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Pakistani PM pays official visit to Afghanistan
KABUL, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf arrived here on Thursday for a one-day official visit, an official said.
Afghanistan, Pakistan to resume talks on Afghan peace
By Mirwais Harooni | Reuters – Thu, Jul 19, 2012
KABUL (Reuters) - Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed on Thursday to resume regular talks on Afghanistan's peace process, with the new Pakistani prime minister promising to help arrange meetings between Afghan and Taliban representatives.
Looted treasures returned to Afghanistan by British Museum
The Independent By Dalya Alberge Thursday 19 July 2012
The British Museum, aided by British police and the UK Border Force, has helped return to Afghanistan hundreds of looted antiquities seized from smugglers, The Independent can reveal.
Cameron, Karzai Sign Deal to Build Officers' Academy
TOLOnews.com Thursday, 19 July 2012
British Prime Minister David Cameron and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a deal on Thursday to build a British-style officers' academy in Afghanistan.
Iran reiterates all kinds of cooperation for stabilization of Afghanistan: Sheikholeslam
New Delhi, July 19, IRNA – Hoping for an independent Afghanistan free of foreign presence, the Islamic Republic of Iran on Thursday reiterated all kinds of cooperation for the stabilization of Afghanistan.
British PM reiterates long-term support to Afghanistan
KABUL, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday reiterated his country's long-term support to Afghanistan even after the completion of the combat mission by 2014.
Afghan Death Sentence Stirs Debate
Wall Street Journal By NATHAN HODGE And HABIB KHAN TOTAKHIL July 18, 2012
KABUL - A recent death sentence for an Afghan soldier who killed five French troops is generating controversy in Afghanistan, with insurgents hailing the man as a hero, and human-rights advocates urging clemency.
Moderate quake hits Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan
KABUL, July 19 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale jolted Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan at 0736 GMT on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Failing in both Afghanistan and Pakistan
Toronto Star By Haroon Siddiqui Editorial Page Wednesday July 18, 2012
That was a revealing series of articles on Afghanistan by the Star’s veteran foreign correspondent, Paul Watson. He let the facts do the talking, showing how Canada’s ostensible military and civilian successes in southern Afghanistan have, in fact, been embarrassing failures — the schools that don’t provide education, the dam that cannot store or regulate sufficient water, the justice system that remains as broken as ever.
Afghan army letting ally soldiers take heat
Sydney Morning Herald By Rory Callinan July 19, 2012
COMBAT death statistics suggest the Afghan army is allowing Australian and other international forces and local police to do most of the fighting in Oruzgan, with an Afghan brigadier initially claiming no Afghan soldier had been killed in the province in battle this year.
41,000 Afghan refugees have returned home from Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency has facilitated the return of over 41,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan so far this year with its voluntary repatriation activities.
Justice, Security Will Establish Unbeatable Government: Karzai
TOLOnews.com Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Afghan President Hamid Karzai attended the inauguration of Afghanistan's first female judges association, saying that no outside power could beat Afghanistan if its justice system and security were strong.
Private Higher Education Curriculums Not Meeting Standards: Obaid
TOLOnews.com Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Afghanistan's Minister of Higher Education Obaidullah Obaid criticised the curriculum and lesson plans of private higher education institutions on Wednesday, saying that they are not in accordance with the Ministry's guidelines.
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Pakistani PM pays official visit to Afghanistan
KABUL, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf arrived here on Thursday for a one-day official visit, an official said.
This is Ashraf's first visit to Afghanistan since he assumed office last month.
Ashraf will hold talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other Afghan leaders on bilateral issues as well as peace and reconciliation process in the militancy-hit country, the official added.
The prime minister will also meet with the Chairman of Afghan High Peace Council Salahuddin Rabbani.
Karzai will hold a trilateral meeting with Ashraf and British Prime Minister David Cameron later Thursday.
Ashraf is also to inaugurate the new complex of Pakistan's embassy in Kabul later in the day.
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Afghanistan, Pakistan to resume talks on Afghan peace
By Mirwais Harooni | Reuters – Thu, Jul 19, 2012
KABUL (Reuters) - Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed on Thursday to resume regular talks on Afghanistan's peace process, with the new Pakistani prime minister promising to help arrange meetings between Afghan and Taliban representatives.
