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To cut Afghan red tape, bribery is the norm
Washington Post By Kevin Sieff Monday, February 18, 2013
KABUL - In a country where Western accusations of corruption have been lobbed at high-ranking officials and public institutions, the malfeasance that drives Afghans against their own government happens every day on a much smaller scale.
Forget special investigations and glossy reports on misspent funds and insider dealings, many Afghans say. Try renewing your driver’s license.
Afghanistan’s traffic department might be the most bloated of the country’s nascent bureaucracies. Want a vehicle registration? You’ll need 27 separate signatures. A new driver’s license? You’ll need about a dozen stamps from ministries, agencies and banks.
Those processes are so painstaking and time-consuming that an entire underworld has emerged to bribe public officials into expediting traffic documents. It’s corruption in $30 or $40 bites — far from the millions allegedly stolen here every year. But those small bribes shape the way many Afghans think about their country’s experiment in democracy.
When complaining about corruption, many Afghans say that despite the horrors of the Taliban regime, there was less graft under its government. At a time when the United States is starting to withdraw tens of thousands of troops, a process President Obama highlighted in last week’s State of the Union speech, some Afghans say the return of Taliban rule would at least yield a more honest crop of government officials.
Munir, a 37-year-old former police officer, stood last week in front of the traffic department, railing against corruption and malfeasance. The Afghan government has never been so paralyzed by greed and crime, he said.
“The system is broken,” he said.
He sounded like thousands of Afghans whose experiences with corrupt officials have left them dispirited. Except Munir, who like many Afghans uses only one name, admitted that he is part of the dysfunction.
Every morning, he takes a pile of clients’ license and registration applications to contacts at the traffic department. He slips the officials between $10 and $20, and a document that could take weeks to obtain is finalized in a fraction of the time. Munir pockets between $20 and $40.
This is how he makes $10,000 a year, twice what he earned as a police officer. But his job comes with the awareness that he is now a part of what is broken.
“It’s painful for me,” he said. “I hate the corruption, and I am a part of the corruption.”
‘Like links in a chain’
Munir is one of the “dealers” who work in ministries across Afghanistan, expediting what can be exasperating bureaucratic processes, such as paying taxes and securing business licenses and other documentation. In a country far more modern than it was 10 years ago — with more drivers and more businesses — there’s also more room for graft.
“Any government document you need, I can get it for you,” said Abdul Hadi, another dealer who works mostly out of the traffic department. When asked about the ethics of his profession, he was blunt: “It is not honorable.”
Last year, according to a report released this month by the United Nations and the Afghan government’s anti-graft agency, half of Afghan adults paid bribes while requesting public services, and together those Afghans handed over a total of $3.9 billion. That figure is twice as large as Afghanistan’s domestic revenue, the report said.
With average annual income in Afghanistan standing at less than $1,000, many cannot afford to pay bribes. At the traffic department, where between 1,000 and 2,000 people come every day, a line of men attempting to renew their licenses and registrations without bribes forms next to the line of dealers. Those in the legitimate line are forced to put up with days or weeks of waiting and watching as dealers slip ahead of them.
“We don’t have the money to pay anyone, so we wait and wait on our own,” said Abdul Basir, who had spent 10 days in line to renew his vehicle registration.
“It’s like links in a chain. One person accepts bribes to make enough money to bribe someone else. This is Afghanistan,” said Sher Mohammed, who waited for more than a week to renew his driver’s license.
At the traffic department, whose red-tape hurdles have earned it a popular reputation as the most bribe-sucking government office, about 200 dealers spend their days greasing officials’ palms. Some clients get dealers’ phone numbers from friends and relatives. Others simply approach them outside the department, hand them forms and cash, and disappear.
The dealers then make their way inside the sprawling department to the offices of their contacts. Many administrative employees in Afghanistan, including at the traffic department, are said to have paid for their positions — an investment that is recouped by accepting dozens of bribes orchestrated largely through dealers.
Munir’s connections were passed down from his uncle, who worked at the traffic department for more than a decade. He learned whom to bribe, how much to pay and how much to charge for the service.
Blame and punishment
Criticism of the Afghan government is often articulated in terms of what people here call “petty corruption.” Accusations of multimillion-dollar graft involving ministers and governors occasionally grab local headlines, but for many, those stories are less personal and less offensive.
“The petty corruption is something tangible. It’s how people see the government in their daily life, and it is a great source of anger,” said Shafiq Hamdam, director of the Afghan Anti-Corruption Network, an independent research organization. “This makes it easier for insurgents to give a bad name to the government.”
President Hamid Karzai has long been a public critic of corruption, despite the many accusations pinned on his government. In recent speeches, he has blamed Western donors for exacerbating the problem by putting money in the wrong hands.
Karzai created the anti-graft government task force, called the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption, in 2008. But its director, Azizullah Ludin, likened his agency last year to a “lion without teeth.”
Even within ministries, views differ on how to deal with the practice of granular corruption — the kind of bribery that corrodes public confidence.
“I’ve made it a top priority to arrest all of the dealers,” said Alhaj Nizamudin Badkhan, the head of the country’s traffic department, who said he has sent 20 dealers to prison.
But in an office just down the hall is Gen. Asadullah, the director of the Kabul traffic department, who said he saw it differently.
“The dealers pose no problem. What they do is legal,” said Asadullah, who uses only one name.
