Afghanistan has enough funding for next 3 years-President

July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 20 (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai told an international conference on Tuesday that Afghans wanted to have responsibility for their own security by 2014.

“I remain determined that our Afghan national security forces will be responsible for all military and law enforcement

operations throughout our country by 2014,” he told the conference, called to discus how much more responsibility to give Afghanistan for its own affairs. (Reporting by David Fox; Editing by Michael Urquhart) (david.fox@thomsonreuters.com; Kabul newsroom: +93 799 335 284)) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

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Afghans ready for more responsibility: U.N. envoy

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Afghanistan should be given more responsibility for its own security and administration with progress checked against six-month benchmarks, the United Nations’ top diplomat to the country said.

With around 150,000 NATO-led troops faced off against a Taliban insurgency at its strongest since their overthrow in 2001, Western governments are keen to pull out but fear the Afghans are not yet ready to take more charge.

“It is a chicken and egg situation, but the chicken is saying ‘we are ready to produce an egg’,” Staffan de Mistura, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special representative for Afghanistan, told Reuters in an interview.

Over 60 foreign ministers — including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — gather in the Afghan capital on Tuesday for a conference at which President Hamid Karzai will plead for more control of $13 billion in Afghan aid and development.

The country has received over $40 billion since 2002, but Karzai says the government has handled only around 20 percent of that and much of the graft and waste complained about in the West was lost through direct channels.

“They have a point,” de Mistura said, arguing that if the government institutions were seen to be driving development, ordinary Afghans would support it.

He drew parallels with Iraq, where he served as the U.N. special envoy at the height of violence there.

“The moment they started taking their own future in their hands, we saw an improvement — not perfect by any means, but an improvement.”

NOT READY FOR PEACE

Security remains the biggest factor.

“We all know, everybody knows, everybody recognizes, that there is no military solution to the conflict.”

“However there is, unfortunately, still a perception that the time for dialogue is not ready. The Taliban don’t seem to be indicating yet that they are ready for that dialogue.”

Although Washington did not want to see the Taliban leadership included in peace talks, it would be up to Afghans to decide “who was allowed inside the tent,” he said.

The government has offered amnesty and reintegration to low-level Taliban fighters who agree to abide by the constitution, renounce violence, and quit militant groups.

Asked if this should be expanded to Taliban leaders, he said: “… if anybody on the Afghan side would accept those three conditions, it would be difficult for the community … to say you aren’t allowed inside the tent.

The conference will hear Karzai and his ministers present blueprint of projects and timetables de Mistura believes could deliver results within a year.

Asked what differences he expected in six months, he said:

“First we will see the Afghans taking much more seriously the fact that responsibility has been given to them and therefore they need to make some major effort on the issue of accountability, corruption and delivering concrete assistance to their own people.

“Second, I hope we will be seeing progress on security, and therefore the ideal time for political dialogue, but between now and six months on the security side it will probably look worse before it looks better.

“What we need before the six months is over is … a vision by the Afghan government which will be articulated in a way that will engage and reassure every stakeholder — both internally and outside, and regional stakeholders as well — of what Afghanistan can and should be looking like in two years time,” he said.

(Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

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INTERVIEW-Afghans ready for more responsibility – U.N. envoy

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

KABUL, July 18 (Reuters) – Afghanistan should be given more responsibility for its own security and administration with progress checked against six-month benchmarks, the United Nations’ top diplomat to the country said.

With around 150,000 NATO-led troops faced off against a Taliban insurgency at its strongest since their overthrow in 2001, Western governments are keen to pull out but fear the Afghans are not yet ready to take more charge.

“It is a chicken and egg situation, but the chicken is saying ‘we are ready to produce an egg’,” Staffan de Mistura, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special representative for Afghanistan, told Reuters in an interview.

Over 60 foreign ministers — including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — gather in the Afghan capital on Tuesday for a conference at which President Hamid Karzai will plead for more control of $13 billion in Afghan aid and development.

The country has received over $40 billion since 2002, but Karzai says the government has handled only around 20 percent of that and much of the graft and waste complained about in the West was lost through direct channels. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For Kabul Conference stories, see [ID:nKABCON]

For more on Afghanistan click [ID:nAFPAK]

or see link.reuters.com/syx62d

Afghan blog: blogs.reuters.com/afghanistan/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

“They have a point,” de Mistura said, arguing that if the government institutions were seen to be driving development, ordinary Afghans would support it.

He drew parallels with Iraq, where he served as the U.N. special envoy at the height of violence there.

“The moment they started taking their own future in their hands, we saw an improvement — not perfect by any means, but an improvement.”

NOT READY FOR PEACE

Security remains the biggest factor.

“We all know, everybody knows, everybody recognises, that there is no military solution to the conflict.”

“However there is, unfortunately, still a perception that the time for dialogue is not ready. The Taliban don’t seem to be indicating yet that they are readly for that dialogue.”

Although Washington did not want to see the Taliban leadership included in peace talks, it would be up to Afghans to decide “who was allowed inside the tent”, he said.

