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Afghans Reflect on Obama Win
Sharon Behn VOA News November 7, 2012
KABUL — As Americans celebrate the re-election of President Barack Obama, citizens in Afghanistan - a country deeply affected by U.S. policy - are expressing their feelings about the outcome.
Whether on the crowded morning streets of the capital, Kabul, or in the comfort of their homes in front of their televisions, many Afghans, like government employee Zakirullah Shershah, welcomed the president's victory.
“We were watching the election," Shershah said. "Obama’s victory is important for the future of Afghanistan because Obama wants to end the war in Afghanistan and to pull out the troops, and that is a good sign for Afghans. His policies are very clear toward Afghanistan.”
The election results, Romney’s concession and Obama’s victory speech, were broadcast live on Afghan television, with live translations.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, on an official visit to Indonesia, issued a statement congratulating Mr. Obama on his win. Karzai said he hoped bilateral relations between Kabul and Washington would expand with Obama in the White House.
While many here did not see significant policy differences between the candidates when it came to Afghanistan, Obama appeared to be the favored choice.
Some Afghans had worried that Romney’s bellicose statements on neighboring Iran could have led to conflict with Tehran, further destabilizing Afghanistan.
Some Kabul residents said that Obama was a better choice for maintaining the relationship with Afghanistan -- a relationship that is increasingly on the mind of Afghans looking toward the 2014 departure of international combat forces.
One man, who gave his name as Qudratullah, said Afghanistan would benefit from having Obama in the White House for four more years.
“Obama’s victory will affect Afghanistan because he has worked for our country, compared to the Republicans, he is good for us,” he said.
The next two years of the relationship are not expected to be easy. Many analysts are skeptical of the Afghan government’s ability to take responsibility for the country’s security.
Shir Khosti, former governor of Ghazni province in central Afghanistan, laid out a list of expectations Afghans have of Mr. Obama's second administration.
“We hope America will play an instrumental role in the next four years in Afghanistan especially when it comes to reconciliation with Taliban, and also building a better government, a transparent government in Afghanistan, and more broadly also to help negotiate better deals with Pakistan and Iran when it comes to Afghan affairs and in terms of trade and other agreements,” said Khosti.
He added that many hope that President Obama will put more pressure on Pakistan and Iran to clamp down on terrorist and extremist networks.
In Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari congratulated Obama on his win and said he looked forward to working closely with the president to improve security and stability in the region.
But university student Mohammad Usman in Islamabad said that while Pakistan remains important to U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, there is a feeling that it has been neglected by Washington.
“I think the Obama administration, now that they have got four more years, they should work with their allies and come up with a solution for this war on terror, " said Usman. "And I think that the interests of the victims of this war on terror should be a priority of the Obama administration.”
U.S. authorities say drone strikes in tribal areas of western Pakistan are an effective method of striking militants and al-Qaida-linked groups in the region, but they remain highly unpopular in Pakistan.
Afghan president congratulates Obama on re-election
KABUL, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai congratulates President Barack Obama on his re-election in the U.S. presidential elections, said a statement issued by Afghan Presidential Palace.
"President Hamid Karzai, who is currently on an official trip to Indonesia to participate in the 5th Bali Democracy Forum, learnt of the results of the U.S. elections and expresses his and that of the people of the Afghanistan's congratulations to President Obama and wishes him further success," said the statement.
President Karzai also hopes that with the re-election of President Obama, the bilateral relations between Afghanistan and the United States could further expand on the basis of mutual interests of the two countries, the statement added.
President Karzai’s Misplaced Priorities
New York Times Editorial November 6, 2012
It would be impossible to overstate the challenges facing Afghanistan and the urgency of addressing them while American troops are still in the country. Instead of doing that, President Hamid Karzai is again conjuring up scapegoats and false alarms and diverting attention from what really matters.
For nearly a month, Mr. Karzai and his government have been railing against a report by the International Crisis Group, a respected organization based in Brussels and Washington that offers analysis on conflict resolution. On Monday, Mr. Karzai’s spokesman escalated the confrontation, saying the government was reassessing the group’s operations. He hinted it may be expelled from Afghanistan.
The report, titled “Afghanistan: the Long, Hard Road to the 2014 Transition,” describes the many obstacles to a fair presidential election, including an electoral process that is mired in confusion and political machinations. It also outlined potential events that could lead to civil war. While grim, the well-researched report was hardly a bombshell. Many other experts are also pessimistic as Afghanistan approaches the crucial 2014 election just as American forces are coming home. In September, a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace suggested the Taliban could retake control of large swaths of the country.
Some Afghan lawmakers and newspapers accused the International Crisis Group, and even Western news media, of espionage, interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs and working behind the scenes to destroy the country. Such arguments are a convenient canard for governments seeking to discredit anyone who asks tough questions. But it is crucial for the Afghan people and the countries that have been fighting extremists there for a decade to understand the forces at work in Afghanistan and what is still required to put the nation on a stable and productive path.
During its decade in Afghanistan, the International Crisis Group has interviewed countless officials and citizens, and published more than two dozen reports. This is the first time any questions have been raised about its work. The threat to Afghanistan’s future is not those who point out the obvious problems. It is Mr. Karzai and others who have squandered so many opportunities and continue to perpetuate a corrupt system that cannot provide services and security for its people. .
Last week, the government-appointed Independent Election Commission finally set April 5, 2014, for the presidential election. Whether the election is judged fair enough to produce a broadly accepted successor to Mr. Karzai or repeats the fraudulent election process in 2009 depends on scores of other decisions that still must be made, including which state institution will be empowered to settle challenges to candidacies, how seats in Parliament will be allocated, and how polling places and ballot boxes can be secured. Mr. Karzai and his government will need to do a lot to prove that the conclusions of the International Crisis Group are wrong.
Nato Backs Freedom of Speech Over Think Tank Expulsion
TOLOnews.com nBy Shakeela Ahbrimkhil Tuesday, 06 November 2012
The European-based think tank in the Afghan President's sights for possible expulsion from Afghanistan has not received any official word from the government, while the Nato chief has come out in defense of it.
International Crisis Group (ICG), which published a damning report on the state of Afghan politics last month, told TOLOnews in an email that it has not been officially notified by the Afghan government of its disapproval of the ICG's findings.
"We have seen the press reports, but we have no direct word of anything from the government. Therefore, we can't really comment on our potentially being investigated or reviewed," ICG communications director Andrew Stroehlein wrote from Brussels on Monday.
In the meantime, Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he discussed the ICG report with President Hamid Karzai in his recent trip to Kabul and that although he did not agree with the report's conclusions on Afghanistan, he supported freedom of expression.
"First of all, I don't share the pessimistic views expressed in the report from the International Crisis Group and I think the main weakness in the report from the group is the fact that they don't take into account that the international community is committed itself to assisting in Afghanistan after 2014," he said in a Brussels press briefing on Monday.
"I am also a strong supporter of freedom of expression, [so] although I don't agree with the ICG, obviously the ICG has the right to express its views and I think any democracy including Afghanistan profits from an open, transparent and critical debate from how we could possibly make governor better and make the provision of basic services more efficient," he added.
The Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi raised the issue of ICG's possible expulsion in a televised interview on Sunday saying that the group's report was contrary to Afghanistan's national interests and such activities by a foreign organization should not be allowed.