Munir treats his position in Kabul’s illicit economy the same way he did his job in the police force. He works at least five days a week. He prides himself on being effective — in this case, by turning around documents as quickly as he can.
But he knows how he is viewed by many of the people in line, who endure the arduous process of obtaining driver’s licenses and automobile registrations legally.
“When I voted in our elections, I thought our system would improve. But now there is even more disorder,” he said. “Without making bribes, it is impossible to get anything done in this country.”
Heavy clashes reported in Daikundi province of Afghanistan
By Sayed Jawad - 18 Feb 2013, 8:09 pm Khaama Press
According to local authorities in Daikundi province of Afghanistan heavy clashes took place between Afghan security forces and militants on Monday morning in Kajran district.
The officials further added the clashes started early Monday morning and is still continuing.
Provincial security chief Juma Guldi Yardam confirming the report said fight between Afghan security forces and militants started around 6:30 am and militants were still resisting Afghan security forces until evening today.
He said the incident took place after several militants equipped with heavy weapons attacked security check posts in Kajran district from Baghran area of Helmand province.
Daikundi province is among the peaceful provinces of Afghanistan however the province is neighboring volatile southern Helmand province where militants are occasionally carrying out insurgency activities in this province.
In the meantime Mr. Yardam said at least two militants were reportedly killed and three others were injured following the clashes while three Afghan security forces were also injured.
He also said further reserve troops are prepared to be deployed to the fighting area if clashes were not ended.
High-ranking Pakistani Taliban leader arrested in Afghanistan
By Ghanizada - 18 Feb 2013, 8:31 pm Khaama Press
According to reports a high-ranking Pakistan Taliban leader has been arrested by Afghan security forces in eastern Nangarhar province.
Maulavi Faqir, the former second-in-command of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was arrested along with four other suspected militants while he was trying to enter Pakistan’s Tirah Valley from eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
An Afghan intelligence official quoted by Dawn News Agency said, “Maulvi Faqir and his four accomplices who had entered Nangarhar from Bajaur Agency were apprehended near Basawal on Torkham Road near the border of Tirah Valley.”
Faqir reportedly led the Taliban in Bajaur for years, and he is also tied to some of al Qaeda’s top leaders, including the group’s emir, Ayman al Zawahiri. He was removed from power by chief Hakimullah Mehsud at a council meeting.
In the past, Faqir sheltered Ayman al Zawahiri and other senior al Qaeda leaders; one of the first US drone strikes in Pakistan targeted Zawahiri and other top commanders in an area controlled by Faqir.
2 Taliban insider attack facilitators killed in E. Afghanistan: coalition
KABUL, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Two Taliban insider attack facilitators have been killed in eastern Afghan province of Kunar, the NATO-led coalition forces confirmed on Monday.
"Afghan and coalition forces confirmed today the death of the two Taliban insider attack facilitators, Mahmood and Rashid, during a security operation in Ghaziabad district, Kunar province, Wednesday," said the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in a press release.
Mahmood was responsible for the death of one American service member during the May 11, 2012, insider attack in the province 180 km east of Afghan capital Kabul, the press release said.
"Rashid was Mahmood's associate and a former Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier who facilitated and assisted with insider attack planning and execution," it noted.
The coalition military officials have recently said that about 25 percent of the so-called "green-on-blue" insider attacks are in some manner related to the Taliban-led insurgency. They said the factors that contribute to the so-called green on blue shootings are wide-ranging from infiltration and impersonation to personal grievances.
More than 60 U.S. and NATO soldiers were killed in 45 green-on- blue attacks last year, according to coalition officials. So far this year, One British service member was killed in such attack in the country's southern province of Helmand.
The Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, has yet to make comments.
NATO defense ministers to meet on Afghanistan on Friday
KABUL, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The defense ministers of the NATO and other troop contributing nations will later this week discuss the situation in Afghanistan, said a NATO spokesman here on Monday.
"On Thursday and Friday this week, 21 and 22 February, NATO and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) Defense Ministers meet at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium," spokesman Dominic Medley told a press briefing.
This is the normal and regularly scheduled meeting of the ministers, he said, adding "Afghanistan will be on the agenda on Friday,"
Afghan Defense Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi will address the 50 ISAF defense ministers, he said.
The new ISAF Commander General Joeph Dunford and NATO Senior Civilian Representative will also provide updates at the meeting, he added.
"It is expected that ministers will hear briefings on the latest situation in Afghanistan, on transition, on redeployment, on sustaining the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and on plans for the new NATO mission after 2014 to train, advise and assist," he noted.
Currently 100,000-strong foreign troops with nearly 66,000 of them Americans are being deployed in Afghanistan.
Under the U.S. President Barack Obama's withdrawal plan 33,000 U.S. troops already pulled out of Afghanistan in September last year and another 34,000 will return home within one year. Most of ISAF are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
The ANSF have taken full control of areas where about 75 percent of Afghan population lives.
U.S. troops in Afghanistan will switch from combat to support role -- training, advising and assisting Afghan forces -- this spring, Obama has said.
New Zealand Defense Minister to hold talks with Afghan, ISAF military chiefs
WELLINGTON, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman is to hold talks in Brussels this week with his Afghanistan counterpart and the military head of the U.S.-led international force to discuss New Zealands future commitments to Afghanistan.
Coleman is to attend the NATO/ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) summit to outline New Zealand's commitment after the departure of the 200-strong Provincial Reconstruction Team in April.
He said in a statement Monday that he was scheduled to meet Afghanistan Defence Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi and new ISAF Commander General Joe Dunford.