Following day-long talks in Kabul, also involving Britain's visiting Prime Minister David Cameron, Pakistani premier Raja Pervez Ashraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai said they had agreed to resume meetings of the two-track Peace Commission.
The commission, which drew together political and military leaders from both neighbors, was suspended last year following the assassination of former Afghan president and peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani. Afghan officials accused Pakistani intelligence of being involved in the killing.
Pakistan is seen as crucial to stability in Afghanistan as most foreign combat troops look to leave the country in 2014, given its close political and economic ties and because militants' sanctuaries straddle the mountainous border.
But Afghan officials have openly accused Islamabad of doing little to help them reach senior Taliban leaders that Kabul says are based in Pakistan. Pakistan denies this and also the existence of senior insurgents within its territory.
"Pakistan is playing the role of facilitator ... If Pakistan can facilitate in any manner, we will do it," Ashraf told reporters at Karzai's garden palace in Kabul.
Ashraf, a former water and power minister, was elected as Pakistan's prime minister a month ago, and his visit to Kabul on Thursday was his first in his new role.
"Let me assure you that Pakistan does not support any terrorists. It is not in our interest and we cannot afford it," he said.
Both leaders said Rabbani's son Salahuddin Rabbani - who replaced his father as head of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, the body tasked with reaching out to the Taliban - would travel to Pakistan for talks soon. It would be his first visit since his appointment in April.
"SINGLE FIGHT"
"The peace process is the most important of pursuits for Afghanistan. It remains the highest priority," Karzai said.
British Prime Minister Cameron, who signed a deal with Karzai to fund a new Afghan military academy dubbed "Sandhurst in the sand" following a visit to British troops in south-west Helmand province, said the Taliban could not wait out NATO.
He also urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to join forces in the fight against insurgents in both countries, warning they must be "together in one single fight."
"The terrorists that are trying to wreck Afghanistan are by and large the same terrorists that are trying to wreck Pakistan. This is one fight that we all need to be engaged in," Cameron said.
Violence in Afghanistan is at its fiercest since U.S.-led Afghan troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001, and as foreign soldiers progressively hand over to Afghan security forces.
But hopes of establishing peace talks between Karzai's government and the Taliban this year faded after the militants' reclusive leadership suspended participation in preliminary discussions run by U.S. diplomats.
That setback refocused attention on nascent efforts by the Afghan government to open its own channels with insurgent intermediaries, despite the fact the Taliban publicly says it will not talk to what it deems an illegitimate "puppet" government.
Some foreign soldiers will remain in Afghanistan in an advisory and training role after 2014, while special forces troops from several countries are also expected to stay on.
The militant Haqqani network poses an ongoing threat and has been blamed for several high-profile attacks in the Afghan capital, including an assault last month on a hotel resort on Kabul's fringe in which 20 people were killed.
Also underscoring Islamabad's importance is that supply routes crucial to NATO forces in Afghanistan also run through Pakistan, and only recently re-opened after a seven-month freeze caused by the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a NATO strike.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Hamid Shalizi; Writing by Rob Taylor; Editing by Pravin Char)
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Looted treasures returned to Afghanistan by British Museum
The Independent By Dalya Alberge Thursday 19 July 2012
The British Museum, aided by British police and the UK Border Force, has helped return to Afghanistan hundreds of looted antiquities seized from smugglers, The Independent can reveal.
David Cameron will announce in Afghanistan today that 850 treasures have been repatriated, having been passed to the British Museum for safeguarding following their confiscation in Britain over the last two years.
A spectacular second-century sculpture of the Buddha, exquisite first-century ivories and delicate Bactrian Bronze Age cosmetics containers are among treasures that reflect the rich heritage of a land that was once a crossroads of Eastern and Western civilisations. Their combined value is thought to be around £1m.
Last week, in a secret operation, the entire collection was despatched on two military planes to the Afghan national museum in Kabul, which is desperate to rebuild its holdings. Up to 80 per cent of its exhibits were plundered or destroyed during the Afghan civil war of the 1990s.
Such was the concern about the safety of the antiquities that The Independent was asked to delay covering their return until they were back in the Kabul museum.