Janan Mosazai, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, confirmed that ICG's presence in Afghanistan was being assessed.
"The government of Afghanistan is monitoring ICG's activities. In the end, a final decision will be made regarding its activities in Afghanistan,".
However, if ICG is expelled Karzai is likely to face backlash from civil society groups who regard the government's claim of the report going against national interests as a means of silencing freedom of speech and stifling debate.
"If the government of Afghanistan decides to expel this group from the country, it will basically stop people from accessing information, which is the right of the Afghan people," Siddiqullah Tawhidi, chief of media watchdog Nai, said Tuesday.
Afghan Civil Society Forum chief Azizullah Rafiee said that if ICG is expelled, the government will have to put forward a strong case of its reasons for doing so.
"If the government of Afghanistan honestly believes that the accusations [ICG] has made and the matters it has stated have no base in Afghanistan, it is necessary that they put together a document describing or dismissing it, so that not only public minds are calmed down but also the government of Afghanistan would sit rested," he told TOLOnews on Tuesday.
ICG warned in the recent report that after the presidential election and withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 2014, the government will face a political crisis and outright civil war if strict reforms – which the report details – are not implemented.
2 policemen, 6 militants killed in N. Afghanistan
MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Up to six Taliban militants and two policemen were killed following a clash between the police and militants in Afghanistan's northern province of Faryab overnight, the police said Wednesday.
"A group of armed militants, numbered around 20, launched an armed attack against Afghan Local Police (ALP) checkpoints in Shirin Tagab district, sparking a gun battle lasting for hours Tuesday night," acting-provincial police chief, Nabi Mullahkhil, told Xinhua.
He said the fighting left two ALP cops and six militants dead in the province 425 km northwest of Afghan capital Kabul.
"A Taliban deputy shadowy district chief for the district named Qari Firoz was among the dead and the ALP also arrested three militants besides seizing weapons after the clash," he added.
In addition, a Taliban key commander named Qari Hizatullah was killed by Afghan police in Chardara district in northern Kunduz province Tuesday evening, provincial police chief Samiullah Qatra told Xinhua earlier Wednesday.
The police official said that Hizatullah was responsible for several subversive activities and ambush-style attacks on Afghan and NATO-led coalition forces in the province 250 km north of Kabul.
However, the Taliban insurgent group, which announced the launching of an annual rebel offensive from May 3 against Afghan government and some 100,000 NATO-led coalition forces, has not to make comments yet.
Fired rockets from Afghanistan kill 1 in NW Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- One woman was killed, a man was injured and three houses were destroyed when some unidentified people fired rockets from the Afghan side into Pakistan's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan on Wednesday afternoon, local media reported.
Express News reported that at least 17 rockets hit Wacha Bibi area, a hamlet located in the North Waziristan Agency, one of the seven restive tribal areas on Pakistan-Afghan border.
Among 17 rockets, four hit houses while the others landed in an empty ground.
Earlier on Oct. 22, three people were injured and a house was destroyed when four rockets landed into Pakistani territory from Afghanistan border.
Pakistan-Afghan border skirmishes are very common in the area. The latest skirmishes started in May 2007, and since then hundreds of rockets have been fired across both sides of the border by armies of both countries and militants.
Both countries accuse each other of supporting militants to maintain their safe havens along the border.
Pakistani side says that Afghan and NATO forces have allowed fractions of the Pakistan Taliban to settle in northeastern Afghanistan over the past two years, and these militants attack Pakistan Army and innocent people from Afghanistan border.
Rasmussen: 'We will not abandon Afghanistan'
DW 06/11/2012
NATO will end its combat mission by the end of 2014 as planned, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told DW. International forces will, however, continue to offer support.
You will serve as NATO secretary general until summer 2014. A couple of months later, the last NATO combat soldier will leave Afghanistan. Are you confident that both NATO's mission and your personal mission can be accomplished by then?
Yes, I am confident that Afghan security forces will be able to take full responsibility for the security all over Afghanistan by the end of 2014 as we have planned.
Some 50 NATO troops have been killed already this year by members of the Afghanistan army or police, and the number of these so-called insider attacks continues to grow. I wonder if NATO can stick to its timetable for the pullout?
Obviously these insider attacks are a matter of great concern because they threaten to undermine trust and confidence between foreign troops and Afghan security forces. But these enemy tactics will not succeed. No one can drive a wedge between us and our Afghan partners and this is the reason why we have taken a number of measures to prevent such insider attacks - including strengthened recruitment procedures, strengthened counter-intelligence measures and other steps, and we will not hesitate to take further steps if needed. So these insider attacks will not derail our strategy. We will stick to our strategy, to our timetable. And by the end of 2014 we will complete our current ISAF mission.
Many experts warned that the Taliban and warlords are just biding their time until NATO combat troops have left. Was it the right decision to set a fixed date for the end of ISAF's mission?
Yes, it was the right decision to outline a roadmap for handing over more and more responsibility to the Afghans. Firstly, because we are not in Afghanistan as an occupation force. The ultimate goal must be to hand over full responsibility to the Afghans themselves. We can't stay in Afghanistan forever. That's my first point. Secondly, I also think it's important to have certain deadlines because deadlines serve the purpose to push forward the process. The Afghans know that they have to be ready at certain dates, so the roadmap and the deadlines serve as a driving force and we have actually seen a lot of progress thanks to that roadmap.
But many NGOs portray Afghanistan as a country doomed to slip into another civil war and they warn of a collapse of the Kabul central government. Regarding these worst-case scenarios, what can, what will NATO do after 2014?
First and foremost, I would like to stress that I don't share these doom and gloom perspectives. I fully realize that we still have a lot to do and there are still challenges. But overall, we have seen progress. Security-wise, we have seen a decline in the number of enemy attacks. When it comes to development, we have seen progress: a relatively high economic growth; an improved educational system - eight million children go to school out of which more than one third are girls; a better health situation - child mortality has gone down, life expectancy has gone up. So, we have seen a lot of progress. We will not abandon Afghanistan. We will complete our current combat mission by the end of 2014, but we will stay with the NATO-led training mission after 2014 so we will continue to assist the Afghan security forces to make sure they maintain their capability to take full responsibility for security all over Afghanistan.
Let's take a look at this new NATO mission to Afghanistan - ETAM. Will it only be training and assistance or might there also be combat troops required?
It will not be a combat mission. There will be a clear difference between the current ISAF combat mission and the new training mission. So we will focus on training, assistance, giving advice to the Afghan security forces. They will do the fighting. We will help them with training, assistance, and giving advice. But having said that, of course, we need to make sure that our trainers and instructors can operate in a secure environment so we need to protect them effectively. What that will take has not been decided yet. We are in the early stages of the planning process. But it will definitely not be a combat mission.
These early stages of the planning - does it also involve the question of whether the new mission needs a UN mandate?
No, we are not there yet.
But do you want a UN mandate?
A UN mandate would be excellent but, according to international law, it would be sufficient to have an invitation from the Afghan government. If we, on top of that, could have a UN mandate, as we do today, it would be excellent.
The Afghan government is unwilling to grant NATO military personnel immunity from prosecution by Afghan courts after 2014 but NATO can't risk demanding this immunity for their soldiers. Could this row endanger the new mission as a whole?
Well, these legal aspects must be addressed. We have actually not made any decision in that respect yet. There will be talks between us and the Afghans. And we have to solve these legal aspects because otherwise I foresee problems as regards the deployment of trainers and instructors in Afghanistan.
