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Wounded Afghan Intelligence Chief 'Stable'
December 7, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
The Afghan spy chief who was wounded in a suicide bombing, Asadullah Khalid, is reported to be in stable condition one day after the attack.
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says Asadullah Khalid is now being treated in the U.S.-run military hospital at Bagram air base, 60 kilometers north of Kabul.
He was wounded in a suicide attack inside a guesthouse run by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence service.
Journalists received an e-mail, said to be from a Taliban spokesman, claiming responsibility for the attack.
Khalid was initially treated in a hospital run by the Directorate of Security.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed optimism about Khalid’s recovery after visiting him in the hospital.
Khalid, a former governor and minister, was appointed as the Afghan intelligence chief in September.
Based on reporting by AFP and nytimes.com
Pakistan condemns attack on Afghan intelligence chief
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan Friday strongly condemned suicide bomb attack on Afghan intelligence chief Assadullah Khalid and reiterated to continue to work with Afghanistan to fight terrorism.
Khalid, head of the Afghan National Directorate of Security, was injured in the attack in Kabul on Thursday.
Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which they said was a revenge for the recent execution of several Taliban prisoners. The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attacker had posed as a peace messenger.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Khalid at a Kabul hospital and later said that he was out of danger, the Afghan media reported.
"Pakistan strongly condemns the attack in Kabul yesterday that wounded Mr. Assadullah Khalid, head of the Afghan National Directorate of Security. Our thoughts and prayers are with him. We hope for his early recovery," the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
"The two countries face the common threat of terrorism. We will continue to work closely with Afghanistan to eliminate this scourge," it said.
Fatal Afghan Shooting Highlights Risks For Female Health Workers
December 7, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty By Frud Bezhan and Ahmad Hanayish
Anisa, a volunteer Afghan health worker, had just left her home and was on her way to work when two armed men on motorcycles zipped past her.
The gunmen shot the 20-year-old student, who worked as a village polio-vaccination worker, at least six times in the abdomen. Anisa was whisked to a local hospital in her hometown of Kohistan, in the eastern Kapisa Province, but died shortly after being admitted.
The Taliban has denied involvement, but suspicion has nevertheless fallen on the militant group. The Taliban has in the past been accused of undermining the polio-immunization campaign on the basis that it is part of a Western plot to harm the Afghan population, and has a long history of carrying out violent acts against women.
There are reasons to believe Anisa's work, or even the fact that she was working at all, might have played a part in her killing.
Anisa's death, which occurred on December 1, came just a day after she survived another attempt on her life. She was walking on the street when unknown gunmen fired at her.
According to Afghan media reports, Anisa had received several threatening phone calls in the days leading up to her death warning her to stop work.
Safura Kohistani, the director of the provincial Department of Women's Affairs in Kapisa, says many Afghan women who work outside their home, which is still rare many places across Afghanistan, are often targeted.
Death Threats
Kohistani maintains that women often receive death threats via phone calls or night letters, a written threat delivered during the evening, warning them to stop working or risk being targeted.
"Women are extremely worried about this," she says. "Women who are working as teachers, or for the government, or for civil society are scared that if they work such a fate might befall them too."
Kohistani has condemned the perpetrators of the killing as "cowards" and has called on authorities to do more to enforce a 2009 law on eliminating violence against women, which rights activists say is still only periodically enforced.
Kohistani says women who suffer from violence almost never receive justice. Even if their cases go to trial, she says, the majority result in the acquittal of the perpetrators, the dropping of charges to less serious crimes, convictions with shorter sentences, or the female victims themselves being accused of "moral crimes" for making private matters public.
Women's Affairs Minister Husn Banu Ghazanfar said last month that cases of "extreme or brutal violence" against women had increased this year. She said her ministry reported some 3,500 cases of violence against women in the first six months of this year alone.
According to Kohistani, there have been previous instances of violence against women in Kapisa, but that Anisa's death is a first.
"There have been cases [of violence against women] stemming from domestic issues," she says. "But this is the first time we have seen a politically-motivated case where a girl who was at school and working on a polio-vaccination program was targeted."
Anisa was working on a polio-immunization program funded by the United Nations, which along with the World Health Organization takes a leading role in eliminating the crippling and deadly disease.
Polio is spread when people eat food or drink water contaminated by feces. Afghanistan, along with Pakistan and Nigeria, is just one of three countries where polio is endemic, according to the United Nations.
With just some two-thirds of children in Kapisa vaccinated against polio, volunteers are working toward the goal of ensuring that all the province's children are immunized.
'Un-Islamic' Vaccinations
Taliban factions, particularly inside Pakistan, have condemned the UN immunization drive and their threats of violence have stopped programs in Taliban-controlled areas in Pakistan's northwest and even some border areas inside Afghanistan.
Opposition from religious extremists is seen as a key reason for the failure of polio-eradication programs in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Local Taliban factions in Pakistan have issued fatwas and imposed a "ban" on the antipolio campaign, calling it a Western plot to sterilize Muslim populations.
Another myth often spread by religious extremists is that vaccinations are "un-Islamic" and an attempt to prevent the will of God.
In a bid to stop the antipolio campaign, the Pakistani Taliban have kidnapped, beaten, and assassinated health officials.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai earlier this year blamed Taliban resistance for the increase of polio cases in Afghanistan.
Through an antipolio campaign involving thousands of volunteers and a number of international agencies, Afghanistan had almost wiped out the deadly disease.
In 2010, the Afghan government registered only 25 polio cases. But that figure tripled to 76 last year.
Karzai called on the Taliban to allow teams of vaccinators to administer antipolio drops to children in areas under their control.
In a message addressed to the militants, he said: "Those who stand in the way of vaccination are the true enemies of our children's future."
Written and reported by Frud Bezhan with additional reporting by Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Ahmad Hanayish in Kabul
The U.S. is abandoning its loyal friends in Afghanistan
Washington Post By Marshall Wilde Friday, December 7, 2012
The writer is a lawyer and served as Chief, Rule of Law, for ISAF.
The United States has abandoned our most effective and loyal friends in Afghanistan by deliberately failing to implement the Afghan Allies Protection Act. In 2011, I served as the chief adviser on rule of law for the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul (ISAF). I witnessed the heroism and steadfast courage of our Afghan employees as they resisted threats from the Taliban and from their own government. Now, as we draw down and leave them vulnerable, our government refuses to follow its own laws to save them.
The 2009 act provides up to 7,500 special immigrant visas for Afghans who worked for the United States for at least a year and who face an ongoing and serious threat to their safety. The U.S. Embassy resisted as soon as the law was passed, claiming that allowing these Afghans and their spouses and children to escape the threats to their lives would have a “deleterious impact” on the mission. The embassy also said it would require the strictest scrutiny of the applications, demanding “clear and convincing evidence” of the threat — a higher standard than that required by the law.