Bronze Age carvings and 1,000-year-old Islamic metalwork are among the objects confiscated at British airports, including Birmingham and Manchester.
These cases reflect a global trade that exploits Afghanistan's decades of war to smuggle its heritage abroad for profit. Recent research by Unesco found that thousands of ancient pieces are smuggled through the country's porous borders every year.
Some of the treasures were destined for the British art market. Others stopped off in the UK in transit, it is believed. The Metropolitan Police Art and Antiques Unit has been involved in the investigations. No arrests have been made so far.
Last week, a suicide bomber killed more than a dozen guests at a wedding in northern Afghanistan – the latest violent attack within the country.
But despite the ongoing risks, Afghanistan's curators felt that they were now ready to be reunited with their antiquities. They have created a new display on Buddhism, where the repatriated Buddha sculpture will receive pride of place.
Last year, an anonymous British dealer collaborated with the British Museum to buy and repatriate that sculpture after recognising it as an important antiquity that had been stolen from the Kabul museum in the 1990s. It had been bought by a Japanese collector, from whom the dealer acquired it with his own money with the purpose of repatriating it to Afghanistan.
St John Simpson, the British Museum's senior curator responsible for the pre-Islamic collections from Iran and Arabia, told The Independent: "We're all in it together as museums and museum curators. I'd like to think that anyone would do the same for us if we were unlucky to suffer major disaster or crisis. It is a liberating moment for our colleagues in Kabul."
Other important repatriated pieces include Begram ivories stolen from the Kabul museum and a 12th-century coin from Bamiyan – site of the Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban.
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Cameron, Karzai Sign Deal to Build Officers' Academy
TOLOnews.com Thursday, 19 July 2012
British Prime Minister David Cameron and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a deal on Thursday to build a British-style officers' academy in Afghanistan.
Cameron said in a press conference on Thursday that the deal was part of Britain's continuing commitment to development aid beyond 2014, when UK combat troops will leave as international operations end.
Cameron and Karzai will also meet with Pakistan's new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf who travelled to Kabul Thursday.
It will be Karzai's first meeting with Ashraf, and it is expected to focus on discussions over securing a peace deal with the Taliban and an end to cross-border support for insurgents.
At the press conference, Cameron urged Karzai and Ashraf to "work together to achieve a secure and stable Afghanistan."
It comes as Nato begins the troop drawdown from Afghanistan, set to end in 2014.
Cameron arrived in Afghanistan on Wednesday, landing in the southern city of Lashkar Gar, capital of Helmand province, where British forces are based.
He met with provincial officials including the police chief and acting governor to discuss the transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces.
Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, making it the second-largest contributor to the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force after the United States.
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Iran reiterates all kinds of cooperation for stabilization of Afghanistan: Sheikholeslam
New Delhi, July 19, IRNA – Hoping for an independent Afghanistan free of foreign presence, the Islamic Republic of Iran on Thursday reiterated all kinds of cooperation for the stabilization of Afghanistan.
Addressing the day-long Regional Conference under the title “Peace and Stabilization in Afghanistan: What Can Neighbours Contribute?”, here on Friday, Sheikholeslam said: “Keeping in mind regional cooperation and agreement gets priority over international solutions for solving the Afghan problem, Iran has announced its readiness for all kinds of cooperation”. And we also pressurize our regional friends to come together for solving the problems faced by Afghanistan.
He hoped for an independent Afghanistan free of foreign presence and whose people are able to enjoy all their civil rights and which has popular government which respects rights of all ethnic and religious minorities and which is a friend of all neighbors and the whole region.
“Iran is playing an important role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. It has done many things in the country like development of roads, laying of the Khwaf – Herat railway line, construction of residential units, establishment of educational units and providing electricity to the cities and the villages,” said Iranian diplomat.
Emphasizing for the regional cooperation for the peace and stablilization in Afghanistan, Sheikholeslam said the basic hurdle is of the foreign presence.
He noted that the regional countries particularly the neighbors of Afghanistan are opposing the establishment of the US permanent bases in Afghanistan.
