Tweet
Kabul under pressure
By Omar Samad Monday, September 24, 2012 - 4:49 PM - Foreign Policy
A significant step was taken on Sunday by 20 Afghan political groupings and factions in Kabul to sign a Democratic Charter and announce the formation of a cooperation and coordination council as a prelude to the political transition and presidential elections expected to be held in 2014. This initiative, in the works for weeks, aims to forge a consensus to strengthen democratic governance, assure free and fair elections and act as a pressure point on President Hamid Karzai to commit to electoral reforms and a legitimate process for a peaceful transfer of power when his term ends in less than two years.
While this step will be touted as a show of strong support for a constitutional order and democratic gains made since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, the initiative is also a reflection of deep-seated uncertainty and concern among elites about the political process leading to elections, which coincides with the end-of-mission date for NATO combat troops in 2014 -- and that uncertainty is compounded by weak governance plagued by corruption and dim prospects for reconciliation with diehard Taliban leaders.
Karzai has indicated that he will step down at the end of his second and last term, and intends to abide by the constitution, but his critics are not convinced and point to attempts by members of the president's inner circle to subvert or postpone elections.
Interestingly, the formation of the new council not only garnered the support of most loyal opposition groups, but was also endorsed by several factions that are part of Karzai's ruling coalition in government, including Hezb-i Wahdat under Vice President Karim Khalili, the Hezb-i Islami faction under the current Minister of Economy, A. Hadi Arghadewal, Jamiat-e Islami headed by Salahudin Rabbani (also head of the High Peace Council) , Mehaz-e Mili Islami under Pir S. Ahmad Gailani and Afghan Milat Party headed by current Minister of Commerce, Anwarul Haq Ahadi.
Other groupings and prominent leaders represented in the council - formally named the Cooperation Council of Afghan Political Parties and Alliances (CCAPPA) - include former presidential contender Dr. Abdullah Abdullah of the National Alliance, Hanif Atmar, former interior minister and head of the Right and Justice party, Ahmad Zia Massoud, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and Mohamed Mohaqeq of the National Front, Ahmad Wali Massoud, and former chief of national intelligence, Amrullah Saleh.
Describing the country as unstable, insecure and facing "a deep crisis", council members support a political settlement to the on-going conflict. However, they stressed that a reconciliation process needs to be "Afghan-led, comprehensive, just and part of a political process that safeguards constitutional values."
They also expressed strong support for freedom of expression and social justice, as well as women's and minority rights. Fearing that the political system has created a "deepening fissure between the people and the government," they called for an inclusive system that enhances popular participation in the political life of the country.
Probably most significant of all, the council was able to agree on a common platform to deal with a host of election-related challenges that have created angst and heightened suspicions as a result of lukewarm approach to a reform agenda, and new appointments perceived as pre-election political consolidation by a lame duck president and his allies.
Karzai recently reshuffled and replaced 10 governors, a move seen by some as more political in essence than administrative. There are indications that a similar reshuffling may be announced soon, affecting several cabinet positions, part of the judiciary and heads of several key independent state commissions.
Furthermore, a recent comment by first Vice President Qaseem Fahim that elections will not be held at all if security conditions are not permitting, has ruffled feathers and put the opposition in an offensive mode.
The joint statement issued by the council on Sunday not only stressed on the "full independence and neutrality" of the Election (IEC) and Complaints Commissions (ECC), but also requested that measures be taken in order for 1.Elections to be held on time as stipulated by the Constitution; 2. A census to be completed and new national ID cards be issued on time; 3. Voter registration and lists be compiled and the voting system be computerized; 4. Assigning national and international election monitors; 5. Assuring security for elections and 6. Assuring non-interference in the electoral process.
On Monday, a day after the council was formed, the Lower House of parliament voted to reform legislation regulating IEC responsibilities, and allowed two international experts to sit as ECC commissioners, a setback for those who were opposed to international monitoring and adjudication.
With Karzai attending the UN General Assembly meeting in New York this week, he will be hard pressed once he returns to Kabul, either to agree with the demands, seek a compromise, reject them or, as has been the case in the past, ignore such recommendations.
But the buildup of pressure from numerous political heavyweights cannot be easily ignored this time around. The ball is now in Karzai's court, where two contending interest groups around the president - one made up of a small clique of reformists, and the other representing narrow ethnic and financial interests - are at odds over the way forward.
There is talk in Kabul's political bazaar of convening an all-Afghan national assembly to define the contours of a national agenda based on the country's vital interests before all sides engage in electoral contest. If agreed to by all major actors, this idea may constitute a step toward the normalization of relations between the presidential palace, parliament and the loyal opposition, and help level the playing field.
There is little chance, however, for the newly formed council to become a political coalition fielding a single candidate in 2014. Due to different political priorities and platform inconsistencies, the council may prove more useful as a pressure group aiming for electoral reform than as a political vehicle for contesting power.
Cognizant of this, Karzai may be tempted by the palace's narrow interest group to take a hard stance and avoid any compromise, while it uses its leverage through subversive tactics to create an un-even playing field. The prospects for such posturing will not only be detrimental to the political and reconciliation processes, but will also further complicate the NATO withdrawal and transition to a stable and secure Afghanistan.
Omar Samad is Senior Afghanistan Expert at USIP in Washington DC, and a former Afghan Ambassador to France and Canada. The views expressed here are his own.
Afghans hail action over US Marines abuse
By AFP
Afghanistan on Tuesday welcomed a Pentagon decision to put two US Marines on trial for urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters and posing for photographs with them.
The Pentagon announced that Staff Sergeants Joseph Chamblin and Edward Deptola will face court martial, a month after three other Marines were sanctioned administratively for their role in the July 27, 2011 incident in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
"We welcome the US move to put those Marines on trial," defence ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi told AFP.
"We want all those people who commit unlawful acts to be brought to justice."
A videotape that surfaced on the Internet in January showed four US troops urinating on three bloodied corpses, and one of the men, apparently aware he was being filmed, saying: "Have a great day, buddy," to one of the dead.
The actions depicted in the video took place during a counter-insurgency operation in the restive Musa Qala district of Helmand province, in southwestern Afghanistan in July 2011.
The Taliban, who have waged an insurgency against US-led NATO forces and the Afghan government since their ouster by a US-led invasion in 2001, dismissed the move to prosecute the two Marines.
"It is just a symbolic move to catch media attention. These soldiers are war criminals and should be severely punished," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP by phone from an undisclosed location.
"They have not committed a mistake, it was an intentional crime."
The Pentagon said that charges against the sergeants concern "violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for their involvement in urinating on deceased Taliban fighters and for posing for unofficial photographs with human casualties."
They also were charged with dereliction of duty for a number of other command failures involving younger Marines.
The video caused great embarrassment to the US military and prompted a Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe, as well as condemnation and an apology from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
The scandal was one in a long line to tarnish the image of the US military in the past decade, from the Abu Ghraib prison abuse images in Iraq to more recent convictions of troops who killed Afghan civilians for sport.
Panetta said at the time the video surfaced that the troops' behaviour was "utterly deplorable," while US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke of her "total dismay" at the acts, vowing the culprits would be found and punished.
The decision to refer the sergeants for trial comes in the midst of a wave of violent anti-American protests in the Muslim world over a US-made film that ridicules the prophet Mohammed.
The three US Marines who received administrative punishment last month over the urination incident in Afghanistan pleaded guilty.
Punishment from administrative proceedings can include reduction in rank, restriction to a military base, extra duties, forfeiture of pay, a reprimand or a combination of such measures.
The video caused outrage in Afghanistan. An Afghan soldier who shot dead four French troops in January said that he did it because of the American soldiers who urinated on bodies in the video.
S. Korea extends deployment of troops in Afghanistan
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's Cabinet on Tuesday endorsed a plan to extend the deployment of some of its troops tasked with protecting aid workers in strife-torn Afghanistan.
The one-year extension will allow some 70 troops to remain in Parwan province by December 2013 to protect 150 reconstruction workers there, while the remaining troops of the 350-member Oshino unit will end their mission by the end of the year.