Briefly looking at geopolitics, the US is leaning more and more towards the Pacific region. Does this weaken NATO?
No, not at all. On the contrary, I think it is also in Europe's interest that the United States focus on the Asia-Pacific region, taking into account the rise of emerging powers like, for instance, China. It's important of course that it does not take place at the expense of the traditional transatlantic relationship, and we have seen that the Americans are committed to European security. One example is missile defense. The Americans provide a major input into the NATO missile defense system. European allies provide input as well so it's a joint effort. It's an example that the United States continues to be committed to European security and the transatlantic relationship. So I do believe that this re-balancing of the US defense and security policy will not take place at the expense of the transatlantic relationship.
Interview: Christian F. Trippe, head of DW's Brussels studio
Pakistani militants hiding in Afghanistan
Washington Post By Dana Priest Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The Taliban leader who sparked international outrage by ordering the attack on a Pakistani schoolgirl last month has escaped retribution by hiding in a section of eastern Afghanistan where U.S. forces are already spread thin and focused on other targets, according to U.S. officials.
U.S. military and intelligence officials said that Mullah Fazlullah, the mastermind of the attack on 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai, operates out a region adjoining Pakistan where several hundred U.S. troops are stationed. But they said finding Fazlullah is not a priority because he is not affiliated with al-Qaeda or with insurgents targeting U.S. and Afghan interests.
“Our guys just aren’t tracking him,” a senior Special Operations official said. “He is viewed as an ‘other-side-of-the-border’ problem.”
When asked if Fazlullah was a priority, a senior intelligence official responded, “Not with so many other potential targets” in Afghanistan.
Fazlullah’s relative safety reflects a larger trend in the difficult terrain along both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border. Plenty of attention has been focused on militants attacking U.S. and Afghan troops from havens inside Pakistan. But officials said extremists from Pakistan also have managed to evade the Pakistani army and CIA drones by finding sanctuary in remote parts of Afghanistan.
“The FATA is difficult [for insurgents] because there are drone strikes,” said a congressional staffer, using the acronym for semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the Pakistan side of the border. “It’s easier to be in eastern Afghanistan where there’s no real presence” of U.S. troops.
All three people spoke on condition they not be named because they were not authorized to speak for attribution.
Tom Collins, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, said: “ISAF is maintaining steady pressure on insurgents throughout Afghanistan. Mullah Fazlullah, like many insurgents who are transitory, remains a person of interest. If we receive actionable intelligence that he is in Afghanistan, we will attempt to take him off the battlefield.”
Collecting accurate intelligence is the most difficult step in locating and attacking enemy forces. In Konar and Nuristan, the two provinces where Fazlullah is believed to be hiding, the problem is tougher because ISAF advisers believe the Afghan army is allowing the Pakistani Taliban to operate in retribution for Pakistan not doing enough to stop cross-border rocket attacks and armed infiltrators using Pakistan as a haven.
Not all Pakistani militants escape attack inside Afghanistan. On Aug. 25, one of the group’s senior leaders was killed in a NATO air strike. ISAF said the leader, Mullah Dadullah, was helping fighters who had attacked Afghan and coalition forces and had close ties with al-Qaeda. Fazlullah, on the other hand, remains focused on Pakistan and he is not believed to have ties to al-Qaeda or attacks on coalition or Afghan forces.
The Pakistan government has criticized both the United States and Afghanistan for not trying harder to capture or kill Pakistani Taliban in Afghanistan. Washington, for its part, has long accused Pakistan of refusing to take on the Haqqani network, which uses northwestern Pakistan as its base for attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan.
More aggressively targeting the Pakistan Taliban would divert military resources, particularly drones and other surveillance capacity, to the region at a time when personnel and assets are being reduced in anticipation of the end of combat operations in 2014.
But some experts say that reducing the threat to Pakistan’s stability from its homegrown extremists should be a vital goal.
“I think it is in the U.S. interest to go after the threats to Pakistan because our policy and long-term interests are to have a stable Pakistan,” said Wendy Chamberlin, a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan and now president of the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank.
The senior intelligence official said U.S. offers of additional training and intelligence support have been turned down by Islamabad, where suspicions of U.S. motives run deep.
“We could share more,” the senior intelligence official said. “They actually aren’t opening up as much as we would like them to.”
The existence of a haven for Pakistani militants inside Afghanistan feeds the distrust that has developed between the United States and Pakistan since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, said Moeed Yusuf, who heads the Pakistan program at the United States Institute of Peace.
“Both sides have really been caught up for a long time in the blame game,” he said.
The number of insurgents taking refuge in the border region has increased in recent years, particularly on the Afghan side, according to the congressional staffer, who follows the region closely.
Besides small numbers of al-Qaeda fighters, the militant population includes the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Afghan and Pakistani Taliban and a growing number of Punjabi extremists involved in the Kashmir border conflict with India, according to U.S. officials and outside experts.
“It’s a jihadi soup,” said the congressional staffer.
Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Radio because he uses a mobile clandestine radio transmitter to broadcast didactic speeches denouncing girls’ education, music and all things Western, sought safety in Afghanistan sometime in 2009. He fled Paksitan after leading a gruesome campaign in Swat Valley, seeking to impose his extreme interpretation of Sharia law through beheadings, floggings, bombing girls’ schools and killing hundreds of civilians, Pakistani police and soldiers.
A U.S. defense official familiar with the tribal structure of the region said Fazlullah has found sanctuary in Konar and Nuristan through personal ties with tribal leaders. His fighters have launched numerous attacks across the border that U.S. defense officials say are intended to raise Fazlullah’s profile and make the Pakistani army look weak.
In June, about 100 of Fazlullah’s fighters crossed the border into Pakistan and beheaded 17 soldiers. A year earlier, they had captured 16 Pakistani policemen and executed them by firing squad.
But it was the attempt to assassinate 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai on Oct. 9 that pushed Fazlullah into the international limelight.
Since she was 11, Malala had been an outspoken champion of the right of girls to attend school. Last month, she was on her school van when gunmen boarded the bus and shot her twice at close range. Two classmates were also wounded. All three survived and Malala is recuperating in Britain.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and U.S. intelligence officials say evidence points to Fazlullah as the person who ordered it.
The shooting galvanized Pakistan and many other Muslim countries. Muslim clerics in Pakistan denounced the violence and thousands protested in Pakistan. Perhaps feeling pressure from a worldwide condemnation, the Pakistani Taliban released a seven-page justification for the shooting.
But condemnation from Washington has been purposefully muted. Although Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized the attackers, others have not done so for fear of a backlash from Pakistan, where conspiracies about U.S. involvement in the country are rife and anti-American sentiment high.
Pakistani authorities have arrested at least 30 people for questioning, but say they have not yet found the shooters or their leader, Fazlullah.
Afghanistan rules out peace deals with Haqqanis
Reuters By Hamid Shalizi and Michael Georgy Tue Nov 6, 2012
KABUL - Afghanistan welcomes the United Nations' decision to impose sanctions on the Haqqani network and would not negotiate for peace with the group blamed for several high-profile attacks in the country, the presidential spokesman said on Tuesday.
On Monday the U.N. Security Council's Taliban sanctions committee added the Haqqani network to a U.N. blacklist, the United States said.