Elaborating his statement, Iranian official said: “The US President arrived in Kabul in the midnight of a spring day without prior announcement and left Afghanistan immediately after signing a strategic agreement. This kind of haste in signing this agreement shows their failure. It also shows their fear from demonstrations and the opposition of the people and the parties. One of the results of the military agreement with the US is the continuation of the war and intensification of violence by the extremist groups for presence of foreign forces in an Islamic country.
He maintained that the US presence in the region deteriorates the security in the region and in the countries neighboring Afghanistan. Referring to the agreement, Sheikholeslam said that in a number of clauses of the agreement, the sovereignty of Afghanistan has been violated. The American forces and their colleagues have been given special privileges and immunity from prosecution which is again a clear violation of the sovereignty of Afghanistan. In the agreement, there is not balance between the authorities of the two sides as a result of which the powerful one could impose its will even if it is against the interests of the weaker side, he added.
Urging regional cooperation and noting that agreements should get priority over international solutions and agreement, the Iranian official said the principle of the confidence building and the good neighborliness of the countries with Afghanistan are of especial importance. And all neighbors have effective role in expansion of regional cooperation for establishment of security and economic development in Afghanistan.
Speaking on the occasion, Shaida Abdali, Ambassador of Afghanistan to India said that long-term peace in Afghanistan was only possible through an intra-Afghan political settlement that includes all Afghan stakeholders.
He said it was imperative to strive together for peace and stability in the Afghanistan and the regional countries of all shades can play an important role.
Referring to terrorism and extremism he said: “Not only people of Afghanistan but the countries of the region were victims of this menace”. This can only be resolved by working jointly, with will and determination.
The conference, beside Iran was attended by Pakistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Jyrgyzstan and the US, was organized by the Delhi Policy Group.
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British PM reiterates long-term support to Afghanistan
KABUL, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday reiterated his country's long-term support to Afghanistan even after the completion of the combat mission by 2014.
"Not only Briton but also the international community remain committed to continue to support Afghanistan after 2014 when all foreign combat troops leave the country," Cameron told reporters at a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Presidential Palace.
The British prime minister and the Afghan leader, before holding the press conference, signed an agreement on setting up a new army officer training academy for Afghan National Army by the Briton, which will be modeling on Britain's Sandhurst and aim at producing high quality platoon leaders.
The foreign combat operation will be ended by 2014 but supportive role and the training mission would be continuing for Afghan forces, Cameron added.
Britain currently has 9,500 troops in Afghanistan mostly deployed in the restive southern Helmand province and the Britain is due to withdraw 500 soldiers by the end of this year.
Cameron arrived in Afghanistan on Wednesday and during his trip to Helmand to meet his troops he said that UK will decide in December how many troops will leave Afghanistan in 2013.
Cameron will meet Afghan High Peace Council Chairman Salahuddin Rabbani shortly after the conference.
Later Thursday, the British prime minister, Karzai and the visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf are to hold a trilateral meeting to discuss the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan and other issues including fight against terrorism.
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Afghan Death Sentence Stirs Debate
Wall Street Journal By NATHAN HODGE And HABIB KHAN TOTAKHIL July 18, 2012
KABUL - A recent death sentence for an Afghan soldier who killed five French troops is generating controversy in Afghanistan, with insurgents hailing the man as a hero, and human-rights advocates urging clemency.
Abdul Basir was convicted Sunday by a military court of killing five French soldiers on a military base in the eastern Kapisa province in January, according to a statement Wednesday by Afghanistan's defense ministry. Spokesman Maj. Gen. Zahir Azimi said Mr. Basir would be shot dead.
Mr. Basir, whose rank wasn't given, was convicted of opening fire on unarmed French soldiers while they were training on their base. Four of them were killed outright and 15 others were injured, with one subsequently dying of his wounds. It was one of the worst such "green-on-blue" attacks—incidents in which Afghan troops turn their weapons on U.S. and coalition allies—since the war began.
Under Afghan military law, Mr. Basir can appeal his conviction.
Advocacy group Human Rights Watch urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai to commute the death sentence. Afghanistan's justice system "remains weak and compromised, in spite of over 10 years of donor assistance," the group said in a statement. "It relies heavily on confessions, including some obtained through torture. Use of physical evidence is rudimentary. The independence and impartiality of judges is often undermined, especially in high-profile cases such as this one."
On a visit to Kabul on Wednesday, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian declined to comment directly on the court's verdict, saying it was a matter of "Afghan justice."
