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Donors offer $16 billion Afghan aid at Tokyo conference
By Arshad Mohammed and Kiyoshi Takenaka
TOKYO (Reuters) - Major donors pledged on Sunday to give Afghanistan $16 billion in development aid through 2015 as they try to prevent it from sliding back into chaos when foreign troops leave, but demanded reforms to fight widespread corruption.
Afghanistan funding: Local media already feeling the pinch
World leaders meeting in Tokyo pledged $16 billion in more aid to Afghanistan today. But an overall decline in foreign spending is already squeezing efforts like independent journalism.
By Tom A. Peter | Christian Science Monitor
International leaders' pledge this weekend to provide $16 billion in aid to Afghanistan over four years comes as a relief to many Afghans who have long worried that the international community would turn its back on them as happened after the Soviet war.
Afghanistan Promises to Fight Corruption as Donors Pledge Billions
VOA News July 8, 2012
TOKYO — Senior officials from the international community are pledging billions of dollars more in civil aid for Afghanistan amid concerns terrorism and corruption still threaten progress made in the country during the past decade.
Karzai: Afghanistan on 'Long Journey to Self-Reliance'
VOA News July 08, 2012
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his country is embarking on a "long journey to self-reliance."
Speaking Sunday at a donors conference in Tokyo, Karzai said Afghanistan is facing "years of hard work" as international troops stationed in the South Asian nation initiate their exit.
Economic Growth Key to Afghanistan’s Stability, Clinton Says
Bloomberg By Nicole Gaouette Jul 8, 2012
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Afghanistan’s future will depend on its economic stability and accountability, as international donors pledged $16 billion in aid for the country.
US, Pakistan, Afghanistan Call on Taliban to Join Reconciliation
Scott Stearns VOA News July 8, 2012
TOKYO, Japan — Foreign ministers from the United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan met Sunday on the sidelines of an Afghan donor conference in Japan to discuss cross-border cooperation and security. They called on Taliban fighters to join Afghan reconciliation efforts.
Afghanistan Designated Major US Ally During Clinton Visit to Kabul
Scott Stearns VOA News July 7, 2012
KABUL -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Kabul Saturday on a previously unannounced drop-in on her way to Tokyo for an international donor conference for Afghanistan. The Obama administration has made Afghanistan a preferred military partner eligible for quicker financing for U.S. weapons.
NATO: 6 NATO service members killed in eastern Afghanistan
By Patrick Quinn, The Associated Press
KABUL - A bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday killed six NATO service members, on a day where a total of 29 people died from roadside bombs and insurgent attacks.
Afghan Political Parties Welcome US ‘Ally' Title
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 07 July 2012
Afghan political parties largely welcomed the US designation of Afghanistan as a "major non-Nato ally", calling it an opportunity for the country.
Roadside Bombs Kill 20 In Southern Afghanistan
July 8, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan authorities say roadside bombs have killed 14 civilians, five policemen, and one member of the U.S.-led international military coalition in southern Afghanistan.
Taliban publicly execute woman near Kabul: officials
Reuters By Hamid Shalizi and Amie Ferris-Rotman 07/07/2012
KABUL - A man Afghan officials say is a member of the Taliban shot dead a woman accused of adultery in front of a crowd near Kabul, a video obtained by Reuters showed, a sign that the austere Islamist group dictates law even near the Afghan capital.
Afghanistan's multimillion 'highway to nowhere'
New road is a white elephant, Foreign Office insider says
The Independent By Brian Brady , Jonathan Owen Sunday 08 July 2012
A flagship multimillion-pound highway linking Afghanistan's major cities is of no use to the majority of the population and at risk of crumbling during the winter, a secret report presented to British ministers has warned.
Afghan education official shot dead in western province
KABUL, July 8 (Xinhua) -- An Afghan education official was shot dead by militants in western Badghis province on Sunday, a provincial government spokesman said.
Health Official Calls on Insurgents to Allow Polio Drive
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 07 July 2012
A three-day polio vaccination campaign kicked off in Afghanistan's eastern and southern regions with local officials calling for insurgent groups to allow the vaccination teams to do their work.
Thirsty Nimruz Residents Call for More Water
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 07 July 2012
The capital city of Afghanistan's south-western Nimruz province is struggling to supply its residents with adequate drinking water, despite the plentiful Helmand River running through the region.
Afghanistan Almost Triples Raisin Exports in a Year
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 07 July 2012
Afghanistan is now the world's sixth largest exporter of raisins, an improvement since the years of the civil war destroyed much of this product and its export capacity, the Export Promotion Agency of Afghansitan(EPAA) said Saturday.
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Donors offer $16 billion Afghan aid at Tokyo conference
By Arshad Mohammed and Kiyoshi Takenaka
TOKYO (Reuters) - Major donors pledged on Sunday to give Afghanistan $16 billion in development aid through 2015 as they try to prevent it from sliding back into chaos when foreign troops leave, but demanded reforms to fight widespread corruption.
Donor fatigue and war weariness have taken their toll on how long the global community is willing to support Afghanistan and there are concerns about security following the withdrawal of most NATO troops in 2014 if financial backing is not secured.
"Afghanistan's security cannot only be measured by the absence of war," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an international donors' conference in Tokyo.
"It has to be measured by whether people have jobs and economic opportunity, whether they believe their government is serving their needs, whether political reconciliation proceeds and succeeds."
