Tweet
Taliban say suicide bomber targeted U.S. company in Kabul
By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban movement claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Kabul on Monday which targeted a U.S. contracting company and killed two Afghan civilians, underscoring security challenges ahead of a NATO pullout.
Hours earlier, a blast in eastern Afghanistan killed 10 Afghan girls, between nine and 11 years old, as they collected firewood.
The Taliban and its allies have staged high-profile attacks in Kabul over the past few years against Western targets, including embassies. Attacks on Western companies are rare.
"A suicide car bomber attacked an important American company which is involved in security," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.
"The company was under our surveillance for a long time and today we succeeded."
After more than a decade of war against Western forces with superior firepower and technology, the Taliban remain a potent force capable of striking in the heart of Kabul.
Many Afghans fear the Taliban, who were toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, will push to seize power again after most NATO combat troops leave by the end of 2014. They also worry another civil war could erupt.
The Afghan government says the Taliban have no chance of taking over and that police and troops can take control once Western forces pull out.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said two Afghan civilians were killed in the Kabul attack and that the 15 wounded included two foreigners.
The Virginia-based company that was targeted, Contrack International Inc., has built fuel storage systems in military bases in Afghanistan.
EXPANDING REACH
After the blast, Western men clutching weapons walked outside the company compound as ambulances sped by. A NATO soldier walked by parts of a building that was torn apart by the blast, which left a large crater. A brick wall collapsed.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the blast occurred near Camp Phoenix, a U.S. military base where Afghan soldiers are trained.
"The attack did not seem to be directed at ISAF forces," said Lieutenant-Colonel Les Carroll, an ISAF spokesman.
Kabul Police Chief General Ayoub Salangi said explosives were planted in a small truck.
The Taliban have expanded their reach beyond their strongholds in southern and eastern Afghanistan to some areas in the north which were relatively peaceful for years.
It was not immediately clear what killed the girls who were collecting wood in volatile Nangarhar province in the east. It could have been a bomb planted by insurgents or, for instance, a landmine left over from decades of conflict.
One official in the area said they were apparently killed by a rocket warhead which exploded while they dug it up from the ground out of curiosity.
"Unfortunately, 10 little girls were killed and two others wounded," said Ahmadzia Abdulzai, the provincial government spokesman.
(Additional reporting by Miriam Arghandiwal; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Blast kills 10 Afghan girls collecting firewood
By Rafiq Shairzad
DAWLATZAI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A blast killed 10 Afghan girls as they were collecting firewood in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, government officials said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion in the farming village of Dawlatzai village in volatile Nangarhar province.
It could have been by a bomb planted by the Taliban, a landmine, or other unexploded ordnance left over from decades of conflict.
"The girls were collecting firewood and they were digging the ground with axes when the blast happened," district governor Mohammad Sediq Dawlatzai said.
Relatives and villagers carried the bodies of the girls - aged between nine and 11 - from the site of the blast on simple wooden beds on their shoulders. They were covered in thick bedspreads.
Hundreds of mourners prayed near their corpses, spread out on the dirt floor out before burial.
"I was having breakfast when I heard a bang. I came out of my house to see what had happened," villager Jan Mohammad told Reuters.
"Nearby children asked me to bring some bedspreads, then I got back home and took my car. Later I carried three of the wounded children to the public health centre."
Women and children are often the victims of fighting in Afghanistan.
Ten years after Soviet forces occupied the country in 1979, they left defeated but Afghans later endured a civil war between warlords that destroyed half of the capital Kabul.
Taliban militants emerged from the ashes of that conflict and imposed their austere interpretation of Islam from 1996 until they were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001.
Many Afghans are growing increasingly worried that the nation could face another civil war or a major Taliban push to seize power again when most NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
(Reporting by Rafiq Sherzad; Writing by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by Michael Georgy and Alison Williams)
Afghan Officials, Taliban To Meet In France This Week
December 17, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan officials, Taliban representatives, and other Afghan factions will reportedly meet this week near Paris to discuss Afghanistan's future.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Afghan President Hamid Karzai had approved the meeting.
The three-day event, organized by the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research, begins on December 19.
The foundation has already organized two conferences with other Afghan parties.
It would be the first time representatives from the Taliban, members of the Afghan High Peace Council, and influential figures from the Northern Alliance who fought the Taliban for years are meeting.
A Taliban spokesman said there would be only speeches at the meeting, and that no negotiations would take place.
Fabius said France had no direct involvement in the process other than hosting it.
Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa
11 insurgents captured in Afghanistan: coalition
KABUL, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Up to 11 insurgents were arrested in military operations launched by Afghan and NATO-led coalition forces on Monday, as part of an increased campaign against militants in the country, the coalition forces confirmed in a press release.
"An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban leader in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, today," the coalition or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in the release.
The leader emplaced Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and coordinated attacks against joint forces in the district, it added.
The security force also detained one suspected insurgent in the province, 555 km south of Afghan capital Kabul.
In addition, two insurgents were arrested during an operation in search of a Haqqani leader in Pul-e Alam district, Logar province, 60 km south of Kabul.
As a Taliban-linked group of militants, the Haqqani network mostly operates in eastern Afghan provinces and capital Kabul and has been responsible for many high-profile attacks including suicide bombings and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) against security forces.
In Wardak province, 35 km west of Kabul, another joint forces unit arrested two insurgents during a security search operation for Taliban suicide attack planners.
Earlier Monday, a Haqqani leader was captured in Sabari district in Khost province, 180 km southeast of Kabul, according to the press release.
The leader conducted rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attacks against Afghan and coalition troops.
"He acquired and transferred grenade launchers, rockets and other weapons for Haqqani insurgents operating in the district. During the operation, the security force detained four suspected insurgents and seized several weapons and ammunition," it said.
The Afghan forces and some 100,000 coalition troops have intensified cleanup operations against Taliban and other militants recently but the insurgents in retaliation responded by carrying out suicide and IED attacks.
One civilian was killed and 15 civilians were wounded as a suicide car bombing hit a U.S. logistic company in eastern Kabul earlier Monday.
Kidnap gangs use leaked bank details to prey on Afghan tycoons
Reuters By Martin Petty and Mirwais Harooni 16/12/2012
KABUL - Afghan construction magnate Haji Asadullah Ghaznawi was dragged from his office with a gun to his head and locked up in a slaughterhouse for almost three weeks.
Ghaznawi was later shocked to discover someone had leaked details of his bank account to the kidnap gang who pulled up in a car in broad daylight in Kabul a year ago and abducted him.
Violent criminals who gain access to confidential information about Afghan millionaires like Ghaznawi have raised alarming questions about the dangers of doing business in one of the world's poorest and most corrupt countries.
"Eight days before I was kidnapped a business partner added one million dollars to my bank account," Ghaznawi told Reuters from his luxurious office in the Afghan capital.
"The kidnappers told me that I had one million dollars in my bank. How could they know this?"
The leaks, some businessmen allege, are coming from the very people who are supposed to be protecting Afghans and helping them prosper -- intelligence officials, police and bankers.
Safeguarding Afghanistan's economy is just as important for the troubled South Asian nation's stability as containing the Taliban-led insurgency as NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
The International Monetary Fund expects economic growth of 11 percent this year. While that might sound impressive, it will inevitably be offset by a sharp cut after 2014 in foreign aid that has long been Afghanistan's lifeline.
Wealthy Afghans fearful of a new civil war or a Taliban push to seize power have already been sending vast sums of money to banks in the Gulf emirate of Dubai and elsewhere, prompting authorities to impose measures to try and stem the flow.
Government officials fear bank account scams and kidnappings could accelerate that process, and potentially bring the fledgling economy to its knees.
Ghaznawi spent 17 days in the basement slaughterhouse, worried about his safety and also troubled that criminals now know exactly how much he is worth. A business partner bought his freedom for $820,000.
It's a problem that has Afghan entrepreneurs so worried many are hiring large teams of armed guards to provide around-the-clock protection.
CONNECTED CRIMINALS, WEAK BANKS
Afghanistan's banking sector has seen an influx of cash from foreign aid and steady growth in industry and construction, but it remains weak and open to exploitation by criminals.
Critics say regulation and oversight is poor despite concerted efforts to rebuild the sector. The most alarming example was the looting of $935 million from politically well-connected Kabulbank, once Afghanistan's largest private lender, in a loans scam uncovered in 2010.
Businessmen and top officials from the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) say bank employees are leaking account balances to sophisticated gangs who arrange kidnappings.
"These kidnap gangs have some good connections, they work as teams, they know who the rich people are," said Shir Baz Kaminzada, president of the Afghan Industrial Union, who runs a lucrative printing and packaging firm and travels in a bullet-proof car.
"Our banks aren't so secure and some bank people, we suspect they're providing information to criminals."
Some businessmen go further and allege rogue officials from Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), are obtaining the financial records of high-rollers. The NDS did not respond to interview requests.
Kidnapping is a lucrative business, with ransoms often in excess of $1 million. Many cases go unreported and most are unsolved.
Corruption and lawlessness are endemic, and some businessmen suspect some police officials could be working with the gangs and sharing ransom payments, or at least turning a blind eye.
"Among our members, we have many kidnap victims and the problem is mostly solved by paying the ransom without involving police," said Ahmad Tawfiq Dawari, a deputy head at the ACCI.
"They hire 10-15 private guards themselves and it's expensive. When security forces do nothing to stop the kidnappers, how can we trust them to protect us?"
Reuters spoke to several kidnap victims, but most were too scared to provide details about their ordeals.
The gangs are ruthless. When they can't get their hands on the businessmen themselves, they grab their loved ones instead.
In some cases it has been done with frightening ease. One gang simply showed up at a wedding held by a rich family and snatched a three-year-old child named Milad, who was held for 29 days. His father is a well-to-do construction engineer.
"We told them that we had no money, but they warned us if we don't pay they will cut off his hands, legs and also blind him," said Abdul Kadir, the boy's grandfather. The ransom was paid, and the gang later arrested and paraded before the media.
"We hope the government punishes them seriously, so they should remember the pain they've given me," Kadir said.
"LACK OF HOPE"
The financial schemes and kidnappings will make it even more difficult for President Hamid Karzai's government to convince foreigners to invest in Afghanistan, which has been plagued by conflict for decades.
That task is gaining urgency as 2014 approaches. Many Afghans fear Western countries will withdraw their financial support along with troops.
ACCI officials estimate that until recently, as much as $10 million was being transferred outside Afghanistan each day. The central bank expects a record flight of cash this year of some $8 billion -- almost twice the size of the 2011 state budget.