The government has offered amnesty and reintegration to low-level Taliban fighters who agree to abide by the constitution, renounce violence, and quit militant groups.

Asked if this should be expanded to Taliban leaders, he said: “… if anybody on the Afghan side would accept those three conditions, it would be difficult for the community … to say you aren’t allowed inside the tent.

The conference will hear Karzai and his ministers present blueprint of projects and timetables de Mistura believes could deliver results within a year.

Asked what differences he expected in six months, he said:

“First we will see the Afghans taking much more seriously the fact that responsibilty has been given to them and therefore they need to make some major effort on the issue of accountability, corruption and delivering concrete assistance to their own people.

“Second, I hope we will be seeing progress on security, and therefore the ideal time for political dialogue, but between now and six months on the security side it will probably look worse before it looks better.

“What we need before the six months is over is … a vision by the Afghan government which will be articulated in a way that will engage and reassure every stakeholder — both internally and outside, and regional stakeholders as well — of what Afghanistan can and should be looking like in two years time,” he said. (Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

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Plotters of deadly Afghan attacks arrested: official

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Afghanistan’s intelligence department has detained four Taliban insurgents behind a series of deadly attacks against foreign targets in the capital, a spokesman for the agency said on Saturday.

The National Department for Security (NDS) also arrested another Taliban group which planned to stage attacks in Kabul in coming days, Saeed Ansari told reporters.

The first group was involved in five suicide attacks against foreigners in the city, including on the Indian embassy last year and another in February on a guest house used by Indian nationals. Scores of people, many of them Afghans, were killed.

The attacks were planned from Pakistan, where the Taliban have sanctuary, Ansari said.

“This group either managed to flee or went into hiding, but the vigilant officials of the NDS, with the help of people, managed to arrest them,” he said.

The second group consisted of six insurgents who carried out attacks against Afghan and foreign forces on a highway south of Kabul and planned further raids, including suicide bombings. Two of those held were clerics at local mosques in Kabul province.

NDS officials also seized around 450 kgs (1,000 pounds) of explosive materials during a raid against the group which was living in house on the outskirts of Kabul.

Removed from power in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, the Taliban have made a comeback in recent years, despite the presence of nearly 150,000 foreign troops.

(Reporting by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by David Fox)

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Plotters of deadly Afghan attacks arrested – official

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

KABUL, July 10 (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s intelligence department has detained four Taliban insurgents behind a series of deadly attacks against foreign targets in the capital, a spokesman for the agency said on Saturday.

The National Department for Security (NDS) also arrested another Taliban group which planned to stage attacks in Kabul in coming days, Saeed Ansari told reporters.

The first group was involved in five suicide attacks against foreigners in the city, including on the Indian embassy last year and another in February on a guest house used by Indian nationals. Scores of people, many of them Afghans, were killed.

The attacks were planned from Pakistan, where the Taliban have sanctuary, Ansari said.

“This group either managed to flee or went into hiding, but the vigilant officials of the NDS, with the help of people, managed to arrest them,” he said.

The second group consisted of six insurgents who carried out attacks against Afghan and foreign forces on a highway south of Kabul and planned further raids, including suicide bombings. Two of those held were clerics at local mosques in Kabul province.

NDS officials also seized around 450 kgs (1,000 pounds) of explosive materials during a raid against the group which was living in house on the outskirts of Kabul.

Removed from power in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, the Taliban have made a comeback in recent years, despite the presence of nearly 150,000 foreign troops.

(Reporting by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by David Fox) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here) (sayed.salahuddin@thomsonreuters.com; Kabul newsroom: +93 799 335 285)) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

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NATO “protection” plan means little to Afghan village

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Afghanistan (Reuters) – In Afghanistan’s Taliban heartland, U.S. soldiers walk a short distance from their camp into a village in mourning with a daunting offer: protection from the insurgents that live in the area.

A roadside bomb killed a father and son and the Americans have come to urge people to turn to them for protection, an offer that few Afghans in this area dare accept.

“The Taliban could find out we talked to you and kill us when we work in our fields,” said 75-year-old farmer Haji Abdul Rahman, after describing how villagers had to retrieve the body parts of the father and son, who were riding a motorcycle when they were blown up.

The U.S. army patrol through Gurgan reflects how NATO’s efforts to improve security to enable the Kabul government to provide better services to Afghans are making little headway.

NATO commanders say the Taliban cannot be defeated by military force alone so they have launched a comprehensive plan to isolate insurgents, who have been fighting tens of thousands of Western forces for nine years.

The strategy can only succeed if ordinary Afghans are convinced that siding with foreign forces and the government of President Hamid Karzai won’t be too risky. The Taliban have made it violently clear they will not tolerate any contact with Western forces.

While Dand District, where Gurgan is located, is relatively peaceful compared to other parts of the Taliban’s birthplace, Kandahar Province, few Afghans believe they are safe.

Just a few kilometers (miles) away, Taliban fighters frequently attack other international troops. Retaliatory artillery can be heard in Gurgan and surrounding villages.