As a result, by mid-2011, no visas had been approved. As of today, 5,700 Afghans have applied for visas — and only 32 have been approved. To put this in context, since the start of our intervention in Afghanistan, more than 80 interpreters have been killed in combat.
During my time in Afghanistan, my duties included convincing the Afghan government to abide by its own laws. My country adviser, Abdul, provided invaluable assistance, interpreting my meetings with Afghan officials and giving me critical insight into Afghanistan’s tumultuous politics. Abdul — whom I do not identify further to lessen the risk to his life — had previously worked for USAID in one of the more dangerous rural areas of Afghanistan. As a result, one of his brothers was kidnapped for ransom by the Taliban. After Abdul moved to Kabul, he continued to face threats from both the Taliban and the Afghan government, who wanted him to reveal classified U.S. military information. He was followed around Kabul by elements of the security forces and the National Directorate of Security and received threatening phone calls from phone numbers in Iran and Pakistan.
One day, upon returning from work at ISAF, Abdul discovered a Taliban member in his house, searching for information. He called the police; they promptly arrested the intruder but then detained Abdul, his wife and his children for more than 12 hours. ISAF had to intervene to secure his release. The police allegedly took a bribe to release the Taliban member, and Abdul subsequently received dozens of death threats. In a separate incident, Abdul’s sister was detained by the Taliban, who called Abdul to try to force him to secure the release of insurgents from Afghan custody.
Abdul continues to work for the U.S. government, promoting democracy and the rule of law in Afghanistan. He and his family face death every day. More than a year ago, they applied for U.S. visas: They have not yet been approved.
I found it difficult to tell the Afghan government to obey its laws when it was clear to me that the United States was not doing the same. It is apparent that the State Department has no intention of implementing the Afghan Allies Protection Act to save Abdul, his family or the thousands of Afghans who help us every day.
This abject moral failure reflects poorly on us as a country and threatens our ability to recruit allies in the future. How will we prevent another Ben¬ghazi-style attack when no locals will work with us because we won’t protect them? How will we capitalize on the Arab Spring without locals to help us understand the local language and politics? How can we push other countries to observe the rule of law when we so clearly do not follow our own?
While I made it home safely, Abdul continues to face danger every day.
Nato forces 'attack Afghan health clinic'
Aid group Swedish Committee for Afghanistan says Nato and Afghan troops damaged its building and used it as jail
Guardian.co.uk By Emma Graham-Harrison Thursday 6 December 2012
Kabul - Nato forces stormed into a clinic in central Afghanistan, damaging doors, windows and medical equipment, before using it as a jail and military command centre, in violation of the Geneva conventions, according to the aid group that runs the facility.
Nato and Afghan troops were dropped off by helicopters late one October evening and headed straight to the clinic, according to the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, which has published details of the assault on their small centre in Wardak province, a few dozen miles south-west of Kabul.
The soldiers knocked down a wall to enter the building, damaged doors, windows, examination beds and other equipment, and detained clinical staff and civilians inside. And for the next two and a half days they brought dozens, maybe hundreds of prisoners through the clinic, using it as a jail, logistics hub and for mortar fire, contravening the Geneva conventions, which protect medical centres.
"The protection of medical persons and facilities, and respect for their neutrality was one of the founding principles of international humanitarian law," said Erica Gaston, a human rights lawyer and senior programme officer at the US Institute of Peace.
"This latest incident is a serious violation if true, it's incredible to me that they not only raided this clinic but that [Nato] command allowed them to continue occupying it for days afterwards."
The takeover of the clinic was the worst assault on the Swedish Committee's medical services since a bitter civil war over a decade ago, said the group's country director, Andreas Stefansson.
"I can't recall when we have had a clearcut occupation of a clinic for several days. We'd have to go back to the 1990s where you'd have warring groups that would kick out the medical staff and take over the whole building," he told the Guardian in Kabul.
Afghanistan is in desperate need of help to improve healthcare for its 30 million people. It is one of just three countries where polio is still endemic, one in five children die before their fifth birthday, and in southern provinces acute malnutrition among infants is near the levels expected in a famine zone.
But Stefansson said aid groups working on health issues felt their work was being seriously undermined because of regular abuse of their buildings and staff by government forces and troops from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf). The Swedish Committee has decades of experience in Afghanistan.
"Most NGOs who deliver healthcare in this country experience this almost on a monthly basis; that there are breaches in different provinces, where the Afghan National Army, or ISAF, or special forces basically don't show the level of respect they should for health facilities," he said, after meeting other healthcare organisations to discuss the problem. "We are getting quite fed up with it."
Among the most common problems are soldiers forcing their way into a hospital while searching for insurgents, demanding medical records, and pressuring doctors and nurses for treating suspected Taliban, sources from the health sector said.
The military and police have sometimes set up headquarters in compounds that house hospitals and clinics, or just outside, and medical facilities get caught in crossfire, or are used as cover during attacks.
Insurgents have targeted healthcare facilities with deadly assaults, including a truck bomb at a hospital in Logar province that killed dozens last summer. The Swedish Committee said that this autumn in Wardak province a suicide bomber damaged a midwifery school and dormitory they ran, and a bomb destroyed part of another clinic.
Ultimately it is Afghans in need of medical help who suffer from the intrusions as fearful civilians stay away, and it gets harder to recruit qualified staff in troubled areas. When government or Nato forces use compounds, insurgent groups are more likely to harass doctors, nurses and the centres from which they operate.
"It puts us in jeopardy because [local people] of course question the neutrality of the healthcare delivered, and it also puts us in problems with opposition groups who believe we have alternative agendas," Stefansson said.
The Swedish Committee said it had met Isaf commanders, who acknowledged the takeover breached international laws, said the use of the clinic was a mistake, and promised "actions will be taken" to avoid similar incidents.
"Isaf confirmed at the meeting that their policies are clear regarding respecting the Geneva conventions, claiming that the occupation of the clinic was unintentional," the group said in a statement.
Isaf did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.
Pakistani officials promoting false split in Taliban leadership cadres, again
Long War Journal By Bill Roggio ecember 6, 2012
For some reason, Reuters seems to want to perpetuate the myth that Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud, the top two leaders of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, are "at each other's throats," a claim that Waliur Rehman himself has denied. Back in January, I debunked the claims, and the long-awaited clash between the two never materialized. You can read about that here.
Eleven months later, Reuters pretty much writes the same story. This time, unnamed Pakistani military sources are making the claims. But in the process of making the case for the split between the two leaders, the Pakistani officials tell an easily demonstrable lie. And "lie" isn't a term I use easily around here, but in this case, it applies.