Coleman would also visit Paris to meet French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Chief of Defense Force, and other French military contacts, before going to London for a range of defense and state services engagements.
Coleman would return via New York where he would hold meetings with United Nations heads of missions to garner support for New Zealand's campaign for a seat on the Security Council.
Earlier Monday, Coleman announced New Zealand would keep 27 military personnel in Afghanistan after it withdraws the bulk of its troops in April.
Most of the deployments would initially operate from the closing of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Bamyan Province for a one-year period to the end of April 2014.
The deployments were in addition to a contribution of 2 million U.S. dollars per year from 2015 to help sustain the Afghan National Security Forces after the ISAF mission concluded.
After The Afghan Pullout, The Dangers For Central Asia
By John Herbst and William Courtney February 17, 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
In his State of the Union speech on February 12, U.S. President Barack Obama declared that by the end of 2014 "our war in Afghanistan will be over." This step, long expected, will decrease security in neighboring Central Asia. Flows northward from Afghanistan of terrorists and narcotics will put at greater risk a region already weakened by corruption, despotism, and ethnic and water tensions. The West should do more to enhance security in Central Asia, comprised of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
U.S. policy is predicated on the expectation that the 350,000-strong Afghan National Army, with assistance from U.S. advisers, will be able to keep the Taliban at bay. It is more likely that after 2014, barring a political agreement, the Taliban will remain in the field with control in most Pashtun areas and perhaps beyond. A bloodied but still standing Taliban would also pose a danger beyond its borders.
In the 1990s, Taliban control in Afghanistan spurred extremists in Central Asia. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan and carried out bombings in Uzbekistan and kidnappings in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In 2004 a splinter group, the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), claimed suicide bombings in Uzbekistan and targeted the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Tashkent. Both groups are now holed up in ungoverned areas of Pakistan, but as NATO leaves Afghanistan they will probably carry the fight back to Central Asian homelands.
More Afghans will turn for sustenance to the opium industry, perhaps one-third of their country's gross domestic product. Trafficking northward will exacerbate staggering addiction problems in Central Asia and Russia. Afghanistan and nearby areas provide over four-fifths of Europe's heroin.
Central Asia faces other sources of insecurity. Dams that may be built in impoverished Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan would boost their economies but choke off much downstream water for agriculture in Uzbekistan. Its ruler, Islam Karimov, recently warned of "water wars." The lush Ferghana Valley -- shared by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan -- is a swirl of peoples and oppression, and a recruiting ground for Islamic jihadists. In 2005, a large number of protesters died at the hands of Uzbek security forces in Andijon, Uzbekistan, and in 2010 several hundred Uzbeks and a much smaller number of Kyrgyz died in ethnic clashes in the Kyrgyz city of Osh and nearby areas. A cesspool of corruption in Central Asia undermines governance. On Transparency International's index of corruption perceptions of 174 countries, Central Asian states rank poorly, averaging 157th place.
Caught Between Great Powers
Central Asia lies between ambitious regional and great powers. In December 2012, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cautioned against Russia's manipulation of a customs union it dominates in order to "re-Sovietize" Eurasia. Despite popular objections at home, Kazakhstan has joined the union but resists its becoming a political body. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan may have no choice but to sign up since one-third to one-half of their economies depend on migrant-labor remittances from Russia. If after NATO draws down in Afghanistan fighting spreads northward, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- both of which host Russian military bases -- might seek added protection from Moscow even as they try to maintain wiggle room to protect their own interests.
China looms large in Central Asian economies, enriching opportunities for trade and inward investment. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan now ship energy long distances to China, helping shield them from Russian control of export pipelines as a political and financial lever. China employs the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to boost its Central Asian interests, for now mainly economic and energy. It does not publicly challenge Russia's geopolitical role there, but economic dynamism increases China's sway and Central Asia's room for maneuver.
Troop reductions in Afghanistan will lessen NATO's need for logistical support via the northern distribution network through Central Asia. Frictions within the region could heighten transport impediments. Wary of a NATO pullback that would leave them more exposed, Central Asians want continued Western support to forestall IMU and IJU subversion, counter narcotics smuggling, and help them balance Russian and Chinese power.
For the West to augment security in Central Asia will not be easy. After September 11, 2001, Russian President Vladimir Putin sanctioned a U.S. and coalition presence there to support operations in Afghanistan, but no longer. Russia urges the United States' ouster from its transit base in Kyrgyzstan and opposes a Western presence even to address narcotics and terrorism threats.
Another constraint is authoritarian governance and human rights abuse in Central Asia. The West should offer pragmatic aid but be wary of providing security tools that might be turned against domestic protesters.
Third, the West will want to take account of Russian and Chinese sensitivities. The West does not seek to enhance its position in Central Asia at their expense, but rather to bolster common security. For example, stronger borders that stem the flow of terrorists and narcotics should serve Moscow and Beijing's interests.
Beyond NATO forces leaving behind in Central Asia some of the equipment they withdraw from Afghanistan, there are two broad areas for security cooperation: information exchanges and border security. The West ought to seek arrangements with willing Central Asian governments on more robust sharing of information about terrorism, narcotics, and criminal threats, while protecting sources and methods. Building on solid, low-key work by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union, the West should examine how it could provide better practices and technology to tighten security along borders with Afghanistan, especially in the badlands areas. This would impede terrorist strikes into Central Asia and help its governments suppress infiltration. Western security dialogues with China and Russia could spur wider cooperative efforts and improve understanding.