However, Mr. Le Drian reiterated France's long-standing opposition to the death penalty.
The January killings in Kapisa have prompted France to accelerate plans for the withdrawal of its combat troops.
Those forces now are scheduled to depart by the end of the year, well ahead of a 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of most international troops. A smaller French noncombat contingent focused on training Afghan forces will remain in the country longer.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Taliban praised Mr. Basir for his "magnificent act," saying that the judges and prosecutors involved in the trial would be targeted for assassination.
Such remarks appear designed to tap into Afghan resentment of foreign troops. When Col. Ahmad Gul, an Afghan air force officer, killed eight U.S. Air Force service members and a contractor last year, he was hailed by some as a hero and posters hanging in the Kabul district where he lived celebrated his martyrdom. As many as 2,000 Afghans attended his funeral in his home village to show their appreciation for killing "infidels and occupiers." The incident, the Taliban added, would "live in the country's history forever."
The statement also compared Mr. Basir with Wazir Akbar Khan, an Afghan national hero who led a revolt against the British in the 1840s. It said the "puppet regime"—the phrase the Taliban uses to describe Mr. Karzai's administration—had convicted the soldier to "please its foreign masters."
Write to Nathan Hodge at nathan.hodge@wsj.com
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Moderate quake hits Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan
KABUL, July 19 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale jolted Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan at 0736 GMT on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The epicenter, with a depth of 105.30 km, was initially determined to be at 37.2794 degrees north latitude and 71.3492 degrees east longitude.
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Failing in both Afghanistan and Pakistan
Toronto Star By Haroon Siddiqui Editorial Page Wednesday July 18, 2012
That was a revealing series of articles on Afghanistan by the Star’s veteran foreign correspondent, Paul Watson. He let the facts do the talking, showing how Canada’s ostensible military and civilian successes in southern Afghanistan have, in fact, been embarrassing failures — the schools that don’t provide education, the dam that cannot store or regulate sufficient water, the justice system that remains as broken as ever.
While it’s been known that NATO lost Afghanistan long ago, or at least that it could not win, Watson has exposed some of the bigger lies the Stephen Harper government has been telling Canadians.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be too tough on Ottawa. The United States and others haven’t done much better, either.
After nearly 12 years and $400 billion, NATO has failed to provide basic security to ordinary Afghans in Taliban strongholds. It has also failed to create stable civil institutions, a functioning government in Kabul and a sustainable economy based not on opium and foreign handouts but the mineral wealth estimated at $1 trillion that the Chinese and others are eyeing.
Despite a $55 billion aid component that concentrated on uplifting women, hundreds of schools remain closed under Taliban intimidation. And women continue to suffer increased violence with little or no protection under the law. There have been 52 murders of women and girls in the last four months alone, 42 of them honour killings, including that of a woman publicly executed not far from Kabul for alleged adultery.
We see such accounts as proof of how bad the Taliban are, which they are. But we are also so conditioned by official and media propaganda that we fail to see the bigger scandal: all this horror is happening right under NATO’s nose.
When the industrialized world’s military failed to beat the ragtag Taliban, NATO sued for peace. But even that process has been derailed — by the Taliban (who want some of their brethren released from Guantanamo Bay); by President Hamid Karzai (who does not want to be bypassed); and by Pakistan (which also wants a say in the final outcome). It seems that every party but NATO is calling the shots.
The 2014 exit plan is also up in the air.
It is not known how many NATO troops will be left behind and for how long (to ensure the Taliban do not overrun Kabul).
It is not known who will pay the $11 billion a year for the proposed 350,000-strong Afghan army and police. That’s three times the national yearly budget. This expenditure is in addition to the $16 billion for four years pledged at a recent donors’ conference.
With so much uncertainty, the Taliban and other militias are jockeying for control of parcels of Afghanistan — in the same way that Iraqi factions did before the departure of American troops. Some Afghan groups are being armed by the U.S., just as some Iraqi groups were. Civil war looms, as it did in Iraq.
If and when such war breaks out, the Afghan army may split along ethnic lines, aiding the very prospect it is designed to avoid.
Americans are equally at bay in neighbouring Pakistan, the exile home of the Taliban and affiliated insurgents.