The roughly $4 billion in annual aid pledged at the meeting, attended by 80 countries and international organizations, fell short of the $6 billion a year the Afghan central bank has said will be needed to foster economic growth over the next decade.
Clinton and other donors stressed the importance of Afghanistan - one of the most corrupt nations in the world - taking aggressive action to fight graft and promote reforms.
"We have agreed that we need a different kind of long-term economic partnership, one built on Afghan progress in meeting its goals, in fighting corruption, in carrying out reform, and providing good governance," Clinton said.
According to "mutual accountability" provisions in the final conference documents, as much as 20 percent of the aid could ultimately depend on Afghanistan meeting benchmarks on fighting corruption and other good governance measures.
However, a Japanese official said that it was up to each donor whether to make its aid contingent on such reforms and that the benchmarks could vary from country to country.
World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the pressure was on the Afghan government to deliver reforms and ensure fair elections in 2014 in order to secure aid beyond the amount pledged in Tokyo.
"This is a fragile conflict state," Indrawati told Reuters in an interview. "Three years is a very short time for a country to be able to build stable and competent institutions."
NEED TO DO MORE
International donors provided $35 billion in aid to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2010, but the return on that investment has been mixed and the country remains one of the five poorest in the world.
President Hamid Karzai admits his government needs to do more to tackle corruption, but his critics say he is not doing enough, and some directly blame authorities for vast amounts of aid not reaching the right people.
While strides have been made in schooling children and improving access to health care, three-quarters of the 30 million Afghans are illiterate and the average person earns only about $530 a year, according to the World Bank.
The government has identified priority areas for economic development, including investment in agriculture and mining, which Western officials see as a possible engine for growth. Afghanistan is believed to have up to a trillion dollars' worth of untapped mineral wealth.
Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said the Tokyo conference had shown aid donors were committed to the long haul. "Today's event sends the strongest message to Afghan people that the international community will be with us in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020 and beyond," Zakhilwal told a news conference.
U.S. officials gave no figure for their aid pledge but said the administration would ask Congress to keep assistance through 2017 "at or near" what it has given over the past decade.
Annual U.S. aid to Afghanistan has ranged from about $1 billion a decade ago to a peak of about $4 billion in 2010. It stands at about $2.3 billion this year.
Japan pledged $3 billion in aid for Afghanistan through 2016. Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said $2.2 billion of that amount would be grants for development projects in areas like investment in roads and infrastructure.
The EU has said it will continue with pledges of 1.2 billion euros a year, but warned that if progress is not made with rule of law and women's rights, this could be difficult to continue.
The pledges made in Tokyo are on top of the $4.1 billion by NATO and its partners for supporting the Afghan security forces.
(Additional reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman in Kabul and Stanley White in Tokyo; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
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Afghanistan funding: Local media already feeling the pinch
World leaders meeting in Tokyo pledged $16 billion in more aid to Afghanistan today. But an overall decline in foreign spending is already squeezing efforts like independent journalism.
By Tom A. Peter | Christian Science Monitor
International leaders' pledge this weekend to provide $16 billion in aid to Afghanistan over four years comes as a relief to many Afghans who have long worried that the international community would turn its back on them as happened after the Soviet war.
Though a substantial commitment, $4 billion a year in aid represents a drop in the level of assistance Afghanistan has become used to since the US-led invasion in 2001. Already, the US has scaled back reconstruction spending in the country by 34 percent, causing a number of Afghan organizations to reconsider their strategies and future sustainability.
Among those already affected is the Afghan news industry. News agencies have been forced to make cuts, cancel programming, and reduce coverage as the tide of international funding recedes. The agencies that remain unaffected are predominately those backed by political groups, often ethnically based, which predictably produce news with an agenda and protect party elites from scrutiny.
After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, independent Afghan media was all but non-existent. For international donors looking to establish an open political culture, supporting a nascent independent media was a clear choice.
“It’s a reality that after 2001, most of the media outlets were established or started through the funding of foreign countries. Until now, they were just looking after foreign funding and they never thought about standing on their own two feet,” says Professor Mohammad Wahid Gharwal, head of the journalism department at Kabul University. “I’m worried that if the international community decreases or stops funding the Afghan media, there won’t be a vibrant situation for the Afghan media in the future.”
One of the most respected new outlets has been Pajhwok Afghan News, an agency with reporters across the country, many of whom international journalists would tap in dangerous areas.
Pajhwok was started entirely with funding from USAID in 2004 with a plan to gradually reduce financial support until it was independent. That day came early this year. However, little more than six months after US funding ended, the situation already looks grim. Last month, the news organization laid off 70 of its 186 employees – a 38 percent reduction.
A response to the loss of donor funding, the cuts were also preemptive. Pajhwok's senior editors say they want to prepare for a future post-2014 when they say they expect ad revenues to drop as companies who worked with foreigners look to save money cutting ad budgets. They're also expecting their international subscribers base to shrink as the world inevitably loses interest in Afghanistan without a NATO presence here.
Disappointed about the cuts, Pajhwok’s leadership says they are optimistic they can survive without donor funding.
“If we’re not thinking about it now, it will be very difficult in 2014,” says Danish Karokhel, director and editor-in-chief of Pajhwok.