While making the case that Hakeemullah is no longer in charge of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's operations, Pakistani officials told Reuters the following:
Intelligence officials said Mehsud had not commanded any recent operations, including an August 16 attack on the Minhas Airbase in Pakistan and a suicide attack on a street market in May that killed 24 people.
Military sources said Rehman planned the April 15 jail break in Bannu in Pakistan that freed 384 prisoners, including an estimated 200 Taliban members and an al Qaeda-linked militant who had attempted to assassinate former president Pervez Musharraf.
Now, the officials aren't clear how they know Hakeemullah wasn't involved in the Minhas suicide assault; it does fit the profile of other attacks he directed.
But the real kicker is the Bannu prison break. We know for a fact that Hakeemullah was involved. How do we know? The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan released a videotape of the operations, in which both Waliur Rehman and Hakeemullah appeared. And guess what? Hakeemullah himself appears on the videotape where the Taliban are staging to conduct the attack. You can see him there, and you can see his men surrounding him. So we know for certain that Hakeemullah was indeed directly involved in the Bannu prison break. The Pakistani officials who tracked the Bannu prison break would also know this.
Pakistani officials have been promoting a split between Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud for years, beginning with the fake battle at the shura to succeed Bailtullah Mehsud, the emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan who was killed in an August 2009 drone strike. The battle never happened, yet Pakistani officials insist to this day that it did. We've covered this, and other such nonsense, extensively at The Long War Journal.
Dare I say that Pakistani officials are using Reuters and other news agencies as part of a not-so-sophisticated information operation designed to split the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's top leadership? It is high time that news organizations see through this patently obvious nonsense.
After 10 years of Karzai's rule, has life improved in Afghanistan?
NBC News By Atia Abawi and F. Brinley Bruton News analysis 06/12/2012
KABUL, Afghanistan - Many Afghans see dark clouds of uncertainty looming over the calendar as the 2014 deadline approaches for most foreign troops to withdraw, and worry that after that the international community will abandon them.
Over the last decade, billions of aid dollars have flowed into Afghanistan, and thousands of foreign soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians have died during the effort to bring peace and a modicum of prosperity to the country. Meanwhile, the government of President Hamid Karzai has passed laws meant to improve the lives of his citizens. Nevertheless, Afghanistan still faces huge problems, such as widespread violence, official corruption, grinding poverty and a booming narcotics trade.
“Plagued by factionalism and corruption, Afghanistan is far from ready to assume responsibility for security when U.S. and NATO forces withdraw in 2014,” think tank International Crisis Group said in a recent report.Security The Taliban are regaining land and power lost after they were toppled by U.S.-backed forces in 2001.
While there have been more than 2,000 American military casualties during this time, civilians have borne the brunt of the violence. In the first six months of 2012 alone, more than 3,000 civilians were killed or injured, according the United Nations. This number was down 15 percent from a year earlier.
Anti-government and coalition insurgents were responsible for 80 percent of the civilian casualties, the U.N. says.More than 300,000 Afghan National Army soldiers and Afghan National Police members have been trained to replace foreign soldiers. Afghan security forces face big challenges, such as attrition, illiteracy and insurgent infiltration.
Poverty and corruption Most Afghans are not just living in fear of an insurgent attack or NATO airstrike. They fear hunger and worry that they and their families won’t survive another winter.
Afghans are among the poorest people on earth. According to the World Bank, per capita GDP was around $576 in 2011, up from $158 in 2002.
More than half of children under the age of five are malnourished, according to the World Food Program.
Afghanistan remains largely dependent on foreign aid – the World Bank says that 90 percent of the country’s national budget is still financed by governments and other foreign organizations.
Along with the huge inflows of foreign aid and poverty is corruption: the country is tied with Somalia and North Korea at the bottom of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2012.
A 2012 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report estimated that Afghans paid $2.5 billion in bribes over 12 months, which is equivalent to almost a quarter of the country’s GDP.
Women In 2001, Afghan women were the poster children for the invasion. Promises poured in to help half of the society that was brutalized and banished during the Taliban. Despite the pledges, Afghanistan remains one of the most difficult places in the world to be a woman: it has one of the highest levels of maternal mortality and, according to U.N. estimates, around 90 percent of women suffer from some sort of domestic abuse. Nevertheless, there has been some progress. In 2004, President Karzai signed into law a new constitution granting equality among all its citizens and ensuring women’s rights. And in 2009 the country passed the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law, intended to protect women from abuse, rape, and forced marriages. While the laws were all positive steps such legislation is rarely enforced. The ministry of women’s affairs in Kabul says that from April through July of this year at least 3,600 cases of violence against women were recorded. However, this grim number may be seen as a sign o
f progress because it means more families and women are learning about their rights and reporting their grievances.
Drugs Afghanistan has long-produced about 90 percent of the world's opium, a paste from the poppy plant that is mad into make heroin. At the end of the Taliban’s rule, the government worked with the U.N. to cut production by around 90 percent.
In the last decade, opium production increased again. It is now the largest source of export earnings and accounts for half of Afghanistan's GDP, according to humanitarian news site AlertNet.
All hope is not lost in Afghanistan, progress has been made in small steps rather than the giant leaps expected when United States-backed forces toppled the Taliban.
In 2001, girls were denied an education under the Taliban regime and only 900,000 children were enrolled in school throughout Afghanistan. Today, at least 7 million children are attending classes and 2.5-million are estimated to be girls, according to Amnesty International. In the cities, you see women in the workforce again, doctors, politicians and even business owners.
Still, many fear that these delicate gains will disappear as the last foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan on Dec. 31, 2014.
Consortium wins Afghan mining permits
Financial Times By Michael Kavanagh December 6, 2012
A consortium backed by City of London banker Ian Hannam, former BHP Billiton chief executive Chip Goodyear and Jan Kulczyk, Poland’s richest man, has emerged as a winner in the latest licensing round for mining permits in war-torn Afghanistan.
Afghan Gold and Minerals has been named preferred bidder for the Balkhab copper exploration licence northwest of the capital Kabul, one of three gold and copper exploration licences opened for tender a year ago by the Afghan government.
The company also holds a 49 per cent stake in TMAC, another joint venture that has been declared preferred bidder for the Badakhshan gold concession in the licensing round and which is backed by Yildizlar, Turkey’s largest mining company.
Afghan Gold and Minerals is 51 per cent owned by local businessman Sadat Naderi, with the remainder held by a vehicle created by Guernsey-based investment group Centar. The vehicle was created by Ian Hannam, the former JPMorgan banker. The joint venture has already won a gold mining licence in Afghanistan that is close to production, according to Mr Naderi.
Another tender for Shaida copper exploration in the province of Herat was also granted by Afghanistan’s ministry of mines to Afghan Minerals Group on Thursday.