The government also approved a bill to extend the deployment of South Korean troops in the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia.
A 310-member unit was dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in 2009 to fight rampant piracy.
The deployment of South Korean troops training special operations forces of the United Arab Emirates was also extended by a year.
Afghans Rally Against Public Lashings Of Teenagers
By Frud Bezhan September 24, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Unmarried girls in Afghanistan -- one of the most deeply religious and conservative countries in the world— are often restricted to their homes and banned from having relationships with men outside their immediate families.
Brutal punishments often await Afghan women and girls who break the social norm.
Some women who are accused or found guilty of having a relationship with a man outside marriage or an extramarital affair are publicly flogged.
Meanwhile, others, particularly in Taliban-controlled areas, are tried by shadow religious courts and publicly executed or stoned to death.
But many Afghans consider these extrajudicial executions and floggings un-Islamic and unlawful.
On September 24, outrage over the latest incident spilled over onto the streets of Kabul, with hundreds of people protesting the recent lashings of two teenage girls -- one of whom was later executed -- for having a relationship with their purported boyfriends.
The demonstrators, many of them students, marched through the Afghan capital chanting slogans and holding banners reading, "We want an end to these extrajudicial killings" and "We want rule of law."
'Unlawful Acts'
Ahmad, a student at Kabul University, believes it is wrong for Afghans to take the law into their own hands and called the lashings by self-appointed judges a "grave crime."
“We want the government to stop these kinds of incidents in Afghanistan," he said. "We have had enough of people who think they have the power to carry out these unlawful acts. Today, we have a government and we have laws.”
According to Ahmad, the Afghan government needs to expand its presence in provincial areas in order to stop executions on the basis of such extrajudicial-court rulings.
In rural areas, where Taliban exert considerable influence, some Afghans still turn to Taliban courts for settling disputes, as many view government bodies as corrupt or unreliable.
The Taliban courts use Shari'a law, which prescribes punishments such as stoning and executions.
The protests came after the killing of a 16-year-old girl in the western city of Herat. The girl, whose identity has not been released by police, was flogged and then killed along with her alleged boyfriend in early September.
A second case involved a 15-year-old girl, who has been named only as Sabera. She was sentenced to 100 lashes on September 15 by three local mullahs in the Jaghori district of the southern Ghazni Province.
Meanwhile, Sabera’s alleged boyfriend, an 18-year-old boy from the same village, was fined 80,000 afghanis ($1,600).
Beatings, Gang Rape
The Afghan lower house of parliament has initiated an investigation into Sabera’s unlawful punishment, which is reminiscent of public executions and the flogging of alleged adulterers under the Taliban in the 1990s.
But the parliament’s move is little consolation for her family. Sabera’s older sister, Shafeqa, says since her sister’s public lashing her family has been targeted by villagers, who have beaten the family and vandalized their home. She claims Sabera, who was also beaten, was gang raped by a group of villagers.
"After the mullahs in the community gathered, people targeted our home," she said. "My whole family has been beaten, especially my mother and father, who were beaten almost to death. The mullahs gathered and came to the conclusion that my sister must be punished with 100 lashes. Around 2,000 people were present as they flogged her in a field."
Sabera's horrific story is not uncommon in Afghanistan.
In July, a 22-year-old woman was shot dead for alleged adultery in Parwan Province, just north of Kabul. The incident, which was captured on video, caused a national and international outcry.
Afghan authorities blamed the execution on Taliban militants, although the militants denied it.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the execution as un-Islamic and unforgivable, but a government investigation failed to apprehend those responsible for the attack.
Women's Precarious Situation
This series of incidents has worked to highlight the precarious situation of Afghan women nearly 11 years after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban regime from Kabul.
Many Afghan women continue to live a life fraught with hardship in a country where domestic abuse is routine, forced marriages are the norm, and female suicide rates are among the highest in the world.
In the past decade, women have made significant inroads in Afghan society. The end of Taliban rule coincided with greater opportunities for women. Millions of girls are now back in school. Women are working, particularly in the major cities, as professionals in various fields. The country has a female provincial governor, while dozens of women serve as members of parliament and the senate.
But as the United States and its NATO allies prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014, women fear that their newfound rights may be undermined in the course of peace talks with the Taliban -- the militia that denied women the right to work, receive an education, or even leave their homes during its five-year rule.
Written by Frud Bezhan with reporting by Radio Free Afghanistan
Top Afghan Security Official Wins Case Challenging Corruption Accusation
New York Times By ALISSA J. RUBIN September 24, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan - A judicial panel here ruled in favor of Afghanistan’s national security chief on Monday in an unusual case of a senior government official turning to the courts and the public to prove that allegations of corruption against him were untrue.
The three-judge panel found that a former deputy attorney general, Fazel Ahmed Faqiryar, had falsely stated that he had been forced into early retirement and that he had falsely accused Rangin Dadfar Spanta, the national security adviser, of corruption. Mr. Faqiryar was ordered to pay a modest fine, about $300. The small fine was in keeping with Mr. Spanta’s stated intent, which was to clear his name rather than to get revenge, said his lawyer, Ahmad Farid Arabzai.
“Our goal is not to avenge,” Mr. Arabzai said. “What we want is to prove that we are not corrupt, we are not involved in embezzlement.”
Mr. Spanta has been in a two-year dispute with Mr. Faqiryar, who named him in Parliament hearings and interviews with both Afghan and international news organizations, including The New York Times.
The hearing was heavily covered by news outlets, many of which had previously broadcast news about the corruption allegations. In the course of the hearing, Mr. Faqiryar, who represented himself in court, repeated some of the allegations and said there were documents to prove them in the attorney general’s office where he used to work, but several of his arguments seemed inconclusive. Although he was holding a sheaf of papers throughout the proceedings, he did not appear to have given any of them to the court.
Mr. Faqiryar also said he was glad he no longer worked for the government. At one point during his presentation, he indicated that he believed the case was being brought for political reasons and at another time for personal reasons, but above all he argued that an example was being made of him.
“If this is punishable at my 74 years of age and with my record of performance as a lawyer and with all of the documents I have mentioned, then I request that you punish me so that it can be a lesson for everyone,” Mr. Faqiryar said. “But if this is a case where the law is only enforced when it comes to one person, then this is not justice.”
He said he would appeal the verdict.
The case stems from a period in 2009-2010, when the international community was seized by the idea that the aggressive prosecution of high-profile corruption cases in Afghanistan, backed by international financing and mentoring, would help to restore faith in the Afghan government and begin to inculcate the rule of law. The attorney general’s office received many complaints and began investigations of scores of public officials on suspicion of corruption, kickbacks and bribery.
Corruption is rife in Afghanistan, which ranks third from last in Transparency International’s list of countries. At the time, there was finger pointing and complaints of corruption against scores of public officials.
In the summer of 2010, shortly before the incident involving Mr. Faqiryar and Mr. Spanta, the prosecution of a close aide to President Hamid Karzai was halted after the president intervened, saying that Western-backed investigators had violated the aide’s civil rights. Around the same time, the two main fraud investigative units — the major crimes task force and the sensitive crimes unit — while continuing to work, saw none of their cases brought to trial.
The only truly high-profile case that appears to have moved forward in the past two years is one involving the chief executives of Kabul Bank. In that case, Mr. Karzai has appointed a special tribunal to bring charges.
With no high profile cases going to prosecution, many officials whose names were reported in the news media as accused of corruption never saw the allegations proved or dismissed, including Mr. Spanta.
The incident began when Mr. Faqiryar, sent by the attorney general’s office to testify before Parliament about corruption, read a long list of officials on whom the office was said to have files.
When Mr. Spanta’s name came up, it surprised many people, in part because he had a reputation for honesty and not least because the national security office generally handled few contracts.
Mr. Spanta, a political scientist who fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and taught at a German university before returning here after the fall of the Taliban, is a rare member of Mr. Karzai’s inner circle who does not even own a house in Kabul, but stays in a government guesthouse, occasionally returning to Germany to visit his family.
Because prosecutions were never brought, it was unclear whether there was a file at all and, if there was, what was in it.