After 2014, Central Asia ought not to become the focal point of a new "Great Game," a battleground in which outside contestants seek to impose their writ. Central Asia will need help in securing its people against external dangers, but autocratic rule and weak governance are just as serious a threat. Frankly, Western interest in helping Central Asia will increasingly depend on whether freedoms expand and human dignity is respected.
John Herbst was U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan and Ukraine, and consul general in Jerusalem. He is currently the director of the Center for Complex Operations at National Defense University. William Courtney was U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan and Georgia, and special assistant to the president for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. The views expressed here are the authors' own and do not represent those of RFE/RL.
In Kabul’s ‘Car Guantánamo,’ Autos Languish and Trust Dies
New York Times By AZAM AHMED February 17, 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan - On the northern edge of Kabul, down a road riddled with mammoth potholes, is a secure site that bears all the marks of a prison: high stone walls topped with concertina wire, police officers barking into walkie-talkies, forsaken visitors pacing the compound’s edge, waiting for a sign of hope.
Residents here call it Car Guantánamo.
Behind these walls are thousands of cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles and even bicycles, lined up in vehicular purgatory after falling afoul of the Kabul traffic police. Things that have landed cars in the slammer: illegal left turns, parking violations, involvement in fender-benders and, perhaps most egregious, failure to pay a bribe.
“I’ve been waiting two months to get my van back,” said Sayed Wahid, whose quest to reclaim it, after it was impounded for an expired international permit, propelled him on an exhausting odyssey through no fewer than six different government agencies. “How do you think I feel about the government?”
Mr. Wahid’s experience is far from isolated. Some Kabul residents describe efforts spanning many months and big money to free their vehicles, only to win back a chassis long since stripped down for its parts. Keenly aware of the horror stories, most people here go to great lengths to avoid any interaction at all with the traffic police.
Taken as a case study of trust in government, then, Car Guantánamo has only a grim prognosis to offer.
“Here in this country, there is no rule of law,” said Prof. Wadir Safi, director of the Independent National Legal Training Center. “Traffic incidents are the smallest part of it.”
Bad experiences with the police are, of course, not specific only to Afghanistan. But the stakes here are among the highest: the international community has poured more than a decade of intense effort and aid into building an accountable justice system in Afghanistan, calling it crucial to government efforts to draw support away from the Taliban and local warlords.
Despite that, most Afghans still say they have little faith that their government can honestly enforce the law. The rules are unevenly applied, punitive to those who can least afford it, and mostly irrelevant to those with money and power. Transparency International recently ranked Afghanistan as the third most corrupt country in the world, after Somalia and North Korea.
For their part, police officers — the most ubiquitous faces of government for everyday Afghans — insist they are doing their job.
“If someone makes a wrong turn, what should we do, give them a basket of flowers?” asked Gen. Asadullah Khan, the chief of traffic police in Kabul. “Those who break the law typically complain about the police.”
On the streets of Kabul, though, pessimism prevails. When it comes to accidents, the prudent driver is most likely to try, if at all possible, to settle the dispute on the spot, well before officers arrive.
And accidents are only growing more common. Kabul’s population has exploded over the past decade, and the mayor’s office estimates that there are 650,000 vehicles vying for the right of way on a network of narrow streets built to accommodate about 30,000. The city’s tricky traffic circles, omnipresent potholes and pedestrian overflow have created a knot of smog and frustration. International institutions have attempted to assist the city with traffic management, but progress can be hard to find.
The police force’s main strategy to thin the glut of vehicles has been to crack down on drivers without licenses, no longer simply fining them, but sending them to jail for up to six months. Cars without proper registration are confiscated and impounded — Guantánamo bound.
The traffic has become big business in Kabul, with the city raking in about $40 million a year in fees and fines, according to General Khan.
Among the most notorious prongs of the traffic division is the Incident Unit, which rolls around the city from accident to accident, making determinations of blame and plucking errant cars from the road.
“The Incident Unit, they are now famous,” acknowledged Sidiq Sidiqqi, the spokesman of the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police.
He even had his own experience to recount. Shaking his head, he told of how his government vehicle had recently been hit by another car. He quickly called the traffic police to the scene, he recounted. But both drivers became frantic, warning him that if the Incident Unit came, there would be trouble. The driver of the other vehicle quickly paid up for the damage and went on his way.
“We are trying to put programs and policies into place to fix things,” Mr. Sidiqqi said. “We have the funding. We just have poor training.”
As for the infamous impound lot, General Khan, the traffic police chief, knows the widely held nickname for it. But he bristles and insists on using its official title: the Kabul Traffic Police Parking Lot.
By any name, it is busy. Every year, about 3,000 cars, 3,000 motorcycles and an undetermined number of bicycles are imprisoned in Car Guantánamo, according to government figures. General Khan did not have readily available figures for how many are released, but suggested visiting the lot to ask people their thoughts about the system. A steady drizzle accompanied a throng of dejected car owners during a recent visit to the impound lot. The men stared at a half-dozen police officers stationed behind the gates, sipping chai and chatting casually.
Rows of vehicles fill the lot in varying states of degradation — scores of the omnipresent Corollas of Kabul, armored S.U.V.s, a few colorfully painted Pakistani transport trucks. Hundreds of motorcycles line the edges of the mud lot. A mangled mass of metal sits in the center of the area, the size of several football fields, where wrecked motorcycles are piled. A confiscated bicycle pokes through the top of the heap.