Just as NATO alienated ordinary Afghans, especially by “friendly fire” deaths of civilians, the Americans have alienated Pakistanis with similar killings of both civilians and Pakistani troops in cross-border drone and other air attacks. One such incident, the inadvertent killing of 24 soldiers in November, led to Pakistan blockading NATO supplies for landlocked Afghanistan from the Arabian Sea port of Karachi.
Pakistan demanded an apology. Barack Obama refused, fearing that Republicans would label him “apologizer-in-chief” in this election year. Pakistan wanted compensation for the land corridor given for free since 2001. Congress balked.
In the last seven months, the U.S. spent $700 million extra to airlift supplies through Central Asia.
Finally, Washington conceded the obvious: Pakistan is central to the Afghan mission. Not just for supplies going in but also for all the heavy equipment coming out post-2014. Pakistan also holds the key to bringing parts of the Taliban network to the negotiating table.
So, at last, Hillary Clinton said “sorry.” The U.S. agreed to release $1.2 billion in frozen military aid, and to repair roads and bridges.
But the U.S. won’t stop the drone attacks. There’s no telling when the next civilian deaths would occur and prompt the next cries of “Down with America.”
The U.S., and therefore NATO, continues to lurch from crisis to crisis. It lashes out at the Taliban and Pakistan, both of which deserve much blame. But the larger truth is that NATO, including Canada, has failed in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Haroon Siddiqui’s column appears on Thursday and Sunday. hsiddiqui@thestar.ca
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Afghan army letting ally soldiers take heat
Sydney Morning Herald By Rory Callinan July 19, 2012
COMBAT death statistics suggest the Afghan army is allowing Australian and other international forces and local police to do most of the fighting in Oruzgan, with an Afghan brigadier initially claiming no Afghan soldier had been killed in the province in battle this year.
During the same period, Australian casualties have included one highly trained special forces veteran shot dead and 17 soldiers wounded. More than 30 Afghan police have also been killed - mainly from roadside bombs or attacks on their checkpoints.
The statistics were obtained as the Australian government announced on Tuesday it would start formally handing over security responsibilities to the Afghan National Army (ANA) in Oruzgan.
On Sunday, tribal elders had alleged collaboration and an unofficial truce between the Taliban and Afghan soldiers in parts of Oruzgan after Australian Special Air Service Sergeant Blaine Diddams was shot dead during a raid in the village of Qala-e-Naw, about 20 kilometres north of the capital, Tarin Kowt, on July 2.
They complained Afghan soldiers had suffered almost no roadside bomb attacks in the area, yet police were constantly being targeted and they suspected insurgents of getting tip-offs from the Afghan army.
The Afghan army vigorously denied the allegations but the Herald this week obtained confirmation that, since the start of the year, dozens of police have been killed - many of them in Chora, the neighbouring district to where Sergeant Diddams was killed.
A spokesman for Oruzgan Police, Fari Hayel, said that between 30 and 40 police officers had been killed and about 90 wounded in the province over the past six months.
The statistics were backed up by the Chora district police commander, Mullah Nematullah, who said that about 17 officers had died in Chora alone in the past six months. The police officials did not comment on allegations of a truce between the army and the Taliban.
Oruzgan-based Afghan army Brigadier-General Zafar Khan said that, in the past six months, no Afghan soldier had been killed in combat but four Afghan soldiers had been wounded this month.
He denied his army was not fighting, saying the police had only suffered more casualties because they were more vulnerable and lacked the resources and better training of the soldiers and did not have foreign mentoring troops.
Last night, the Australian Defence Force appeared to contradict Brigadier Zafar, telling the Herald there had been fatalities but saying it could not provide any details as such information had to come from the Afghan Defence Ministry.
However, a source indicated the Afghan army had four or five fatalities in an improvised explosive device strike earlier this year.
When the Herald's Afghan special correspondent contacted Brigadier Zafar to seek clarification, the brigadier is alleged to have threatened the correspondent.
The Herald has asked the ADF if it was appropriate for the brigadier with whom the ADF works, to be responding to the media in this manner.
Earlier in the week, tribal elder Haji Mohammed Zahir, who is from the Dar Afshan area where Sergeant Diddams was killed, said the army was even refusing to fight alongside the police when attacks were taking place on police posts about 500 metres away from the army posts.