"Without a doubt, these kidnappings will impact investment in Afghanistan," said Khan Jan Alokozai, a deputy chairman with the ACCI. "There's a lack of hope for the future and a belief Afghanistan will collapse in 2014."
More than 100 of Afghanistan's top businessmen raised concerns about alleged leaks of their bank balances with Karzai a month ago. Alokozai said Karzai was "very angry" and demanded it be stopped, telling the businessmen the NDS was not permitted to seek private information about individuals' bank accounts.
State agencies seeking access to customers' bank information can only obtain it through the central bank and "in no other circumstances", its governor, Noorullah Delawari, told Reuters.
Businessmen place the blame squarely on law enforcement agencies. The chief of the Kabul Criminal Investigation, Mohammad Zahir, insists police are cracking down on the gangs and says the leaks most likely came from employees or relatives.
"These kidnappers had private prisons where they tortured victims if they refused to pay, so we started a fight against them and we've brought this problem to its lowest point," Zahir told Reuters, reeling off the names of prominent people rescued and kidnapping kingpins who have been arrested.
"The government supports us and we're not afraid of anyone."
Sitting with an associate in his Kabul office, Ghaznawi gets little comfort from such talk and believes businessmen have a bleak future in Afghanistan. In the back of his mind is a constant fear that the kidnappers will be back.
"I wanted to shut down my business but my partners convinced me to continue," he said. "Other businessmen know what I went through, why would they put their money and lives at risk?"
(Additional reporting by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Michael Georgy and Paul Tait)
Afghan official rejects WSJ report on China-run project
KABUL, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- An Afghan government official has described a report of U.S. influential newspaper the Wall Street Journal on sacking coal miners in Bamiyan province and joining them to anti-government militants as biased and utterly rejected.
"The report about sacking coal miners in Bamiyan which appeared on the Wall Street Journal recently is utterly baseless and against the reality," Jawad Omar, the spokesman for the Ministry of Mines, told Xinhua on Monday.
Headlined as Delays at Chinese-Run Afghan Mines Raise Security Fears, the story was published in the Wall Street Journal on Dec. 14. It said, "This summer, the Afghan government evicted these squatters to make way for a Chinese consortium...The Chinese firm that won the tender, however, hasn't yet replaced the lost jobs with new ones. Many evicted miners have turned to the Taliban for a paycheck, leading to a sharp decline in security. The Chinese investors now say they don't know when the situation will improve enough to let them to start exploiting the site. " "This report is no more than a rumor," said Omar, the spokesman, adding that the project is on track and the Chinese company is continuing its job in line with the agreement inked with the government of Afghanistan three years ago.
Omar said the Afghan government had shut down 300 illegal mining tunnels in Bamiyan on the ground of safety of the coal workers, and in a bid to check illegal coal extraction by powerful figures.
He said those had lost their jobs due to tunnels closure would be absorbed to other places of the Ministry of Mines.
However, he could not give the exact number of the jobs lost due to shutting down mining tunnels.
"Working children in coal mines and illegal mine extraction which put at risk the life of people is against the law of the land," Jawad Omar said.
The spokesman confirmed that the Chinese company, MCC China Metallurgical Group, would construct a coal operating power plant with a 400-megawatt capacity to benefit the Kahmard district in Bamiyan and also be utilized in exploration of copper mine in the nearby Logar province where the Chinese company has invested.
U.S. to Shift Afghan Strategy
Wall Street Journal By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV and ADAM ENTOUS December 16, 2012
KABUL - The U.S. military in Afghanistan is shifting its focus next year from fighting the Taliban to advising and enabling Afghan forces, senior U.S. officials say, noting that this could allow sizable cuts in the 66,000-strong U.S. troop contingent over the spring and the summer.
The coalition's commander, U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, just a few months ago pushed for maintaining U.S. troop levels steady through the 2013 fighting season, which runs until November or so. Some White House officials, however, have been pressing for a more rapid drawdown. Gen. Allen has yet to present his recommendations to President Barack Obama.
The change in the military mission—coupled with Afghan President Hamid Karzai's increasingly vocal insistence on stopping U.S. military operations in the Afghan countryside—makes maintaining such a large combat presence for so long unnecessary, senior U.S. officials said in recent days. As a result, U.S. troop reductions in 2013, which some officials expect to total between 20,000 and 30,000, could begin in phases in the coming months.
"It's no longer about our combat power, it's about the ability of the Afghan national security forces," a senior U.S. official said.
As part of this shift, the brunt of the combat will be borne by the Afghan National Security Forces, or ANSF, next year—for the first time since the war began 11 years ago. It will be "the first fighting season that the ANSF really owns," said a senior military official in Kabul. "There will be enablers, and there will still be a [coalition] presence. But this is really their first lead, where they've done it for the duration of the fighting season."
A senior U.S. official in Washington said that ANSF capability gains "make some reductions in summer potentially doable" but that no "firm fixed numbers" have been agreed for any U.S. troop cuts in that time frame.
The decision on the pace of the U.S. withdrawal is tied to deliberations over the size of the enduring military presence that the U.S. would like to maintain in Afghanistan after the mandate of the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force expires at the end of 2014. The issue is under discussion between the Afghan and U.S. governments, with U.S. officials citing preliminary military recommendations to keep 6,000 to 15,000 troops for training and counterterrorism missions. U.S. officials expect the White House to push to keep that number below 10,000.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited Kabul for talks on the U.S. presence last week, and Mr. Karzai is expected to discuss the issue with Mr. Obama when Mr. Karzai travels to Washington in the second week of January, though final decisions might not be announced until later.
In a weekend speech in Kabul, Mr. Karzai said that already next year Afghanistan's national security forces will take "full control of the security situation" and that "there will no longer be any military activities of foreign troops in the Afghan soil."
"We are trying to complete the transition sooner," Mr. Karzai said. "We want the foreign troops to withdraw sooner from the villages and streets of Afghanistan, to station in their bases and then gradually go to their own countries."
To a large extent, this shift has already happened in recent months, especially as insider attacks by Afghan troops severely curtailed joint operations with the ISAF. The change in the way U.S. troops operate has contributed to a decline in U.S. fatalities. But it has also been accompanied by a sharp spike in casualties among Afghan national security forces.
U.S. Marine Maj.-Gen. Lawrence Nicholson, deputy chief of staff in charge of operations at the ISAF's Joint Command, told reporters traveling with Mr. Panetta that the military was now entering the "un-partnering phase," focusing more on "enabling" the ANSF to conduct independent operations.
Gen. Nicholson cited the example of his son, who recently completed a seven-month deployment in Helmand province and complained that the Marines there were bored. "In a combat zone, if they're bored and...there's not a lot of action going on, then that's probably a very, very positive thing," Gen. Nicholson said.
There is still plenty of Taliban activity occurring in Afghanistan, of course. According to coalition statistics, the number of insurgent-initiated attacks, while falling 6% in January-October 2012, is still higher than before Mr. Obama's surge began in 2010.
The Afghan forces, especially the army, are now much more competent. But they still usually rely on the U.S. and ISAF for more sophisticated capabilities like artillery and close-air-support, medevac, intelligence, surveillance and bomb disposal. This coalition "enabling" function will remain through 2013 and likely 2014, officials say.
ISAF military teams would also remain embedded in Afghan army-brigade headquarters across the country, ensuring coordination with the foreign forces, officials say.
Senior commanders made the case to reporters traveling with Mr. Panetta in Kabul and Kandahar last week that the progress made by the Afghan army would allow for some troop reductions in some areas without putting recent security gains at risk.
"I fully expect by next summer we will have less ISAF forces here because we'll need less ISAF forces here," the coalition's commander in southern Afghanistan, U.S. Army Maj.-Gen. Robert Abrams, told reporters. "We'll have a smaller footprint because the requirement will be less."
Gen. Abrams didn't quantify the expected cut in the force in his area, which now includes just over 14,000 U.S. troops and nearly 2,300 from Australia and other countries, stationed in Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul provinces.
While signaling that they expected troop reductions by summer in the south and possibly other areas, military leaders also made clear during Mr. Panetta's visit that their preference remains to hold off on any precipitous drawdowns until late 2013, once the fighting season wraps up and the remaining Afghan units are fielded.
The debate over the pace of the U.S. withdrawal has been complicated by an investigation of Gen. Allen over what officials have described as "inappropriate" and "flirtatious" email contacts with a Tampa socialite, Jill Kelley.
Ms. Kelley touched off a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe that led to revelations that former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus was involved in an extramarital affair, prompting his resignation.
Gen. Allen's nomination to become the top NATO commander has been put on hold amid the Pentagon probe. But administration, defense and congressional officials have voiced support for him, and say the scandal hasn't undercut his standing in the unfolding drawdown debate. —Habib Khan Totakhil and Nathan Hodge contributed to this article.
Write to Yaroslav Trofimov at yaroslav.trofimov@wsj.com and Adam Entous atadam.entous@wsj.com
Bin Laden movie 'Zero Dark Thirty' arrives, mired in controversy
By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow could have made a testosterone-fueled shoot-'em-up Hollywood version of the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden.
Instead, she and screenwriter Mark Boal turned "Zero Dark Thirty" into a more complex look at the decade-long hunt for the al Qaeda leader, including a frank presentation of U.S. torture and previously undisclosed details of the mission to hunt down the man behind the September 11 attacks.
When the film opens in limited U.S. release on Wednesday, Bigelow and Boal want audiences to disregard a year of controversies, including claims, which they have denied, that the film makers were leaked classified information.
"It's about a look inside the intelligence community. The strength and power and courage and dedication and tenacity and vulnerability of these women and men," Bigelow, 61, told Reuters in a joint interview with Boal.
Bigelow won an Academy Award in 2010 for "The Hurt Locker," about U.S. army bomb disposal experts in Iraq. She says her latest movie puts the audience at the center of the quest to find bin Laden, and gives a perspective of the U.S. intelligence community and how its methods changed in the years following the September 11 attacks.
"It's a controversial topic, it's a topic that has been endlessly politicized. The film has been mischaracterized for a year and a half and we would love it if people would go and see it and judge for themselves," Boal said.
The action thriller has emerged as an Oscar front-runner after picking up multiple early awards and nominations from Hollywood groups.
FROM TORA BORA TO ABBOTTABAD
In 2011, Bigelow was only months away from shooting a film about the failed bid to find bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan during the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
When bin Laden was killed by Navy commandos in May 2011, Bigelow was only months away from shooting a film about the failed bid to find him in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan during the U.S.-led invasion a decade earlier.