The announcement comes six days after the ministry confirmed it had granted a licence to a consortium made up of London-listed Dragon Oil, Kuwait Energy, TPAO of Turkey and local partner Ghazanfar to explore for oil and gas in the Afghan-Tajik basin of northern Afghanistan.
Mr Naderi said that early production at its copper licence could begin as soon as late 2014 depending on an assessment of copper reserves. He added that the inclusion of well-known western financiers was a key factor in winning the concession as development costs for the project could run at up to $1bn.
“We want to get things moving quickly,” he said. “Getting from exploration into production is good for our shareholders and for the Afghan government.”
The current tendering round represented the “second wave” of mineral licensing by the Afghan government, which in 2008 granted Metallurgical Corp of China rights to the Aynak copper deposit and last year gave an Indian steel company the right to exploit the Hajigak iron ore deposit.
Mr Naderi conceded that slow progress had been made on both these previous mining licence awards. But he argued that a more settled security situation in northern Afghanistan, combined with access to capital, could allow rapid progress on its licences. Attacks on the Aynak site southeast of Kabul recently prompted the temporary evacuation of Chinese workers.
Last year Polish billionaire Jan Kulczyk took a 28 per cent stake in Centar, which is headed by Ian Hannam, the SAS veteran who left JPMorgan Cazenove in April. Chip Goodyear, chief executive of BHP Billiton until 2007, is also a shareholder.
Most Afghan Refugees Want to Remain in Pakistan
VOA News December 6, 2012 Sharon Behn
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — More than 1.6 million Afghan refugees registered in Pakistan are due to be repatriated by the end of the year. With just three weeks to go, however, a recent United Nations survey found that roughly 80 percent have no intention of returning to Afghanistan.
According to the U.N. survey, most Afghan families living in Pakistan feel Afghanistan is just not safe enough to go back home. Others cited the inability to earn a living and the lack of anywhere to live in their native country.
Pakistan's Minister for States and Frontier Regions Shaukat Ullah acknowledged the challenges involved in convincing refugees to return to their country after decades of living in Pakistan.
"After 32 years, if a person is returning from a country where he has been born and he is going to a country like Afghanistan, they will think 100 times," said Ullah.
Sizable refugee population
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in the 1990s, Pakistan has hosted one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Some 3.8 million have crossed back over the border into Afghanistan.
The UNHCR has offered plastic buckets, soap, blankets, cash and a one-way ticket for those still living in Pakistan, and succeeded in encouraging another 72,000 people to return to Afghanistan this year.
But there still are 1.6 million official Afghan refugees here. UNHCR representative Neill Wright said the organization was waiting to hear what Pakistan has planned for these refugees after the December 31, 2012 deadline.
"I know that the government is very actively engaged in considering what its policy will be in terms of the management of Afghan refugees in 2013, and in terms of supporting this continued partnership that we have with Afghanistan over voluntary repatriation, and I look forward to hearing what that strategy will be," said Wright.
Determining a plan
Responding to concerns that there will be another wave of refugees from Afghanistan after international combat forces leave the country in 2014, Wright said contingency plans are under consideration.
"This is clearly an issue that I am involved in discussions with many people, senior politicians, people in Afghanistan, members of the international community. Of course, when you do contingency planning, you look at a worst-case scenario and you look at a best-case scenario, and if you are sensible you will probably look at something in the middle," said Wright.
He declined to give any further details.
Many Afghan refugees live in very poor conditions in Pakistan. According to the UNHCR, less than one quarter of them work, and almost three quarters of Afghan children are not going to school.
Afghan-Tajik Counter Narcotics Op Detain 13 Smugglers
TOLOnews.com By Jawed Stanikzai Thursday, 06 December 2012
Joint Afghanistan and Tajikistan counter-narcotics forces have captured more than 400 kg of drugs and 13 smugglers in a recent operation, the Counter Narcotics Deputy at the Afghan Ministry of Interior said Thursday.
"We launched the operation at the same time and in coordination with each other, based on the agreement which we signed with the counter narcotics forces of Tajikistan," Baz Mohammed Ahmadi said. The operation is believed by the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in Afghanistan to be one of the biggest achievements toward eradicating drugs in both countries, he added.
Based on the agreement between the two countries, the operation was run both sides of the border in the Badakhshan areas and efforts to launch similar operations in cooperation with other countries are continuing, Ahmadi said.
The detained smugglers had also been involved in people-smuggling, kidnapping children and women to be sold. Two Tajik women were released from their captors as a result of the recent operation, he added.
"We are pleased the operation had a good result. Both countries will increase their efforts in this matter," said Zainuddin Qurbanov, representative of Tajikistan's Counter Narcotics Agency.
"Afghanistan is still at the top of the [global] list for cultivating and producing opium. There is no doubt about it. This successful operation gives us three lessons which I think we should take with us and indicate how we can operate for the future," Regional Representative for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries at UNODC Jean-Luc Lemahieu said.
"Drugs are not only a problem in Afghanistan but rather an international challenge. Counter-narcotics police have the ability now to fight against drugs - these forces should be supported," Lemahieu added.
According to Ahmadi, a number of MPs and top officials of Afghanistan have been pressuring the ministry over the failure to launch such operations.
"In some cases, a number of MPs and some of top government officials, who would misunderstand the matter, have said that the operation is carried out for personal benefits. They are pressuring us," Ahmadi added.
Karzai Orders Investigation Into Kapisa Schoolgirl Murder
TOLOnews.com By Abdul Wali Arian Thursday, 06 December 2012
President Hamid Karzai on Thursday ordered a full investigation into the shooting of Anisa, a Grade 10 schoolgirl who was killed in Kapisa province on Sunday.
A delegation comprised of representatives of the Ministry of Interior, National Directorate of Security , the Attorney General Office and local government personnel have been sent to fully investigate the case and report back to Karzai in four days, a statement from the presidential office said.
"To find out the facts about the killing of Anisa, daughter of Amir Mohammad, in Kapisa province a high ranking government delegation was assigned to investigate," the presidential statement said.
This comes after the Afghan Women's Network on Wednesday condemned the shooting allegedly at the hands of Taliban members and criticized the government for its silence over the incident.
Sixteen-year-old Anisa, who only goes by one name, died in a hail of bullets after leaving Mahmoud Raqi Girls High School on Sunday, according to the school and provincial officials.
Possible motives for the shooting have been linked to Anisa's work as a volunteer on a polio campaign, given the Taliban has publicly opposed polio vaccinations in some parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The government sluggishness to react to Anisa's murder were compared by critics to the government's response to the shooting of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in Swat Valley in October.
At that time, Karzai publicly condemned Malala's shooting which had received worldwide recognition because she survived being shot in the head by local Taliban forces, and used it as a platform to call for cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan on terrorism.