Lt. Matthew Bennett, a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, stopped every few minutes and spoke with Gurgan residents on the patrol, shaking hands with elders and handing out pens to excited children.

He wanted to know if pro-Taliban cleric preach at any of the village’s mosques, if militants had come around lately and intimidated anyone.

As night fell, Bennett sat down in the light of a kerosene lamp with a group of villagers at a small shop. The questions kept coming.

“You said you want to help, us but what about roads and schools?” asked one man. Another man said he felt threatened when U.S. helicopters flew overhead.

Aside from dealing with the Taliban’s military tactics and ferocity, NATO soldiers have to contend with a range of other issues in order to win over Afghans.

Villagers told Bennett they appreciate American efforts to secure the area but said troops had to pay closer attention to cultural sensitivities.

Soldiers manning machinegun turrets on the tops of armoured vehicles had a view of women in houses and something had to be done, they said.

(Writing by Michael georgy; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

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NATO “protection” plan means little to Afghan village

June 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

GURGAN, Afghanistan, June 27 (Reuters) – In Afghanistan’s Taliban heartland, U.S. soldiers walk a short distance from their camp into a village in mourning with a daunting offer: protection from the insurgents that live in the area.

A roadside bomb killed a father and son and the Americans have come to urge people to turn to them for protection, an offer that few Afghans in this area dare accept.

“The Taliban could find out we talked to you and kill us when we work in our fields,” said 75-year-old farmer Haji Abdul Rahman, after describing how villagers had to retrieve the body parts of the father and son, who were riding a motorcycle when they were blown up.

The U.S. army patrol through Gurgan reflects how NATO’s efforts to improve security to enable the Kabul government to provide better services to Afghans are making little headway.

NATO commanders say the Taliban cannot be defeated by military force alone so they have launched a comprehensive plan to isolate insurgents, who have been fighting tens of thousands of Western forces for nine years.

The strategy can only succeed if ordinary Afghans are convinced that siding with foreign forces and the government of President Hamid Karzai won’t be too risky. The Taliban have made it violently clear they will not tolerate any contact with Western forces. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For more on Afghanistan click [ID:nAFPAK]

or see link.reuters.com/syx62d

Afghan blog: blogs.reuters.com/afghanistan/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

While Dand District, where Gurgan is located, is relatively peaceful compared to other parts of the Taliban’s birthplace, Kandahar Province, few Afghans believe they are safe.

Just a few kilometers (miles) away, Taliban fighters frequently attack other international troops. Retaliatory artillery can be heard in Gurgan and surrounding villages.

Lt. Matthew Bennett, a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, stopped every few minutes and spoke with Gurgan residents on the patrol, shaking hands with elders and handing out pens to excited children.

He wanted to know if pro-Taliban cleric preach at any of the village’s mosques, if militants had come around lately and intimidated anyone.

As night fell, Bennett sat down in the light of a kerosene lamp with a group of villagers at a small shop. The questions kept coming.

“You said you want to help, us but what about roads and schools?” asked one man. Another man said he felt threatened when U.S. helicopters flew overhead.

Aside from dealing with the Taliban’s military tactics and ferocity, NATO soldiers have to contend with a range of other issues in order to win over Afghans.

Villagers told Bennett they appreciate American efforts to secure the area but said troops had to pay closer attention to cultural sensitivities.

Soldiers manning machinegun turrets on the tops of armoured vehicles had a view of women in houses and something had to be done, they said. (Writing by Michael georgy; Editing by Miral Fahmy; (michael.georgy@thomsonreuters.com; Kabul newsroom: +93 799 335 284) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) REUTERS FOX

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Asset list shows Afghan president earns $525 a month

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai earns $525 a month, has less than $20,000 in the bank and owns no land or property, according to a declaration of his assets on Sunday by an anti-graft body.

The assets of Karzai, whose remuneration is five times the national average, were published by the High Office for Oversight and anti-Corruption Commission as part of a decree aimed at providing greater transparency among officials.

Although the Taliban insurgency remains the greatest threat to Afghanistan’s stability, graft at almost every level of society remains a major complaint of ordinary Afghans and anyone doing business with the country.

The list makes no mention of assets held by Karzai’s brothers and other relatives, several of whom run businesses at home and abroad.

It said Karzai, who is married to a stay-at-home physician and has a young son, had jewelry and other valuables worth $11,036.

The anti-graft body is registering the assets of at least 2,000 officials — including ministers, members of parliament, senior military and police officers and provincial leaders — and will start publishing them this week.

“This covers assets held by officials, their wives and children below the age of 18,” Mohammad Yasin Usmani, the commission’s chief, told Reuters on Sunday.

Any official found to have withheld information risked prosecution, he said.

Senior current and former Afghan officials — including two of Karzai’s deputies — are believed to own buildings and assets worth tens of millions of dollars — at home and abroad.

Many got positions of power and influence after siding with U.S.-led forces that toppled the Taliban government in 2001 and have improved their positions through involvement in contracts awarded by foreign forces or government aid projects.