Aimal Faizi, President Hamid Karzai's chief spokesman, said Kabul backed the U.N. decision, but added it should have been made a long time ago to weaken the Haqqanis, a Pashtun tribe allied to the Afghan Taliban, who he said had carried out most of the terrorist attacks in the nation over the past 10 years.
Although the Afghan government is engaged in reconciliation talks with members of the Taliban, it rules out dialogue with the Haqqani group, believed to be based in the unruly border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"We don't want any kind of deal with the Haqqanis, who were behind many of the attacks on Afghan security forces and civilians including women and children," Faizi told Reuters.
"We have certain negotiating conditions with armed opposition groups but the Haqqanis do not meet the criteria and they are in the service of a foreign spy agency."
Afghan and U.S. officials have accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of using Haqqani militants as proxies in Afghanistan to counter the influence of rival India. Islamabad denies the allegations.
The United States designated the Haqqani network a terrorist organization in September, a move the group's commanders said proved Washington was not sincere about peace efforts in Afghanistan.
Isolating the Haqqanis, who were blamed for the 18-hour attack on embassies and parliament in Kabul in April, could complicate efforts to secure peace in Afghanistan as most NATO combat troops prepare to leave by the end of 2014.
The Haqqanis say they are intricately tied to the Afghan Taliban and both groups insist they must act in unison in any peace process.
Most of the Haqqani leaders have already been blacklisted individually.
A report in July by the Center for Combating Terrorism said the Haqqanis run a sophisticated financial network, raising money through kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking but also having a legitimate business portfolio that includes import/export, transport, real estate and construction interests in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Gulf.
(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
63 Prisoners Released via Presidential Pardon
TOLOnews.com Tuesday, 06 November 2012
Sixty-three prisoners including six women and 57 men were released from the central prison in western Herat province on Tuesday as part of President Hamid Karzai's pardoning decree during Eid al-Adha.
Herat prison prosecutor Firoz Ahmad Firoz said that the pardoning decree does not included those who have committed serious crimes including those jailed over corruption nor those whose sentence period is more than three years.
"This decree does not cover those jailed over kidnapping, murder and crimes related to corruption. This is the difference with this decree from other [pardon] decrees," Firoz said on Tuesday.
Director of Prisons, West Zone, Gen. Shahmir Amirpor said in at the ceremony for the release of the prisoners that the root of crimes in society should be closely monitored and tackled in order to reduce the level of crime in the country. He also urged the responsible organs to do more to solve social problems.
"The authorities should find out the root of crimes in the society. We cannot solve this issue only through punishments, nor can only the prosecutors and judges solve the problems alone. The responsible organs should do more in this regard," Amirpor said.
Herat provincial council member Mohammad Askar Anwari urged the released prisoners to do good things and prove themselves faithful for their country.
"Don't commit crimes anymore and do good things which benefit your society. Let's make the country together," he said.
The decree will also reduce the sentencing period of more than another 100 prisoners.
Karzai usually issues a presidential pardons on holy or significant dates such as Eid and Nawroz.
Nato May Need Afghanistan Invite to Remain After 2014
TOLOnews.com By Rezwan Natiq Tuesday, 06 November 2012
Nato will be able to operate in Afghanistan after 2014 without a mandate from the United Nations if the Afghan government extends an invitation , the alliance chief said on Monday.
Speaking at a press briefing in Brussels, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen replied to a question about Russia's opposition to a post-2014 Nato presence in Afghanistan without a UN mandate that the Afghan government could invite the alliance to stay.
"We operate right now in Afghanistan on the basis of a United Nations Mandate; we would be able to operate in Afghanistan after 2014 on the basis of an invitation from the Afghan government. That will be fully in accordance with international law," Rasmussen said.
"On top of that if we could have a United Nations mandate it will be a good thing, but we could operate in Afghanistan on the basis of an invitation," he added, also praising Russia's cooperation in providing Nato with a transit route to Afghanistan.
On the change of Nato's mission after the Isaf mission ends in 2014, Rasmussen stressed that training was the aim and the foreign instructors would be protected.
"We have started planning for our post-2014 mission in Afghanistan. The core will be the training mission. It will be a mission different from the current Isaf combat mission – it will be a training mission – but obviously we will make sure that our trainers and instructors can operate in a secure environment," he said.
"We are in the very early stage of our planning. We took the first step when the defense ministers met in October, we will take the next step when they meet in February, and I would expect the final preparation to be completed by mid 2013."
"So, at this stage we have not made details and decision as regard how to protect our trainers and instructors effectively, but it goes without saying that we will provide necessary protection of trainers and instructors," he added.
Rasmussen reiterated that the Afghan forces should provide security for the presidential election in 2014 but reassured that Isaf forces will stand ready to provide assistance to Afghan security forces if necessary.
"I would like to stress the importance of secure environment for the conduct of this election. Having said that it's also important to stress that it has to be the Afghan security forces that are in the lead for providing security in the run up to and during the elections in Afghanistan.
Like last time we stand ready to assist the Afghan security forces," Rasmussen said, adding that handing over security responsibilities to the Afghan forces will not be undermined by the presidential elections as the handover will be complete by the spring of 2014.
Afghan security forces are already leading 85 percent of the operations, he said, with security improving in areas under transition and threats have decreasing in and around Kabul by up to 17%.
Afghan Bodybuilders Win 8 Medals in South Asia Comp
TOLOnews.com By Mir Sayed Tuesday, 06 November 2012
Afghanistan's national bodybuilder team came second overall in the 9th South Asian Bodybuilding championship winning a gold medal, five silver medals and two bronze medals in the Punjab-based meet.
Afghan bodybuilder Ramin Hassan Zada who participated in the 70 kg weight category won Afghanistan's only gold medal. While Haroon Azimi, Mohammad Yousuf Sakhi, Noor-ul Had Shirzad, Hamid Shurzai and Aliass Mahak all took silver medals.
But it was Indian bodybuilder Sangram Chougule who won the 'Mr. South Asia' title on Sunday.
Afghanistan took second place after India out of the five countries which participated, including Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. India refused to allow Pakistan to compete.
Last year, Afghanistan's bodybuilding team claimed the championship which was held in Botan in June.
All the countries had eight-member teams, except the host India, which was represented by a 16-member team.
The Afghan team will return from India to Kabul this Thursday.
Brother of Kunduz MP Arrested for Hanging Wife
TOLOnews.com By Karim Amini Tuesday, 06 November 2012
The brother of a Kunduz lawmaker was arrested in the northern province for allegedly hanging his wife on Monday, officials told TOLOnews.
Zarghona, who was married to the brother of Kunduz MP Shukria Paikan, was killed in her home last night by hanging.
Kunduz police said Zarghona's husband used a rope to hang his wife and was being detained until investigations were complete.
"Zarghona, 30 years old, was killed last night in the 4th district of Kunduz City by her husband. Police have detained her husband," northern 303 Pamir police zone spokesperson Lal Muhammad Ahmadzai said Tuesday.
"The reason of the murder is not yet clear but it seems that she was killed because of a family violation. She has two children and her husband's name is Hamidullah," he said, adding that the husband was the MP's brother.
The provincial women's department called for a thorough investigation.
"When we were alerted about the incident we went to the police. They said the cause is still under investigation and it is unclear," the women's department spokesperson said.