Pajhwok is far from the only media outlet affected by reductions in donor spending. Other papers and TV stations have used funding to expand their coverage into different regions of Afghanistan or offer educational programming.
The newspaper 8am Daily recently lost a grant to provide coverage of four northern provinces along with another grant that supported investigative journalism projects. Shah Hussain Murtazawi, the paper’s deputy chief editor, says that the paper used the investigative grant to focus largely on uncovering government corruption, a critical issue in Afghanistan. Without external funding, he says the paper cannot afford such investigations and is now limited to basic news coverage.
“Now we have climbed all the way to the peak and if we fall from here it won’t help. I think the international community should realize this and not let go of the Afghan independent media,” he says.
News outlets are not necessarily collapsing as a result of the funding shortages, but many say they have had to adapt in ways they would rather not to stay afloat. Saba TV has relied on grants to provide educational programming for its viewers, however, in recent months it’s lost much of this funding and had to cancel several independently produced TV programs.
The loss of the funding does not mean Saba has stopped broadcasting, but to fill the former time slots, which used to educate people about health and governance issues, the station now runs Turkish soap operas dubbed in Dari. Without funding, Abdul Wahid Hamidi, managing director of the Saba Media organization, says his station has been forced to become more responsive to consumer demands, which call mostly for music videos, soap operas, and Indian movies.
“I’m afraid that if funding fully stops, yes, we have 30 stations, but every one of them will only play music and TV dramas,” he says. “The main challenge with Afghanistan and other countries like it, is to differentiate between what people want and what people need. Still in Afghanistan people want entertainment, but they need education.”
In this climate, the only media organizations immune to funding problems will be those backed by political parties, say most Afghan media experts. If agenda-based media manages to grow and potentially replace or overshadow ailing independent organizations, this could prove particularly problematic in a country like Afghanistan where many people lack the education required to tell the difference between news and subtle, or even overt propaganda.
“Very few people can differentiate between the independent media and the other sources that belong to political leaders or groups, and these people are only in the cities. Even in Kabul, people cannot think or tell the difference. They just know that this is the government channel and they call all others independent media,” says Shahla Farid, a civil rights professor at Kabul University.
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Afghanistan Promises to Fight Corruption as Donors Pledge Billions
VOA News July 8, 2012
TOKYO — Senior officials from the international community are pledging billions of dollars more in civil aid for Afghanistan amid concerns terrorism and corruption still threaten progress made in the country during the past decade.
Afghanistan is receiving $16 billion in additional pledges of development aid for the next four years. But there will be more strings attached to the new assistance.
At a conference in Tokyo Sunday, donor nations and organizations reached agreement with Afghanistan on a framework for accountability. Some money will be withheld if the country cannot meet benchmarks for improving governance and finance management, as well as safeguarding the democratic process, the rule of law, and human rights, including those of women and girls.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is promising donors a vigorous fight against corruption.
Some critics contend much of the $60 billion of aid from the international community since the Taliban was ousted by the U.S. military more than a decade ago, has been squandered.
There has been notable progress, Afghanistan's per-capita gross domestic product of nearly $600 is five times higher than it was a decade ago.
Karzai, noting the successes, also acknowledges his country remains a dangerous place.
"Afghanistan continues to face grave risks from common threats, notably terrorism and extremism," he said. "These threats do not affect Afghanistan's security alone. Indeed the region as a whole and the world beyond will not be secure for as long as the menaces of terrorism and extremism persist, enjoying sanctuaries and support in some corners in the region beyond Afghanistan's borders.”
Officials from nearly 60 countries, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, converged in Tokyo for the conference.
The United Nations sent representatives from a dozen of its agencies. U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, used the opportunity to make a plea to help ease Afghans' “worries that they may be abandoned” after foreign military forces draw down.
“I have been urging member states that their support for Afghanistan should not be on temporary or short-term measures," he said. "They should be based on medium or longer term."
NATO ends its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014 and the United States will also significantly reduce the number of its military forces in the country.
Japan Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba acknowledges the new financial commitments come amid tough economic times globally.
Gemba says even though Japan and other nations face severe fiscal restraints they agree that such help to Afghanistan remains critical for that country's peace and prosperity.
Japan is the second-largest donor, after the United States, of civil aid to Afghanistan.
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Karzai: Afghanistan on 'Long Journey to Self-Reliance'
VOA News July 08, 2012
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his country is embarking on a "long journey to self-reliance."
Speaking Sunday at a donors conference in Tokyo, Karzai said Afghanistan is facing "years of hard work" as international troops stationed in the South Asian nation initiate their exit.
Senior world officials are in attendance at the conference, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has offered assurance the United States will not abandon the Afghan people after U.S. combat troops leave the country in 2014.
She told the conference, "We must ensure that the transition is irreversible and that Afghanistan can never again be a safe haven for international terrorism."
Afghan Security Still Threatened
President Karzai said while Afghanistan has taken an important stride towards democratization with a new constitution, the country still faces a major threat to its security.
Karzai said, “Afghanistan continues to face grave risks from common threats, notably terrorism and extremism. These threats do not affect Afghanistan’s security alone. Indeed, the region as a whole, and the world beyond, will not be secure for as long as the menaces of terrorism and extremism persist, enjoying sanctuaries and support in some corners of the region beyond Afghanistan’s borders.”