She quickly revised the project.
"Zero Dark Thirty" opens not long after the September 11 attacks with graphic scenes of interrogation, including water boarding, sexual humiliation and a detainee being forced into a box.
It stars Jessica Chastain as a CIA officer called "Maya" who uses intelligence gleaned from brutal interrogations, electronic surveillance and old-fashioned spying to track down bin Laden through his use of couriers.
The opening scenes of torture, which are seen in the movie as yielding both correct and false information from prisoners, have inflamed debate in the United States.
Bigelow and Boal said the film is not meant to pass judgment -- positive or negative -- on such interrogation. "What we are trying to show, is that it (torture) happened. Which I think is not that controversial," said Boal.
"It's obviously an ongoing debate. It's a debate within the community of people who are experts and I am sure that debate will continue for many years," he added.
Bigelow points out that much of the second half of the film shows agents using other methods such as electronic surveillance.
The movie shifts between locations, including secret CIA centers in foreign countries known as Black sites, the Pakistan city of Islamabad and Camp Chapman, in Khost, Afghanistan. It is not meant to be an accurate depiction of all the players involved in hunting the al Qaeda leader, Bigelow and Boal said.
REAL AND COMPOSITE CHARACTERS
Instead, it tells the story through the eyes of Maya, fresh-faced and not long in the field, battling security threats, CIA bureaucracy and unsupportive bosses to eventually track bin Laden to his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
"She is based on a real person, and there are other people who also contributed who are not represented, whose work I hope is reflected in her character - it's a character in a movie and not a documentary," Boal said.
"I wanted to put the audience in the perspective of those people, those men and women on the ground who are conducting this hunt," said Bigelow. "It's ten years compressed into two plus hours...But it's really the rhythm of the hunt that creates the rhythm of the movie."
Chastain told Reuters in an interview that the woman she portrays is still active. The Washington Post has reported that the agent is now in her thirties, remains undercover and while receiving the agency's highest medal, was denied a promotion.
Boal, a freelance journalist turned screenwriter who won a best screenplay Oscar for "The Hurt Locker", would not elaborate except to say that the agent was "a real person."
"I spoke to a number of people, I gathered as many first hand accounts as I could," he said. He has denied being leaked, or asking for, any classified material.
Early reviews of the film, which will be released more widely on January 11, have been positive, especially for Bigelow's sense of pacing and suspense. The Hollywood Reporter said it "could well be the most impressive film Bigelow has made, as well as possibly her most personal."
(Reporting By Christine Kearney, editing by Jill Serjeant and David Storey)
We 'Welcome' Hekmatyar's Election Participation: Governor Noor
TOLOnews.com By Karim Amini Sunday, 16 December 2012
Balkh Governor Ata Mohammad Noor expressed his support for the potential participation of Hizb-e-Islami in the elections and said he could ally with the party to "safeguard democracy."
In an exclusive interview with TOLOnews, he said that he welcomes any party, including Hizb-e-Islami, to participate in the presidential elections.
"Even if Gulbuddin Hekmatyar participates in the elections, we will welcome the move. We are even prepared to ally with Hizb-e-Islami, or any other political party, to ensure democracy," he said.
Governor Atta Noor also named former warlord Gen. Rashid Dostum and former interior minister Hanif Atmar as potential allies in the election.
Hekmatyar is an erstwhile Jihadi commander who is leading one of the two major insurgent groups fighting against the government. He is accused of major human rights violations, but President Karzai has invited him to participate in the upcoming elections.
While Governor Atta Noor agreed with President Karzai on the call, he opposed the president's call to remove the two foreign observors from the Electoral Complains Commission (ECC).
"As Afghanistan still needs foreign support, it is necessary to have the two foreign advisors monitor the election process in the country," he said.
This comes as the Council of Ministers recently decided to remove the ECC and hand its responsibilities to the Supreme Court following months of top-level disagreements over whether the two foreign experts will be allowed to sit on its seven-person board.
The upcoming presidential election is scheduled to be held on 15 April 2014.
David Cameron to announce major reduction in Afghanistan troop numbers
The Prime Minister will this week signal the end of Britain’s involvement in the Afghan War by announcing a major reduction in the number of combat troops.
Telegraph.co.uk By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent 16 Dec 2012
David Cameron is expected to reveal that at least 4,500 troops - more than half of the British force - will be withdrawn from the country by the end of next summer’s “fighting season”.
Around 500 troops will leave by the end of this year as Britain and its Nato partners begin discussing the number and type of troops that should remain in Afghanistan when foreign soldiers depart at the end of 2014.
But the Prime Minister will avoid offering a precise timetable for withdrawal, amid tensions between politicians and defence chiefs over how rapid the scaling down should be.
Commanders have long maintained that Nato’s advances - the term success is no longer used - against the Taliban remain “fragile and reversible” and serious doubts remain over the capability of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
Senior commanders believe that drawing down troop numbers too quickly could endanger the lives of those British forces remaining in Helmand and, in the worst case scenario, derail the entire exit strategy.
The decision on the details of the announcement is expected to be made at Tuesday’s meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), made up of senior ministers, civil servants and military leaders, which is set to discuss troop reductions in Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister and the rest of the NSC will be briefed by General Sir David Richards, the Chief of the General Staff, who is known to favour a cautious approach to cutting troop levels.
The timetable is also dependent on the whether the United States plan to confirm their troop reduction strategy before Christmas.
Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, arrived in Kabul last week to discuss US troop withdrawals with the Afghan government. Mr Panetta also held discussions on the US’s desire to leave up to 10,000 soldiers in the country after the 2014 deadline.
A Whitehall source said last night: “The size of the British force will reduced down to some where between 4,000 and 6,000 by next October.
“Britain will not announce troop reductions before the US does and we have the other Nato members to consider as well. But there is an expectation that the Prime Minister could make the announcement this week.”
The Prime Minister is expected to say that the transition of security control from British and Nato to Afghan forces is on schedule and making good progress.
He will also say that violence in Afghanistan is falling and the vast majority of the country’s population has no interest in seeing a return of the Taliban.
It is understood that over 50 British outposts and checkpoint have been closed or handed over to the Afghan security forces as commanders begin scaling down their “operational footprint”.
But senior commanders remain concerned that the ANSF still do not possess all the military capabilities to either contain or defeat the Taliban.
The Afghan army is still heavily dependent on Britain and other Nato countries for capabilities such as clearing roadside bombs and casualty evacuation as well as intelligence, air and logistics support.
Confidence in the Afghan army has also been eroded following the surge in the number of so-called insider attacks.
However, although many senior officers remain cautious their views have softened in recent months with some even suggesting that speeding up the withdrawal process is the better option.
The Prime Minister is determined to keep defence chiefs on side in any troop reduction process but he is under pressure from members of his own cabinet, especially George Osborne, the Chancellor, who wants to see the £2.5bn annual cost of the war slashed.
Politicians are also concerned at a lack of public support for the war, in which 438 troops have been killed and thousands more injured, which polls show is very low if non-existent, with the majority believing that troops should be brought home immediately.
Earlier this year Philip Hammond the Defence Secretary gave an insight into the Government’s thinking when he admitted that the pace of withdrawal could be increased.
During a visit to Camp Bastion in Helmand, he said: “I think there is a bit of a rethinking going on about how many troops we do actually need.
"There may be some scope for a little bit more flexibility on the way we draw down, and that is something commanders on the ground are looking at very actively.”
German President Gauck visits Afghanistan
Deutsche Welle (press release)
Joachim Gauck has made a surprise landing in Afghanistan to show "gratitude" to volunteers and soldiers. But elsewhere in the country on the same day, violence has ended in tragedy.
German President Joachim Gauck on Monday made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, as a bomb blast sent shock waves through Kabul.
Gauck landed at Mazar-i-Sharif airport in the country's north with his partner Daniela Shadt, said the Presidential Office in Berlin.
The president said, when addressing volunteers and security forces, that he had come to "express my appreciation, my appreciation and gratitude."
"You make sacrifices, show courage," he added. "You are also working here in Afghanistan to encourage those who want to achieve peace, democracy and prosperity."
The German president is set to spend his evening dining with development aid workers, police and soldiers.
It is Gauck's first visit to Afghanistan since taking office. His predecessor, Christian Wulff, visited the war-torn country in October 2011.
A tragic day
The visit comes on a deadly day in Afghanistan, which has been tragically tainted with violence. Ten Afghan girls between the ages of nine and 11 were killed and two others were injured on Monday when a landmine exploded in Chaprehar district of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, the provincial governor's office said in a statement.
"The girls were gathering firewood, when the landmine exploded," the statement said. Nobody claimed responsibility for the explosion but one spokesperson said it may have been an accident.
Meanwhile, a car bomb exploded Monday at a compound owned by a US logistics company under contract to the Afghan army, killing at least one person and wounding 15, police said.
Afghanistan's Islamist Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the bombing.
"A suicide car bomber attacked an important American company which is involved in security," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.
sej/hc (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
'Helmand was safer under the Taliban'
Associated Press Dec 16, 2012
MARJAH, AFGHANISTAN - Nearly three years after US-led forces launched the biggest operation of the war to clear insurgents, foster economic growth and set a model for the rest of Afghanistan, angry residents of Helmand province say they are too afraid to go out after dark because of marauding bands of thieves.
And, during the day, they say corrupt police and government officials bully them into paying bribes.
After 11 years of war, many here long for a return of the Taliban. They say that under the Taliban, who routinely punished thieves by cutting off a hand, they were at least safe from crime and corruption.
"If you had a box of cash on your head, you could go to the farthest part of Marjah and no one would take it from you, even at night," said Maulvi Daoud, who runs a cubbyhole-sized shop in the town.
"Today you bring your motorcycle in front of your shop and it will be gone. Now the situation is that you go on the road and they are standing in police and army uniforms with weapons and they can take your money."
In Marjah in early 2010, about 15,000 Nato and Afghan forces waged the biggest battle of the war. They not only fought the Taliban with weapons, they promised to bring good governance to Marjah and the rest of the southern province of Helmand - and demonstrate to the residents the advantages of shunning the militants.
But it appears the flaw in the plan was with the quality of Afghans chosen by the president, Hamid Karzai, to govern and police the area after most of the fighting ended. And that adds to growing doubts about the entire country's future after foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
Many claim the US-funded local police, a type of locally sanctioned militia, routinely demand bribes and threaten to accuse those who do not comply of being members of the Taliban. Good governance never came to Marjah, they say.