The Afghan Ministry of Education also declared all schools should hold prayer ceremonies for Malala's recovery.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
December 7, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
The Afghan spy chief who was wounded in a suicide bombing, Asadullah Khalid, is reported to be in stable condition one day after the attack.
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says Asadullah Khalid is now being treated in the U.S.-run military hospital at Bagram air base, 60 kilometers north of Kabul.
He was wounded in a suicide attack inside a guesthouse run by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence service.
Journalists received an e-mail, said to be from a Taliban spokesman, claiming responsibility for the attack.
Khalid was initially treated in a hospital run by the Directorate of Security.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed optimism about Khalid’s recovery after visiting him in the hospital.
Khalid, a former governor and minister, was appointed as the Afghan intelligence chief in September.
Based on reporting by AFP and nytimes.com
Pakistan condemns attack on Afghan intelligence chief
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan Friday strongly condemned suicide bomb attack on Afghan intelligence chief Assadullah Khalid and reiterated to continue to work with Afghanistan to fight terrorism.
Khalid, head of the Afghan National Directorate of Security, was injured in the attack in Kabul on Thursday.
Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which they said was a revenge for the recent execution of several Taliban prisoners. The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attacker had posed as a peace messenger.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Khalid at a Kabul hospital and later said that he was out of danger, the Afghan media reported.
"Pakistan strongly condemns the attack in Kabul yesterday that wounded Mr. Assadullah Khalid, head of the Afghan National Directorate of Security. Our thoughts and prayers are with him. We hope for his early recovery," the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
"The two countries face the common threat of terrorism. We will continue to work closely with Afghanistan to eliminate this scourge," it said.
Fatal Afghan Shooting Highlights Risks For Female Health Workers
December 7, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty By Frud Bezhan and Ahmad Hanayish
Anisa, a volunteer Afghan health worker, had just left her home and was on her way to work when two armed men on motorcycles zipped past her.
The gunmen shot the 20-year-old student, who worked as a village polio-vaccination worker, at least six times in the abdomen. Anisa was whisked to a local hospital in her hometown of Kohistan, in the eastern Kapisa Province, but died shortly after being admitted.
The Taliban has denied involvement, but suspicion has nevertheless fallen on the militant group. The Taliban has in the past been accused of undermining the polio-immunization campaign on the basis that it is part of a Western plot to harm the Afghan population, and has a long history of carrying out violent acts against women.
There are reasons to believe Anisa's work, or even the fact that she was working at all, might have played a part in her killing.
Anisa's death, which occurred on December 1, came just a day after she survived another attempt on her life. She was walking on the street when unknown gunmen fired at her.
According to Afghan media reports, Anisa had received several threatening phone calls in the days leading up to her death warning her to stop work.
Safura Kohistani, the director of the provincial Department of Women's Affairs in Kapisa, says many Afghan women who work outside their home, which is still rare many places across Afghanistan, are often targeted.
Death Threats
Kohistani maintains that women often receive death threats via phone calls or night letters, a written threat delivered during the evening, warning them to stop working or risk being targeted.
"Women are extremely worried about this," she says. "Women who are working as teachers, or for the government, or for civil society are scared that if they work such a fate might befall them too."
Kohistani has condemned the perpetrators of the killing as "cowards" and has called on authorities to do more to enforce a 2009 law on eliminating violence against women, which rights activists say is still only periodically enforced.
Kohistani says women who suffer from violence almost never receive justice. Even if their cases go to trial, she says, the majority result in the acquittal of the perpetrators, the dropping of charges to less serious crimes, convictions with shorter sentences, or the female victims themselves being accused of "moral crimes" for making private matters public.
Women's Affairs Minister Husn Banu Ghazanfar said last month that cases of "extreme or brutal violence" against women had increased this year. She said her ministry reported some 3,500 cases of violence against women in the first six months of this year alone.
According to Kohistani, there have been previous instances of violence against women in Kapisa, but that Anisa's death is a first.
"There have been cases [of violence against women] stemming from domestic issues," she says. "But this is the first time we have seen a politically-motivated case where a girl who was at school and working on a polio-vaccination program was targeted."
Anisa was working on a polio-immunization program funded by the United Nations, which along with the World Health Organization takes a leading role in eliminating the crippling and deadly disease.
Polio is spread when people eat food or drink water contaminated by feces. Afghanistan, along with Pakistan and Nigeria, is just one of three countries where polio is endemic, according to the United Nations.
With just some two-thirds of children in Kapisa vaccinated against polio, volunteers are working toward the goal of ensuring that all the province's children are immunized.
'Un-Islamic' Vaccinations
Taliban factions, particularly inside Pakistan, have condemned the UN immunization drive and their threats of violence have stopped programs in Taliban-controlled areas in Pakistan's northwest and even some border areas inside Afghanistan.
Opposition from religious extremists is seen as a key reason for the failure of polio-eradication programs in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Local Taliban factions in Pakistan have issued fatwas and imposed a "ban" on the antipolio campaign, calling it a Western plot to sterilize Muslim populations.
Another myth often spread by religious extremists is that vaccinations are "un-Islamic" and an attempt to prevent the will of God.
In a bid to stop the antipolio campaign, the Pakistani Taliban have kidnapped, beaten, and assassinated health officials.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai earlier this year blamed Taliban resistance for the increase of polio cases in Afghanistan.
Through an antipolio campaign involving thousands of volunteers and a number of international agencies, Afghanistan had almost wiped out the deadly disease.
In 2010, the Afghan government registered only 25 polio cases. But that figure tripled to 76 last year.
Karzai called on the Taliban to allow teams of vaccinators to administer antipolio drops to children in areas under their control.
In a message addressed to the militants, he said: "Those who stand in the way of vaccination are the true enemies of our children's future."
Written and reported by Frud Bezhan with additional reporting by Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Ahmad Hanayish in Kabul
The U.S. is abandoning its loyal friends in Afghanistan
Washington Post By Marshall Wilde Friday, December 7, 2012
The writer is a lawyer and served as Chief, Rule of Law, for ISAF.
The United States has abandoned our most effective and loyal friends in Afghanistan by deliberately failing to implement the Afghan Allies Protection Act. In 2011, I served as the chief adviser on rule of law for the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul (ISAF). I witnessed the heroism and steadfast courage of our Afghan employees as they resisted threats from the Taliban and from their own government. Now, as we draw down and leave them vulnerable, our government refuses to follow its own laws to save them.
The 2009 act provides up to 7,500 special immigrant visas for Afghans who worked for the United States for at least a year and who face an ongoing and serious threat to their safety. The U.S. Embassy resisted as soon as the law was passed, claiming that allowing these Afghans and their spouses and children to escape the threats to their lives would have a “deleterious impact” on the mission. The embassy also said it would require the strictest scrutiny of the applications, demanding “clear and convincing evidence” of the threat — a higher standard than that required by the law.