Karzai said corruption in Afghanistan has undermined previous aid efforts and he promised to do more to bring it under control.
“Corruption in particular is a menace that has undermined the effectiveness, cohesion and legitimacy of our institutions. We will fight corruption with strong resolve wherever it occurs, and ask the same of our international partners. Together we must stop the practices that feed corruption or undermine the legitimacy and effectiveness of national institutions,” said Karzai.
U.N. Chief Urges International Support
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Afghanistan stands at a critical point in its history as it prepares for a transition to a more stable future. He said Afghanistan need strong support through its transition.
“But let us be clear. Transition must not translate into short-term measures only. We should give the people of Afghanistan a long-term perspective and prospect of a better future, and ease their worries that Afghanistan may be abandoned,” said the U.N. chief.
Ban told the conference international donors should make their assistance reliable and predictable, without unreasonable conditions.
He said, “At the same time, it is of course Afghanistan itself that bears the primary responsibility to live up to its obligations to better serve its people in line with the commitments made in Bonn, Kabul and London.”
Before the conference started, Clinton announced that Washington has declared Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally, a step that will allow Afghanistan to receive more and faster help on security matters.
Donors at the Tokyo conference pledged $4 billion a year in long-term civilian support, totaling $16 billion through 2015.
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Economic Growth Key to Afghanistan’s Stability, Clinton Says
Bloomberg By Nicole Gaouette Jul 8, 2012
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Afghanistan’s future will depend on its economic stability and accountability, as international donors pledged $16 billion in aid for the country.
“We all know that Afghanistan’s security will not be measured only by the absence of war,” Clinton said at a conference in Tokyo today to plan the economic transition after NATO troops pull out at the end of 2014.“It will also be measured by the presence of jobs and economic opportunity.”
The Tokyo conference marks the culmination of two years of work by NATO countries and their allies to plan Afghanistan’s security and economic transition. More than 70 countries gathered to discuss funding, private sector investment and the contributions of Pakistan and India, rivals that vie for influence in Afghanistan.
The pledged $16 billion will be available immediately. The U.S. will ask Congress to provide assistance at or near the levels of the past decade through the year 2017, Clinton said. Based on a World Bank assessment that Afghanistan will need $3.9 billion a year, the amount pledged at the conference will meet the country’s needs through 2015.
Fighting Corruption
The funds will come with provisions to encourage the Afghanistan government to stick to commitments to battle corruption that has eroded progress there.
Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul acknowledged the emphasis that donor countries have put on accountability. “Good governance is at the heart of meaningful progress,” he told the conference, adding that the government will continue its reform programs.
During a stop in Kabul yesterday, Clinton acknowledged that Afghanistan’s security situation is still “far from ideal.” Even so, she noted that progress is being made. The Tokyo conference also celebrated some of the ways that NATO countries and their allies have improved the lives of Afghan people and their economic prospects in concrete and sometimes stark ways.
“Real progress has been made,” British Foreign Minister William Hague said. “We promise the Afghan people we’ll build on these gains.”
Since 2006, life expectancy for men and women has jumped to over 60 years from 44 years. In 2001, only 9 percent of the population of more than 30 million could walk to a health facility within an hour. More than 60 percent can today.
In 2002, only 6 percent of Afghans had access to reliable electricity. That figure has risen to 18 percent today, with more than 2 million Kabul residents enjoying electric power 24 hours a day.
Mobile Phones
Mobile phone use has soared to 16 million subscribers from 21,000 in 2001. And while few roads existed 11 years ago, today there are more than 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) of paved roads, giving roughly 80 percent of the population greater access to markets, schools, clinics, and government services.
In 2002, an estimated 900,000 boys were in school and virtually no girls, according to State Department statistics. There are now 8 million students enrolled in school, almost 40 percent of them girls.
Clinton has made the equality of Afghanistan’s women a centerpiece of her approach to the country. “Let me emphasize that the United States will continue to stand by the women of Afghanistan because no nation can achieve peace, reconciliation, stability and economic growth while leaving out half the population,” she said today.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nicole Gaouette in Washington at ngaouette@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net
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US, Pakistan, Afghanistan Call on Taliban to Join Reconciliation
Scott Stearns VOA News July 8, 2012
TOKYO, Japan — Foreign ministers from the United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan met Sunday on the sidelines of an Afghan donor conference in Japan to discuss cross-border cooperation and security. They called on Taliban fighters to join Afghan reconciliation efforts.
In a joint statement following their talks, Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said al-Qaida's core leadership in the region has been decimated, reducing the threat to peace and security that led the international community to intervene in Afghanistan in 2001.
They are backing an inclusive Afghan reconciliation process "through which individuals and groups break ties with international terrorism, renounce violence, and abide by Afghanistan's constitution" because they say that is the surest way to lasting security for Afghanistan and the broader region.
Some of the Taliban attacks in Afghanistan are staged from Pakistan, and U.S. officials say they do not believe Pakistan is doing everything it can to prevent those attacks, especially raids carried out by the Haqqani network.
Senior Obama administration officials say Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Khar discussed the Haqqani network in separate talks before the trilateral meeting. It was the first meeting for the two foreign ministers since Pakistan reopened NATO supply lines to Afghanistan that were closed following the killing of 24 Pakistani troops by NATO forces in November.