Chinese copper miners latest threat to Afghanistan's Buddhist monasteries
By ANI
Kabul, Sept. 25 (ANI): An ancient archeological site in Afghanistan could soon be destroyed by Chinese miners in the name of economic profit.
The site at Mes Aynak, in Afghanistan's Logar Province, is home to 5th-century Buddhist monasteries, temples and other relics, but also sits on one of the largest copper deposits in the world.
A Chinese government-backed company, keen to develop the world's second largest copper mine, discovered the ruins when they began excavating the site in 2010.
According to the Daily Mail, keen to avoid a Buddhas of Bamiyan situation, where statues towering as high as 180 feet in central Afghanistan were dynamited to dust in 2001 by the Taliban, the company has given archaeologists three years to conduct a salvage excavation.
Archaeologists working on the site since May 2010, said there won't be enough time to ensure a full preservation of the statutes.
According to the report, there is a view in Afghanistan that exploiting the copper reserves will bring in earnings of about a trillion dollars, and put the economy back on its feet.
So far, hallways and rooms decorated with frescoes and filled with clay and stone statues of standing and reclining Buddhas have been dug out.
More than 150 statues have been found so far, though many remain in place.
"That site is so massive that it's easily a 10-year campaign of archaeology," Laura Tedesco, an archaeologist brought in by the US Embassy to work on sites in Afghanistan, said, adding: "Three years may be enough time just to document what's there".
According to the report, when the Chinese won the contract to exploit the mine in 2008, there was no discussion with Kabul about the ruins, only about money, security and building a railroad to transport the copper out of Logar's dusty hills.
But a small band of Afghan and French archaeologists raised a stir and put the antiquities on the agenda.
The mine could be a major boost for the Afghan economy. According to the Afghan Mining Ministry, it holds some six million tons of copper, worth billions of dollars.
Developing the mine and related transport infrastructure will generate much needed jobs and economic activity, the report added. (ANI)
Taliban-linked Afghan recounts prison abuse
CNN By Anna Coren September 25, 2012
Kabul - On a hill overlooking the dusty, sprawling city of Kabul is a park where kids fly their kites. A dirty, beaten up Toyota sedan arrives, and Mohammad Nasim steps out wearing traditional Afghan garb -- a perahan tunban (tunic and pants) and a lungee (a headdress).
He's traveled more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) from his home in Nangarhar province near the Pakistani border, a drive that has taken him at least five hours because the roads are so bad. He wants to tell his story after learning of the decision to transfer Bagram prison from U.S. to Afghan control.
It's a story that began almost a decade ago, a year after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States by al Qaeda terrorists then based in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban, radical islamic fundamentalists dislodged from power by the U.S.-led war against terror that followed.
"At the beginning of the Karzai government we were at home, living our normal life," he said. "I was a farmer supporting my wife and kids. The police surrounded our house in October 2002 and said 'you're involved with the Taliban,' and they arrested me and took me to Bagram prison." Nasim says many men in his town were rounded up that day. "They accused me of being involved with the Taliban and attacking Jalalabad airport about 40 kilometers from my home, but I asked them, 'How was I involved in an attack on the airport when you arrest me in my house, with my family?'"Despite Nasim's claim of innocence, U.S. records reveal he was in possession of rocket motors and other equipment when he was taken into custody -- an allegation he strongly denies. He was taken to Bagram Prison, which was at the time was run by the U.S. Defense Department, and claims he was tortured there.
"Yes, yes, I was tortured," he said. "They gave me electric shots on my wrists. I was hung from the ceiling for seven days. Our faces were masked, and we were handcuffed, hanging from the ceiling. Our legs were chained as well.""
As he explains his story he plays out the torture scenes, raising his arms into the air.
"A guard would keep shaking the chain so we couldn't sleep for seven days," he said. "I completely lost my mind. I was hanging from the ceiling; my body was aching. They would hit our heads into the wall."
Asked about Nasim's allegations of torture at Bagram, a spokesman for the Department of Defense in Washington released a statement that did not specifically reference his claims, but said in part:
"DoD does not tolerate the abuse of detainees. All credible allegations of abuse are thoroughly investigated, and appropriate disciplinary action is taken when those allegations are substantiated. We take such matters very seriously.
"Although there have been substantiated cases of abuse in the past, for which U.S. service members have been held accountable, our enemies also have employed a deliberate campaign of exaggerations and fabrications. The suggestion that DoD personnel, the overwhelming majority of whom serve honorably, are or ever were engaged in systematic mistreatment of detainees is false and does not withstand scrutiny."
As we sat cross-legged in the dirt in the park, Nasim took in the panoramic view of Kabul, a city surrounded by rugged mountains amid a landscape so arid and dry -- and yet so beautiful. As he gazed out, almost lost in thought, I asked him if he thought he would survive his time in Bagram. He said, "I felt completely hopeless. Some people inside killed themselves. I too had lost all hope. I thought I was going to die in there."
It was during this period that two Afghan prisoners, Habibullah and Dilawar who were also hung by their wrists, were beaten to death by U.S. soldiers in Bagram Prison in December 2002. A U.S. military investigation later found that abuse had been widespread that year and the following.
After five months in Bagram, Nasim was transferred to Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba as a "medium-risk" prisoner. Guantanamo was not like Bagram, he said. "Every prisoner had their own small room. We spent three months separately in confinement. After three months they took us up to camp 5. It was difficult to cope but not as bad as Bagram."
After four and a half years in Guantanamo Bay, Nasim was finally released. "An American woman said, 'we're sorry,'" he said. "But what to do with their sorry? I spent five years of my life there. I was innocent. You take me away from my family, my children. Who supported them while I was locked up? I lost five years of my life.""
Nasim, who's now 36 but looks at least a decade older, is still very upset about what hey says happened to him. He says he's received no compensation and no formal apology. The father of five said, "It made me feel like I wanted to go out and kill all of them. If somebody takes you to the prison for five years, how would you feel? I was very angry. My hurt was blasting."
His level of anger has subsided over the years, but he believes the Americans and international forces need to get out of Afghanistan.
"This will be a better place once they've all gone. We don't need them. Afghans can run their own country," he said.
Taliban release video 'showing militants preparing for attack on Camp Bastion'
By ANI
London, Sep 25 (ANI): The Taliban have released a video they claim shows militants preparing for the attack on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan earlier this month, that resulted in the death of two Marines and destroyed equipment worth more than 100 million pounds.
Fifteen Taliban militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles attacked the airfield beside the NATO camp, on September 14, where Prince Harry has also been deployed. The attack destroyed six American Harrier aircrafts and killed two US marines, leaving several others injured.
According to The Telegraph, the video, which was emailed to Afghan journalists by a Taliban spokesman, shows young men in American military clothing practicing cutting a hole in a wire fence and being briefed on the position of aircraft inside the sprawling Helmand base. Many of the militants' faces are blurred out.
One of the fighters then lists reasons, in English, that why he and his comrades are prepared to die in the attack, complaining the West and coalition have insulted Islam, the Prophet Mohammed and the Koran, the paper said.
The final scene in the video shows a man pointing to a crude map drawn on a white board, displaying the positions of helicopters, planes and hangars, the paper said.
It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the footage and nothing in the video indicated when, or where, it was filmed. A spokesman for British forces in Helmand said they did not comment on 'insurgent propaganda', the paper added. (ANI)
Camp Bastion assault: Details emerge of Taliban attack
BBC News By Quentin Sommerville 24 September 2012
Camp Bastion - New details have emerged of the large-scale response to a Taliban attack last week on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
The BBC has been given exclusive access to the US Marines and Royal Air Force gunners who were involved in the counter-attack.
The Taliban attackers who broke through Camp Bastion's perimeter chose the darkest night of the year to launch their assault.
They quickly made their way to the US Marine Harrier flight line.
They were dressed in American army uniforms but, instead of boots, they wore training shoes.
Their beards were another give-away, but the darkness meant that the coalition forces on the base only realised they were insurgents when they opened fire.