In villages of sun-baked mud homes, at crowded bus stops and in local tea houses where residents sit cross-legged at plastic-covered tables drinking tea and eating off communal plates, people scoffed at claims of security and development. They heaped criticism on the Afghan government and officials- accusing them of stealing billions of dollars in aid money meant for the people - and on an international community that they said ignored their needs and pandered to a corrupt administration.
Mr Daoud, the Marjah shop owner, said there had been more security under the Taliban, who were ousted by the US-led invasion in late 2001.
"They were never cruel to us and the one difference was security. It was better during the Taliban," he said.
His partner in the rickety shop along Marjah's chaotic one-street bazaar, Mohammed Haider, said poppy farmers who planted substitute crops such as cotton are losing money because they cannot sell their harvests. He predicted poppy production would double when foreign soldiers leave in 2014.
Analysts who know Helmand say a corrupt government poses one of the biggest hurdles to stability, alienating the locals and driving them into the hands of the Taliban.
The province is strategically important because of its large-scale poppy production that is financing the insurgency and fuelling criminal activity. While some success has been achieved at getting farmers to plant substitute crops, Helmand is still one of Afghanistan's largest opium-producing provinces.
The Nato-led coalition, known as the International Security Assistance Force, claims there are tangible gains against the Taliban in Helmand and neighbouring Kandahar province.
"While insurgent activity remains problematic in several districts, primarily in northern Helmand and western Kandahar, data from the battle space shows a marked decrease in overall enemy activity," an ISAF spokesman, Jamie Graybeal, said recently.
Despite a drop of 8 per cent in militant attacks from January to October compared with the same period last year, Helmand and neighbouring Nimroz province accounted for 32 per cent of all such attacks reported across the country from October 2011 to October this year, according to the ISAF.
Ryan Evans, a research fellow at the US-based Centre for National Policy, called Helmand the "most dangerous and violent" of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.
Some Afghans believe their countrymen are responsible for the current state of affairs.
Haji Khalil, who moved his family from Marjah to Lashkar Gah during the 2010 offensive, blamed Afghans for the rise in thefts and lawlessness since the defeat of the Taliban.
"During the Taliban no one would steal because we knew the punishment, but when they left everyone began to steal," Khalil said. "We became worse after the Taliban," he said. "The problem is with us."
Pentagon front-runner Hagel has strong Obama ties, likely favors rapid Afghanistan withdrawal
Associated Press Dec 16, 2012
WASHINGTON - Former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel is a contrarian Republican moderate and decorated Vietnam combat veteran who is likely to support a more rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
As President Barack Obama’s top candidate for defense secretary, Hagel has another credential important to the president: a personal relationship with Obama, forged when they were in the Senate and strengthened during overseas trips they took together.
Hagel, 66, emerged last week as the front-runner for the Pentagon’s top job, four years after leaving behind a Senate career in which he carved out a reputation as an independent thinker and blunt speaker.
Wounded during the Vietnam War, Hagel backed the Iraq war, but later became a fierce and credible critic of the Bush administration’s war policies, making routine trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. He opposed President George W. Bush’s plan to send an additional 30,000 troops into Iraq — a move that has been credited with stabilizing the chaotic country — as “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam, if it’s carried out.”
While Hagel supported the Afghanistan war resolution, over time he has become more critical of the decade-plus conflict, with its complex nation-building effort.
Often seeing the Afghan war through the lens of his service in Vietnam, Hagel has declared that militaries are “built to fight and win wars, not bind together failing nations.” In a radio interview this year, he spoke broadly of the need for greater diplomacy as the appropriate path in Afghanistan, noting that “the American people want out” of the war.
If nominated — an announcement could come this week — and confirmed by the Senate, Hagel would succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Panetta has made it clear he intends to leave early next year, but has not publicly discussed the timing of his departure. He took the Pentagon job in July 2011.
At the same time, Obama is considering one of Hagel’s former Senate colleagues, Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts, for the job of secretary of state.
To political and defense insiders, Obama’s preference for Hagel makes sense.
The former senator shares many of the same ideals of Obama’s first Pentagon leader, Republican Robert Gates. When Obama became president in 2009, he asked Gates to remain as defense secretary. Both Hagel and Gates talk of the need for global answers to regional conflicts and an emphasis on so-called soft power, including economic and political aid, to bolster weak nations.
“A Hagel nomination signals an interest in, and a commitment to continuing a bipartisan approach to national security,” said David Berteau, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He said that Hagel’s two terms in the Senate, before he retired in 2009, spanned the latter years of the post-Cold War military drawdown and the post-Sept. 11 buildup. “From a budget point of view he has seen both ends of the spectrum and that gives him a good perspective to start from.”
Hagel’s possible selection has been met with initial praise from key members of the Senate, including the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who said Hagel would be “terrific.”
The choice could trigger opposition from some Jewish groups and may worry Democrats concerned about Israel-related issues. Hagel has criticized discussion of a military strike by either the U.S. or Israel against Iran. He also has backed efforts to bring Iran to the table for talks on future peace in Afghanistan.
“The appointment of Chuck Hagel would be a slap in the face for every American who is concerned about the safety of Israel,” said Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Hagel often straddled party lines and had some high-profile dustups with his Republican colleagues.
In 2008, he criticized GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, saying she lacked foreign policy credentials and that it would be “a stretch” to consider her qualified to become president. His wife, Lilibet Hagel, endorsed Obama in his first run for president. Hagel also was mentioned as a possible candidate for Pentagon chief when Obama was first elected.
As defense secretary, Hagel would preside over the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan and the waning days of the war, and would direct some of the steepest cuts in Pentagon spending in years. His task would be to restructure a pared down military that can step away from the grinding wars of the past 11 years and refocus on a swath of regional challenges from Syria, Iran and North Korea to terrorism in Africa and the defense buildup in the Pacific.
A big benefit will be his experience and his allies on Capitol Hill.
“Certainly his name coming forward is one I’m very open to,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who served with Hagel on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I had good relations with him while he was in the Senate. Certainly (he’s) a veteran and someone who also spent a lot of time around the world understanding the relations other countries have with the U.S. and vice versa.”
Defense analyst Loren Thompson, of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute think tank, said Hagel knows the political system and is known for thinking outside the box, which would help as budget cuts move forward.
“He’s a veteran who understands how Congress works and has stayed plugged in to developments in defense policy,” Thompson said. “He is not tied to the status quo and will think creatively about how to manage America’s military forces.”
___
Associated Press writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.
Lawmakers Slam Karzai's Lack of Support for Rights Report, Call It 'Treasonous'
TOLOnews.com By Saleha Soadat Sunday, 16 December 2012
Afghan Lawmakers on Sunday condemned President Karzai's lack of support for the publication of a major human rights report, with one senator calling it "treason."
The 800-page report is the most extensive documentation of human rights violations in Afghanistan, covering the period from before the 1978 Soviet invasion until the ouster of the Taliban in late 2001. The report implicates most key Afghan power-brokers in the current government as well as insurgent leaders fighting the government for serious human rights abuses.
The report was due to come out on 10 Dec. 2011, but Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)officials say Karzai's opposition kept it from publication.
Sima Samar, head of AIHRC, sparked parliamentary condemnation of the president when she said Saturday that Karzai's opposition was "the only reason" why the report had not been published.
"Not supporting the human rights report by the government is treason," Senator Hedayatullah Rehahi said. Senator Rehahi has been a frequent, vocal critic of the president, voicing sharp public disagreements on subjects like the High Peace Council's effectiveness and electoral reforms.
"I believe that those committed crimes against humanity should be identified and legally prosecuted," said Mohammad Alam Ezedyar, first vice chair of the Senate.
Other lawmakers had kinder though critical remarks for the president.
"As you can see, most of those who committed crimes against humanity are now inside the government holding high positions. How can they enforce human rights in the country?" Farah MP Samiullah Samim said.
But some MPs said President Karzai is worried the report could disturb the fragile peace in the country.
"As the people know, those who have violated human rights are capable of doing anything. That's why the president is worried and stands for the greater good," Paktika MP Sayed Ishaq Gilani said.
Afghan experts and human rights activists have previously accused the government for their lack of political commitment towards ensuring stability of human rights conditions in the country.
German Companies Relinquish Their Share of Baghlan Sugar Factory
TOLOnews.com By Zabihullah Jhanmal Sunday, 16 December 2012
Two German companies gave their 38-percent joint share of the New Baghlan Sugar Factory to the government of Afghanistan, making it the sole owner of the factory, Ministry of Agriculture said Sunday.
The factory needs subsidies of $500,000 annually, but it is expected to turn a profit within the next 5 years, the ministry added.
A major obstacle to the factory's productivity has been a shortage of beetroot, largely due to a pest infestation of the crop in Baghlan over the last few years. As the only shareholder of the factory, the Afghan government will endeavor to resolve the shortage and make the company self-sustained.
"We try to remove the challenges the company faces so that the opportunity for its self-sufficiency is provided. There is no doubt that carrying all the responsibilities of this factory will benefit Afghanistan," said Minister of Agriculture Mohammed Asef Rahimi.
Reconstruction of the Baghlan Sugar Factory started six years ago by the private sectors of Germany and Afghanistan. It had seven initial shareholders, including the Ministry of Agriculture. Three years ago, the four Afghan shareholders gave up their shares, followed by the Germans this year.
Abdulkarim Waziri, the former head of the New Baghlan Sugar Company, says that the company's assets are valued at an estimated $15 million.
"This factory is ready to work. The only problem is shortage of beetroot. If beetroot is provided, it will be capable of good productivity. The factory's infrastructure and systems are ready," said Waziri.
Afghan Boxers Return After Bronze Medal, Other Accolades
TOLOnews.com By Mir Sayed Sunday, 16 December 2012
The Afghan boxing contingent returned home on Sunday after Reshad Rezaye clenched a bronze and received the title of best boxer of the tournament at the World Series of Boxing competitions in Kazakhstan.
Rezaye beat one Chinese and two Kazakh rivals before he was defeated by another Kazakh boxer.
Rezaye's female teammate Sadaf Rahimi received an honorary bronze medal.
"Because I showed talent and worked hard, I received an honorary bronze medal from the officials of the World Series of Boxing," Rahimi said.