That route was reopened after Secretary Clinton Tuesday offered her "sincere condolences to the families of the Pakistani soldiers who lost their lives" saying she and Foreign Minister Khar acknowledged the mistakes that led to the attack in the border town of Salala.
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo Sunday, Secretary Clinton says the two countries are moving on.
"We are both encouraged that we've been able to put the recent difficulties behind us so that we can focus on the many challenges still ahead of us, and we want to use the positive momentum generated by our recent agreement to take tangible, visible steps on our many shared core interests," she said.
She says first and foremost is defeating terrorists who threaten Afghan and Pakistani stability as well as the interests of the United States.
"I've said many times that this is a challenging but essential relationship," said Clinton. "It remains so. And I have no reason to believe it will not continue to raise hard questions for us both."
U.S. officials say there is now the opportunity to get back to closer counter-insurgency cooperation with Pakistan now that the Afghan border is again open to NATO supplies.
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Afghanistan Designated Major US Ally During Clinton Visit to Kabul
Scott Stearns VOA News July 7, 2012
KABUL -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Kabul Saturday on a previously unannounced drop-in on her way to Tokyo for an international donor conference for Afghanistan. The Obama administration has made Afghanistan a preferred military partner eligible for quicker financing for U.S. weapons.
Clinton's stop in Kabul follows Wednesday's formal start of the long-negotiated Strategic Partnership Agreement between the two countries.
With that agreement, the Obama administration Saturday named Afghanistan a Major Non-NATO Ally -- a designation that makes it easier for countries to join in military training and acquire and finance U.S. weapons systems.
While much of that is already expedited through the international security force here, Secretary Clinton says the designation is a "powerful symbol" of the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan's future following the scheduled departure of foreign troops in 2014.
"This is the kind of relationship that we think will be especially beneficial as we do the transition and as we plan for the post-2014 presence because it will open the door to Afghanistan's military to have a greater capacity and a broader kind of relationship with the United States," Clinton said.
Afghanistan is the first nation to receive Major Non-NATO Ally status since Pakistan in 2004 and joins other U.S. allies such as Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Japan.
Secretary Clinton met with President Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace for talks that included expectations for Sunday's Afghan donor conference in Japan.
U.S. officials say Washington intends to maintain civilian economic assistance at current levels of between $1-billion and $2-billion a year beyond 2014 with the expectation that Afghans follow through on improvements in accountability and good governance. Secretary Clinton told President Karzai that his efforts will always have U.S. support.
"We know Afghanistan has an agenda ahead of itself to make key economic reforms, to fight corruption, to strengthen the rule of law, to attract more trade and investment," Clinton said. "And I want to commend President Karzai for his strong public pledges to stamp out corruption and build institutions that will be critical for Afghanistan's future."
Secretary Clinton says the Obama administration was encouraged by a call from Pakistan's parliament that its territory not be used for any kinds of attacks on other countries and all foreign fighters shall be expelled from the country. Many Taliban attacks in Afghanistan are staged from Pakistan.
On the sidelines of Sunday's donor conference in Tokyo, Secretary Clinton will meet jointly with the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan to discuss cross-border cooperation and security.
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NATO: 6 NATO service members killed in eastern Afghanistan
By Patrick Quinn, The Associated Press
KABUL - A bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday killed six NATO service members, on a day where a total of 29 people died from roadside bombs and insurgent attacks.
NATO said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device but provided no further details about the attack and did not identify the dead service members. The statement said NATO's policy is to allow "national authorities" to give details about the soldiers.
A surge in Afghan and coalition forces during the past two years routed Taliban fighters from many of their strongholds in the south, but the insurgents have stepped up their attacks this summer to take back key areas.
The service members' deaths were the latest on Sunday caused by bombs planted by insurgents along roadsides, paths or mountain tracks.
In addition to the six NATO deaths, bombs and attacks killed 16 Afghan civilians, five policemen and two members of the U.S.-led coalition in southern Afghanistan, Afghan and NATO authorities said.
The civilians, including women and children, were killed in three blasts in Arghistan district, along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.
Kandahar province spokesman Ahmad Jawed Faisal said one bomb exploded when a minivan ran over it Sunday morning. A second went off when other civilians riding a tractor arrived to help the wounded. A third explosion occurred about two hours later when a civilian vehicle hit a roadside bomb in another area of the district, killing two women.
At least 10 civilians were injured in the three blasts.
According to the United Nations, last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed. The number of Afghan civilians killed dropped 36 per cent in the first four months of this year compared with last year, but the U.N. says that too many are still being caught up in violence.
The policemen were killed while responding to a gun battle against insurgents early Sunday at a checkpoint in the Musa Qala district of neighbouring Helmand province.
Daoud Ahmadi, the spokesman in Helmand, said a group of Taliban fighters attacked the police checkpoint at about 3 a.m.
Afghan police called for reinforcements, but on the way, one of the police vehicles hit a roadside bomb, killing the five policemen.
Ahmadi says three other policemen were wounded in the four-hour gun battle against the insurgents. He says the bodies of 20 insurgents were recovered from the battlefield.
Separately, two NATO service members were killed in southern Afghanistan — one in a roadside bomb explosion on Saturday and the other during an insurgent attack on Sunday.
NATO did not disclose where the incidents occurred or provide the nationalities of the soldiers killed.
So far this year, more than 225 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan.