In quick succession, they fired rocket-propelled grenades at eight Harrier jump jets under canvas hangers, destroying six and damaging two.
Trained riflemen
Capt Kevin Smalley of Marine Attack Squadron 211 had just finished a combat mission when he heard the first explosion.
He said: "I didn't get a good bead on how many enemy were out there because it was very smoky and there were a lot of flames and explosions as our rounds were cooking off. But I could see at least one enemy from my position, as I secured the area."
Every Marine, whether a mechanic or pilot, is a trained rifleman.
Squadron Commander Lt Col Chris Raible ran 150 metres across open ground under fire. He was carrying only his service pistol.
As he lay down, shooting at the insurgents, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded nearby, killing him.
Sgt Bradley Atwell was also killed by an RPG as he pushed forward with a counter-attack.
Capt Smalley said: "Lt Col Raible was one of the best Harrier pilots we have in the entire fleet... He wrote on many of the tactics and techniques that the Harrier uses."
Firefight
Bastion is one of the biggest camps in Afghanistan - its perimeter is 37km in length. It appears the Taliban got close to the perimeter through a network of dry river beds that run nearby.
Although Bastion is in an area of desert, the surroundings are not uninhabited.
The Royal Air Force's 51 squadron, the base's quick response force, crossed the runway in two heavily-armed, Coyote open-topped vehicles.
A four-and-a-half hour long firefight then ensued.
Sgt Roy "Doc" Geddes was one of those leading the counter-attack.
"This is something we weren't expecting, the base is quite well defended," he said.
"Obviously they've found the weak point, and managed to exploit that and get on to the base, but once they were on they were dealt with effectively and quickly."
The airfield's four fire appliances made their way to the site (nearby fuel pits had also been set alight). They needed to be resupplied with water three times.
"The flames were about 100ft," said Sgt Simon Allsop, watch manager of the Red Watch in Camp Bastion's fire section.
"And there were more flames from the Harriers, there were large thuds going off, explosions going on, obviously from rocket attack."
Haqqani hallmarks
Attack helicopters were called in too - from Prince Harry's squadron. The Prince was not involved in the counter-attack: he was taken to a secure location on the base.
American helicopters killed the three remaining Taliban, who had hidden behind concrete blast walls. In total 14 were killed, and one was injured.
Their tactics bore all the hallmarks of the Haqqani network, a Taliban affiliate based in Pakistan.
At Bastion, military sources were not commenting, an investigation is underway.
The one surviving insurgent is believed to be undergoing treatment at Bastion's hospital.
Within hours of the attack, parts of the Bastion runway were operational again.
Two new Harriers arrived at the base earlier this week; four more will follow shortly.
The two that weren't destroyed by the Taliban will be returned to the US for extensive repairs.
NKB CEO Not Cooperating with Investigation: Tribunal
TOLOnews.com By Saleha Soadat Monday, 24 September 2012
Kabul Bank's Special Tribunal's Director has introduced the CEO of the New Kabul Bank to the Attorney General Office for not cooperating with the investigation of Kabul Bank's scandal.
Director Shamur Rahman Shams said he had sent a delegation to the New Kabul Bank to find out what the actual capitals of the bank were at the time of scandal, but faced an "uncooperative management."
"We sent a delegation comprised several departments, but the officials failed to cooperate us in a proper way, so we had to introduce the CEO to the Attorney General," said Mr Shams.
However, the New Kabul Bank's CEO, Masoud Khan Mosa Ghazi, dismissed the accusations, saying he and his team have cooperated with the investigators.
"Nearly $4.5m currently exists and $1.3 billion were the loans, and I provided all details to them," Ghazi told TOLOnews.
Meanwhile, Mr Shams said that no one has shown interest to buy Kabul Bank and its assets.
The tribunal's director said that Mahmood Karzai owes $9m and Hassin Fahim owes $3m, which they have failed to pay back due to their personal problems with former CEO Khalil Ferozi and Chairman Shirkhan Farnod.
He didn't explain the personal problems between the loan takers and the former executives of the bank.
Only $129m of nearly $912m have been recovered so far, according Mr Shams.
Civilian Casualties on the Rise Despite Decrease in Insurgent Attacks
TOLOnews.com By Shakeel Abrahimkhil Monday, 24 September 2012
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) on Monday said that the Taliban are reluctant to engage in battlefield with Nato and Afghan forces, but continue to carry out attacks which have resulted in a dramatic increase in civilian casualties.
August has been the second deadliest month for Afghan civilians since the beginning of the war in 2001 with 347 people killed.
Speaking in a joint press conference with Nato spokesman Dominic Medley, Isaf spokesman General Gunter Katz emphasised that the Taliban's momentum has been reversed and they are pushed out of the urban areas.
"Insurgency is losing the fight, the main reason is that we were able to reverse the momentum of their campaign, pushing them out of the urban areas, fighting them in remote areas and I guess one of the main reasons is also that Afghan security forces are becoming more and more capable," Katz said.
The German General said that Afghan forces control more than 75 percent of the country.
He touched the hot-debated cross-border attacks, saying a dialogue has been initiated between Afghanistan and Pakistan to seek an end to the year-long cross-border shelling.
"Isaf is playing one important role, sitting together with the two partners in tripartite commission discussing this issue and see how we can handle this problem," Katz added, saying that it needs patience and should be tackled in a sensible way.
Meanwhile, Medley stressed that the international community will support Afghanistan beyond 2014.
"The international community gave a high degree of assurance that Afghanistan will be supported, words are being matched with deeds and agreements," Medley said.
"Afghanistan has a responsibility too, major contributions are being made to Afghanistan's future and in return Afghanistan has to move in the right direction in key areas like improved governance, counter corruption, credible elections and other areas," the Nato spokesman added.
Afghans Take Over Training Responsibility for Border Police
TOLOnews.com By Sharif Amiry Monday, 24 September 2012
The Afghan government has taken overall responsibility for the training of the Afghan Border Police (ABP) from the US military, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.
The handover of Afghan border police training mission comes as concerns mount over Green on Blue attacks.
Last month, the US forces suspended the training mission for the Afghan Local Police to reduce the risk of the insider threats.
The core responsibility of the border police is to protect the troubled Afghan borders, particularly in the volatile Af-Pak region and prevent narco-trade.
Speaking in a border police graduation ceremony, Coordinating Director for Rule of Law and Law Enforcement at the US Embassy in Kabul, Stephen G. McFarland, said that the border police force will have a major task to prevent insurgents, narcotics and explosives entering Afghanistan.
"There are several challenges that the graduates of this course are going to face; the first is trying to reinforce security on the border so that the terrorist cannot cross and so that materials for making bombs are detected," McFarland said.
The Afghan Deputy Interior Minister, Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, said the threat of drug smuggling and cross-border attacks would remain a huge challenge for his forces.
It comes as the newly-appointed Interior Minister Gen. Mujtaba Patang yesterday said that he would put more forces alongside the eastern borders to prevent the cross-border shelling.
The issue or Pakistan's cross border shelling was also conveyed to the United Nations Security Council as the Afghan senators and Lawmakers urged the Security Council to take necessary actions to prevent such attacks.
MoI Assigns Extra Bodyguards to MPs
TOLOnews.com By Jawed Stanikzai Monday, 24 September 2012
The Afghan Ministry of Interior has assigned extra protection force to particular MPs which has provoked some other lawmakers to complain and call it unnecessary.
A Wardak MP, Sediqa Mubarez, questioned the size of the police unit guarding the MPs, calling it needless.
Another MP from Farah, Sarwar Usmani, disclosed a list of MPs who are being escorted with more than 20 bodyguards.
"Haji Almas [Zahid] has 20 bodyguards, Younus Qanoni has 29 bodyguards, Mawlawi Enayat Ateb has 23 bodyguards," MP Usmani said while reading a long list.
But, the additional protection force was considered as necessary by some others, including MP Fawzia Kofi of Badakhshan. She said the increasing level of security threats requires additional security arrangements for the parliamentarians.