The men waiting outside share similar stories. Illegal parking. Expired tags. Arguing with the traffic police. They have waited anywhere from a single day to more than two months to retrieve their vehicles. Confused by the byzantine system, most simply plead with the police to return their cars. No luck there.
In November, Mr. Wahid had driven his van from Kunduz down to Kabul when he was pulled over at a checkpoint in the capital. His license and car tags were clean, but a permit to cross international borders, though not needed for that specific trip, had expired.
For a moment, he said, he considered bribing the officer. He has regretted every day for the past two months his decision not to.
Mr. Wahid caught the bus back north to sort out his paperwork. But when he got back to Kabul, the Foreign Ministry officials would not accept it: They did not believe it was authentic. So he went for help to the traffic department, but that, too, proved fruitless.
A hustler by nature, Mr. Wahid tried a multipronged approach. He visited the Interior Ministry, the Kabul police chief and the Parliament, where he found a helpful member from Kunduz. He received letters urging the authorities to release his vehicle. When that failed to work, he applied again for his international permit with the government.
Now, $1,600 into his grim journey, he says he is still not sure he is any closer to getting his vehicle back.
He has been holed up in Kabul, borrowing money to live and taking the long bus ride to see his family on the weekends.
Despite it all, he somehow seems mostly unruffled. He simply doesn’t expect the government to work for him.
“What can I say?” he asked, plucking at the embroidery on his clothing. “This is not even a government.”
Jawad Sukhanyar and Sangar Rahimi contributed reporting.
Afghan coach seek BCCI support to develop cricket in Afghanistan
By Sadaf Shinwari - 18 Feb 2013, 2:53 pm Khaama Press
The cricket board of Afghanistan has called for the BCCI to provide more support to Afghanistan cricket, highlighting England’s support for their neighbouring Associate nations.
Kabir Khan, the Afghanistan coach said, “If you look at England they go out of their way to support the associate cricket nations in their region, which include Holland, Ireland and Scotland.”
“They allow their players to play in their county and league system, while giving them valuable assistance through various coaching programmes.” Khan said adding that “In comparison, South Asia has four Test-playing nations – Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – [yet despite this] we don’t get the same kind of support, except for Pakistan. India has the influence and money to do a lot for Afghanistan cricket if they wanted. But so far we are still waiting.
He also added, “There’s a lot of passion for cricket in Afghanistan, and there are good players, but we suffer mainly because we don’t have a domestic cricket structure. We don’t get enough matches in this region.”
The Afghanistan team is currently in Lahore for a month-long conditional camp which also includes a series of matches against Pakistan A and several regional sides. The team trained at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, where they were granted access to all facilities and coaches at hand.
The Afghan cricket team is due to play against Scotland in the ICC League series 4-day match apart from 2 ODIs and one T20 in preparation for World T20 next year. It has set its sights on the 2015 World Cup to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Top US general in Afghanistan says coalition can still be effective despite airstrike ban
Associated Press February 17 , 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan - The top American commander in Afghanistan said on Sunday that he believes the U.S.-led NATO coalition can operate effectively despite the Afghan president’s decision to ban Afghan security forces from requesting airstrikes in residential areas.
President Hamid Karzai on Saturday said he decided on the ban after Afghan security services asked the U.S. military for an airstrike during a joint Afghan-NATO operation last week. Afghan officials said the airstrike killed 10 civilians, including women and children, in northeast Kunar province along with four insurgents.
The death of civilians during military operations, particularly in airstrikes, has been among the most divisive issues of the 11-year-old war. The U.S.-led coalition has implemented measures to mitigate them, but the Afghan military also relies heavily on air support to gain an upper hand in the fight against Taliban militants and other insurgents.
Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford told reporters during a briefing that he was working out the details of the ban with Afghanistan’s defense minister and military chief.
“This is a sovereign nation and the president is exercising sovereignty,” Dunford said, adding that NATO had “made extraordinary progress in mitigating risks to civilians and we will continue to do so.”
Dunford said coalition forces believe they can conduct “effective operations within the president’s guidance” because it falls within a tactical directive issued last year by his predecessor, Marine Gen. John Allen.
The U.S.-led military coalition said last June that it would limit airstrikes to a self-defense weapon of last resort for troops and would avoid hitting structures that could house civilians. That followed a bombardment that killed 18 civilians celebrating a wedding in eastern Logar province, which drew an apology from the American commander.
The coalition, however, can still carry out airstrikes on its own accord.
“I believe the support we will provide to the Afghans is exactly consistent with the coalition’s tactical directive,” Dunford said.
The U.N. mission in Afghanistan said 83 civilians were killed and 46 wounded in aerial attacks by international military forces in the first half of 2012. That figure was down 23 percent from the same period of 2011 — the deadliest year on record for civilians in the Afghan war. It said two-thirds of the casualties last year were women and children and insurgents were responsible for the overwhelming majority of the deaths.
Karzai’s decision, however, could hamper the Afghan force’s ability to fight the insurgency as it robs them of one of their most potent weapons. It also runs counter to Afghan requests for NATO to supply their security forces with aircraft capable of carrying out airstrikes. The Afghan military has repeatedly implored the United States for jet fighters, such as F-16’s, and heavy weapons — including tanks and artillery.
“There are other ways we can support our Afghan partners other than air ordinance,” Dunford said without elaborating. He said the Afghan security forces will have to take Karzai’s decree into account when they make future operational plans.