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Afghan Political Parties Welcome US ‘Ally' Title
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 07 July 2012
Afghan political parties largely welcomed the US designation of Afghanistan as a "major non-Nato ally", calling it an opportunity for the country.
In an unannounced trip to Kabul on Saturday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the US had assigned Afghanistan as a major non-Nato ally, the first time the Obama administration has issued the official title to any country.
Head of the National Front Abdullah Abdullah said the designation is beneficial for Afghanistan and guarantees assistance for the defense forces.
"It's beneficial for our Afghanistan and guarantees assistance to our security forces. As far as the details are concerned, we should consult further with the Afghan people," Abdullah said in a press conference in Kabul Saturday.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Front, Ali Amiri said the designation showed the US' strong commitment to combating terrorism in the region and would have a positive impact on attracting investment to Afghanistan.
"I believe US lawmakers have reached the conclusion that without sending this clear message to the insurgents in the region, bringing security in the region would be impossible," Amiri said in a press conference in Kabul.
Spokesman for Rights and Justice Party Hamidullah Farooqi also welcomed the decision.
"Afghans should welcome this designation because it is for the benefit of the Afghan people," he said.
Other countries with the same designation include Japan, Australia, Israel, Egypt, South Korea, Philippine, Bahrain, New Zealand, Argentina, Jordon, Morocco, Kuwait, Pakistan and Taiwan.
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Roadside Bombs Kill 20 In Southern Afghanistan
July 8, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan authorities say roadside bombs have killed 14 civilians, five policemen, and one member of the U.S.-led international military coalition in southern Afghanistan.
Ahmad Jawed Faisal, the spokesman for Kandahar Province, said a minivan ran over one bomb in the Arghistan district near the Pakistani border.
He said the other bomb went off after a tractor, which had stopped to aid the dead and wounded, struck another bomb.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The NATO soldier died in a separate roadside-bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan on July 7.
The five policemen were killed while attempting to join in a gun battle with insurgents at a checkpoint in the Musa Qala district of Helmand Province.
Their vehicle hit a roadside bomb as they were on their way to reinforce fellow police under attack at the checkpoint early on July 8.
The incidents come just a day after bomb blasts and a rocket attack in southern Afghanistan killed 11 civilians, including at least four children.
According to the United Nations, 3,021 Afghan civilians died in 2011, the deadliest in the Afghan war.
This year, casualties have decreased by 36 percent -- a figure the UN says is still too high.
Based on reporting by AFP and AP
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Taliban publicly execute woman near Kabul: officials
Reuters By Hamid Shalizi and Amie Ferris-Rotman 07/07/2012
KABUL - A man Afghan officials say is a member of the Taliban shot dead a woman accused of adultery in front of a crowd near Kabul, a video obtained by Reuters showed, a sign that the austere Islamist group dictates law even near the Afghan capital.
In the three-minute video, a turban-clad man approaches a woman kneeling in the dirt and shoots her five times at close range with an automatic rifle, to cheers of jubilation from the 150 or so men watching in a village in Parwan province.
"Allah warns us not to get close to adultery because it's the wrong way," another man says as the shooter gets closer to the woman. "It is the order of Allah that she be executed".
Provincial Governor Basir Salangi said the video, obtained on Saturday, was shot a week ago in the village of Qimchok in Shinwari district, about an hour's drive from Kabul.
Such rare public punishment was a painful reminder to Afghan authorities of the Taliban's 1996-2001 period in power, and it raised concern about the treatment of Afghan women 11 years into the NATO-led war against Taliban insurgents.
"When I saw this video, I closed my eyes ... The woman was not guilty; the Taliban are guilty," Salangi told Reuters.
When the unnamed woman, most of her body tightly wrapped in a shawl, fell sideways after being shot several times in the head, the spectators chanted: "Long live the Afghan mujahideen! (Islamist fighters)", a name the Taliban use for themselves.
The Taliban could not be reached for comment.
Despite the presence of over 130,000 foreign troops and 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police, the Taliban have managed to resurge beyond their traditional bastions of the south and east, extending their reach into once more peaceful areas like Parwan.
HARD-WON WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN JEOPARDY?
Afghan women have won back basic rights in education, voting and work since the Taliban, who deemed them un-Islamic for women, were toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.
But fears are rising among Afghan women, some lawmakers and rights activists that such freedoms could be traded away as the Afghan government and the United States pursue talks with the Taliban to secure a peaceful end to the war.
Violence against women has increased sharply in the past year, according to Afghanistan's independent human rights commission. Activists say there is waning interest in women's rights on the part of President Hamid Karzai's government.
"After 10 years (of foreign intervention), and only a few kilometres from Kabul... how could this happen in front of all these people?" female lawmaker Fawzia Koofi said of the public execution in Parwan.
"This is happening under a government that claims to have made so much progress in women's rights, claims to have changed women's lives, and this is unacceptable. It is a huge step backwards," said Koofi, a campaigner for girls' education who wants to run in the 2014 presidential election.
Salangi said two Taliban commanders were sexually involved with the woman in Parwan, either through rape or romantically, and decided to torture her and then kill her to settle a dispute between the two of them.
"They are outlaws, murderers, and like savages they killed the woman," he said, adding that the Taliban exerted considerable sway in his province.