BANK ACCOUNT FROZEN

Police have been questioning 17 current and ex-ministers on suspicion of corruption including former religious affairs minister Sediq Chakari, who now lives in Britain and has had a bank account frozen with $700,000, an official source said.

While some of Afghanistan’s richest men are government officials, those behind Afghanistan’s billion dollar illicit narcotics trade are probably far wealthier.

Among the richest private individuals are believed to be the Safi brothers, who run a chain of businesses including an airline, hotels and construction firms, and Ehsanullah Bayat, who runs the largest national mobile phone firm and a private television channel.

While Karzai has acknowledged a corruption problem, he says it is exaggerated by Western media and insists the biggest source of graft is poor oversight of billions of dollars in aid contracts that dwarf Afghanistan’s budget.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in March Washington needed to do more to clean up its contract procedures.

The declaration of assets, signed by Karzai, said he earned $525 a month and had 15,635 euros ($18,762) and $134 in cash in two Commerzbank accounts in Germany.

(Reporting by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by David Fox and Janet Lawrence)

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Rural outreach to Afghans snags on technology and fear

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Afghanistan (Reuters) – Mortally wounded after setting off an improvised bomb, the boy might have survived. But rather than use the hotline provided them by Canadian troops, fellow villagers carried him out for treatment.

World

By the time they reached the Canadian outpost, using a wheelbarrow as a gurney, the 5-year-old was dead. A couple of days later, the soldiers were back in the Afghan hamlet of mud-brick huts to try to persuade its residents to be more forthcoming.

“While there is a system in place, it has deficiencies,” said Major Austin Douglas, the company commander.

He was referring mainly to a telephone line set up to allow local Afghans to summon help or provide tip-offs about Taliban insurgents, with six translators on hand to pass on the calls.

The initiative has been stymied by logistics, and fear.

Cellphones are relatively rare in Afghanistan, especially in rural areas like Kandahar province, where the Taliban insurgency against U.S.-led foreign troops is at its most potent.

The Taliban regard cellphone users as potential spies, and Afghan service-providers have been known to turn off antennas at night — when insurgents prefer to operate — out of concern their own facilities could come under attack.

“They will just kill us if we speak to Western forces,” said Abdul Wahab, a 25-year-old farmer.

Another man recalled an ugly encounter with the insurgents.

“They took me once for a long time and beat me and said if I talk with the Canadians they will behead me,” he said with a throat-cutting gesture.

CLOCK TICKS

Apparently eclipsed amid all this alarm was the outrage over the boy’s death, which the Canadians, passing out children’s stickers and soft drinks, blamed on the “bad” Taliban.

Kandahar is the focus of a military and reconstruction push that the Afghan government and NATO forces hope will break the grip of the Taliban by providing services, jobs and stability.

If the campaign doesn’t work, Afghanistan may be unstable for years to come. Worst case, the Taliban, having been toppled in 2001, might return to power — exacting vengeance against Afghans who had worked with the foreigners.

“We need the cooperation of the people. Many are stuck in the middle. They need to be able to control their lives. We will not be here forever,” said Winslow Taylor, a Canadian master-corporal who has learned some of the local language to build trust with Afghans.

The Canadian military contingent, which has suffered some of the biggest casualties in the war, is slated to leave next year.

Afghan villagers are already keeping account.

“Where is the paved road you said you would build?” one man challenged the Canadians.

In another area visited by the patrol the next day, locals listened as the Canadians chronicled the reasons for the Afghan invasion: to hunt down al Qaeda after it attacked the United States, and to do away with the militants’ Taliban sponsors.

Then one farmer recalled how the Taliban once appeared wearing Canadian military uniforms, and slaughtered seven people.

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Rural outreach to Afghans snags on technology, fear

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, June 15 (Reuters) – Mortally wounded after setting off an improvised bomb, the boy might have survived. But rather than use the hotline provided them by Canadian troops, fellow villagers carried him out for treatment.

By the time they reached the Canadian outpost, using a wheelbarrow as a gurney, the 5-year-old was dead. A couple of days later, the soldiers were back in the Afghan hamlet of mud-brick huts to try to persuade its residents to be more forthcoming.

“While there is a system in place, it has deficiencies,” said Major Austin Douglas, the company commander.

He was referring mainly to a telephone line set up to allow local Afghans to summon help or provide tip-offs about Taliban insurgents, with six translators on hand to pass on the calls.

The initiative has been stymied by logistics, and fear. >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For more on Afghanistan click [ID:nAFPAK]

or see link.reuters.com/syx62d

Afghan blog: blogs.reuters.com/afghanistan/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^<

Cellphones are relatively rare in Afghanistan, especially in rural areas like Kandahar province, where the Taliban insurgency against U.S.-led foreign troops is at its most potent.

The Taliban regard cellphone users as potential spies, and Afghan service-providers have been known to turn off antennas at night — when insurgents prefer to operate — out of concern their own facilities could come under attack. “They will just kill us if we speak to Western forces,” said Abdul Wahab, a 25-year-old farmer.