Afghans currently lead about 90 percent of military operations nationwide and will fully take charge in the spring. However, they remain heavily dependent on the coalition for air support and medical evacuations from remote areas.
Karzai announced his decree on airstrikes on Saturday and said he would formally issue it in coming days.
He also has issued a decree that orders the prosecution of Afghan security forces involved in torturing prisoners and requires all future interrogations be videotaped.
That decree, issued late Saturday, came after a government delegation agreed with a U.N. report that found widespread abuse in Afghan prisons more than a year after reforms were promised. The Afghan government had previously maintained that torture occurred rarely, if at all, but said it would put more oversight in place to make sure prisoners were not being abused.
After a two-week fact-finding mission, an Afghan government delegation said earlier this month that it had found credible evidence that close to half of the prisoners the delegation interviewed were tortured.
Karzai said in a 12-article decree that existing laws needed to be implemented in order to prevent torture, such as access to defense lawyers and limits on how long a suspect can be held without charge. Karzai also said that all interrogations should be videotaped and that district-level detention officials should get higher salaries.
The decree stressed the importance of prosecuting anyone accused of mistreatment. It also calls on the country’s chief justice, the interior minister, the head of the intelligence service and the justice minister to produce a report every three months on their progress on these reforms.
___
Associated Press writers Heidi Vogt and Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.
Isaf Backs Karzai's Ban on Air Support for Afghan Raids
TOLOnews.com By Karim Amini Sunday, 17 February 2013
Isaf's new commander in Afghanistan said the coalition supports President Hamid Karzai's ban on the Afghan army calling for Isaf air support during military operations, giving an assurance that the operations can still be effective.
Gen Joseph Dunford told a group of senior reporters Sunday morning that the US-led foreign troops will continue to support the missions within the new framework declared by Karzai on Saturday.
"We are prepared to provide support in line with the president's intent," he said, adding that he will meet with Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammedi and Chief of Army Staff Gen Sher Mohammad Karimi at midday to discuss the "technical" aspects of how the president's directive would work.
"Keep in mind that there are other ways we can support our Afghan partners other than air ordnance," he said. "I believe we will provide the support to the Afghan forces consistent with the coalition tactical directive."
Dunford, who only took charge of the Afghan mission a week ago, pointed out that the Afghan army for its part will also have to factor the directive into their operations.
"It's not about what happens in the middle of operations, it's how you plan operations. What the Afghan security forces will do is plan their operations to factor that guidance in. I am confident we can continue to conduct effective operations within the president's guidance," he said, adding that the details will be worked out in the coming days.
Karzai said Saturday that the Afghan army can no longer call for air support during military operations after at least 10 civilians were reportedly killed last week in a Nato airstrike during a joint Afghan-coalition night raid in eastern Kunar province.
It is not the first time that an airstrike has mistakenly killed a number of civilians.
Former Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh backed the president's decision and urged for air missions to only be carried out against possible threats from outside the country and not in Afghan civilian areas.
"It is not necessary for a small mission to expect jets to bombard an area. Even if there is a tactical success after it, there will be a big strategic loss resulting. If civilians are killed, there will be a larger gap between the people and the government and this is harmful," Saleh told TOLOnews Sunday.
But the decision received some criticism from at least one political party which suggested it will give the insurgency more strength in the villages.
"The president has almost legitimatised the Taliban. Our ground troops cannot fight the Taliban – they are not as equipped as the Taliban. This means that the Taliban will gradually take over villages and then districts," the leader of the National Front Ahmad Zia Massoud said Sunday.
Civilian harm has been one of the most controversial issues between Afghanistan and Nato.
It was civilian casualties that led the Karzai government to push for Afghans to take control of military night raids in a signed agreement last year. It is also one of the reasons that Karzai has frequently voiced his desire to see foreign forces withdrawn from outposts in provincial villages.
Politicians Call for Clarity on Taliban Talks
TOLOnews.com By Shakeela Ahbrimkhil Sunday, 17 February 2013
The government must make it very clear what it expects the Taliban will want from a peace deal and what the government is willing to give them, a number of political parties said Sunday at a gathering of the Youth Network for Change in Kabul.
"The government must present a plan for the people for what the Taliban will want and what they [the government] will give them. The political process is a process of giving and taking and during this process independence, sovereignty and the current democracy should be protected," Afghan National Party leader Astana Gull Shirzad said.
Some present at the conference rejected any negotiation plan with the Taliban, saying the group was extremist and will never respect the will of the people.
"The Taliban wants to bring the authority of the Church [as in the past] into the current living conditions of the people and wants to impose it on the people of Afghanistan. So should we share with the Taliban their terms of politics? Who can accept such a leader, especially the young generation?" National Party leader Ahmad Zia Masooud told the crowd.
The politicians also reiterated a warning to the government to ensure it prevents any fraud or cheating in the upcoming presidential election or risk destabilising Afghanistan even to the point of civil war
"This election must be very transparent and held carefully and the nation must be assured that the next president was elected by the votes of people," Astana Gull Shirzad said.
The political parties said the government should change its decision to allow the old voting cards in the 2014 poll to ensure there is no fraudulent votes.
300 Telecom Towers Targeted by Insurgents Since 2001: MCIT
TOLOnews.com By Shahla Murtazaie Sunday, 17 February 2013
Telecom towers have been damaged or destroyed by insurgent attacks around 300 times in the past decade – an average of more than two attacks a month, the Afghan Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) said Sunday.