"Due to security threats, apart from four bodyguards, two three more bodyguards have been assigned to the MPs, there is nothing wrong with it," Kofi said.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
By Omar Samad Monday, September 24, 2012 - 4:49 PM - Foreign Policy
A significant step was taken on Sunday by 20 Afghan political groupings and factions in Kabul to sign a Democratic Charter and announce the formation of a cooperation and coordination council as a prelude to the political transition and presidential elections expected to be held in 2014. This initiative, in the works for weeks, aims to forge a consensus to strengthen democratic governance, assure free and fair elections and act as a pressure point on President Hamid Karzai to commit to electoral reforms and a legitimate process for a peaceful transfer of power when his term ends in less than two years.
While this step will be touted as a show of strong support for a constitutional order and democratic gains made since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, the initiative is also a reflection of deep-seated uncertainty and concern among elites about the political process leading to elections, which coincides with the end-of-mission date for NATO combat troops in 2014 -- and that uncertainty is compounded by weak governance plagued by corruption and dim prospects for reconciliation with diehard Taliban leaders.
Karzai has indicated that he will step down at the end of his second and last term, and intends to abide by the constitution, but his critics are not convinced and point to attempts by members of the president's inner circle to subvert or postpone elections.
Interestingly, the formation of the new council not only garnered the support of most loyal opposition groups, but was also endorsed by several factions that are part of Karzai's ruling coalition in government, including Hezb-i Wahdat under Vice President Karim Khalili, the Hezb-i Islami faction under the current Minister of Economy, A. Hadi Arghadewal, Jamiat-e Islami headed by Salahudin Rabbani (also head of the High Peace Council) , Mehaz-e Mili Islami under Pir S. Ahmad Gailani and Afghan Milat Party headed by current Minister of Commerce, Anwarul Haq Ahadi.
Other groupings and prominent leaders represented in the council - formally named the Cooperation Council of Afghan Political Parties and Alliances (CCAPPA) - include former presidential contender Dr. Abdullah Abdullah of the National Alliance, Hanif Atmar, former interior minister and head of the Right and Justice party, Ahmad Zia Massoud, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and Mohamed Mohaqeq of the National Front, Ahmad Wali Massoud, and former chief of national intelligence, Amrullah Saleh.
Describing the country as unstable, insecure and facing "a deep crisis", council members support a political settlement to the on-going conflict. However, they stressed that a reconciliation process needs to be "Afghan-led, comprehensive, just and part of a political process that safeguards constitutional values."
They also expressed strong support for freedom of expression and social justice, as well as women's and minority rights. Fearing that the political system has created a "deepening fissure between the people and the government," they called for an inclusive system that enhances popular participation in the political life of the country.
Probably most significant of all, the council was able to agree on a common platform to deal with a host of election-related challenges that have created angst and heightened suspicions as a result of lukewarm approach to a reform agenda, and new appointments perceived as pre-election political consolidation by a lame duck president and his allies.
Karzai recently reshuffled and replaced 10 governors, a move seen by some as more political in essence than administrative. There are indications that a similar reshuffling may be announced soon, affecting several cabinet positions, part of the judiciary and heads of several key independent state commissions.
Furthermore, a recent comment by first Vice President Qaseem Fahim that elections will not be held at all if security conditions are not permitting, has ruffled feathers and put the opposition in an offensive mode.
The joint statement issued by the council on Sunday not only stressed on the "full independence and neutrality" of the Election (IEC) and Complaints Commissions (ECC), but also requested that measures be taken in order for 1.Elections to be held on time as stipulated by the Constitution; 2. A census to be completed and new national ID cards be issued on time; 3. Voter registration and lists be compiled and the voting system be computerized; 4. Assigning national and international election monitors; 5. Assuring security for elections and 6. Assuring non-interference in the electoral process.
On Monday, a day after the council was formed, the Lower House of parliament voted to reform legislation regulating IEC responsibilities, and allowed two international experts to sit as ECC commissioners, a setback for those who were opposed to international monitoring and adjudication.
With Karzai attending the UN General Assembly meeting in New York this week, he will be hard pressed once he returns to Kabul, either to agree with the demands, seek a compromise, reject them or, as has been the case in the past, ignore such recommendations.
But the buildup of pressure from numerous political heavyweights cannot be easily ignored this time around. The ball is now in Karzai's court, where two contending interest groups around the president - one made up of a small clique of reformists, and the other representing narrow ethnic and financial interests - are at odds over the way forward.
There is talk in Kabul's political bazaar of convening an all-Afghan national assembly to define the contours of a national agenda based on the country's vital interests before all sides engage in electoral contest. If agreed to by all major actors, this idea may constitute a step toward the normalization of relations between the presidential palace, parliament and the loyal opposition, and help level the playing field.
There is little chance, however, for the newly formed council to become a political coalition fielding a single candidate in 2014. Due to different political priorities and platform inconsistencies, the council may prove more useful as a pressure group aiming for electoral reform than as a political vehicle for contesting power.
Cognizant of this, Karzai may be tempted by the palace's narrow interest group to take a hard stance and avoid any compromise, while it uses its leverage through subversive tactics to create an un-even playing field. The prospects for such posturing will not only be detrimental to the political and reconciliation processes, but will also further complicate the NATO withdrawal and transition to a stable and secure Afghanistan.
Omar Samad is Senior Afghanistan Expert at USIP in Washington DC, and a former Afghan Ambassador to France and Canada. The views expressed here are his own.
Afghans hail action over US Marines abuse
By AFP
Afghanistan on Tuesday welcomed a Pentagon decision to put two US Marines on trial for urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters and posing for photographs with them.
The Pentagon announced that Staff Sergeants Joseph Chamblin and Edward Deptola will face court martial, a month after three other Marines were sanctioned administratively for their role in the July 27, 2011 incident in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
"We welcome the US move to put those Marines on trial," defence ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi told AFP.
"We want all those people who commit unlawful acts to be brought to justice."
A videotape that surfaced on the Internet in January showed four US troops urinating on three bloodied corpses, and one of the men, apparently aware he was being filmed, saying: "Have a great day, buddy," to one of the dead.
The actions depicted in the video took place during a counter-insurgency operation in the restive Musa Qala district of Helmand province, in southwestern Afghanistan in July 2011.
The Taliban, who have waged an insurgency against US-led NATO forces and the Afghan government since their ouster by a US-led invasion in 2001, dismissed the move to prosecute the two Marines.
"It is just a symbolic move to catch media attention. These soldiers are war criminals and should be severely punished," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP by phone from an undisclosed location.
"They have not committed a mistake, it was an intentional crime."
The Pentagon said that charges against the sergeants concern "violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for their involvement in urinating on deceased Taliban fighters and for posing for unofficial photographs with human casualties."
They also were charged with dereliction of duty for a number of other command failures involving younger Marines.
The video caused great embarrassment to the US military and prompted a Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe, as well as condemnation and an apology from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
The scandal was one in a long line to tarnish the image of the US military in the past decade, from the Abu Ghraib prison abuse images in Iraq to more recent convictions of troops who killed Afghan civilians for sport.
Panetta said at the time the video surfaced that the troops' behaviour was "utterly deplorable," while US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke of her "total dismay" at the acts, vowing the culprits would be found and punished.
The decision to refer the sergeants for trial comes in the midst of a wave of violent anti-American protests in the Muslim world over a US-made film that ridicules the prophet Mohammed.
The three US Marines who received administrative punishment last month over the urination incident in Afghanistan pleaded guilty.
Punishment from administrative proceedings can include reduction in rank, restriction to a military base, extra duties, forfeiture of pay, a reprimand or a combination of such measures.
The video caused outrage in Afghanistan. An Afghan soldier who shot dead four French troops in January said that he did it because of the American soldiers who urinated on bodies in the video.
S. Korea extends deployment of troops in Afghanistan
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's Cabinet on Tuesday endorsed a plan to extend the deployment of some of its troops tasked with protecting aid workers in strife-torn Afghanistan.
The one-year extension will allow some 70 troops to remain in Parwan province by December 2013 to protect 150 reconstruction workers there, while the remaining troops of the 350-member Oshino unit will end their mission by the end of the year.