Another man recalled an ugly encounter with the insurgents.

“They took me once for a long time and beat me and said if I talk with the Canadians they will behead me,” he said with a throat-cutting gesture.

CLOCK TICKS

Apparently eclipsed amid all this alarm was the outrage over the boy’s death, which the Canadians, passing out children’s stickers and soft drinks, blamed on the “bad” Taliban.

Kandahar is the focus of a military and reconstruction push that the Afghan government and NATO forces hope will break the grip of the Taliban by providing services, jobs and stability.

If the campaign doesn’t work, Afghanistan may be unstable for years to come. Worst case, the Taliban, having been toppled in 2001, might return to power — exacting vengeance against Afghans who had worked with the foreigners. “We need the cooperation of the people. Many are stuck in the middle. They need to be able to control their lives. We will not be here forever,” said Winslow Taylor, a Canadian master-corporal who has learned some of the local language to build trust with Afghans.

The Canadian military contingent, which has suffered some of the biggest casualties in the war, is slated to leave next year.

Afghan villagers are already keeping account.

“Where is the paved road you said you would build?” one man challenged the Canadians.

In another area visited by the patrol the next day, locals listened as the Canadians chronicled the reasons for the Afghan invasion: to hunt down al Qaeda after it attacked the United States, and to do away with the militants’ Taliban sponsors. Then one farmer recalled how the Taliban once appeared wearing Canadian military uniforms, and slaughtered seven people.

(Editing by Dan Williams)

(david.fox@thomsonreuters.com; Kabul newsroom: +93 799 335 285))

(If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

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Canadian troops tread fine line on village patrols

June 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Afghanistan (Reuters) – Canadian soldiers with night vision goggles slowly navigate through grape fields, wary of triggering booby traps planted by Taliban insurgents.

The Taliban, who have fought NATO forces for nine years, are masters of the terrain, so they could have the advantage. Militants may be hiding a few feet away in irrigation ditches as deep as eight feet.

After hours of heavy hiking, the Canadians reach a hamlet of mud-brick huts they have never previously visited, seeking intelligence that is becoming more critical by the day as NATO troops push to stabilize Afghanistan before a gradual U.S. pullout in 2011.

A cell phone battery is discovered on a young man, immediately raising suspicions. Batteries are often used to trigger improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have killed more NATO soldiers than any other weapon in the conflict with insurgents.

Questioned through a translator about why he is carrying a battery and no cell phone, the Afghan responds: “The Taliban don’t allow us to have them. They would arrest me and hold me for 15 days.

The Taliban frequently ban cell phones in areas where they operate to prevent being informed on.

It is that sort of question Canadians and other U.S.-led troops constantly ask as they attempt to break Taliban networks.

Finding answers has become increasingly urgent since Western forces launched a two-pronged strategy to pacify the Taliban.

NATO forces in the Taliban’s heartland of Kandahar Province will improve security and that will enable the Afghan government to win over the population by providing better services and creating jobs.

The plan depends heavily on the cooperation and trust of the Afghan people, who are well aware of the risks of crossing the Taliban, a group that does not hesitate to publicly execute opponents.

So it may take painstaking efforts to persuade Afghans that it is in their best interest to come forward. As part of their campaign to build ties with the local population, the Canadians donated speakers to a mosque.

If the Taliban are not seriously weakened before the pullout, and there are no eventual peace negotiations, they may be in a position to return to power, which would be a foreign policy disaster for the White House.

NATO fighter planes, tanks and combat helicopters have failed to do the job, so gaining intelligence is a huge priority.

The Canadians have to be efficient to get results since they are expected withdraw from Afghanistan next year.

The sergeant leading the night patrol, John Carr, was careful to be respectful of villagers. He makes a point of first approaching elders, who said they were happy his troops working to improve security.

The Taliban had been moving through the area, he learned. Was it a small intelligence victory? It’s hard to tell. After all, this is Afghanistan, where militants look and speak like everybody else.

The Canadians pressed ahead in an area heavily infested with IEDs. After the call to prayer, they came upon about a dozen bearded men who had just left a mosque. The group also had nice things to say about the Canadian presence.

But jumping to conclusions is risky in Afghanistan.

While there no engagements during the patrol, after the Canadians ended the mission and recalled details of their grueling hike over burritos and chicken cutlets, someone fired an RPG at them.

(Editing by David Fox)

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Pakistani militants behead Afghan man for ‘spying’

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, June 6 (IANS) Unidentified militants beheaded a 60-year-old Afghan man for allegedly ‘spying’ for the US military based in neighbouring Afghanistan, media reports said.

The body, identified as that of Wadeen, was found in Darpa Khel village, five km from Miranshah, in North Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan, Xinhua reported citing a statement in the Daily Times.

A piece of paper found near the body said the man was beheaded was spying for the US and that anyone else doing the same ‘would meet the same fate’.

In February this year, Taliban militants beheaded three men including two Afghans in Mir Ali area in North Waziristan, accusing them of spying for the US.