As a result, by mid-2011, no visas had been approved. As of today, 5,700 Afghans have applied for visas — and only 32 have been approved. To put this in context, since the start of our intervention in Afghanistan, more than 80 interpreters have been killed in combat.
During my time in Afghanistan, my duties included convincing the Afghan government to abide by its own laws. My country adviser, Abdul, provided invaluable assistance, interpreting my meetings with Afghan officials and giving me critical insight into Afghanistan’s tumultuous politics. Abdul — whom I do not identify further to lessen the risk to his life — had previously worked for USAID in one of the more dangerous rural areas of Afghanistan. As a result, one of his brothers was kidnapped for ransom by the Taliban. After Abdul moved to Kabul, he continued to face threats from both the Taliban and the Afghan government, who wanted him to reveal classified U.S. military information. He was followed around Kabul by elements of the security forces and the National Directorate of Security and received threatening phone calls from phone numbers in Iran and Pakistan.
One day, upon returning from work at ISAF, Abdul discovered a Taliban member in his house, searching for information. He called the police; they promptly arrested the intruder but then detained Abdul, his wife and his children for more than 12 hours. ISAF had to intervene to secure his release. The police allegedly took a bribe to release the Taliban member, and Abdul subsequently received dozens of death threats. In a separate incident, Abdul’s sister was detained by the Taliban, who called Abdul to try to force him to secure the release of insurgents from Afghan custody.
Abdul continues to work for the U.S. government, promoting democracy and the rule of law in Afghanistan. He and his family face death every day. More than a year ago, they applied for U.S. visas: They have not yet been approved.
I found it difficult to tell the Afghan government to obey its laws when it was clear to me that the United States was not doing the same. It is apparent that the State Department has no intention of implementing the Afghan Allies Protection Act to save Abdul, his family or the thousands of Afghans who help us every day.
This abject moral failure reflects poorly on us as a country and threatens our ability to recruit allies in the future. How will we prevent another Ben¬ghazi-style attack when no locals will work with us because we won’t protect them? How will we capitalize on the Arab Spring without locals to help us understand the local language and politics? How can we push other countries to observe the rule of law when we so clearly do not follow our own?
While I made it home safely, Abdul continues to face danger every day.
Nato forces 'attack Afghan health clinic'
Aid group Swedish Committee for Afghanistan says Nato and Afghan troops damaged its building and used it as jail
Guardian.co.uk By Emma Graham-Harrison Thursday 6 December 2012
Kabul - Nato forces stormed into a clinic in central Afghanistan, damaging doors, windows and medical equipment, before using it as a jail and military command centre, in violation of the Geneva conventions, according to the aid group that runs the facility.
Nato and Afghan troops were dropped off by helicopters late one October evening and headed straight to the clinic, according to the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, which has published details of the assault on their small centre in Wardak province, a few dozen miles south-west of Kabul.
The soldiers knocked down a wall to enter the building, damaged doors, windows, examination beds and other equipment, and detained clinical staff and civilians inside. And for the next two and a half days they brought dozens, maybe hundreds of prisoners through the clinic, using it as a jail, logistics hub and for mortar fire, contravening the Geneva conventions, which protect medical centres.
"The protection of medical persons and facilities, and respect for their neutrality was one of the founding principles of international humanitarian law," said Erica Gaston, a human rights lawyer and senior programme officer at the US Institute of Peace.
"This latest incident is a serious violation if true, it's incredible to me that they not only raided this clinic but that [Nato] command allowed them to continue occupying it for days afterwards."
The takeover of the clinic was the worst assault on the Swedish Committee's medical services since a bitter civil war over a decade ago, said the group's country director, Andreas Stefansson.
"I can't recall when we have had a clearcut occupation of a clinic for several days. We'd have to go back to the 1990s where you'd have warring groups that would kick out the medical staff and take over the whole building," he told the Guardian in Kabul.
Afghanistan is in desperate need of help to improve healthcare for its 30 million people. It is one of just three countries where polio is still endemic, one in five children die before their fifth birthday, and in southern provinces acute malnutrition among infants is near the levels expected in a famine zone.
But Stefansson said aid groups working on health issues felt their work was being seriously undermined because of regular abuse of their buildings and staff by government forces and troops from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf). The Swedish Committee has decades of experience in Afghanistan.
"Most NGOs who deliver healthcare in this country experience this almost on a monthly basis; that there are breaches in different provinces, where the Afghan National Army, or ISAF, or special forces basically don't show the level of respect they should for health facilities," he said, after meeting other healthcare organisations to discuss the problem. "We are getting quite fed up with it."
Among the most common problems are soldiers forcing their way into a hospital while searching for insurgents, demanding medical records, and pressuring doctors and nurses for treating suspected Taliban, sources from the health sector said.
The military and police have sometimes set up headquarters in compounds that house hospitals and clinics, or just outside, and medical facilities get caught in crossfire, or are used as cover during attacks.
Insurgents have targeted healthcare facilities with deadly assaults, including a truck bomb at a hospital in Logar province that killed dozens last summer. The Swedish Committee said that this autumn in Wardak province a suicide bomber damaged a midwifery school and dormitory they ran, and a bomb destroyed part of another clinic.
Ultimately it is Afghans in need of medical help who suffer from the intrusions as fearful civilians stay away, and it gets harder to recruit qualified staff in troubled areas. When government or Nato forces use compounds, insurgent groups are more likely to harass doctors, nurses and the centres from which they operate.
"It puts us in jeopardy because [local people] of course question the neutrality of the healthcare delivered, and it also puts us in problems with opposition groups who believe we have alternative agendas," Stefansson said.
The Swedish Committee said it had met Isaf commanders, who acknowledged the takeover breached international laws, said the use of the clinic was a mistake, and promised "actions will be taken" to avoid similar incidents.
"Isaf confirmed at the meeting that their policies are clear regarding respecting the Geneva conventions, claiming that the occupation of the clinic was unintentional," the group said in a statement.
Isaf did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.
Pakistani officials promoting false split in Taliban leadership cadres, again
Long War Journal By Bill Roggio ecember 6, 2012
For some reason, Reuters seems to want to perpetuate the myth that Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud, the top two leaders of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, are "at each other's throats," a claim that Waliur Rehman himself has denied. Back in January, I debunked the claims, and the long-awaited clash between the two never materialized. You can read about that here.
Eleven months later, Reuters pretty much writes the same story. This time, unnamed Pakistani military sources are making the claims. But in the process of making the case for the split between the two leaders, the Pakistani officials tell an easily demonstrable lie. And "lie" isn't a term I use easily around here, but in this case, it applies.