Rahimi, among Afghanistan's leading female boxers, was slated to box at the London Olympics. But officials rescinded her invitation, reportedly citing concerns for her safety arising from the high calibre of the competition.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban movement claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Kabul on Monday which targeted a U.S. contracting company and killed two Afghan civilians, underscoring security challenges ahead of a NATO pullout.
Hours earlier, a blast in eastern Afghanistan killed 10 Afghan girls, between nine and 11 years old, as they collected firewood.
The Taliban and its allies have staged high-profile attacks in Kabul over the past few years against Western targets, including embassies. Attacks on Western companies are rare.
"A suicide car bomber attacked an important American company which is involved in security," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.
"The company was under our surveillance for a long time and today we succeeded."
After more than a decade of war against Western forces with superior firepower and technology, the Taliban remain a potent force capable of striking in the heart of Kabul.
Many Afghans fear the Taliban, who were toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, will push to seize power again after most NATO combat troops leave by the end of 2014. They also worry another civil war could erupt.
The Afghan government says the Taliban have no chance of taking over and that police and troops can take control once Western forces pull out.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said two Afghan civilians were killed in the Kabul attack and that the 15 wounded included two foreigners.
The Virginia-based company that was targeted, Contrack International Inc., has built fuel storage systems in military bases in Afghanistan.
EXPANDING REACH
After the blast, Western men clutching weapons walked outside the company compound as ambulances sped by. A NATO soldier walked by parts of a building that was torn apart by the blast, which left a large crater. A brick wall collapsed.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the blast occurred near Camp Phoenix, a U.S. military base where Afghan soldiers are trained.
"The attack did not seem to be directed at ISAF forces," said Lieutenant-Colonel Les Carroll, an ISAF spokesman.
Kabul Police Chief General Ayoub Salangi said explosives were planted in a small truck.
The Taliban have expanded their reach beyond their strongholds in southern and eastern Afghanistan to some areas in the north which were relatively peaceful for years.
It was not immediately clear what killed the girls who were collecting wood in volatile Nangarhar province in the east. It could have been a bomb planted by insurgents or, for instance, a landmine left over from decades of conflict.
One official in the area said they were apparently killed by a rocket warhead which exploded while they dug it up from the ground out of curiosity.
"Unfortunately, 10 little girls were killed and two others wounded," said Ahmadzia Abdulzai, the provincial government spokesman.
(Additional reporting by Miriam Arghandiwal; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Blast kills 10 Afghan girls collecting firewood
By Rafiq Shairzad
DAWLATZAI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A blast killed 10 Afghan girls as they were collecting firewood in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, government officials said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion in the farming village of Dawlatzai village in volatile Nangarhar province.
It could have been by a bomb planted by the Taliban, a landmine, or other unexploded ordnance left over from decades of conflict.
"The girls were collecting firewood and they were digging the ground with axes when the blast happened," district governor Mohammad Sediq Dawlatzai said.
Relatives and villagers carried the bodies of the girls - aged between nine and 11 - from the site of the blast on simple wooden beds on their shoulders. They were covered in thick bedspreads.
Hundreds of mourners prayed near their corpses, spread out on the dirt floor out before burial.
"I was having breakfast when I heard a bang. I came out of my house to see what had happened," villager Jan Mohammad told Reuters.
"Nearby children asked me to bring some bedspreads, then I got back home and took my car. Later I carried three of the wounded children to the public health centre."
Women and children are often the victims of fighting in Afghanistan.
Ten years after Soviet forces occupied the country in 1979, they left defeated but Afghans later endured a civil war between warlords that destroyed half of the capital Kabul.
Taliban militants emerged from the ashes of that conflict and imposed their austere interpretation of Islam from 1996 until they were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001.
Many Afghans are growing increasingly worried that the nation could face another civil war or a major Taliban push to seize power again when most NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
(Reporting by Rafiq Sherzad; Writing by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by Michael Georgy and Alison Williams)
Afghan Officials, Taliban To Meet In France This Week
December 17, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan officials, Taliban representatives, and other Afghan factions will reportedly meet this week near Paris to discuss Afghanistan's future.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Afghan President Hamid Karzai had approved the meeting.
The three-day event, organized by the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research, begins on December 19.
The foundation has already organized two conferences with other Afghan parties.
It would be the first time representatives from the Taliban, members of the Afghan High Peace Council, and influential figures from the Northern Alliance who fought the Taliban for years are meeting.
A Taliban spokesman said there would be only speeches at the meeting, and that no negotiations would take place.
Fabius said France had no direct involvement in the process other than hosting it.
Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa
11 insurgents captured in Afghanistan: coalition
KABUL, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Up to 11 insurgents were arrested in military operations launched by Afghan and NATO-led coalition forces on Monday, as part of an increased campaign against militants in the country, the coalition forces confirmed in a press release.
"An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban leader in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, today," the coalition or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in the release.
The leader emplaced Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and coordinated attacks against joint forces in the district, it added.
The security force also detained one suspected insurgent in the province, 555 km south of Afghan capital Kabul.
In addition, two insurgents were arrested during an operation in search of a Haqqani leader in Pul-e Alam district, Logar province, 60 km south of Kabul.
As a Taliban-linked group of militants, the Haqqani network mostly operates in eastern Afghan provinces and capital Kabul and has been responsible for many high-profile attacks including suicide bombings and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) against security forces.
In Wardak province, 35 km west of Kabul, another joint forces unit arrested two insurgents during a security search operation for Taliban suicide attack planners.
Earlier Monday, a Haqqani leader was captured in Sabari district in Khost province, 180 km southeast of Kabul, according to the press release.
The leader conducted rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attacks against Afghan and coalition troops.
"He acquired and transferred grenade launchers, rockets and other weapons for Haqqani insurgents operating in the district. During the operation, the security force detained four suspected insurgents and seized several weapons and ammunition," it said.
The Afghan forces and some 100,000 coalition troops have intensified cleanup operations against Taliban and other militants recently but the insurgents in retaliation responded by carrying out suicide and IED attacks.
One civilian was killed and 15 civilians were wounded as a suicide car bombing hit a U.S. logistic company in eastern Kabul earlier Monday.
Kidnap gangs use leaked bank details to prey on Afghan tycoons
Reuters By Martin Petty and Mirwais Harooni 16/12/2012
KABUL - Afghan construction magnate Haji Asadullah Ghaznawi was dragged from his office with a gun to his head and locked up in a slaughterhouse for almost three weeks.
Ghaznawi was later shocked to discover someone had leaked details of his bank account to the kidnap gang who pulled up in a car in broad daylight in Kabul a year ago and abducted him.
Violent criminals who gain access to confidential information about Afghan millionaires like Ghaznawi have raised alarming questions about the dangers of doing business in one of the world's poorest and most corrupt countries.
"Eight days before I was kidnapped a business partner added one million dollars to my bank account," Ghaznawi told Reuters from his luxurious office in the Afghan capital.
"The kidnappers told me that I had one million dollars in my bank. How could they know this?"
The leaks, some businessmen allege, are coming from the very people who are supposed to be protecting Afghans and helping them prosper -- intelligence officials, police and bankers.
Safeguarding Afghanistan's economy is just as important for the troubled South Asian nation's stability as containing the Taliban-led insurgency as NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
The International Monetary Fund expects economic growth of 11 percent this year. While that might sound impressive, it will inevitably be offset by a sharp cut after 2014 in foreign aid that has long been Afghanistan's lifeline.
Wealthy Afghans fearful of a new civil war or a Taliban push to seize power have already been sending vast sums of money to banks in the Gulf emirate of Dubai and elsewhere, prompting authorities to impose measures to try and stem the flow.
Government officials fear bank account scams and kidnappings could accelerate that process, and potentially bring the fledgling economy to its knees.
Ghaznawi spent 17 days in the basement slaughterhouse, worried about his safety and also troubled that criminals now know exactly how much he is worth. A business partner bought his freedom for $820,000.
It's a problem that has Afghan entrepreneurs so worried many are hiring large teams of armed guards to provide around-the-clock protection.
CONNECTED CRIMINALS, WEAK BANKS
Afghanistan's banking sector has seen an influx of cash from foreign aid and steady growth in industry and construction, but it remains weak and open to exploitation by criminals.
Critics say regulation and oversight is poor despite concerted efforts to rebuild the sector. The most alarming example was the looting of $935 million from politically well-connected Kabulbank, once Afghanistan's largest private lender, in a loans scam uncovered in 2010.
Businessmen and top officials from the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) say bank employees are leaking account balances to sophisticated gangs who arrange kidnappings.
"These kidnap gangs have some good connections, they work as teams, they know who the rich people are," said Shir Baz Kaminzada, president of the Afghan Industrial Union, who runs a lucrative printing and packaging firm and travels in a bullet-proof car.
"Our banks aren't so secure and some bank people, we suspect they're providing information to criminals."
Some businessmen go further and allege rogue officials from Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), are obtaining the financial records of high-rollers. The NDS did not respond to interview requests.
Kidnapping is a lucrative business, with ransoms often in excess of $1 million. Many cases go unreported and most are unsolved.
Corruption and lawlessness are endemic, and some businessmen suspect some police officials could be working with the gangs and sharing ransom payments, or at least turning a blind eye.
"Among our members, we have many kidnap victims and the problem is mostly solved by paying the ransom without involving police," said Ahmad Tawfiq Dawari, a deputy head at the ACCI.
"They hire 10-15 private guards themselves and it's expensive. When security forces do nothing to stop the kidnappers, how can we trust them to protect us?"
Reuters spoke to several kidnap victims, but most were too scared to provide details about their ordeals.
The gangs are ruthless. When they can't get their hands on the businessmen themselves, they grab their loved ones instead.
In some cases it has been done with frightening ease. One gang simply showed up at a wedding held by a rich family and snatched a three-year-old child named Milad, who was held for 29 days. His father is a well-to-do construction engineer.
"We told them that we had no money, but they warned us if we don't pay they will cut off his hands, legs and also blind him," said Abdul Kadir, the boy's grandfather. The ransom was paid, and the gang later arrested and paraded before the media.
"We hope the government punishes them seriously, so they should remember the pain they've given me," Kadir said.
"LACK OF HOPE"
The financial schemes and kidnappings will make it even more difficult for President Hamid Karzai's government to convince foreigners to invest in Afghanistan, which has been plagued by conflict for decades.
That task is gaining urgency as 2014 approaches. Many Afghans fear Western countries will withdraw their financial support along with troops.
ACCI officials estimate that until recently, as much as $10 million was being transferred outside Afghanistan each day. The central bank expects a record flight of cash this year of some $8 billion -- almost twice the size of the 2011 state budget.
