into trouble, " Mohammed Sediq, a driver of a private corolla, told Xinhua, adding that driving in slippery streets is risky.
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Afghan Avalanche Death Toll During Past Week Rises To 46
January 24, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Officials in Afghanistan say heavy snow and avalanches in the country's far northeast have killed at least 46 people during the past week.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has declared an emergency in the mountainous northeastern province of Badakhshan and promised a relief fund of $160,000.
A statement from Karzai's office on January 24 quoted provincial officials who updated the death toll and said 60 people have also been injured by recent avalanches.
Afghanistan's harsh winters and mountainous terrain make avalanches an annual hazard.
Last year, at least 171 people died in an avalanche at the Salang Pass -- the major highway route through the Hindu Kush mountains linking Kabul with the north of the country.
compiled from agency reports
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