More violence against women has been reported in recent months, but there remains much to be done against such violations.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
Sharon Behn VOA News November 7, 2012
KABUL — As Americans celebrate the re-election of President Barack Obama, citizens in Afghanistan - a country deeply affected by U.S. policy - are expressing their feelings about the outcome.
Whether on the crowded morning streets of the capital, Kabul, or in the comfort of their homes in front of their televisions, many Afghans, like government employee Zakirullah Shershah, welcomed the president's victory.
“We were watching the election," Shershah said. "Obama’s victory is important for the future of Afghanistan because Obama wants to end the war in Afghanistan and to pull out the troops, and that is a good sign for Afghans. His policies are very clear toward Afghanistan.”
The election results, Romney’s concession and Obama’s victory speech, were broadcast live on Afghan television, with live translations.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, on an official visit to Indonesia, issued a statement congratulating Mr. Obama on his win. Karzai said he hoped bilateral relations between Kabul and Washington would expand with Obama in the White House.
While many here did not see significant policy differences between the candidates when it came to Afghanistan, Obama appeared to be the favored choice.
Some Afghans had worried that Romney’s bellicose statements on neighboring Iran could have led to conflict with Tehran, further destabilizing Afghanistan.
Some Kabul residents said that Obama was a better choice for maintaining the relationship with Afghanistan -- a relationship that is increasingly on the mind of Afghans looking toward the 2014 departure of international combat forces.
One man, who gave his name as Qudratullah, said Afghanistan would benefit from having Obama in the White House for four more years.
“Obama’s victory will affect Afghanistan because he has worked for our country, compared to the Republicans, he is good for us,” he said.
The next two years of the relationship are not expected to be easy. Many analysts are skeptical of the Afghan government’s ability to take responsibility for the country’s security.
Shir Khosti, former governor of Ghazni province in central Afghanistan, laid out a list of expectations Afghans have of Mr. Obama's second administration.
“We hope America will play an instrumental role in the next four years in Afghanistan especially when it comes to reconciliation with Taliban, and also building a better government, a transparent government in Afghanistan, and more broadly also to help negotiate better deals with Pakistan and Iran when it comes to Afghan affairs and in terms of trade and other agreements,” said Khosti.
He added that many hope that President Obama will put more pressure on Pakistan and Iran to clamp down on terrorist and extremist networks.
In Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari congratulated Obama on his win and said he looked forward to working closely with the president to improve security and stability in the region.
But university student Mohammad Usman in Islamabad said that while Pakistan remains important to U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, there is a feeling that it has been neglected by Washington.
“I think the Obama administration, now that they have got four more years, they should work with their allies and come up with a solution for this war on terror, " said Usman. "And I think that the interests of the victims of this war on terror should be a priority of the Obama administration.”
U.S. authorities say drone strikes in tribal areas of western Pakistan are an effective method of striking militants and al-Qaida-linked groups in the region, but they remain highly unpopular in Pakistan.
Afghan president congratulates Obama on re-election
KABUL, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai congratulates President Barack Obama on his re-election in the U.S. presidential elections, said a statement issued by Afghan Presidential Palace.
"President Hamid Karzai, who is currently on an official trip to Indonesia to participate in the 5th Bali Democracy Forum, learnt of the results of the U.S. elections and expresses his and that of the people of the Afghanistan's congratulations to President Obama and wishes him further success," said the statement.
President Karzai also hopes that with the re-election of President Obama, the bilateral relations between Afghanistan and the United States could further expand on the basis of mutual interests of the two countries, the statement added.
President Karzai’s Misplaced Priorities
New York Times Editorial November 6, 2012
It would be impossible to overstate the challenges facing Afghanistan and the urgency of addressing them while American troops are still in the country. Instead of doing that, President Hamid Karzai is again conjuring up scapegoats and false alarms and diverting attention from what really matters.
For nearly a month, Mr. Karzai and his government have been railing against a report by the International Crisis Group, a respected organization based in Brussels and Washington that offers analysis on conflict resolution. On Monday, Mr. Karzai’s spokesman escalated the confrontation, saying the government was reassessing the group’s operations. He hinted it may be expelled from Afghanistan.
The report, titled “Afghanistan: the Long, Hard Road to the 2014 Transition,” describes the many obstacles to a fair presidential election, including an electoral process that is mired in confusion and political machinations. It also outlined potential events that could lead to civil war. While grim, the well-researched report was hardly a bombshell. Many other experts are also pessimistic as Afghanistan approaches the crucial 2014 election just as American forces are coming home. In September, a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace suggested the Taliban could retake control of large swaths of the country.
Some Afghan lawmakers and newspapers accused the International Crisis Group, and even Western news media, of espionage, interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs and working behind the scenes to destroy the country. Such arguments are a convenient canard for governments seeking to discredit anyone who asks tough questions. But it is crucial for the Afghan people and the countries that have been fighting extremists there for a decade to understand the forces at work in Afghanistan and what is still required to put the nation on a stable and productive path.
During its decade in Afghanistan, the International Crisis Group has interviewed countless officials and citizens, and published more than two dozen reports. This is the first time any questions have been raised about its work. The threat to Afghanistan’s future is not those who point out the obvious problems. It is Mr. Karzai and others who have squandered so many opportunities and continue to perpetuate a corrupt system that cannot provide services and security for its people. .
Last week, the government-appointed Independent Election Commission finally set April 5, 2014, for the presidential election. Whether the election is judged fair enough to produce a broadly accepted successor to Mr. Karzai or repeats the fraudulent election process in 2009 depends on scores of other decisions that still must be made, including which state institution will be empowered to settle challenges to candidacies, how seats in Parliament will be allocated, and how polling places and ballot boxes can be secured. Mr. Karzai and his government will need to do a lot to prove that the conclusions of the International Crisis Group are wrong.
Nato Backs Freedom of Speech Over Think Tank Expulsion
TOLOnews.com nBy Shakeela Ahbrimkhil Tuesday, 06 November 2012
The European-based think tank in the Afghan President's sights for possible expulsion from Afghanistan has not received any official word from the government, while the Nato chief has come out in defense of it.
International Crisis Group (ICG), which published a damning report on the state of Afghan politics last month, told TOLOnews in an email that it has not been officially notified by the Afghan government of its disapproval of the ICG's findings.
"We have seen the press reports, but we have no direct word of anything from the government. Therefore, we can't really comment on our potentially being investigated or reviewed," ICG communications director Andrew Stroehlein wrote from Brussels on Monday.
In the meantime, Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he discussed the ICG report with President Hamid Karzai in his recent trip to Kabul and that although he did not agree with the report's conclusions on Afghanistan, he supported freedom of expression.
"First of all, I don't share the pessimistic views expressed in the report from the International Crisis Group and I think the main weakness in the report from the group is the fact that they don't take into account that the international community is committed itself to assisting in Afghanistan after 2014," he said in a Brussels press briefing on Monday.
"I am also a strong supporter of freedom of expression, [so] although I don't agree with the ICG, obviously the ICG has the right to express its views and I think any democracy including Afghanistan profits from an open, transparent and critical debate from how we could possibly make governor better and make the provision of basic services more efficient," he added.
The Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi raised the issue of ICG's possible expulsion in a televised interview on Sunday saying that the group's report was contrary to Afghanistan's national interests and such activities by a foreign organization should not be allowed.
Janan Mosazai, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, confirmed that ICG's presence in Afghanistan was being assessed.