"Without a doubt, these kidnappings will impact investment in Afghanistan," said Khan Jan Alokozai, a deputy chairman with the ACCI. "There's a lack of hope for the future and a belief Afghanistan will collapse in 2014."
More than 100 of Afghanistan's top businessmen raised concerns about alleged leaks of their bank balances with Karzai a month ago. Alokozai said Karzai was "very angry" and demanded it be stopped, telling the businessmen the NDS was not permitted to seek private information about individuals' bank accounts.
State agencies seeking access to customers' bank information can only obtain it through the central bank and "in no other circumstances", its governor, Noorullah Delawari, told Reuters.
Businessmen place the blame squarely on law enforcement agencies. The chief of the Kabul Criminal Investigation, Mohammad Zahir, insists police are cracking down on the gangs and says the leaks most likely came from employees or relatives.
"These kidnappers had private prisons where they tortured victims if they refused to pay, so we started a fight against them and we've brought this problem to its lowest point," Zahir told Reuters, reeling off the names of prominent people rescued and kidnapping kingpins who have been arrested.
"The government supports us and we're not afraid of anyone."
Sitting with an associate in his Kabul office, Ghaznawi gets little comfort from such talk and believes businessmen have a bleak future in Afghanistan. In the back of his mind is a constant fear that the kidnappers will be back.
"I wanted to shut down my business but my partners convinced me to continue," he said. "Other businessmen know what I went through, why would they put their money and lives at risk?"
(Additional reporting by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Michael Georgy and Paul Tait)
Afghan official rejects WSJ report on China-run project
KABUL, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- An Afghan government official has described a report of U.S. influential newspaper the Wall Street Journal on sacking coal miners in Bamiyan province and joining them to anti-government militants as biased and utterly rejected.
"The report about sacking coal miners in Bamiyan which appeared on the Wall Street Journal recently is utterly baseless and against the reality," Jawad Omar, the spokesman for the Ministry of Mines, told Xinhua on Monday.
Headlined as Delays at Chinese-Run Afghan Mines Raise Security Fears, the story was published in the Wall Street Journal on Dec. 14. It said, "This summer, the Afghan government evicted these squatters to make way for a Chinese consortium...The Chinese firm that won the tender, however, hasn't yet replaced the lost jobs with new ones. Many evicted miners have turned to the Taliban for a paycheck, leading to a sharp decline in security. The Chinese investors now say they don't know when the situation will improve enough to let them to start exploiting the site. " "This report is no more than a rumor," said Omar, the spokesman, adding that the project is on track and the Chinese company is continuing its job in line with the agreement inked with the government of Afghanistan three years ago.
Omar said the Afghan government had shut down 300 illegal mining tunnels in Bamiyan on the ground of safety of the coal workers, and in a bid to check illegal coal extraction by powerful figures.
He said those had lost their jobs due to tunnels closure would be absorbed to other places of the Ministry of Mines.
However, he could not give the exact number of the jobs lost due to shutting down mining tunnels.
"Working children in coal mines and illegal mine extraction which put at risk the life of people is against the law of the land," Jawad Omar said.
The spokesman confirmed that the Chinese company, MCC China Metallurgical Group, would construct a coal operating power plant with a 400-megawatt capacity to benefit the Kahmard district in Bamiyan and also be utilized in exploration of copper mine in the nearby Logar province where the Chinese company has invested.
U.S. to Shift Afghan Strategy
Wall Street Journal By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV and ADAM ENTOUS December 16, 2012
KABUL - The U.S. military in Afghanistan is shifting its focus next year from fighting the Taliban to advising and enabling Afghan forces, senior U.S. officials say, noting that this could allow sizable cuts in the 66,000-strong U.S. troop contingent over the spring and the summer.
The coalition's commander, U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, just a few months ago pushed for maintaining U.S. troop levels steady through the 2013 fighting season, which runs until November or so. Some White House officials, however, have been pressing for a more rapid drawdown. Gen. Allen has yet to present his recommendations to President Barack Obama.
The change in the military mission—coupled with Afghan President Hamid Karzai's increasingly vocal insistence on stopping U.S. military operations in the Afghan countryside—makes maintaining such a large combat presence for so long unnecessary, senior U.S. officials said in recent days. As a result, U.S. troop reductions in 2013, which some officials expect to total between 20,000 and 30,000, could begin in phases in the coming months.
"It's no longer about our combat power, it's about the ability of the Afghan national security forces," a senior U.S. official said.
As part of this shift, the brunt of the combat will be borne by the Afghan National Security Forces, or ANSF, next year—for the first time since the war began 11 years ago. It will be "the first fighting season that the ANSF really owns," said a senior military official in Kabul. "There will be enablers, and there will still be a [coalition] presence. But this is really their first lead, where they've done it for the duration of the fighting season."
A senior U.S. official in Washington said that ANSF capability gains "make some reductions in summer potentially doable" but that no "firm fixed numbers" have been agreed for any U.S. troop cuts in that time frame.
The decision on the pace of the U.S. withdrawal is tied to deliberations over the size of the enduring military presence that the U.S. would like to maintain in Afghanistan after the mandate of the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force expires at the end of 2014. The issue is under discussion between the Afghan and U.S. governments, with U.S. officials citing preliminary military recommendations to keep 6,000 to 15,000 troops for training and counterterrorism missions. U.S. officials expect the White House to push to keep that number below 10,000.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited Kabul for talks on the U.S. presence last week, and Mr. Karzai is expected to discuss the issue with Mr. Obama when Mr. Karzai travels to Washington in the second week of January, though final decisions might not be announced until later.
In a weekend speech in Kabul, Mr. Karzai said that already next year Afghanistan's national security forces will take "full control of the security situation" and that "there will no longer be any military activities of foreign troops in the Afghan soil."
"We are trying to complete the transition sooner," Mr. Karzai said. "We want the foreign troops to withdraw sooner from the villages and streets of Afghanistan, to station in their bases and then gradually go to their own countries."
To a large extent, this shift has already happened in recent months, especially as insider attacks by Afghan troops severely curtailed joint operations with the ISAF. The change in the way U.S. troops operate has contributed to a decline in U.S. fatalities. But it has also been accompanied by a sharp spike in casualties among Afghan national security forces.
U.S. Marine Maj.-Gen. Lawrence Nicholson, deputy chief of staff in charge of operations at the ISAF's Joint Command, told reporters traveling with Mr. Panetta that the military was now entering the "un-partnering phase," focusing more on "enabling" the ANSF to conduct independent operations.
Gen. Nicholson cited the example of his son, who recently completed a seven-month deployment in Helmand province and complained that the Marines there were bored. "In a combat zone, if they're bored and...there's not a lot of action going on, then that's probably a very, very positive thing," Gen. Nicholson said.
There is still plenty of Taliban activity occurring in Afghanistan, of course. According to coalition statistics, the number of insurgent-initiated attacks, while falling 6% in January-October 2012, is still higher than before Mr. Obama's surge began in 2010.
The Afghan forces, especially the army, are now much more competent. But they still usually rely on the U.S. and ISAF for more sophisticated capabilities like artillery and close-air-support, medevac, intelligence, surveillance and bomb disposal. This coalition "enabling" function will remain through 2013 and likely 2014, officials say.
ISAF military teams would also remain embedded in Afghan army-brigade headquarters across the country, ensuring coordination with the foreign forces, officials say.
Senior commanders made the case to reporters traveling with Mr. Panetta in Kabul and Kandahar last week that the progress made by the Afghan army would allow for some troop reductions in some areas without putting recent security gains at risk.
"I fully expect by next summer we will have less ISAF forces here because we'll need less ISAF forces here," the coalition's commander in southern Afghanistan, U.S. Army Maj.-Gen. Robert Abrams, told reporters. "We'll have a smaller footprint because the requirement will be less."
Gen. Abrams didn't quantify the expected cut in the force in his area, which now includes just over 14,000 U.S. troops and nearly 2,300 from Australia and other countries, stationed in Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul provinces.
While signaling that they expected troop reductions by summer in the south and possibly other areas, military leaders also made clear during Mr. Panetta's visit that their preference remains to hold off on any precipitous drawdowns until late 2013, once the fighting season wraps up and the remaining Afghan units are fielded.
The debate over the pace of the U.S. withdrawal has been complicated by an investigation of Gen. Allen over what officials have described as "inappropriate" and "flirtatious" email contacts with a Tampa socialite, Jill Kelley.
Ms. Kelley touched off a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe that led to revelations that former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus was involved in an extramarital affair, prompting his resignation.
Gen. Allen's nomination to become the top NATO commander has been put on hold amid the Pentagon probe. But administration, defense and congressional officials have voiced support for him, and say the scandal hasn't undercut his standing in the unfolding drawdown debate. —Habib Khan Totakhil and Nathan Hodge contributed to this article.
Write to Yaroslav Trofimov at yaroslav.trofimov@wsj.com and Adam Entous atadam.entous@wsj.com
Bin Laden movie 'Zero Dark Thirty' arrives, mired in controversy
By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow could have made a testosterone-fueled shoot-'em-up Hollywood version of the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden.
Instead, she and screenwriter Mark Boal turned "Zero Dark Thirty" into a more complex look at the decade-long hunt for the al Qaeda leader, including a frank presentation of U.S. torture and previously undisclosed details of the mission to hunt down the man behind the September 11 attacks.
When the film opens in limited U.S. release on Wednesday, Bigelow and Boal want audiences to disregard a year of controversies, including claims, which they have denied, that the film makers were leaked classified information.
"It's about a look inside the intelligence community. The strength and power and courage and dedication and tenacity and vulnerability of these women and men," Bigelow, 61, told Reuters in a joint interview with Boal.
Bigelow won an Academy Award in 2010 for "The Hurt Locker," about U.S. army bomb disposal experts in Iraq. She says her latest movie puts the audience at the center of the quest to find bin Laden, and gives a perspective of the U.S. intelligence community and how its methods changed in the years following the September 11 attacks.
"It's a controversial topic, it's a topic that has been endlessly politicized. The film has been mischaracterized for a year and a half and we would love it if people would go and see it and judge for themselves," Boal said.
The action thriller has emerged as an Oscar front-runner after picking up multiple early awards and nominations from Hollywood groups.
FROM TORA BORA TO ABBOTTABAD
In 2011, Bigelow was only months away from shooting a film about the failed bid to find bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan during the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
When bin Laden was killed by Navy commandos in May 2011, Bigelow was only months away from shooting a film about the failed bid to find him in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan during the U.S.-led invasion a decade earlier.