While making the case that Hakeemullah is no longer in charge of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's operations, Pakistani officials told Reuters the following:
Intelligence officials said Mehsud had not commanded any recent operations, including an August 16 attack on the Minhas Airbase in Pakistan and a suicide attack on a street market in May that killed 24 people.
Military sources said Rehman planned the April 15 jail break in Bannu in Pakistan that freed 384 prisoners, including an estimated 200 Taliban members and an al Qaeda-linked militant who had attempted to assassinate former president Pervez Musharraf.
Now, the officials aren't clear how they know Hakeemullah wasn't involved in the Minhas suicide assault; it does fit the profile of other attacks he directed.
But the real kicker is the Bannu prison break. We know for a fact that Hakeemullah was involved. How do we know? The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan released a videotape of the operations, in which both Waliur Rehman and Hakeemullah appeared. And guess what? Hakeemullah himself appears on the videotape where the Taliban are staging to conduct the attack. You can see him there, and you can see his men surrounding him. So we know for certain that Hakeemullah was indeed directly involved in the Bannu prison break. The Pakistani officials who tracked the Bannu prison break would also know this.
Pakistani officials have been promoting a split between Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud for years, beginning with the fake battle at the shura to succeed Bailtullah Mehsud, the emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan who was killed in an August 2009 drone strike. The battle never happened, yet Pakistani officials insist to this day that it did. We've covered this, and other such nonsense, extensively at The Long War Journal.
Dare I say that Pakistani officials are using Reuters and other news agencies as part of a not-so-sophisticated information operation designed to split the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's top leadership? It is high time that news organizations see through this patently obvious nonsense.
After 10 years of Karzai's rule, has life improved in Afghanistan?
NBC News By Atia Abawi and F. Brinley Bruton News analysis 06/12/2012
KABUL, Afghanistan - Many Afghans see dark clouds of uncertainty looming over the calendar as the 2014 deadline approaches for most foreign troops to withdraw, and worry that after that the international community will abandon them.
Over the last decade, billions of aid dollars have flowed into Afghanistan, and thousands of foreign soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians have died during the effort to bring peace and a modicum of prosperity to the country. Meanwhile, the government of President Hamid Karzai has passed laws meant to improve the lives of his citizens. Nevertheless, Afghanistan still faces huge problems, such as widespread violence, official corruption, grinding poverty and a booming narcotics trade.
“Plagued by factionalism and corruption, Afghanistan is far from ready to assume responsibility for security when U.S. and NATO forces withdraw in 2014,” think tank International Crisis Group said in a recent report.Security The Taliban are regaining land and power lost after they were toppled by U.S.-backed forces in 2001.
While there have been more than 2,000 American military casualties during this time, civilians have borne the brunt of the violence. In the first six months of 2012 alone, more than 3,000 civilians were killed or injured, according the United Nations. This number was down 15 percent from a year earlier.
Anti-government and coalition insurgents were responsible for 80 percent of the civilian casualties, the U.N. says.More than 300,000 Afghan National Army soldiers and Afghan National Police members have been trained to replace foreign soldiers. Afghan security forces face big challenges, such as attrition, illiteracy and insurgent infiltration.
Poverty and corruption Most Afghans are not just living in fear of an insurgent attack or NATO airstrike. They fear hunger and worry that they and their families won’t survive another winter.
Afghans are among the poorest people on earth. According to the World Bank, per capita GDP was around $576 in 2011, up from $158 in 2002.
More than half of children under the age of five are malnourished, according to the World Food Program.
Afghanistan remains largely dependent on foreign aid – the World Bank says that 90 percent of the country’s national budget is still financed by governments and other foreign organizations.
Along with the huge inflows of foreign aid and poverty is corruption: the country is tied with Somalia and North Korea at the bottom of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2012.
A 2012 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report estimated that Afghans paid $2.5 billion in bribes over 12 months, which is equivalent to almost a quarter of the country’s GDP.
Women In 2001, Afghan women were the poster children for the invasion. Promises poured in to help half of the society that was brutalized and banished during the Taliban. Despite the pledges, Afghanistan remains one of the most difficult places in the world to be a woman: it has one of the highest levels of maternal mortality and, according to U.N. estimates, around 90 percent of women suffer from some sort of domestic abuse. Nevertheless, there has been some progress. In 2004, President Karzai signed into law a new constitution granting equality among all its citizens and ensuring women’s rights. And in 2009 the country passed the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law, intended to protect women from abuse, rape, and forced marriages. While the laws were all positive steps such legislation is rarely enforced. The ministry of women’s affairs in Kabul says that from April through July of this year at least 3,600 cases of violence against women were recorded. However, this grim number may be seen as a sign o
f progress because it means more families and women are learning about their rights and reporting their grievances.
Drugs Afghanistan has long-produced about 90 percent of the world's opium, a paste from the poppy plant that is mad into make heroin. At the end of the Taliban’s rule, the government worked with the U.N. to cut production by around 90 percent.
In the last decade, opium production increased again. It is now the largest source of export earnings and accounts for half of Afghanistan's GDP, according to humanitarian news site AlertNet.
All hope is not lost in Afghanistan, progress has been made in small steps rather than the giant leaps expected when United States-backed forces toppled the Taliban.
In 2001, girls were denied an education under the Taliban regime and only 900,000 children were enrolled in school throughout Afghanistan. Today, at least 7 million children are attending classes and 2.5-million are estimated to be girls, according to Amnesty International. In the cities, you see women in the workforce again, doctors, politicians and even business owners.
Still, many fear that these delicate gains will disappear as the last foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan on Dec. 31, 2014.
Consortium wins Afghan mining permits
Financial Times By Michael Kavanagh December 6, 2012
A consortium backed by City of London banker Ian Hannam, former BHP Billiton chief executive Chip Goodyear and Jan Kulczyk, Poland’s richest man, has emerged as a winner in the latest licensing round for mining permits in war-torn Afghanistan.
Afghan Gold and Minerals has been named preferred bidder for the Balkhab copper exploration licence northwest of the capital Kabul, one of three gold and copper exploration licences opened for tender a year ago by the Afghan government.
The company also holds a 49 per cent stake in TMAC, another joint venture that has been declared preferred bidder for the Badakhshan gold concession in the licensing round and which is backed by Yildizlar, Turkey’s largest mining company.
Afghan Gold and Minerals is 51 per cent owned by local businessman Sadat Naderi, with the remainder held by a vehicle created by Guernsey-based investment group Centar. The vehicle was created by Ian Hannam, the former JPMorgan banker. The joint venture has already won a gold mining licence in Afghanistan that is close to production, according to Mr Naderi.
Another tender for Shaida copper exploration in the province of Herat was also granted by Afghanistan’s ministry of mines to Afghan Minerals Group on Thursday.