"The government of Afghanistan is monitoring ICG's activities. In the end, a final decision will be made regarding its activities in Afghanistan,".
However, if ICG is expelled Karzai is likely to face backlash from civil society groups who regard the government's claim of the report going against national interests as a means of silencing freedom of speech and stifling debate.
"If the government of Afghanistan decides to expel this group from the country, it will basically stop people from accessing information, which is the right of the Afghan people," Siddiqullah Tawhidi, chief of media watchdog Nai, said Tuesday.
Afghan Civil Society Forum chief Azizullah Rafiee said that if ICG is expelled, the government will have to put forward a strong case of its reasons for doing so.
"If the government of Afghanistan honestly believes that the accusations [ICG] has made and the matters it has stated have no base in Afghanistan, it is necessary that they put together a document describing or dismissing it, so that not only public minds are calmed down but also the government of Afghanistan would sit rested," he told TOLOnews on Tuesday.
ICG warned in the recent report that after the presidential election and withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 2014, the government will face a political crisis and outright civil war if strict reforms – which the report details – are not implemented.
2 policemen, 6 militants killed in N. Afghanistan
MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Up to six Taliban militants and two policemen were killed following a clash between the police and militants in Afghanistan's northern province of Faryab overnight, the police said Wednesday.
"A group of armed militants, numbered around 20, launched an armed attack against Afghan Local Police (ALP) checkpoints in Shirin Tagab district, sparking a gun battle lasting for hours Tuesday night," acting-provincial police chief, Nabi Mullahkhil, told Xinhua.
He said the fighting left two ALP cops and six militants dead in the province 425 km northwest of Afghan capital Kabul.
"A Taliban deputy shadowy district chief for the district named Qari Firoz was among the dead and the ALP also arrested three militants besides seizing weapons after the clash," he added.
In addition, a Taliban key commander named Qari Hizatullah was killed by Afghan police in Chardara district in northern Kunduz province Tuesday evening, provincial police chief Samiullah Qatra told Xinhua earlier Wednesday.
The police official said that Hizatullah was responsible for several subversive activities and ambush-style attacks on Afghan and NATO-led coalition forces in the province 250 km north of Kabul.
However, the Taliban insurgent group, which announced the launching of an annual rebel offensive from May 3 against Afghan government and some 100,000 NATO-led coalition forces, has not to make comments yet.
Fired rockets from Afghanistan kill 1 in NW Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- One woman was killed, a man was injured and three houses were destroyed when some unidentified people fired rockets from the Afghan side into Pakistan's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan on Wednesday afternoon, local media reported.
Express News reported that at least 17 rockets hit Wacha Bibi area, a hamlet located in the North Waziristan Agency, one of the seven restive tribal areas on Pakistan-Afghan border.
Among 17 rockets, four hit houses while the others landed in an empty ground.
Earlier on Oct. 22, three people were injured and a house was destroyed when four rockets landed into Pakistani territory from Afghanistan border.
Pakistan-Afghan border skirmishes are very common in the area. The latest skirmishes started in May 2007, and since then hundreds of rockets have been fired across both sides of the border by armies of both countries and militants.
Both countries accuse each other of supporting militants to maintain their safe havens along the border.
Pakistani side says that Afghan and NATO forces have allowed fractions of the Pakistan Taliban to settle in northeastern Afghanistan over the past two years, and these militants attack Pakistan Army and innocent people from Afghanistan border.
Rasmussen: 'We will not abandon Afghanistan'
DW 06/11/2012
NATO will end its combat mission by the end of 2014 as planned, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told DW. International forces will, however, continue to offer support.
You will serve as NATO secretary general until summer 2014. A couple of months later, the last NATO combat soldier will leave Afghanistan. Are you confident that both NATO's mission and your personal mission can be accomplished by then?
Yes, I am confident that Afghan security forces will be able to take full responsibility for the security all over Afghanistan by the end of 2014 as we have planned.
Some 50 NATO troops have been killed already this year by members of the Afghanistan army or police, and the number of these so-called insider attacks continues to grow. I wonder if NATO can stick to its timetable for the pullout?
Obviously these insider attacks are a matter of great concern because they threaten to undermine trust and confidence between foreign troops and Afghan security forces. But these enemy tactics will not succeed. No one can drive a wedge between us and our Afghan partners and this is the reason why we have taken a number of measures to prevent such insider attacks - including strengthened recruitment procedures, strengthened counter-intelligence measures and other steps, and we will not hesitate to take further steps if needed. So these insider attacks will not derail our strategy. We will stick to our strategy, to our timetable. And by the end of 2014 we will complete our current ISAF mission.
Many experts warned that the Taliban and warlords are just biding their time until NATO combat troops have left. Was it the right decision to set a fixed date for the end of ISAF's mission?
Yes, it was the right decision to outline a roadmap for handing over more and more responsibility to the Afghans. Firstly, because we are not in Afghanistan as an occupation force. The ultimate goal must be to hand over full responsibility to the Afghans themselves. We can't stay in Afghanistan forever. That's my first point. Secondly, I also think it's important to have certain deadlines because deadlines serve the purpose to push forward the process. The Afghans know that they have to be ready at certain dates, so the roadmap and the deadlines serve as a driving force and we have actually seen a lot of progress thanks to that roadmap.
But many NGOs portray Afghanistan as a country doomed to slip into another civil war and they warn of a collapse of the Kabul central government. Regarding these worst-case scenarios, what can, what will NATO do after 2014?
First and foremost, I would like to stress that I don't share these doom and gloom perspectives. I fully realize that we still have a lot to do and there are still challenges. But overall, we have seen progress. Security-wise, we have seen a decline in the number of enemy attacks. When it comes to development, we have seen progress: a relatively high economic growth; an improved educational system - eight million children go to school out of which more than one third are girls; a better health situation - child mortality has gone down, life expectancy has gone up. So, we have seen a lot of progress. We will not abandon Afghanistan. We will complete our current combat mission by the end of 2014, but we will stay with the NATO-led training mission after 2014 so we will continue to assist the Afghan security forces to make sure they maintain their capability to take full responsibility for security all over Afghanistan.
Let's take a look at this new NATO mission to Afghanistan - ETAM. Will it only be training and assistance or might there also be combat troops required?
It will not be a combat mission. There will be a clear difference between the current ISAF combat mission and the new training mission. So we will focus on training, assistance, giving advice to the Afghan security forces. They will do the fighting. We will help them with training, assistance, and giving advice. But having said that, of course, we need to make sure that our trainers and instructors can operate in a secure environment so we need to protect them effectively. What that will take has not been decided yet. We are in the early stages of the planning process. But it will definitely not be a combat mission.
These early stages of the planning - does it also involve the question of whether the new mission needs a UN mandate?
No, we are not there yet.
But do you want a UN mandate?
A UN mandate would be excellent but, according to international law, it would be sufficient to have an invitation from the Afghan government. If we, on top of that, could have a UN mandate, as we do today, it would be excellent.
The Afghan government is unwilling to grant NATO military personnel immunity from prosecution by Afghan courts after 2014 but NATO can't risk demanding this immunity for their soldiers. Could this row endanger the new mission as a whole?
Well, these legal aspects must be addressed. We have actually not made any decision in that respect yet. There will be talks between us and the Afghans. And we have to solve these legal aspects because otherwise I foresee problems as regards the deployment of trainers and instructors in Afghanistan.