She quickly revised the project.
"Zero Dark Thirty" opens not long after the September 11 attacks with graphic scenes of interrogation, including water boarding, sexual humiliation and a detainee being forced into a box.
It stars Jessica Chastain as a CIA officer called "Maya" who uses intelligence gleaned from brutal interrogations, electronic surveillance and old-fashioned spying to track down bin Laden through his use of couriers.
The opening scenes of torture, which are seen in the movie as yielding both correct and false information from prisoners, have inflamed debate in the United States.
Bigelow and Boal said the film is not meant to pass judgment -- positive or negative -- on such interrogation. "What we are trying to show, is that it (torture) happened. Which I think is not that controversial," said Boal.
"It's obviously an ongoing debate. It's a debate within the community of people who are experts and I am sure that debate will continue for many years," he added.
Bigelow points out that much of the second half of the film shows agents using other methods such as electronic surveillance.
The movie shifts between locations, including secret CIA centers in foreign countries known as Black sites, the Pakistan city of Islamabad and Camp Chapman, in Khost, Afghanistan. It is not meant to be an accurate depiction of all the players involved in hunting the al Qaeda leader, Bigelow and Boal said.
REAL AND COMPOSITE CHARACTERS
Instead, it tells the story through the eyes of Maya, fresh-faced and not long in the field, battling security threats, CIA bureaucracy and unsupportive bosses to eventually track bin Laden to his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
"She is based on a real person, and there are other people who also contributed who are not represented, whose work I hope is reflected in her character - it's a character in a movie and not a documentary," Boal said.
"I wanted to put the audience in the perspective of those people, those men and women on the ground who are conducting this hunt," said Bigelow. "It's ten years compressed into two plus hours...But it's really the rhythm of the hunt that creates the rhythm of the movie."
Chastain told Reuters in an interview that the woman she portrays is still active. The Washington Post has reported that the agent is now in her thirties, remains undercover and while receiving the agency's highest medal, was denied a promotion.
Boal, a freelance journalist turned screenwriter who won a best screenplay Oscar for "The Hurt Locker", would not elaborate except to say that the agent was "a real person."
"I spoke to a number of people, I gathered as many first hand accounts as I could," he said. He has denied being leaked, or asking for, any classified material.
Early reviews of the film, which will be released more widely on January 11, have been positive, especially for Bigelow's sense of pacing and suspense. The Hollywood Reporter said it "could well be the most impressive film Bigelow has made, as well as possibly her most personal."
(Reporting By Christine Kearney, editing by Jill Serjeant and David Storey)
We 'Welcome' Hekmatyar's Election Participation: Governor Noor
TOLOnews.com By Karim Amini Sunday, 16 December 2012
Balkh Governor Ata Mohammad Noor expressed his support for the potential participation of Hizb-e-Islami in the elections and said he could ally with the party to "safeguard democracy."
In an exclusive interview with TOLOnews, he said that he welcomes any party, including Hizb-e-Islami, to participate in the presidential elections.
"Even if Gulbuddin Hekmatyar participates in the elections, we will welcome the move. We are even prepared to ally with Hizb-e-Islami, or any other political party, to ensure democracy," he said.
Governor Atta Noor also named former warlord Gen. Rashid Dostum and former interior minister Hanif Atmar as potential allies in the election.
Hekmatyar is an erstwhile Jihadi commander who is leading one of the two major insurgent groups fighting against the government. He is accused of major human rights violations, but President Karzai has invited him to participate in the upcoming elections.
While Governor Atta Noor agreed with President Karzai on the call, he opposed the president's call to remove the two foreign observors from the Electoral Complains Commission (ECC).
"As Afghanistan still needs foreign support, it is necessary to have the two foreign advisors monitor the election process in the country," he said.
This comes as the Council of Ministers recently decided to remove the ECC and hand its responsibilities to the Supreme Court following months of top-level disagreements over whether the two foreign experts will be allowed to sit on its seven-person board.
The upcoming presidential election is scheduled to be held on 15 April 2014.
David Cameron to announce major reduction in Afghanistan troop numbers
The Prime Minister will this week signal the end of Britain’s involvement in the Afghan War by announcing a major reduction in the number of combat troops.
Telegraph.co.uk By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent 16 Dec 2012
David Cameron is expected to reveal that at least 4,500 troops - more than half of the British force - will be withdrawn from the country by the end of next summer’s “fighting season”.
Around 500 troops will leave by the end of this year as Britain and its Nato partners begin discussing the number and type of troops that should remain in Afghanistan when foreign soldiers depart at the end of 2014.
But the Prime Minister will avoid offering a precise timetable for withdrawal, amid tensions between politicians and defence chiefs over how rapid the scaling down should be.
Commanders have long maintained that Nato’s advances - the term success is no longer used - against the Taliban remain “fragile and reversible” and serious doubts remain over the capability of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
Senior commanders believe that drawing down troop numbers too quickly could endanger the lives of those British forces remaining in Helmand and, in the worst case scenario, derail the entire exit strategy.
The decision on the details of the announcement is expected to be made at Tuesday’s meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), made up of senior ministers, civil servants and military leaders, which is set to discuss troop reductions in Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister and the rest of the NSC will be briefed by General Sir David Richards, the Chief of the General Staff, who is known to favour a cautious approach to cutting troop levels.
The timetable is also dependent on the whether the United States plan to confirm their troop reduction strategy before Christmas.
Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, arrived in Kabul last week to discuss US troop withdrawals with the Afghan government. Mr Panetta also held discussions on the US’s desire to leave up to 10,000 soldiers in the country after the 2014 deadline.
A Whitehall source said last night: “The size of the British force will reduced down to some where between 4,000 and 6,000 by next October.
“Britain will not announce troop reductions before the US does and we have the other Nato members to consider as well. But there is an expectation that the Prime Minister could make the announcement this week.”
The Prime Minister is expected to say that the transition of security control from British and Nato to Afghan forces is on schedule and making good progress.
He will also say that violence in Afghanistan is falling and the vast majority of the country’s population has no interest in seeing a return of the Taliban.
It is understood that over 50 British outposts and checkpoint have been closed or handed over to the Afghan security forces as commanders begin scaling down their “operational footprint”.
But senior commanders remain concerned that the ANSF still do not possess all the military capabilities to either contain or defeat the Taliban.
The Afghan army is still heavily dependent on Britain and other Nato countries for capabilities such as clearing roadside bombs and casualty evacuation as well as intelligence, air and logistics support.
Confidence in the Afghan army has also been eroded following the surge in the number of so-called insider attacks.
However, although many senior officers remain cautious their views have softened in recent months with some even suggesting that speeding up the withdrawal process is the better option.
The Prime Minister is determined to keep defence chiefs on side in any troop reduction process but he is under pressure from members of his own cabinet, especially George Osborne, the Chancellor, who wants to see the £2.5bn annual cost of the war slashed.
Politicians are also concerned at a lack of public support for the war, in which 438 troops have been killed and thousands more injured, which polls show is very low if non-existent, with the majority believing that troops should be brought home immediately.
Earlier this year Philip Hammond the Defence Secretary gave an insight into the Government’s thinking when he admitted that the pace of withdrawal could be increased.
During a visit to Camp Bastion in Helmand, he said: “I think there is a bit of a rethinking going on about how many troops we do actually need.
"There may be some scope for a little bit more flexibility on the way we draw down, and that is something commanders on the ground are looking at very actively.”
German President Gauck visits Afghanistan
Deutsche Welle (press release)
Joachim Gauck has made a surprise landing in Afghanistan to show "gratitude" to volunteers and soldiers. But elsewhere in the country on the same day, violence has ended in tragedy.
German President Joachim Gauck on Monday made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, as a bomb blast sent shock waves through Kabul.
Gauck landed at Mazar-i-Sharif airport in the country's north with his partner Daniela Shadt, said the Presidential Office in Berlin.
The president said, when addressing volunteers and security forces, that he had come to "express my appreciation, my appreciation and gratitude."
"You make sacrifices, show courage," he added. "You are also working here in Afghanistan to encourage those who want to achieve peace, democracy and prosperity."
The German president is set to spend his evening dining with development aid workers, police and soldiers.
It is Gauck's first visit to Afghanistan since taking office. His predecessor, Christian Wulff, visited the war-torn country in October 2011.
A tragic day
The visit comes on a deadly day in Afghanistan, which has been tragically tainted with violence. Ten Afghan girls between the ages of nine and 11 were killed and two others were injured on Monday when a landmine exploded in Chaprehar district of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, the provincial governor's office said in a statement.
"The girls were gathering firewood, when the landmine exploded," the statement said. Nobody claimed responsibility for the explosion but one spokesperson said it may have been an accident.
Meanwhile, a car bomb exploded Monday at a compound owned by a US logistics company under contract to the Afghan army, killing at least one person and wounding 15, police said.
Afghanistan's Islamist Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the bombing.
"A suicide car bomber attacked an important American company which is involved in security," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.
sej/hc (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
'Helmand was safer under the Taliban'
Associated Press Dec 16, 2012
MARJAH, AFGHANISTAN - Nearly three years after US-led forces launched the biggest operation of the war to clear insurgents, foster economic growth and set a model for the rest of Afghanistan, angry residents of Helmand province say they are too afraid to go out after dark because of marauding bands of thieves.
And, during the day, they say corrupt police and government officials bully them into paying bribes.
After 11 years of war, many here long for a return of the Taliban. They say that under the Taliban, who routinely punished thieves by cutting off a hand, they were at least safe from crime and corruption.
"If you had a box of cash on your head, you could go to the farthest part of Marjah and no one would take it from you, even at night," said Maulvi Daoud, who runs a cubbyhole-sized shop in the town.
"Today you bring your motorcycle in front of your shop and it will be gone. Now the situation is that you go on the road and they are standing in police and army uniforms with weapons and they can take your money."
In Marjah in early 2010, about 15,000 Nato and Afghan forces waged the biggest battle of the war. They not only fought the Taliban with weapons, they promised to bring good governance to Marjah and the rest of the southern province of Helmand - and demonstrate to the residents the advantages of shunning the militants.
But it appears the flaw in the plan was with the quality of Afghans chosen by the president, Hamid Karzai, to govern and police the area after most of the fighting ended. And that adds to growing doubts about the entire country's future after foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
Many claim the US-funded local police, a type of locally sanctioned militia, routinely demand bribes and threaten to accuse those who do not comply of being members of the Taliban. Good governance never came to Marjah, they say.