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Australian opposition gets tough on refugees

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The opposition coalition on Thursday promised to pay other countries to take asylum seekers off Australia’s hands if it wins elections this year.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott made Australia’s response to a burgeoning number of asylum seekers traveling to Australia by boat an election issue by launching his conservative coalition’s new policy. An election date has yet to set.

Its centerpiece is a revival of the so-called Pacific solution in which Australia paid impoverished island neighbors Nauru and Papua New Guinea to keep asylum seekers in detention centers.

The message to asylum seekers was that they would never set foot on the Australian mainland. However, many were eventually settled in Australia after sometimes spending years in offshore camps.

Human rights groups attacked the policy as punitive when the previous coalition government introduced it in 2001, months ahead of an election.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd scrapped the policy when his center-left Labor Party won government in 2007, but he continues to keep most boat arrivals in a crowded camp on the remote Australian Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island while their refugees claims are assessed.

Abbott has blamed the government’s softening of Australia’s asylum seeker stance for more than 4,000 people arriving by boat in the past year, many of them Afghans and Sri Lankans who paid Indonesian people smugglers to ship them to Australia.

“I am a big risk to people smugglers,” Abbott told reporters. “If I get elected, people smugglers will go out of business.”

Abbott declined to identify the countries he planned to negotiate with or estimate how much they would be paid to house the overflow of asylum seekers from Christmas island.

Rudd attempted to slow the flow earlier this year by imposing a three-month freeze on processing asylum claims from Sri Lankans and Afghans – a development condemned on Thursday in the annual report of London-based human rights organization Amnesty International.

Abbott also promised to revive another measure scrapped by Rudd – temporary protection visas.

Under the visas, bona fide refugees would have to prove after three years that they would still face persecution if they returned to their homelands.

Under the current permanent visas, asylum seekers only have to prove their refugee status once.

During their temporary stay, refugees would also have to work for their welfare benefits, an opposition statement said.

Human Resources Minister Chris Bowen said refugees were already required to work, study English or train to gain employment skills.

The work obligations “are actually rules that we introduced, toughened from the previous government’s arrangements,” Bowen told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Arguments about which side of politics is tougher on asylum seekers have raged in Australian election campaigns since the first wave of Vietnamese refugees fled to Australia from the aftermath of Vietnam War in the late 1970s.

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Afghan leaders distrust threatens American war strategy

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Jalalabad (Afghanistan), May 13 (ANI): The success of the NATO offensive in the coming weeks in Kandahar, the Taliban heartland, may well depend on whether Afghans can overcome their corrosive distrust of President Hamid Karzai and his government, the New York Times reports.

According to the paper, Afghan elders met Tuesday at a Marine base near Marja in Helmand Province, as part of an American plan to build mutual trust.

But both Americans and Afghans have struggled to establish a local government that can win the loyalty of the Afghan people, something that is essential to keeping the Taliban at bay, it adds.

Karzai was confronted with that issue when he met with American officials this week, including President Obama on Wednesday.

Both leaders are seeking to repair months of badly strained relations.

The insurgency has spread to some new places, notably the north and northwest of the country, although it has diminished in a few areas. It is now made up of more than half a dozen groups with different agendas, making it that much harder to defeat, or negotiate with, even if the Americans and Afghans could agree on a strategy for doing so.

In 120 districts that the Pentagon views as critical to Afghanistan’s future stability, only a quarter of residents view the government positively. And the government has full control in fewer than a half dozen of these districts.

According to Nader Nadery of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, 18 months is simply not enough to have a stable and secure Afghan government in place.

The current strategy inevitably will allow insurgents some havens, as long as those are in sparsely populated areas where they are unlikely to have much impact.

A NATO officer said Colonel George said he hoped that if he could embolden Afghan citizens to combat corruption in the more populated river valleys and provincial towns in their areas, they would at least create a government they could support.

Diplomats who have spent years in the country working with Afghans give the Americans credit for trying, but they warn that it is easy to underestimate the complexity of Afghan tribal relationships and the profound antipathy for the government. (ANI)

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India’s role very important in Afghanistan: German Envoy

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ATTN: ANI Item being re-issued with amendments in para 13 and 14.

New Delhi, May 10 (ANI): Germany has hailed India’s role in capacity building, and development in infrastructure and education sectors in war torn Afghanistan.

German Ambassador to India Thomas Matussek said: “I think this is the right approach, and not every country in Afghanistan should contribute with military means.”

“I think the civilian help is much more important. Other countries, including Germany, have to make sure that we create a secure environment, but in the long run it is much more important that the Afghans are in the position to handle their own fate and they could only do it with the active cooperation of the neighbors and India has a very important role to play,” the German envoy told ANI.

India is investing more than a billion dollars in small and large-scale projects, including dams, schools and power grids in Afghanistan.

According to recent surveys conducted by independent international organizations, a majority of Afghans are impressed by Indian efforts in rebuilding their country.

But a team of Indian medical workers and doctors was recently attacked in Kabul and Indian mission also came under terrorist attacks twice which were reportedly orchestrated by Pakistan based terror outfits.