The announcement comes six days after the ministry confirmed it had granted a licence to a consortium made up of London-listed Dragon Oil, Kuwait Energy, TPAO of Turkey and local partner Ghazanfar to explore for oil and gas in the Afghan-Tajik basin of northern Afghanistan.
Mr Naderi said that early production at its copper licence could begin as soon as late 2014 depending on an assessment of copper reserves. He added that the inclusion of well-known western financiers was a key factor in winning the concession as development costs for the project could run at up to $1bn.
“We want to get things moving quickly,” he said. “Getting from exploration into production is good for our shareholders and for the Afghan government.”
The current tendering round represented the “second wave” of mineral licensing by the Afghan government, which in 2008 granted Metallurgical Corp of China rights to the Aynak copper deposit and last year gave an Indian steel company the right to exploit the Hajigak iron ore deposit.
Mr Naderi conceded that slow progress had been made on both these previous mining licence awards. But he argued that a more settled security situation in northern Afghanistan, combined with access to capital, could allow rapid progress on its licences. Attacks on the Aynak site southeast of Kabul recently prompted the temporary evacuation of Chinese workers.
Last year Polish billionaire Jan Kulczyk took a 28 per cent stake in Centar, which is headed by Ian Hannam, the SAS veteran who left JPMorgan Cazenove in April. Chip Goodyear, chief executive of BHP Billiton until 2007, is also a shareholder.
Most Afghan Refugees Want to Remain in Pakistan
VOA News December 6, 2012 Sharon Behn
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — More than 1.6 million Afghan refugees registered in Pakistan are due to be repatriated by the end of the year. With just three weeks to go, however, a recent United Nations survey found that roughly 80 percent have no intention of returning to Afghanistan.
According to the U.N. survey, most Afghan families living in Pakistan feel Afghanistan is just not safe enough to go back home. Others cited the inability to earn a living and the lack of anywhere to live in their native country.
Pakistan's Minister for States and Frontier Regions Shaukat Ullah acknowledged the challenges involved in convincing refugees to return to their country after decades of living in Pakistan.
"After 32 years, if a person is returning from a country where he has been born and he is going to a country like Afghanistan, they will think 100 times," said Ullah.
Sizable refugee population
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in the 1990s, Pakistan has hosted one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Some 3.8 million have crossed back over the border into Afghanistan.
The UNHCR has offered plastic buckets, soap, blankets, cash and a one-way ticket for those still living in Pakistan, and succeeded in encouraging another 72,000 people to return to Afghanistan this year.
But there still are 1.6 million official Afghan refugees here. UNHCR representative Neill Wright said the organization was waiting to hear what Pakistan has planned for these refugees after the December 31, 2012 deadline.
"I know that the government is very actively engaged in considering what its policy will be in terms of the management of Afghan refugees in 2013, and in terms of supporting this continued partnership that we have with Afghanistan over voluntary repatriation, and I look forward to hearing what that strategy will be," said Wright.
Determining a plan
Responding to concerns that there will be another wave of refugees from Afghanistan after international combat forces leave the country in 2014, Wright said contingency plans are under consideration.
"This is clearly an issue that I am involved in discussions with many people, senior politicians, people in Afghanistan, members of the international community. Of course, when you do contingency planning, you look at a worst-case scenario and you look at a best-case scenario, and if you are sensible you will probably look at something in the middle," said Wright.
He declined to give any further details.
Many Afghan refugees live in very poor conditions in Pakistan. According to the UNHCR, less than one quarter of them work, and almost three quarters of Afghan children are not going to school.
Afghan-Tajik Counter Narcotics Op Detain 13 Smugglers
TOLOnews.com By Jawed Stanikzai Thursday, 06 December 2012
Joint Afghanistan and Tajikistan counter-narcotics forces have captured more than 400 kg of drugs and 13 smugglers in a recent operation, the Counter Narcotics Deputy at the Afghan Ministry of Interior said Thursday.
"We launched the operation at the same time and in coordination with each other, based on the agreement which we signed with the counter narcotics forces of Tajikistan," Baz Mohammed Ahmadi said. The operation is believed by the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in Afghanistan to be one of the biggest achievements toward eradicating drugs in both countries, he added.
Based on the agreement between the two countries, the operation was run both sides of the border in the Badakhshan areas and efforts to launch similar operations in cooperation with other countries are continuing, Ahmadi said.
The detained smugglers had also been involved in people-smuggling, kidnapping children and women to be sold. Two Tajik women were released from their captors as a result of the recent operation, he added.
"We are pleased the operation had a good result. Both countries will increase their efforts in this matter," said Zainuddin Qurbanov, representative of Tajikistan's Counter Narcotics Agency.
"Afghanistan is still at the top of the [global] list for cultivating and producing opium. There is no doubt about it. This successful operation gives us three lessons which I think we should take with us and indicate how we can operate for the future," Regional Representative for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries at UNODC Jean-Luc Lemahieu said.
"Drugs are not only a problem in Afghanistan but rather an international challenge. Counter-narcotics police have the ability now to fight against drugs - these forces should be supported," Lemahieu added.
According to Ahmadi, a number of MPs and top officials of Afghanistan have been pressuring the ministry over the failure to launch such operations.
"In some cases, a number of MPs and some of top government officials, who would misunderstand the matter, have said that the operation is carried out for personal benefits. They are pressuring us," Ahmadi added.
Karzai Orders Investigation Into Kapisa Schoolgirl Murder
TOLOnews.com By Abdul Wali Arian Thursday, 06 December 2012
President Hamid Karzai on Thursday ordered a full investigation into the shooting of Anisa, a Grade 10 schoolgirl who was killed in Kapisa province on Sunday.
A delegation comprised of representatives of the Ministry of Interior, National Directorate of Security , the Attorney General Office and local government personnel have been sent to fully investigate the case and report back to Karzai in four days, a statement from the presidential office said.
"To find out the facts about the killing of Anisa, daughter of Amir Mohammad, in Kapisa province a high ranking government delegation was assigned to investigate," the presidential statement said.
This comes after the Afghan Women's Network on Wednesday condemned the shooting allegedly at the hands of Taliban members and criticized the government for its silence over the incident.
Sixteen-year-old Anisa, who only goes by one name, died in a hail of bullets after leaving Mahmoud Raqi Girls High School on Sunday, according to the school and provincial officials.
Possible motives for the shooting have been linked to Anisa's work as a volunteer on a polio campaign, given the Taliban has publicly opposed polio vaccinations in some parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The government sluggishness to react to Anisa's murder were compared by critics to the government's response to the shooting of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in Swat Valley in October.
At that time, Karzai publicly condemned Malala's shooting which had received worldwide recognition because she survived being shot in the head by local Taliban forces, and used it as a platform to call for cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan on terrorism.
The Afghan Ministry of Education also declared all schools should hold prayer ceremonies for Malala's recovery.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com