In villages of sun-baked mud homes, at crowded bus stops and in local tea houses where residents sit cross-legged at plastic-covered tables drinking tea and eating off communal plates, people scoffed at claims of security and development. They heaped criticism on the Afghan government and officials- accusing them of stealing billions of dollars in aid money meant for the people - and on an international community that they said ignored their needs and pandered to a corrupt administration.
Mr Daoud, the Marjah shop owner, said there had been more security under the Taliban, who were ousted by the US-led invasion in late 2001.
"They were never cruel to us and the one difference was security. It was better during the Taliban," he said.
His partner in the rickety shop along Marjah's chaotic one-street bazaar, Mohammed Haider, said poppy farmers who planted substitute crops such as cotton are losing money because they cannot sell their harvests. He predicted poppy production would double when foreign soldiers leave in 2014.
Analysts who know Helmand say a corrupt government poses one of the biggest hurdles to stability, alienating the locals and driving them into the hands of the Taliban.
The province is strategically important because of its large-scale poppy production that is financing the insurgency and fuelling criminal activity. While some success has been achieved at getting farmers to plant substitute crops, Helmand is still one of Afghanistan's largest opium-producing provinces.
The Nato-led coalition, known as the International Security Assistance Force, claims there are tangible gains against the Taliban in Helmand and neighbouring Kandahar province.
"While insurgent activity remains problematic in several districts, primarily in northern Helmand and western Kandahar, data from the battle space shows a marked decrease in overall enemy activity," an ISAF spokesman, Jamie Graybeal, said recently.
Despite a drop of 8 per cent in militant attacks from January to October compared with the same period last year, Helmand and neighbouring Nimroz province accounted for 32 per cent of all such attacks reported across the country from October 2011 to October this year, according to the ISAF.
Ryan Evans, a research fellow at the US-based Centre for National Policy, called Helmand the "most dangerous and violent" of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.
Some Afghans believe their countrymen are responsible for the current state of affairs.
Haji Khalil, who moved his family from Marjah to Lashkar Gah during the 2010 offensive, blamed Afghans for the rise in thefts and lawlessness since the defeat of the Taliban.
"During the Taliban no one would steal because we knew the punishment, but when they left everyone began to steal," Khalil said. "We became worse after the Taliban," he said. "The problem is with us."
Pentagon front-runner Hagel has strong Obama ties, likely favors rapid Afghanistan withdrawal
Associated Press Dec 16, 2012
WASHINGTON - Former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel is a contrarian Republican moderate and decorated Vietnam combat veteran who is likely to support a more rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
As President Barack Obama’s top candidate for defense secretary, Hagel has another credential important to the president: a personal relationship with Obama, forged when they were in the Senate and strengthened during overseas trips they took together.
Hagel, 66, emerged last week as the front-runner for the Pentagon’s top job, four years after leaving behind a Senate career in which he carved out a reputation as an independent thinker and blunt speaker.
Wounded during the Vietnam War, Hagel backed the Iraq war, but later became a fierce and credible critic of the Bush administration’s war policies, making routine trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. He opposed President George W. Bush’s plan to send an additional 30,000 troops into Iraq — a move that has been credited with stabilizing the chaotic country — as “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam, if it’s carried out.”
While Hagel supported the Afghanistan war resolution, over time he has become more critical of the decade-plus conflict, with its complex nation-building effort.
Often seeing the Afghan war through the lens of his service in Vietnam, Hagel has declared that militaries are “built to fight and win wars, not bind together failing nations.” In a radio interview this year, he spoke broadly of the need for greater diplomacy as the appropriate path in Afghanistan, noting that “the American people want out” of the war.
If nominated — an announcement could come this week — and confirmed by the Senate, Hagel would succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Panetta has made it clear he intends to leave early next year, but has not publicly discussed the timing of his departure. He took the Pentagon job in July 2011.
At the same time, Obama is considering one of Hagel’s former Senate colleagues, Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts, for the job of secretary of state.
To political and defense insiders, Obama’s preference for Hagel makes sense.
The former senator shares many of the same ideals of Obama’s first Pentagon leader, Republican Robert Gates. When Obama became president in 2009, he asked Gates to remain as defense secretary. Both Hagel and Gates talk of the need for global answers to regional conflicts and an emphasis on so-called soft power, including economic and political aid, to bolster weak nations.
“A Hagel nomination signals an interest in, and a commitment to continuing a bipartisan approach to national security,” said David Berteau, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He said that Hagel’s two terms in the Senate, before he retired in 2009, spanned the latter years of the post-Cold War military drawdown and the post-Sept. 11 buildup. “From a budget point of view he has seen both ends of the spectrum and that gives him a good perspective to start from.”
Hagel’s possible selection has been met with initial praise from key members of the Senate, including the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who said Hagel would be “terrific.”
The choice could trigger opposition from some Jewish groups and may worry Democrats concerned about Israel-related issues. Hagel has criticized discussion of a military strike by either the U.S. or Israel against Iran. He also has backed efforts to bring Iran to the table for talks on future peace in Afghanistan.
“The appointment of Chuck Hagel would be a slap in the face for every American who is concerned about the safety of Israel,” said Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Hagel often straddled party lines and had some high-profile dustups with his Republican colleagues.
In 2008, he criticized GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, saying she lacked foreign policy credentials and that it would be “a stretch” to consider her qualified to become president. His wife, Lilibet Hagel, endorsed Obama in his first run for president. Hagel also was mentioned as a possible candidate for Pentagon chief when Obama was first elected.
As defense secretary, Hagel would preside over the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan and the waning days of the war, and would direct some of the steepest cuts in Pentagon spending in years. His task would be to restructure a pared down military that can step away from the grinding wars of the past 11 years and refocus on a swath of regional challenges from Syria, Iran and North Korea to terrorism in Africa and the defense buildup in the Pacific.
A big benefit will be his experience and his allies on Capitol Hill.
“Certainly his name coming forward is one I’m very open to,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who served with Hagel on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I had good relations with him while he was in the Senate. Certainly (he’s) a veteran and someone who also spent a lot of time around the world understanding the relations other countries have with the U.S. and vice versa.”
Defense analyst Loren Thompson, of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute think tank, said Hagel knows the political system and is known for thinking outside the box, which would help as budget cuts move forward.
“He’s a veteran who understands how Congress works and has stayed plugged in to developments in defense policy,” Thompson said. “He is not tied to the status quo and will think creatively about how to manage America’s military forces.”
___
Associated Press writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.
Lawmakers Slam Karzai's Lack of Support for Rights Report, Call It 'Treasonous'
TOLOnews.com By Saleha Soadat Sunday, 16 December 2012
Afghan Lawmakers on Sunday condemned President Karzai's lack of support for the publication of a major human rights report, with one senator calling it "treason."
The 800-page report is the most extensive documentation of human rights violations in Afghanistan, covering the period from before the 1978 Soviet invasion until the ouster of the Taliban in late 2001. The report implicates most key Afghan power-brokers in the current government as well as insurgent leaders fighting the government for serious human rights abuses.
The report was due to come out on 10 Dec. 2011, but Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)officials say Karzai's opposition kept it from publication.
Sima Samar, head of AIHRC, sparked parliamentary condemnation of the president when she said Saturday that Karzai's opposition was "the only reason" why the report had not been published.
"Not supporting the human rights report by the government is treason," Senator Hedayatullah Rehahi said. Senator Rehahi has been a frequent, vocal critic of the president, voicing sharp public disagreements on subjects like the High Peace Council's effectiveness and electoral reforms.
"I believe that those committed crimes against humanity should be identified and legally prosecuted," said Mohammad Alam Ezedyar, first vice chair of the Senate.
Other lawmakers had kinder though critical remarks for the president.
"As you can see, most of those who committed crimes against humanity are now inside the government holding high positions. How can they enforce human rights in the country?" Farah MP Samiullah Samim said.
But some MPs said President Karzai is worried the report could disturb the fragile peace in the country.
"As the people know, those who have violated human rights are capable of doing anything. That's why the president is worried and stands for the greater good," Paktika MP Sayed Ishaq Gilani said.
Afghan experts and human rights activists have previously accused the government for their lack of political commitment towards ensuring stability of human rights conditions in the country.
German Companies Relinquish Their Share of Baghlan Sugar Factory
TOLOnews.com By Zabihullah Jhanmal Sunday, 16 December 2012
Two German companies gave their 38-percent joint share of the New Baghlan Sugar Factory to the government of Afghanistan, making it the sole owner of the factory, Ministry of Agriculture said Sunday.
The factory needs subsidies of $500,000 annually, but it is expected to turn a profit within the next 5 years, the ministry added.
A major obstacle to the factory's productivity has been a shortage of beetroot, largely due to a pest infestation of the crop in Baghlan over the last few years. As the only shareholder of the factory, the Afghan government will endeavor to resolve the shortage and make the company self-sustained.
"We try to remove the challenges the company faces so that the opportunity for its self-sufficiency is provided. There is no doubt that carrying all the responsibilities of this factory will benefit Afghanistan," said Minister of Agriculture Mohammed Asef Rahimi.
Reconstruction of the Baghlan Sugar Factory started six years ago by the private sectors of Germany and Afghanistan. It had seven initial shareholders, including the Ministry of Agriculture. Three years ago, the four Afghan shareholders gave up their shares, followed by the Germans this year.
Abdulkarim Waziri, the former head of the New Baghlan Sugar Company, says that the company's assets are valued at an estimated $15 million.
"This factory is ready to work. The only problem is shortage of beetroot. If beetroot is provided, it will be capable of good productivity. The factory's infrastructure and systems are ready," said Waziri.
Afghan Boxers Return After Bronze Medal, Other Accolades
TOLOnews.com By Mir Sayed Sunday, 16 December 2012
The Afghan boxing contingent returned home on Sunday after Reshad Rezaye clenched a bronze and received the title of best boxer of the tournament at the World Series of Boxing competitions in Kazakhstan.
Rezaye beat one Chinese and two Kazakh rivals before he was defeated by another Kazakh boxer.
Rezaye's female teammate Sadaf Rahimi received an honorary bronze medal.
"Because I showed talent and worked hard, I received an honorary bronze medal from the officials of the World Series of Boxing," Rahimi said.
Rahimi, among Afghanistan's leading female boxers, was slated to box at the London Olympics. But officials rescinded her invitation, reportedly citing concerns for her safety arising from the high calibre of the competition.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com