Pakistani terrorist groups are specifically targeting Indian interests in Afghanistan and have openly expressed their annoyance over Indian presence.

Ambassador Matussek also welcomed the recent dialogue between Indian and Pakistani prime ministers at Thimphu.

“We welcome every contact and every talk which contribute to good prosperous relationship between these two countries who share such a wonderful but also sometimes very traumatic common history. I think if India and Pakistan solve their issues and if it comes to lessening of tensions, the whole world will profit from it,” he said.

Refusing to comment on the recent decision taken by a Mumbai court on Ajmal

Kasab, the German envoy said: “I think it is very good and positive that people are brought to justice, every country has their own judicial system. You know we are against death penalty but this is where we stand we believe, we don’t interfere or comment on other countries especially the friendly countries.”

Ever since the Mumbai attacks, India and Germany have stepped up cooperation in the field of counter terrorism, which includes training of security experts and exchanging notes on strategies.

Speaking on the future scope of defense cooperation between the two countries, Ambassador Matussek said that Germany can offer best multi role aircrafts and is ready to forgo End User Monitoring Agreement, which is the pre condition for defense deals imposed by many countries, including the United States.

“We have number of projects for instance if you talk about multi role aircraft for the future. We have Eurofighter Typhoon, which is the best aircraft you can get in the market,” he said.

The envoy said that Germany just don’t want to sell the planes but intends to sell the first batch, develop second and third batch here in partnership and technology transfer to the degree that no other competitor will offer.

He also said that technology supplied to India would not be shared with Pakistan and China. Germany has also proposed a MoU on counter terrorism, which is under review. (ANI)

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Australian troops confirm capture of Taliban commander Atiqullah

May 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Melbourne, May 7 (ANI): The Australian military said on Friday that it had captured a Taliban commander in a joint operation Afghan police last month.

Atiqullah, was responsible for the kidnapping of New York Times journalist David Rodhe and two Afghans working with him.

“Taliban commander Mullah Atiqullah and two of his close associates were captured on the afternoon of April 3, in an Afghan-led operation,” The Australian quoted a defence statement, as saying. (ANI)

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Indonesia detains Afghans en route to Australia

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Indonesian police have detained 82 Afghan and Iranian migrants who were intercepted at sea as they tried to reach Australia.

Maritime police officer Anang Hidayat says the migrants were stopped Sunday off Java island in a wooden boat, shortly after three suspected people smugglers had been arrested onshore.

“We stopped their boat about a [kilometre] offshore,” he said.

Six crew members were also arrested.

The migrants paid up to $5,400 to the smugglers, Mr Hidayat said.

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Allies aim to start handover of power to Afghans

April 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Fearful of losing public support for the war in Afghanistan, the US and NATO agreed to start transferring control of the country back to its leaders by year’s end but acknowledged that achieving stability will take decades.

If successful, the transition plan approved by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and representatives of the 27 other NATO countries would enable President Barack Obama to meet his target date of July 2011 for starting to bring American troops home.

The stakes are high. If the plan fails, public support in Europe, the US and among Afghans themselves could further erode or even collapse.

Much depends not only on improved NATO military performance but also on political reconciliation between the Taliban and Afghan’s central government. The allies must quickly improve the training and performance of the Afghan army and police, and strengthen Afghan institutions weakened by decades of conflict.

Clinton on Friday offered an optimistic assessment of the approach, which NATO hopes Afghan President Hamid Karzai will endorse in July at an international conference in Kabul.

Once approved, NATO would officially implement the plan at a summit, possibly in conjunction with a public announcement of the first provinces to be transferred to Afghan control, said Mark Sedwill, the senior NATO civilian in Kabul.

“We believe that with sufficient attention, training and mentoring, the Afghans themselves are perfectly capable of defending themselves against insurgents,” Clinton told a news conference.

“Does that mean it will be smooth sailing? I don’t think so. Look at Iraq.” Asked whether any plan to turn power over to Afghanistan’s sometimes dysfunctional, corrupt and resource-poor government was viable, Sedwill told reporters; “It’s far from certain.”

Yet he and other NATO officials said they believe that with an infusion of new military and civilian aid – including the 30,000 US troops dispatched by the Obama administration last December – success is possible.

“Increasingly this year the momentum will be ours,” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He said the transition to Afghan control is important to demonstrate not only to Afghans but also to the Western countries fighting there that an end to the war is in sight.

“Our aims in 2010 are clear: to take the initiative against the insurgents, to help the Afghan government exercise its sovereignty, and to start handing over responsibility for Afghanistan to the Afghans this year,” Fogh Rasmussen said. He added, however, that even if the transition unfolds as expected it will takes decades of additional assistance for Afghanistan to stand on its own.

Sedwill said the first provinces to be transferred to government control would likely be in the north and west, where the Taliban is less active. And he said the idea is to hand over a cluster of contiguous provinces at the same time to increase the odds of their withstanding the insurgents.

Clinton warned of a hard road ahead, but said she was not discouraged by the obstacles.