MCIT minister Amirzai Sangeen said the government has managed to repair most of the damage, but there are still constant threats.
Speaking at the annual coordination conference for provincial communication departments, the minister called on the provincial department chiefs to prevent sales of unregistered SIM cards and the use of illegal SIM boxes.
Pointing out some of the other challenges facing the communications sector across Afghanistan, Sangeen said that following a decision made in coordination with communications companies, in the future SIM cards will be sold inactivated, and the customer will need to register their SIM to use it.
In addition, the Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) and heads of provincial communication departments are going to step up surveillance of internet cafes to block unauthorised websites, he said.
"As our representatives in the provinces, you have to seriously inspect this issue, to check which company's SIM cards are being sold illegally, and you have to arrest them. You have to show which branch it is, and shut it down with the help of police. ATRA will also cooperate with you over this matter," Sangeen told those at the meeting.
A number of provincial communication heads working in parts of the country which are considered insecure did not comment on the manner of services of communication companies, with some even saying that there are no communication service problems in their provinces.
"There are no specific problems in the southwest that is obstructing our developments. But the head of communications in the southwest has asked for an increased budget which is to be resolved soon," head of Helmand communications, Omidullah Zaheer, said.
According to the communications minister, Afghan TV broadcasts will soon be transferred to digital, and an independent satellite will be launched to improve the country's telecommunication sector.
Zabul Airport Budget Insufficient, Local Officials Say
TOLOnews.com By Zabihullah Jhanmal Sunday, 17 February 2013
Local officials in southern Zabul province said Sunday that the budget for a new provincial airport is insufficient to complete the construction, but they will begin building it anyway.
The Ministry of Finance has allocated US$1million for the airport which is expected to be built in the coming year, however local officials told TOLOnews that "it is not enough for a standard airport".
Nevertheless, construction on the project will begin.
"We will try to have an airport in the province and very soon we will start the construction work," acting provincial chief Mohammad Jan Rasouliar said.
Zabul member of Parliament Hamidullah Tokhi said they have requested from the Ministry of Transport and Aviation to build the airport because the residents of Zabul were facing major transport problems.
"We are in talks with the Ministry of Transportation and Aviation to start the work. We have been speaking to the government and we convinced them to build an airport for the residents of the province," he said.
The construction of an airport is expected to play an important role in development in the province and lessen threats from insurgents faced by residents and traders on the highways.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
Washington Post By Kevin Sieff Monday, February 18, 2013
KABUL - In a country where Western accusations of corruption have been lobbed at high-ranking officials and public institutions, the malfeasance that drives Afghans against their own government happens every day on a much smaller scale.
Forget special investigations and glossy reports on misspent funds and insider dealings, many Afghans say. Try renewing your driver’s license.
Afghanistan’s traffic department might be the most bloated of the country’s nascent bureaucracies. Want a vehicle registration? You’ll need 27 separate signatures. A new driver’s license? You’ll need about a dozen stamps from ministries, agencies and banks.
Those processes are so painstaking and time-consuming that an entire underworld has emerged to bribe public officials into expediting traffic documents. It’s corruption in $30 or $40 bites — far from the millions allegedly stolen here every year. But those small bribes shape the way many Afghans think about their country’s experiment in democracy.
When complaining about corruption, many Afghans say that despite the horrors of the Taliban regime, there was less graft under its government. At a time when the United States is starting to withdraw tens of thousands of troops, a process President Obama highlighted in last week’s State of the Union speech, some Afghans say the return of Taliban rule would at least yield a more honest crop of government officials.
Munir, a 37-year-old former police officer, stood last week in front of the traffic department, railing against corruption and malfeasance. The Afghan government has never been so paralyzed by greed and crime, he said.
“The system is broken,” he said.
He sounded like thousands of Afghans whose experiences with corrupt officials have left them dispirited. Except Munir, who like many Afghans uses only one name, admitted that he is part of the dysfunction.
Every morning, he takes a pile of clients’ license and registration applications to contacts at the traffic department. He slips the officials between $10 and $20, and a document that could take weeks to obtain is finalized in a fraction of the time. Munir pockets between $20 and $40.
This is how he makes $10,000 a year, twice what he earned as a police officer. But his job comes with the awareness that he is now a part of what is broken.
“It’s painful for me,” he said. “I hate the corruption, and I am a part of the corruption.”
‘Like links in a chain’
Munir is one of the “dealers” who work in ministries across Afghanistan, expediting what can be exasperating bureaucratic processes, such as paying taxes and securing business licenses and other documentation. In a country far more modern than it was 10 years ago — with more drivers and more businesses — there’s also more room for graft.
“Any government document you need, I can get it for you,” said Abdul Hadi, another dealer who works mostly out of the traffic department. When asked about the ethics of his profession, he was blunt: “It is not honorable.”
Last year, according to a report released this month by the United Nations and the Afghan government’s anti-graft agency, half of Afghan adults paid bribes while requesting public services, and together those Afghans handed over a total of $3.9 billion. That figure is twice as large as Afghanistan’s domestic revenue, the report said.
With average annual income in Afghanistan standing at less than $1,000, many cannot afford to pay bribes. At the traffic department, where between 1,000 and 2,000 people come every day, a line of men attempting to renew their licenses and registrations without bribes forms next to the line of dealers. Those in the legitimate line are forced to put up with days or weeks of waiting and watching as dealers slip ahead of them.