Briefly looking at geopolitics, the US is leaning more and more towards the Pacific region. Does this weaken NATO?
No, not at all. On the contrary, I think it is also in Europe's interest that the United States focus on the Asia-Pacific region, taking into account the rise of emerging powers like, for instance, China. It's important of course that it does not take place at the expense of the traditional transatlantic relationship, and we have seen that the Americans are committed to European security. One example is missile defense. The Americans provide a major input into the NATO missile defense system. European allies provide input as well so it's a joint effort. It's an example that the United States continues to be committed to European security and the transatlantic relationship. So I do believe that this re-balancing of the US defense and security policy will not take place at the expense of the transatlantic relationship.
Interview: Christian F. Trippe, head of DW's Brussels studio
Pakistani militants hiding in Afghanistan
Washington Post By Dana Priest Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The Taliban leader who sparked international outrage by ordering the attack on a Pakistani schoolgirl last month has escaped retribution by hiding in a section of eastern Afghanistan where U.S. forces are already spread thin and focused on other targets, according to U.S. officials.
U.S. military and intelligence officials said that Mullah Fazlullah, the mastermind of the attack on 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai, operates out a region adjoining Pakistan where several hundred U.S. troops are stationed. But they said finding Fazlullah is not a priority because he is not affiliated with al-Qaeda or with insurgents targeting U.S. and Afghan interests.
“Our guys just aren’t tracking him,” a senior Special Operations official said. “He is viewed as an ‘other-side-of-the-border’ problem.”
When asked if Fazlullah was a priority, a senior intelligence official responded, “Not with so many other potential targets” in Afghanistan.
Fazlullah’s relative safety reflects a larger trend in the difficult terrain along both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border. Plenty of attention has been focused on militants attacking U.S. and Afghan troops from havens inside Pakistan. But officials said extremists from Pakistan also have managed to evade the Pakistani army and CIA drones by finding sanctuary in remote parts of Afghanistan.
“The FATA is difficult [for insurgents] because there are drone strikes,” said a congressional staffer, using the acronym for semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the Pakistan side of the border. “It’s easier to be in eastern Afghanistan where there’s no real presence” of U.S. troops.
All three people spoke on condition they not be named because they were not authorized to speak for attribution.
Tom Collins, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, said: “ISAF is maintaining steady pressure on insurgents throughout Afghanistan. Mullah Fazlullah, like many insurgents who are transitory, remains a person of interest. If we receive actionable intelligence that he is in Afghanistan, we will attempt to take him off the battlefield.”
Collecting accurate intelligence is the most difficult step in locating and attacking enemy forces. In Konar and Nuristan, the two provinces where Fazlullah is believed to be hiding, the problem is tougher because ISAF advisers believe the Afghan army is allowing the Pakistani Taliban to operate in retribution for Pakistan not doing enough to stop cross-border rocket attacks and armed infiltrators using Pakistan as a haven.
Not all Pakistani militants escape attack inside Afghanistan. On Aug. 25, one of the group’s senior leaders was killed in a NATO air strike. ISAF said the leader, Mullah Dadullah, was helping fighters who had attacked Afghan and coalition forces and had close ties with al-Qaeda. Fazlullah, on the other hand, remains focused on Pakistan and he is not believed to have ties to al-Qaeda or attacks on coalition or Afghan forces.
The Pakistan government has criticized both the United States and Afghanistan for not trying harder to capture or kill Pakistani Taliban in Afghanistan. Washington, for its part, has long accused Pakistan of refusing to take on the Haqqani network, which uses northwestern Pakistan as its base for attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan.
More aggressively targeting the Pakistan Taliban would divert military resources, particularly drones and other surveillance capacity, to the region at a time when personnel and assets are being reduced in anticipation of the end of combat operations in 2014.
But some experts say that reducing the threat to Pakistan’s stability from its homegrown extremists should be a vital goal.
“I think it is in the U.S. interest to go after the threats to Pakistan because our policy and long-term interests are to have a stable Pakistan,” said Wendy Chamberlin, a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan and now president of the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank.
The senior intelligence official said U.S. offers of additional training and intelligence support have been turned down by Islamabad, where suspicions of U.S. motives run deep.
“We could share more,” the senior intelligence official said. “They actually aren’t opening up as much as we would like them to.”
The existence of a haven for Pakistani militants inside Afghanistan feeds the distrust that has developed between the United States and Pakistan since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, said Moeed Yusuf, who heads the Pakistan program at the United States Institute of Peace.
“Both sides have really been caught up for a long time in the blame game,” he said.
The number of insurgents taking refuge in the border region has increased in recent years, particularly on the Afghan side, according to the congressional staffer, who follows the region closely.
Besides small numbers of al-Qaeda fighters, the militant population includes the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Afghan and Pakistani Taliban and a growing number of Punjabi extremists involved in the Kashmir border conflict with India, according to U.S. officials and outside experts.
“It’s a jihadi soup,” said the congressional staffer.
Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Radio because he uses a mobile clandestine radio transmitter to broadcast didactic speeches denouncing girls’ education, music and all things Western, sought safety in Afghanistan sometime in 2009. He fled Paksitan after leading a gruesome campaign in Swat Valley, seeking to impose his extreme interpretation of Sharia law through beheadings, floggings, bombing girls’ schools and killing hundreds of civilians, Pakistani police and soldiers.
A U.S. defense official familiar with the tribal structure of the region said Fazlullah has found sanctuary in Konar and Nuristan through personal ties with tribal leaders. His fighters have launched numerous attacks across the border that U.S. defense officials say are intended to raise Fazlullah’s profile and make the Pakistani army look weak.
In June, about 100 of Fazlullah’s fighters crossed the border into Pakistan and beheaded 17 soldiers. A year earlier, they had captured 16 Pakistani policemen and executed them by firing squad.
But it was the attempt to assassinate 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai on Oct. 9 that pushed Fazlullah into the international limelight.
Since she was 11, Malala had been an outspoken champion of the right of girls to attend school. Last month, she was on her school van when gunmen boarded the bus and shot her twice at close range. Two classmates were also wounded. All three survived and Malala is recuperating in Britain.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and U.S. intelligence officials say evidence points to Fazlullah as the person who ordered it.
The shooting galvanized Pakistan and many other Muslim countries. Muslim clerics in Pakistan denounced the violence and thousands protested in Pakistan. Perhaps feeling pressure from a worldwide condemnation, the Pakistani Taliban released a seven-page justification for the shooting.
But condemnation from Washington has been purposefully muted. Although Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized the attackers, others have not done so for fear of a backlash from Pakistan, where conspiracies about U.S. involvement in the country are rife and anti-American sentiment high.
Pakistani authorities have arrested at least 30 people for questioning, but say they have not yet found the shooters or their leader, Fazlullah.
Afghanistan rules out peace deals with Haqqanis
Reuters By Hamid Shalizi and Michael Georgy Tue Nov 6, 2012
KABUL - Afghanistan welcomes the United Nations' decision to impose sanctions on the Haqqani network and would not negotiate for peace with the group blamed for several high-profile attacks in the country, the presidential spokesman said on Tuesday.
On Monday the U.N. Security Council's Taliban sanctions committee added the Haqqani network to a U.N. blacklist, the United States said.