NATO is about 450 trainers short of the number it says are needed to prepare security forces for transition to an Afghan-run Afghanistan. That gap apparently remained after Friday’s session, which was not designed to elicit specific pledges of troops, trainers or other military resources.

“We have a relatively small gap that we’re still working to fill. I’m very convinced we’ll get that filled,” Clinton said, adding: “For me, the glass is way more than half full.”

Rasmussen stressed the importance of providing hope to Afghan civilians and halting an erosion of public support for the war in NATO countries.

“Citizens in Afghanistan and in all troop contributing countries are demanding visible progress, and they are right to insist on that,” he added. “We should have no illusions. Making progress will not be easy and will not be quick. But based on what we see on the ground now, it is happening.”

He added that winding down the war does not mean the allies will leave before the mission is accomplished.

“It will not be a run for the exits,” he said.

To underscore NATO’s effort to coordinate of its strategy and operations with the government in Kabul, Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul attended the Tallinn meeting.

The participants were briefed via video conference by US Gen.

Stanley McChrystal, Afghanistan’s top NATO commander, and in person by Adm. James Stavridis, the top NATO commander in Europe, as well as by Sedwill and other top civilian officials.

In a speech Thursday before the two-day NATO meeting began, Fogh Rasmussen called Afghanistan the most challenging military operation in NATO’s history.

“We all want to see a stable and secure Afghanistan – an Afghanistan that is no longer a threat to its region and to the rest of the world,” he said. “We will stay in Afghanistan as long as it takes to achieve that goal. We want to continue to empower the Afghans. And gradually hand over to them greater responsibility for the security of their own country when conditions permit.”

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Pakistani editor Rehana Hakim voices pessimism on ensuing SAARC meet Pakistani editor Rehana Hakim voices pessimism on ensuing SAARC meet

April 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Apr 21 (ANI): Rehana Hakim, Editor of Newsline Pakistan, sounded pessimistic about the outcome of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Bhutan.

Addressing the media here on Tuesday, Hakim said there were several stumbling blocks which affected the healthy functioning of SAARC.

“I have been quite sceptical about it (SAARC meet) because, I feel, 25 years down the road, we have not even managed to get basic things like you know, easing the Visa regiment between the SAARC countries, and, getting each other”s publications across the border. These are very basic things,” she said.

“I think there are two issues. One, it gets hijacked by India and Pakistan each time. I think they are the stumbling blocks. Number two, I feel that whenever they have a set of resolutions at the end of the day, they have about 30 to 40 resolutions and I feel that everything gets filtered and everything gets lost. So I feel if you are to focus on a couple of goals, four or five and work towards that, I think that would be a better idea,” she added.

To a poser on the resumption of talks between India and Pakistan, she observed that unless both the countries drop their conditions, fruitful dialogue is not possible.
“If both countries drop all these conditionalities and just talk, I think we can move forward. The political governments also have the will to move forward in improving their relations,” she said.

Mehbooba Shiraz, a journalist from Afghanistan, who is a part of the delegation hailed India”s role in Afghanistan and said that India has been playing an extremely constructive role in Afghanistan.

“The help of India in Afghanistan, the way I see it, has been extremely constructive. I do appreciate very much and all of the Afghans will appreciate very much the help of this giant neighbour (India) of ours,” Shiraz said. (ANI)

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NATO troops kill 4 Afghans on bus: provincial official

April 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Foreign forces opened fire on a bus in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing four civilians and wounding 18 others, a provincial official said.

World

The issue of civilian casualties caused by international forces is an emotive one in Afghanistan and undermines support for their presence in the country. It has also created a rift between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the West.

“A foreign military convoy fired on a passenger bus and killed four civilians and wounded 18 more,” said Zalmai Ayoubi, spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province.

The incident took place in Zhari district, to the west of Kandahar city, said Ayoubi. The bus had been traveling along the country’s main ring road from Kandahar to Herat city in the west.

A spokesman for NATO-led forces said he was aware of an incident involving civilian casualties in Kandahar on Monday and that a joint Afghan-NATO assessment team had been sent to the area. He did not have any more details on the incident.

The latest incident comes less than a week after NATO said it had launched an investigation into whether its forces had killed four civilians — two women, a child and an elderly man — in an air strike in southern Helmand province.

Earlier this month, NATO acknowledged it had killed five Afghan civilians, including three women, during a botched night raid on a home in the southeast of the country in February.

The United Nations says new guidelines issued by the commander of NATO and U.S. forces last year have helped reduce the number of civilian casualties, but such incidents still cause deep anger among Afghans the foreign troops are meant to protect. While the United Nations says foreign and Afghan troops killed 25 percent fewer civilians last year than in 2008, civilian deaths rose overall, because the number killed by insurgents rose 40 percent.

More than 2,400 civilians were killed in 2009, making it the deadliest year of a war now more than eight years old. There are some 130,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, set to rise to 150,000 by the year’s end.

(Reporting by Ismail Sameem and Jonathon Burch in KABUL; Editing by David Fox)

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