Earlier this week a 30-year-old woman and two of her children were beheaded in eastern Afghanistan by a man police said was her divorced husband, the latest of a string of so-called "honour killings".
Some Afghans still refer to Taliban courts for settling disputes, viewing government bodies as corrupt or unreliable. The courts use sharia (Islamic law), which prescribes punishments such as stonings and executions.
(Additional reporting and writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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Afghanistan's multimillion 'highway to nowhere'
New road is a white elephant, Foreign Office insider says
The Independent By Brian Brady , Jonathan Owen Sunday 08 July 2012
A flagship multimillion-pound highway linking Afghanistan's major cities is of no use to the majority of the population and at risk of crumbling during the winter, a secret report presented to British ministers has warned.
The 2,700km "Highway 1", largely bankrolled by American and Saudi millions, was seen as a symbol of Afghanistan's emergence as a modern democratic nation after decades of oppressive rule and conflict. But senior figures within the Foreign Office (FCO) have questioned the priority given to the project – and the standard of the finished road.
A confidential paper under discussion in the department, seen by The Independent on Sunday, claims the road is not completely "metalled" with a durable surface, and has a layer of tarmac too thin to last an Afghan winter, leaving lengthy stretches in danger of disintegration. The document also complained that the highway was "of no value at all" to the vast majority of Afghans, who need better local roads to help them travel to towns closer to home.
Highway 1, it seems, is the road to nowhere, a metaphor for costly, ill-planned development projects which have acted as a bran tub of kickbacks for corrupt officials. The US spending watchdog, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, has claimed that Washington cannot account for billions of dollars spent on aid projects in the country.
The white elephants include: six Afghan National Police buildings so poorly constructed they were unusable; the Kabul Power Plant, built at a cost of $300m (£194m) to the US taxpayer, and beset by delays, cost increases and fit now only as an expensive back-up facility; and a project to upgrade the Kajaki Dam on the Helmand River which is years behind schedule, and for which a huge generator transported in pieces through a bitter fire fight with insurgents remains unassembled and rusting, partly because the concrete needed for its foundations was never delivered.
The shortcomings of Highway 1 have emerged as more than 70 nations prepare to rubber-stamp almost £10bn in additional aid to the country over the next five years. The International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, said the donors' conference in Tokyo today will demand that Afghanistan slash its budget shortfall in return.
But the record of development aid ploughed into Afghanistan so far is questioned by the leaked report on the country's future. The paper, written by a senior figure in the FCO, labels Highway 1 as "a classic illustration of the challenges that continue to hinder a swifter economic recovery".
It adds: "This major road system, started in 2002, is still not fully metalled due to a combination of siphoning away of funds, and contracts being outsourced through layers of companies. Once everyone has taken their cut, the layer of tarmac put down is too thin to last an Afghan winter. For the 91 per cent of Afghans who venture no further than their neighbouring town, it is of no value at all. More hearts and minds would have been won if a strategy was followed that linked together towns and the regional economic hubs, allowing market routes to open up."
USAid (the US Agency for International Development) lists the road as one of its "major accomplishments" in Afghanistan, "giving Afghans better connections to their country's major transportation routes, and facilitating their access to markets, schools, health clinics and government services". But locally based critics have complained that the road is expensive to maintain, largely used by foreign military and aid traffic, and that it has become a magnet for roadside bomb attacks, Taliban offensives and illegal roadblocks.
Thomas Ruttig, co-director of Afghanistan Analysts Network, said: "The international community has been throwing money at problems without making sure that it is used effectively. I would suggest that a group of key ambassadors be invited to travel by road from Kabul to Kandahar, then ask them again how many kilometres of road have been built and asphalted. In other words, counting kilometres doesn't say anything about how the roads can be used."
The criticism of the roads strategy was reflected in a World Bank report earlier this year which concluded that Afghanistan's road network was crumbling away due to lack of maintenance over the past decade, with most donors more interested in building roads than keeping them in good order. The report, Afghanistan in Transition: Looking Beyond 2014, calculated it would cost £1.9bn to put the country's network into a maintainable state
The £17.4m budget allocated for road maintenance this year – a fraction of the £187m needed – is "far too little to meet the road network's maintenance needs", the report states.
The Department for International Development has pledged to improve monitoring of the £178m ploughed into Afghanistan every year, amid concerns that money intended for vital aid programmes is being diverted into the hands of local officials. Mr Mitchell last night told the IoS that the Tokyo conference aimed to "nail down" support for the Afghan leadership among ordinary citizens as foreign forces prepare to leave.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is expected to outline new anti-corruption and accountability measures, as he tries to win support for a funding package his officials have drawn up with the World Bank. Mr Mitchell said: "It is very important that our commitment continues. We are in Afghanistan in pursuit of Britain's national interests, so that it can no longer be a haven for terrorists."
Of the criticisms of Highway 1, he said: "All these projects are difficult to deliver. Often we are working in extremely difficult circumstances."
Additional reporting by Denise Cheuk
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Afghan education official shot dead in western province
KABUL, July 8 (Xinhua) -- An Afghan education official was shot dead by militants in western Badghis province on Sunday, a provincial government spokesman said.
"The official named Mohammad Mehdi was kidnapped 10 days ago along a main road from Badghis to neighbouring Herat province, but his bullet-riddled body was found Sunday morning," Sharfuddin Majidi told Xinhua.