Yesterday, Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman General Zahir Azmi told local media in Kabul that claims of a truce between the Taliban and the ANA was wrong but added it would be investigating the claims.
An ADF spokesman this week said there continued to be "a close partnership between Australian and Afghan soldiers operating in Afghanistan".
Additional reporting, a special correspondent in Kabul.
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41,000 Afghan refugees have returned home from Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency has facilitated the return of over 41,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan so far this year with its voluntary repatriation activities.
Nearly a third of the refugees have returned to homes in northern Afghanistan. About 26 percent of the returns were to the Eastern Provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar and Laghman. There were also a significant number of returns to Ghazni, Kabul, Logar and Parwan in central Afghanistan.
Now in its 10th year, UNHCR's voluntary repatriation program has assisted more than 3.7 million Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan, the UNHCR said on Wednesday.
Returns so far in 2012 are up by 11 percent compared to the same period last year. To facilitate the returns of Afghan refugees, UNHCR operates three Voluntary Repatriation Centres in Pakistan.
In addition to assisting Afghans to return home, UNHCR is also helping communities in Pakistan that have hosted large numbers of refugees. Through the Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) initiative, for which the UN refugee agency acts as a Convening Agency, it is implementing projects to provide livelihoods, improve infrastructure and rehabilitate the environment in over 22 rural districts and six urban areas across the country.
"Pakistan has generously hosted the world's largest refugee population for over thirty years," said Neill Wright, UNHCR Representative in Pakistan. "RAHA is designed to ensure that the local communities which have hosted refugees benefit support to ensure that the extra burden on social services and utilities does not result in a lower standard of living for the residents of those villages and towns that have so generously welcomed Afghan refugees."
The RAHA programme is a major component of a new regional strategy on Afghan refugees agreed between the Islamic Republics of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan as well as UNHCR. The strategy, which seeks to enable more Afghan refugees to return home and contribute to the rebuilding of their country, was given international support at a conference held in May in Geneva.
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Justice, Security Will Establish Unbeatable Government: Karzai
TOLOnews.com Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Afghan President Hamid Karzai attended the inauguration of Afghanistan's first female judges association, saying that no outside power could beat Afghanistan if its justice system and security were strong.
Karzai urged the judges and the justice professionals at the opening of the Afghan Women Judges Association to follow Islamic and Afghan laws while dealing with the cases that come before them.
"It's important for the people of Afghanistan to know what kind of a government they will have after the withdrawal of foreign soldiers. If we provide them with good justice, security and governance which are vital, no outside power could beat us." Karzai said.
He also raised concerns about the weakness of justice organs demonstrated by people referring back to the old traditions and customs to solve their judicial problems.
"The reason the people of Afghanistan at the cities and villages are referring to the old traditions to solve their judicial issues is this because the government is not able to follow up their cases properly. They also fear not receiving justice in the coming years," Karzai said.
Karzai said that the decisions of the attorneys and judges will help people return to the proper judicial process, making them fear the law.
"I hope that all the justice sector which the people are concerned about consider Islamic and Afghanistan's laws to provide fear of judgment to the people of Afghanistan," he said, adding that any mistakes made by the judges and prosecutors are unforgettable.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Afghanistan's High Court Abdul Salam Azimi said at the ceremony that there were more women roles in the country's justice system.
He urged the judges to avoid any bribes or corruption in order to better serve the country and implement the laws.
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Private Higher Education Curriculums Not Meeting Standards: Obaid
TOLOnews.com Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Afghanistan's Minister of Higher Education Obaidullah Obaid criticised the curriculum and lesson plans of private higher education institutions on Wednesday, saying that they are not in accordance with the Ministry's guidelines.
Obaid added that the ability of the private higher education institutions to pay professors higher salaries than the government-run education systems was proving a "major problem" for the government.
"This activity of the private universities has caused hundreds of government-run university professors to quit their jobs and join them which has created a major problem for us," he said at a two-day capacity building seminar in Kabul.
He urged the institutions to pay more attention to the quality of lessons, equipment, and professional standards and warned them of serious action if they do not follow the Ministry's principals and curriculum guidelines.
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