Aimal Faizi, President Hamid Karzai's chief spokesman, said Kabul backed the U.N. decision, but added it should have been made a long time ago to weaken the Haqqanis, a Pashtun tribe allied to the Afghan Taliban, who he said had carried out most of the terrorist attacks in the nation over the past 10 years.
Although the Afghan government is engaged in reconciliation talks with members of the Taliban, it rules out dialogue with the Haqqani group, believed to be based in the unruly border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"We don't want any kind of deal with the Haqqanis, who were behind many of the attacks on Afghan security forces and civilians including women and children," Faizi told Reuters.
"We have certain negotiating conditions with armed opposition groups but the Haqqanis do not meet the criteria and they are in the service of a foreign spy agency."
Afghan and U.S. officials have accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of using Haqqani militants as proxies in Afghanistan to counter the influence of rival India. Islamabad denies the allegations.
The United States designated the Haqqani network a terrorist organization in September, a move the group's commanders said proved Washington was not sincere about peace efforts in Afghanistan.
Isolating the Haqqanis, who were blamed for the 18-hour attack on embassies and parliament in Kabul in April, could complicate efforts to secure peace in Afghanistan as most NATO combat troops prepare to leave by the end of 2014.
The Haqqanis say they are intricately tied to the Afghan Taliban and both groups insist they must act in unison in any peace process.
Most of the Haqqani leaders have already been blacklisted individually.
A report in July by the Center for Combating Terrorism said the Haqqanis run a sophisticated financial network, raising money through kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking but also having a legitimate business portfolio that includes import/export, transport, real estate and construction interests in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Gulf.
(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
63 Prisoners Released via Presidential Pardon
TOLOnews.com Tuesday, 06 November 2012
Sixty-three prisoners including six women and 57 men were released from the central prison in western Herat province on Tuesday as part of President Hamid Karzai's pardoning decree during Eid al-Adha.
Herat prison prosecutor Firoz Ahmad Firoz said that the pardoning decree does not included those who have committed serious crimes including those jailed over corruption nor those whose sentence period is more than three years.
"This decree does not cover those jailed over kidnapping, murder and crimes related to corruption. This is the difference with this decree from other [pardon] decrees," Firoz said on Tuesday.
Director of Prisons, West Zone, Gen. Shahmir Amirpor said in at the ceremony for the release of the prisoners that the root of crimes in society should be closely monitored and tackled in order to reduce the level of crime in the country. He also urged the responsible organs to do more to solve social problems.
"The authorities should find out the root of crimes in the society. We cannot solve this issue only through punishments, nor can only the prosecutors and judges solve the problems alone. The responsible organs should do more in this regard," Amirpor said.
Herat provincial council member Mohammad Askar Anwari urged the released prisoners to do good things and prove themselves faithful for their country.
"Don't commit crimes anymore and do good things which benefit your society. Let's make the country together," he said.
The decree will also reduce the sentencing period of more than another 100 prisoners.
Karzai usually issues a presidential pardons on holy or significant dates such as Eid and Nawroz.
Nato May Need Afghanistan Invite to Remain After 2014
TOLOnews.com By Rezwan Natiq Tuesday, 06 November 2012
Nato will be able to operate in Afghanistan after 2014 without a mandate from the United Nations if the Afghan government extends an invitation , the alliance chief said on Monday.
Speaking at a press briefing in Brussels, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen replied to a question about Russia's opposition to a post-2014 Nato presence in Afghanistan without a UN mandate that the Afghan government could invite the alliance to stay.
"We operate right now in Afghanistan on the basis of a United Nations Mandate; we would be able to operate in Afghanistan after 2014 on the basis of an invitation from the Afghan government. That will be fully in accordance with international law," Rasmussen said.
"On top of that if we could have a United Nations mandate it will be a good thing, but we could operate in Afghanistan on the basis of an invitation," he added, also praising Russia's cooperation in providing Nato with a transit route to Afghanistan.
On the change of Nato's mission after the Isaf mission ends in 2014, Rasmussen stressed that training was the aim and the foreign instructors would be protected.
"We have started planning for our post-2014 mission in Afghanistan. The core will be the training mission. It will be a mission different from the current Isaf combat mission – it will be a training mission – but obviously we will make sure that our trainers and instructors can operate in a secure environment," he said.
"We are in the very early stage of our planning. We took the first step when the defense ministers met in October, we will take the next step when they meet in February, and I would expect the final preparation to be completed by mid 2013."
"So, at this stage we have not made details and decision as regard how to protect our trainers and instructors effectively, but it goes without saying that we will provide necessary protection of trainers and instructors," he added.
Rasmussen reiterated that the Afghan forces should provide security for the presidential election in 2014 but reassured that Isaf forces will stand ready to provide assistance to Afghan security forces if necessary.
"I would like to stress the importance of secure environment for the conduct of this election. Having said that it's also important to stress that it has to be the Afghan security forces that are in the lead for providing security in the run up to and during the elections in Afghanistan.
Like last time we stand ready to assist the Afghan security forces," Rasmussen said, adding that handing over security responsibilities to the Afghan forces will not be undermined by the presidential elections as the handover will be complete by the spring of 2014.
Afghan security forces are already leading 85 percent of the operations, he said, with security improving in areas under transition and threats have decreasing in and around Kabul by up to 17%.
Afghan Bodybuilders Win 8 Medals in South Asia Comp
TOLOnews.com By Mir Sayed Tuesday, 06 November 2012
Afghanistan's national bodybuilder team came second overall in the 9th South Asian Bodybuilding championship winning a gold medal, five silver medals and two bronze medals in the Punjab-based meet.
Afghan bodybuilder Ramin Hassan Zada who participated in the 70 kg weight category won Afghanistan's only gold medal. While Haroon Azimi, Mohammad Yousuf Sakhi, Noor-ul Had Shirzad, Hamid Shurzai and Aliass Mahak all took silver medals.
But it was Indian bodybuilder Sangram Chougule who won the 'Mr. South Asia' title on Sunday.
Afghanistan took second place after India out of the five countries which participated, including Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. India refused to allow Pakistan to compete.
Last year, Afghanistan's bodybuilding team claimed the championship which was held in Botan in June.
All the countries had eight-member teams, except the host India, which was represented by a 16-member team.
The Afghan team will return from India to Kabul this Thursday.
Brother of Kunduz MP Arrested for Hanging Wife
TOLOnews.com By Karim Amini Tuesday, 06 November 2012
The brother of a Kunduz lawmaker was arrested in the northern province for allegedly hanging his wife on Monday, officials told TOLOnews.
Zarghona, who was married to the brother of Kunduz MP Shukria Paikan, was killed in her home last night by hanging.
Kunduz police said Zarghona's husband used a rope to hang his wife and was being detained until investigations were complete.
"Zarghona, 30 years old, was killed last night in the 4th district of Kunduz City by her husband. Police have detained her husband," northern 303 Pamir police zone spokesperson Lal Muhammad Ahmadzai said Tuesday.
"The reason of the murder is not yet clear but it seems that she was killed because of a family violation. She has two children and her husband's name is Hamidullah," he said, adding that the husband was the MP's brother.
The provincial women's department called for a thorough investigation.
"When we were alerted about the incident we went to the police. They said the cause is still under investigation and it is unclear," the women's department spokesperson said.
More violence against women has been reported in recent months, but there remains much to be done against such violations.
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