The government also approved a bill to extend the deployment of South Korean troops in the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia.
A 310-member unit was dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in 2009 to fight rampant piracy.
The deployment of South Korean troops training special operations forces of the United Arab Emirates was also extended by a year.
Afghans Rally Against Public Lashings Of Teenagers
By Frud Bezhan September 24, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Unmarried girls in Afghanistan -- one of the most deeply religious and conservative countries in the world— are often restricted to their homes and banned from having relationships with men outside their immediate families.
Brutal punishments often await Afghan women and girls who break the social norm.
Some women who are accused or found guilty of having a relationship with a man outside marriage or an extramarital affair are publicly flogged.
Meanwhile, others, particularly in Taliban-controlled areas, are tried by shadow religious courts and publicly executed or stoned to death.
But many Afghans consider these extrajudicial executions and floggings un-Islamic and unlawful.
On September 24, outrage over the latest incident spilled over onto the streets of Kabul, with hundreds of people protesting the recent lashings of two teenage girls -- one of whom was later executed -- for having a relationship with their purported boyfriends.
The demonstrators, many of them students, marched through the Afghan capital chanting slogans and holding banners reading, "We want an end to these extrajudicial killings" and "We want rule of law."
'Unlawful Acts'
Ahmad, a student at Kabul University, believes it is wrong for Afghans to take the law into their own hands and called the lashings by self-appointed judges a "grave crime."
“We want the government to stop these kinds of incidents in Afghanistan," he said. "We have had enough of people who think they have the power to carry out these unlawful acts. Today, we have a government and we have laws.”
According to Ahmad, the Afghan government needs to expand its presence in provincial areas in order to stop executions on the basis of such extrajudicial-court rulings.
In rural areas, where Taliban exert considerable influence, some Afghans still turn to Taliban courts for settling disputes, as many view government bodies as corrupt or unreliable.
The Taliban courts use Shari'a law, which prescribes punishments such as stoning and executions.
The protests came after the killing of a 16-year-old girl in the western city of Herat. The girl, whose identity has not been released by police, was flogged and then killed along with her alleged boyfriend in early September.
A second case involved a 15-year-old girl, who has been named only as Sabera. She was sentenced to 100 lashes on September 15 by three local mullahs in the Jaghori district of the southern Ghazni Province.
Meanwhile, Sabera’s alleged boyfriend, an 18-year-old boy from the same village, was fined 80,000 afghanis ($1,600).
Beatings, Gang Rape
The Afghan lower house of parliament has initiated an investigation into Sabera’s unlawful punishment, which is reminiscent of public executions and the flogging of alleged adulterers under the Taliban in the 1990s.
But the parliament’s move is little consolation for her family. Sabera’s older sister, Shafeqa, says since her sister’s public lashing her family has been targeted by villagers, who have beaten the family and vandalized their home. She claims Sabera, who was also beaten, was gang raped by a group of villagers.
"After the mullahs in the community gathered, people targeted our home," she said. "My whole family has been beaten, especially my mother and father, who were beaten almost to death. The mullahs gathered and came to the conclusion that my sister must be punished with 100 lashes. Around 2,000 people were present as they flogged her in a field."
Sabera's horrific story is not uncommon in Afghanistan.
In July, a 22-year-old woman was shot dead for alleged adultery in Parwan Province, just north of Kabul. The incident, which was captured on video, caused a national and international outcry.
Afghan authorities blamed the execution on Taliban militants, although the militants denied it.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the execution as un-Islamic and unforgivable, but a government investigation failed to apprehend those responsible for the attack.
Women's Precarious Situation
This series of incidents has worked to highlight the precarious situation of Afghan women nearly 11 years after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban regime from Kabul.
Many Afghan women continue to live a life fraught with hardship in a country where domestic abuse is routine, forced marriages are the norm, and female suicide rates are among the highest in the world.
In the past decade, women have made significant inroads in Afghan society. The end of Taliban rule coincided with greater opportunities for women. Millions of girls are now back in school. Women are working, particularly in the major cities, as professionals in various fields. The country has a female provincial governor, while dozens of women serve as members of parliament and the senate.
But as the United States and its NATO allies prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014, women fear that their newfound rights may be undermined in the course of peace talks with the Taliban -- the militia that denied women the right to work, receive an education, or even leave their homes during its five-year rule.
Written by Frud Bezhan with reporting by Radio Free Afghanistan
Top Afghan Security Official Wins Case Challenging Corruption Accusation
New York Times By ALISSA J. RUBIN September 24, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan - A judicial panel here ruled in favor of Afghanistan’s national security chief on Monday in an unusual case of a senior government official turning to the courts and the public to prove that allegations of corruption against him were untrue.
The three-judge panel found that a former deputy attorney general, Fazel Ahmed Faqiryar, had falsely stated that he had been forced into early retirement and that he had falsely accused Rangin Dadfar Spanta, the national security adviser, of corruption. Mr. Faqiryar was ordered to pay a modest fine, about $300. The small fine was in keeping with Mr. Spanta’s stated intent, which was to clear his name rather than to get revenge, said his lawyer, Ahmad Farid Arabzai.
“Our goal is not to avenge,” Mr. Arabzai said. “What we want is to prove that we are not corrupt, we are not involved in embezzlement.”
Mr. Spanta has been in a two-year dispute with Mr. Faqiryar, who named him in Parliament hearings and interviews with both Afghan and international news organizations, including The New York Times.
The hearing was heavily covered by news outlets, many of which had previously broadcast news about the corruption allegations. In the course of the hearing, Mr. Faqiryar, who represented himself in court, repeated some of the allegations and said there were documents to prove them in the attorney general’s office where he used to work, but several of his arguments seemed inconclusive. Although he was holding a sheaf of papers throughout the proceedings, he did not appear to have given any of them to the court.
Mr. Faqiryar also said he was glad he no longer worked for the government. At one point during his presentation, he indicated that he believed the case was being brought for political reasons and at another time for personal reasons, but above all he argued that an example was being made of him.
“If this is punishable at my 74 years of age and with my record of performance as a lawyer and with all of the documents I have mentioned, then I request that you punish me so that it can be a lesson for everyone,” Mr. Faqiryar said. “But if this is a case where the law is only enforced when it comes to one person, then this is not justice.”
He said he would appeal the verdict.
The case stems from a period in 2009-2010, when the international community was seized by the idea that the aggressive prosecution of high-profile corruption cases in Afghanistan, backed by international financing and mentoring, would help to restore faith in the Afghan government and begin to inculcate the rule of law. The attorney general’s office received many complaints and began investigations of scores of public officials on suspicion of corruption, kickbacks and bribery.
Corruption is rife in Afghanistan, which ranks third from last in Transparency International’s list of countries. At the time, there was finger pointing and complaints of corruption against scores of public officials.
In the summer of 2010, shortly before the incident involving Mr. Faqiryar and Mr. Spanta, the prosecution of a close aide to President Hamid Karzai was halted after the president intervened, saying that Western-backed investigators had violated the aide’s civil rights. Around the same time, the two main fraud investigative units — the major crimes task force and the sensitive crimes unit — while continuing to work, saw none of their cases brought to trial.
The only truly high-profile case that appears to have moved forward in the past two years is one involving the chief executives of Kabul Bank. In that case, Mr. Karzai has appointed a special tribunal to bring charges.
With no high profile cases going to prosecution, many officials whose names were reported in the news media as accused of corruption never saw the allegations proved or dismissed, including Mr. Spanta.
The incident began when Mr. Faqiryar, sent by the attorney general’s office to testify before Parliament about corruption, read a long list of officials on whom the office was said to have files.
When Mr. Spanta’s name came up, it surprised many people, in part because he had a reputation for honesty and not least because the national security office generally handled few contracts.
Mr. Spanta, a political scientist who fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and taught at a German university before returning here after the fall of the Taliban, is a rare member of Mr. Karzai’s inner circle who does not even own a house in Kabul, but stays in a government guesthouse, occasionally returning to Germany to visit his family.
Because prosecutions were never brought, it was unclear whether there was a file at all and, if there was, what was in it.