Afghan officials and pro-government figures have been repeatedly targeted by the militants since May 3 when Taliban insurgents launched an annual spring offensive.
Five education officials were killed and seven others injured in eastern Paktika province on May 8.
Also in Paktika, five civilians were seriously injured when their vehicle touched off a Taliban roadside bomb in Sar Hawza district late Saturday.
The wounded were shifted to a hospital in provincial capital Sharan, an official in the province Mukhlis Afghan told Xinhua on Sunday.
In another development, security forces carried out an operation and captured two Taliban suicide bombers in northern Takhar province earlier Sunday.
They also found a handful of weapons and four suicide vests during the raid, a provincial official said.
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Health Official Calls on Insurgents to Allow Polio Drive
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 07 July 2012
A three-day polio vaccination campaign kicked off in Afghanistan's eastern and southern regions with local officials calling for insurgent groups to allow the vaccination teams to do their work.
In the east of the country, the provinces Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan were targeted in the vaccination drive aimed at eradicating polio - a condition easily prevented with an immunization administered by mouth.
Head of Nangarhar's Health Department Baz Mohammad Shirzad said that the plan is for nearly 800,000 children aged under five to receive the anti-polio drops in the three provinces, adding that a measles vaccination programme will also be applied to children aged between 9 months to 10 years in Kunar province.
Meanwhile, Kandahar Media and Information Center (KMIC) said on Saturday that a three-day polio vaccination drive is underway in the southern Kandahar province to vaccinate 1,365,000 children aged under five.
At least 10 positive cases of polio have been reported in south since the start of 2012, the KMIC said via Twitter. Four of these cases were in Kandahar.
It also said that the Director of Health in Kandahar had asked the Taliban fighters and "other rival parties" to "help the vaccinators reach the far villages of the south".
Separately, government officials in the tribal Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area of Pakistan warned parents who refuse to vaccinate their children will be fined, according to local media reports.
The warning comes after a Pakistani Taliban commander called for a boycott last month on the region's polio drive as long as the US drone strikes continue.
The leader's statement also said that US intelligence agency CIA may use the polio campaign as cover for espionage, much as it did with Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped track Osama bin Laden.
However, local health officials said that there would be financial penalties for Pakistani parents, and deportation for Afghan nationals or refugees, who do not vaccinate their children, Central Asia Online reported.
Officials said religious leaders had been brought on board to accompany the vaccination drive and encourage parents to allow their children to get drops.
Poliomyelitis is a disease affecting the central nervous sytem, and has been eradicated from most countries in the world, according to medical journals.
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Thirsty Nimruz Residents Call for More Water
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 07 July 2012
The capital city of Afghanistan's south-western Nimruz province is struggling to supply its residents with adequate drinking water, despite the plentiful Helmand River running through the region.
The residents of the capital, Zaranj, have called on the provincial government to address the problem but the local officials say it is a problem at the central government level.
Zaranj residents complained to TOLOnews that despite billions of dollars flowing to the government in development aid, it has failed to provide the basic facilities to the 170,000-person province.
Drinking water in Zaranj is only accessible from a pipeline which flows for two hours a day. The residents must line up to collect the water, but sometimes it runs out before everyone is supplied, according to residents.
"We asked the government to pay attention to our problem as most of us don't have access to drinking water," one resident said.
"I came here at 2:00 AM, but sometimes we don't get water at all. The officials are travelling in modern vehicles but we don't even have drinking water," he added.
Another complained that much of the water from the river was being directed through pipelines to Iran, which lies across the border to the west of Nimruz.
However, the local officials blamed the central government for not paying enough attention to the province, saying that a project for supplying drinking water began three years ago but they still remain pessimistic it will provide adequate supply once complete.
"Those who were meant to pay attention were careless about the drinking water project in Nimruz which has taken three years [already]. People have looked at this issue many times," deputy provincial governor Haji Abdul Qasem Khedri told TOLOnews.
He said the provincial council members have also raised their concerns regarding this problem saying that if it is not resolved soon, they will complain to the Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
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Afghanistan Almost Triples Raisin Exports in a Year
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 07 July 2012
Afghanistan is now the world's sixth largest exporter of raisins, an improvement since the years of the civil war destroyed much of this product and its export capacity, the Export Promotion Agency of Afghansitan(EPAA) said Saturday.
Although the country is still nowhere near its hey-day of being the number one exporter - the peak being around the time of President Daoud Khan (1973) - the EPAA said the sector was improving each year with exports now reaching 43 countries.
"We are in the sixth position of 12 countries that export raisins. We increased our exports from 8,500 tonnes to 24,000 tonnes in the last year," Sayed Azim Mustafa Hashimi of the EPAA's Raisins, Fruits and Vegetables department told TOLOnews.
"But in terms of quality, Afghanistan has first position," he added.
Before the civil war, Afghanistan was exporting 210,000 tonnes per year all around the world, according to the EPAA.
The civil war seriously destroyed much of its export capacity, but recent years have seen massive growth to international markets.
Afghan traders, however, said the industry still faces big challenges in terms transit and lack of good markets.
Head of the Raisin Exporter Union Haji Farid said delays plague the exporters.
"The government needs to facilitate [the exports]. Afghan traders and I wanted to export raisins to London but [our produce] was stopped for 50 days in Pakistan's Peshawar," he told TOLOnews.
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