Chinese copper miners latest threat to Afghanistan's Buddhist monasteries
By ANI
Kabul, Sept. 25 (ANI): An ancient archeological site in Afghanistan could soon be destroyed by Chinese miners in the name of economic profit.
The site at Mes Aynak, in Afghanistan's Logar Province, is home to 5th-century Buddhist monasteries, temples and other relics, but also sits on one of the largest copper deposits in the world.
A Chinese government-backed company, keen to develop the world's second largest copper mine, discovered the ruins when they began excavating the site in 2010.
According to the Daily Mail, keen to avoid a Buddhas of Bamiyan situation, where statues towering as high as 180 feet in central Afghanistan were dynamited to dust in 2001 by the Taliban, the company has given archaeologists three years to conduct a salvage excavation.
Archaeologists working on the site since May 2010, said there won't be enough time to ensure a full preservation of the statutes.
According to the report, there is a view in Afghanistan that exploiting the copper reserves will bring in earnings of about a trillion dollars, and put the economy back on its feet.
So far, hallways and rooms decorated with frescoes and filled with clay and stone statues of standing and reclining Buddhas have been dug out.
More than 150 statues have been found so far, though many remain in place.
"That site is so massive that it's easily a 10-year campaign of archaeology," Laura Tedesco, an archaeologist brought in by the US Embassy to work on sites in Afghanistan, said, adding: "Three years may be enough time just to document what's there".
According to the report, when the Chinese won the contract to exploit the mine in 2008, there was no discussion with Kabul about the ruins, only about money, security and building a railroad to transport the copper out of Logar's dusty hills.
But a small band of Afghan and French archaeologists raised a stir and put the antiquities on the agenda.
The mine could be a major boost for the Afghan economy. According to the Afghan Mining Ministry, it holds some six million tons of copper, worth billions of dollars.
Developing the mine and related transport infrastructure will generate much needed jobs and economic activity, the report added. (ANI)
Taliban-linked Afghan recounts prison abuse
CNN By Anna Coren September 25, 2012
Kabul - On a hill overlooking the dusty, sprawling city of Kabul is a park where kids fly their kites. A dirty, beaten up Toyota sedan arrives, and Mohammad Nasim steps out wearing traditional Afghan garb -- a perahan tunban (tunic and pants) and a lungee (a headdress).
He's traveled more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) from his home in Nangarhar province near the Pakistani border, a drive that has taken him at least five hours because the roads are so bad. He wants to tell his story after learning of the decision to transfer Bagram prison from U.S. to Afghan control.
It's a story that began almost a decade ago, a year after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States by al Qaeda terrorists then based in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban, radical islamic fundamentalists dislodged from power by the U.S.-led war against terror that followed.
"At the beginning of the Karzai government we were at home, living our normal life," he said. "I was a farmer supporting my wife and kids. The police surrounded our house in October 2002 and said 'you're involved with the Taliban,' and they arrested me and took me to Bagram prison." Nasim says many men in his town were rounded up that day. "They accused me of being involved with the Taliban and attacking Jalalabad airport about 40 kilometers from my home, but I asked them, 'How was I involved in an attack on the airport when you arrest me in my house, with my family?'"Despite Nasim's claim of innocence, U.S. records reveal he was in possession of rocket motors and other equipment when he was taken into custody -- an allegation he strongly denies. He was taken to Bagram Prison, which was at the time was run by the U.S. Defense Department, and claims he was tortured there.
"Yes, yes, I was tortured," he said. "They gave me electric shots on my wrists. I was hung from the ceiling for seven days. Our faces were masked, and we were handcuffed, hanging from the ceiling. Our legs were chained as well.""
As he explains his story he plays out the torture scenes, raising his arms into the air.
"A guard would keep shaking the chain so we couldn't sleep for seven days," he said. "I completely lost my mind. I was hanging from the ceiling; my body was aching. They would hit our heads into the wall."
Asked about Nasim's allegations of torture at Bagram, a spokesman for the Department of Defense in Washington released a statement that did not specifically reference his claims, but said in part:
"DoD does not tolerate the abuse of detainees. All credible allegations of abuse are thoroughly investigated, and appropriate disciplinary action is taken when those allegations are substantiated. We take such matters very seriously.
"Although there have been substantiated cases of abuse in the past, for which U.S. service members have been held accountable, our enemies also have employed a deliberate campaign of exaggerations and fabrications. The suggestion that DoD personnel, the overwhelming majority of whom serve honorably, are or ever were engaged in systematic mistreatment of detainees is false and does not withstand scrutiny."
As we sat cross-legged in the dirt in the park, Nasim took in the panoramic view of Kabul, a city surrounded by rugged mountains amid a landscape so arid and dry -- and yet so beautiful. As he gazed out, almost lost in thought, I asked him if he thought he would survive his time in Bagram. He said, "I felt completely hopeless. Some people inside killed themselves. I too had lost all hope. I thought I was going to die in there."
It was during this period that two Afghan prisoners, Habibullah and Dilawar who were also hung by their wrists, were beaten to death by U.S. soldiers in Bagram Prison in December 2002. A U.S. military investigation later found that abuse had been widespread that year and the following.
After five months in Bagram, Nasim was transferred to Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba as a "medium-risk" prisoner. Guantanamo was not like Bagram, he said. "Every prisoner had their own small room. We spent three months separately in confinement. After three months they took us up to camp 5. It was difficult to cope but not as bad as Bagram."
After four and a half years in Guantanamo Bay, Nasim was finally released. "An American woman said, 'we're sorry,'" he said. "But what to do with their sorry? I spent five years of my life there. I was innocent. You take me away from my family, my children. Who supported them while I was locked up? I lost five years of my life.""
Nasim, who's now 36 but looks at least a decade older, is still very upset about what hey says happened to him. He says he's received no compensation and no formal apology. The father of five said, "It made me feel like I wanted to go out and kill all of them. If somebody takes you to the prison for five years, how would you feel? I was very angry. My hurt was blasting."
His level of anger has subsided over the years, but he believes the Americans and international forces need to get out of Afghanistan.
"This will be a better place once they've all gone. We don't need them. Afghans can run their own country," he said.
Taliban release video 'showing militants preparing for attack on Camp Bastion'
By ANI
London, Sep 25 (ANI): The Taliban have released a video they claim shows militants preparing for the attack on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan earlier this month, that resulted in the death of two Marines and destroyed equipment worth more than 100 million pounds.
Fifteen Taliban militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles attacked the airfield beside the NATO camp, on September 14, where Prince Harry has also been deployed. The attack destroyed six American Harrier aircrafts and killed two US marines, leaving several others injured.
According to The Telegraph, the video, which was emailed to Afghan journalists by a Taliban spokesman, shows young men in American military clothing practicing cutting a hole in a wire fence and being briefed on the position of aircraft inside the sprawling Helmand base. Many of the militants' faces are blurred out.
One of the fighters then lists reasons, in English, that why he and his comrades are prepared to die in the attack, complaining the West and coalition have insulted Islam, the Prophet Mohammed and the Koran, the paper said.
The final scene in the video shows a man pointing to a crude map drawn on a white board, displaying the positions of helicopters, planes and hangars, the paper said.
It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the footage and nothing in the video indicated when, or where, it was filmed. A spokesman for British forces in Helmand said they did not comment on 'insurgent propaganda', the paper added. (ANI)
Camp Bastion assault: Details emerge of Taliban attack
BBC News By Quentin Sommerville 24 September 2012
Camp Bastion - New details have emerged of the large-scale response to a Taliban attack last week on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
The BBC has been given exclusive access to the US Marines and Royal Air Force gunners who were involved in the counter-attack.
The Taliban attackers who broke through Camp Bastion's perimeter chose the darkest night of the year to launch their assault.
They quickly made their way to the US Marine Harrier flight line.
They were dressed in American army uniforms but, instead of boots, they wore training shoes.
Their beards were another give-away, but the darkness meant that the coalition forces on the base only realised they were insurgents when they opened fire.
In quick succession, they fired rocket-propelled grenades at eight Harrier jump jets under canvas hangers, destroying six and damaging two.
Trained riflemen
Capt Kevin Smalley of Marine Attack Squadron 211 had just finished a combat mission when he heard the first explosion.
He said: "I didn't get a good bead on how many enemy were out there because it was very smoky and there were a lot of flames and explosions as our rounds were cooking off. But I could see at least one enemy from my position, as I secured the area."
Every Marine, whether a mechanic or pilot, is a trained rifleman.
Squadron Commander Lt Col Chris Raible ran 150 metres across open ground under fire. He was carrying only his service pistol.
As he lay down, shooting at the insurgents, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded nearby, killing him.
Sgt Bradley Atwell was also killed by an RPG as he pushed forward with a counter-attack.
Capt Smalley said: "Lt Col Raible was one of the best Harrier pilots we have in the entire fleet... He wrote on many of the tactics and techniques that the Harrier uses."
Firefight
Bastion is one of the biggest camps in Afghanistan - its perimeter is 37km in length. It appears the Taliban got close to the perimeter through a network of dry river beds that run nearby.
Although Bastion is in an area of desert, the surroundings are not uninhabited.
The Royal Air Force's 51 squadron, the base's quick response force, crossed the runway in two heavily-armed, Coyote open-topped vehicles.
A four-and-a-half hour long firefight then ensued.
Sgt Roy "Doc" Geddes was one of those leading the counter-attack.
"This is something we weren't expecting, the base is quite well defended," he said.
"Obviously they've found the weak point, and managed to exploit that and get on to the base, but once they were on they were dealt with effectively and quickly."
The airfield's four fire appliances made their way to the site (nearby fuel pits had also been set alight). They needed to be resupplied with water three times.
"The flames were about 100ft," said Sgt Simon Allsop, watch manager of the Red Watch in Camp Bastion's fire section.
"And there were more flames from the Harriers, there were large thuds going off, explosions going on, obviously from rocket attack."
Haqqani hallmarks
Attack helicopters were called in too - from Prince Harry's squadron. The Prince was not involved in the counter-attack: he was taken to a secure location on the base.
American helicopters killed the three remaining Taliban, who had hidden behind concrete blast walls. In total 14 were killed, and one was injured.
Their tactics bore all the hallmarks of the Haqqani network, a Taliban affiliate based in Pakistan.
At Bastion, military sources were not commenting, an investigation is underway.
The one surviving insurgent is believed to be undergoing treatment at Bastion's hospital.
Within hours of the attack, parts of the Bastion runway were operational again.
Two new Harriers arrived at the base earlier this week; four more will follow shortly.
The two that weren't destroyed by the Taliban will be returned to the US for extensive repairs.
NKB CEO Not Cooperating with Investigation: Tribunal
TOLOnews.com By Saleha Soadat Monday, 24 September 2012
Kabul Bank's Special Tribunal's Director has introduced the CEO of the New Kabul Bank to the Attorney General Office for not cooperating with the investigation of Kabul Bank's scandal.
Director Shamur Rahman Shams said he had sent a delegation to the New Kabul Bank to find out what the actual capitals of the bank were at the time of scandal, but faced an "uncooperative management."
"We sent a delegation comprised several departments, but the officials failed to cooperate us in a proper way, so we had to introduce the CEO to the Attorney General," said Mr Shams.
However, the New Kabul Bank's CEO, Masoud Khan Mosa Ghazi, dismissed the accusations, saying he and his team have cooperated with the investigators.
"Nearly $4.5m currently exists and $1.3 billion were the loans, and I provided all details to them," Ghazi told TOLOnews.
Meanwhile, Mr Shams said that no one has shown interest to buy Kabul Bank and its assets.
The tribunal's director said that Mahmood Karzai owes $9m and Hassin Fahim owes $3m, which they have failed to pay back due to their personal problems with former CEO Khalil Ferozi and Chairman Shirkhan Farnod.
He didn't explain the personal problems between the loan takers and the former executives of the bank.
Only $129m of nearly $912m have been recovered so far, according Mr Shams.
Civilian Casualties on the Rise Despite Decrease in Insurgent Attacks
TOLOnews.com By Shakeel Abrahimkhil Monday, 24 September 2012
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) on Monday said that the Taliban are reluctant to engage in battlefield with Nato and Afghan forces, but continue to carry out attacks which have resulted in a dramatic increase in civilian casualties.
August has been the second deadliest month for Afghan civilians since the beginning of the war in 2001 with 347 people killed.
Speaking in a joint press conference with Nato spokesman Dominic Medley, Isaf spokesman General Gunter Katz emphasised that the Taliban's momentum has been reversed and they are pushed out of the urban areas.
"Insurgency is losing the fight, the main reason is that we were able to reverse the momentum of their campaign, pushing them out of the urban areas, fighting them in remote areas and I guess one of the main reasons is also that Afghan security forces are becoming more and more capable," Katz said.
The German General said that Afghan forces control more than 75 percent of the country.
He touched the hot-debated cross-border attacks, saying a dialogue has been initiated between Afghanistan and Pakistan to seek an end to the year-long cross-border shelling.
"Isaf is playing one important role, sitting together with the two partners in tripartite commission discussing this issue and see how we can handle this problem," Katz added, saying that it needs patience and should be tackled in a sensible way.
Meanwhile, Medley stressed that the international community will support Afghanistan beyond 2014.
"The international community gave a high degree of assurance that Afghanistan will be supported, words are being matched with deeds and agreements," Medley said.
"Afghanistan has a responsibility too, major contributions are being made to Afghanistan's future and in return Afghanistan has to move in the right direction in key areas like improved governance, counter corruption, credible elections and other areas," the Nato spokesman added.
Afghans Take Over Training Responsibility for Border Police
TOLOnews.com By Sharif Amiry Monday, 24 September 2012
The Afghan government has taken overall responsibility for the training of the Afghan Border Police (ABP) from the US military, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.
The handover of Afghan border police training mission comes as concerns mount over Green on Blue attacks.
Last month, the US forces suspended the training mission for the Afghan Local Police to reduce the risk of the insider threats.
The core responsibility of the border police is to protect the troubled Afghan borders, particularly in the volatile Af-Pak region and prevent narco-trade.
Speaking in a border police graduation ceremony, Coordinating Director for Rule of Law and Law Enforcement at the US Embassy in Kabul, Stephen G. McFarland, said that the border police force will have a major task to prevent insurgents, narcotics and explosives entering Afghanistan.
"There are several challenges that the graduates of this course are going to face; the first is trying to reinforce security on the border so that the terrorist cannot cross and so that materials for making bombs are detected," McFarland said.
The Afghan Deputy Interior Minister, Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, said the threat of drug smuggling and cross-border attacks would remain a huge challenge for his forces.
It comes as the newly-appointed Interior Minister Gen. Mujtaba Patang yesterday said that he would put more forces alongside the eastern borders to prevent the cross-border shelling.
The issue or Pakistan's cross border shelling was also conveyed to the United Nations Security Council as the Afghan senators and Lawmakers urged the Security Council to take necessary actions to prevent such attacks.
MoI Assigns Extra Bodyguards to MPs
TOLOnews.com By Jawed Stanikzai Monday, 24 September 2012
The Afghan Ministry of Interior has assigned extra protection force to particular MPs which has provoked some other lawmakers to complain and call it unnecessary.
A Wardak MP, Sediqa Mubarez, questioned the size of the police unit guarding the MPs, calling it needless.
Another MP from Farah, Sarwar Usmani, disclosed a list of MPs who are being escorted with more than 20 bodyguards.
"Haji Almas [Zahid] has 20 bodyguards, Younus Qanoni has 29 bodyguards, Mawlawi Enayat Ateb has 23 bodyguards," MP Usmani said while reading a long list.
But, the additional protection force was considered as necessary by some others, including MP Fawzia Kofi of Badakhshan. She said the increasing level of security threats requires additional security arrangements for the parliamentarians.
"Due to security threats, apart from four bodyguards, two three more bodyguards have been assigned to the MPs, there is nothing wrong with it," Kofi said.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com