“We don’t have the money to pay anyone, so we wait and wait on our own,” said Abdul Basir, who had spent 10 days in line to renew his vehicle registration.
“It’s like links in a chain. One person accepts bribes to make enough money to bribe someone else. This is Afghanistan,” said Sher Mohammed, who waited for more than a week to renew his driver’s license.
At the traffic department, whose red-tape hurdles have earned it a popular reputation as the most bribe-sucking government office, about 200 dealers spend their days greasing officials’ palms. Some clients get dealers’ phone numbers from friends and relatives. Others simply approach them outside the department, hand them forms and cash, and disappear.
The dealers then make their way inside the sprawling department to the offices of their contacts. Many administrative employees in Afghanistan, including at the traffic department, are said to have paid for their positions — an investment that is recouped by accepting dozens of bribes orchestrated largely through dealers.
Munir’s connections were passed down from his uncle, who worked at the traffic department for more than a decade. He learned whom to bribe, how much to pay and how much to charge for the service.
Blame and punishment
Criticism of the Afghan government is often articulated in terms of what people here call “petty corruption.” Accusations of multimillion-dollar graft involving ministers and governors occasionally grab local headlines, but for many, those stories are less personal and less offensive.
“The petty corruption is something tangible. It’s how people see the government in their daily life, and it is a great source of anger,” said Shafiq Hamdam, director of the Afghan Anti-Corruption Network, an independent research organization. “This makes it easier for insurgents to give a bad name to the government.”
President Hamid Karzai has long been a public critic of corruption, despite the many accusations pinned on his government. In recent speeches, he has blamed Western donors for exacerbating the problem by putting money in the wrong hands.
Karzai created the anti-graft government task force, called the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption, in 2008. But its director, Azizullah Ludin, likened his agency last year to a “lion without teeth.”
Even within ministries, views differ on how to deal with the practice of granular corruption — the kind of bribery that corrodes public confidence.
“I’ve made it a top priority to arrest all of the dealers,” said Alhaj Nizamudin Badkhan, the head of the country’s traffic department, who said he has sent 20 dealers to prison.
But in an office just down the hall is Gen. Asadullah, the director of the Kabul traffic department, who said he saw it differently.
“The dealers pose no problem. What they do is legal,” said Asadullah, who uses only one name.
Munir treats his position in Kabul’s illicit economy the same way he did his job in the police force. He works at least five days a week. He prides himself on being effective — in this case, by turning around documents as quickly as he can.
But he knows how he is viewed by many of the people in line, who endure the arduous process of obtaining driver’s licenses and automobile registrations legally.
“When I voted in our elections, I thought our system would improve. But now there is even more disorder,” he said. “Without making bribes, it is impossible to get anything done in this country.”
Heavy clashes reported in Daikundi province of Afghanistan
By Sayed Jawad - 18 Feb 2013, 8:09 pm Khaama Press
According to local authorities in Daikundi province of Afghanistan heavy clashes took place between Afghan security forces and militants on Monday morning in Kajran district.
The officials further added the clashes started early Monday morning and is still continuing.
Provincial security chief Juma Guldi Yardam confirming the report said fight between Afghan security forces and militants started around 6:30 am and militants were still resisting Afghan security forces until evening today.
He said the incident took place after several militants equipped with heavy weapons attacked security check posts in Kajran district from Baghran area of Helmand province.
Daikundi province is among the peaceful provinces of Afghanistan however the province is neighboring volatile southern Helmand province where militants are occasionally carrying out insurgency activities in this province.
In the meantime Mr. Yardam said at least two militants were reportedly killed and three others were injured following the clashes while three Afghan security forces were also injured.
He also said further reserve troops are prepared to be deployed to the fighting area if clashes were not ended.
High-ranking Pakistani Taliban leader arrested in Afghanistan
By Ghanizada - 18 Feb 2013, 8:31 pm Khaama Press
According to reports a high-ranking Pakistan Taliban leader has been arrested by Afghan security forces in eastern Nangarhar province.
Maulavi Faqir, the former second-in-command of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was arrested along with four other suspected militants while he was trying to enter Pakistan’s Tirah Valley from eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
An Afghan intelligence official quoted by Dawn News Agency said, “Maulvi Faqir and his four accomplices who had entered Nangarhar from Bajaur Agency were apprehended near Basawal on Torkham Road near the border of Tirah Valley.”
Faqir reportedly led the Taliban in Bajaur for years, and he is also tied to some of al Qaeda’s top leaders, including the group’s emir, Ayman al Zawahiri. He was removed from power by chief Hakimullah Mehsud at a council meeting.
In the past, Faqir sheltered Ayman al Zawahiri and other senior al Qaeda leaders; one of the first US drone strikes in Pakistan targeted Zawahiri and other top commanders in an area controlled by Faqir.
2 Taliban insider attack facilitators killed in E. Afghanistan: coalition
KABUL, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Two Taliban insider attack facilitators have been killed in eastern Afghan province of Kunar, the NATO-led coalition forces confirmed on Monday.
"Afghan and coalition forces confirmed today the death of the two Taliban insider attack facilitators, Mahmood and Rashid, during a security operation in Ghaziabad district, Kunar province, Wednesday," said the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in a press release.
Mahmood was responsible for the death of one American service member during the May 11, 2012, insider attack in the province 180 km east of Afghan capital Kabul, the press release said.
"Rashid was Mahmood's associate and a former Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier who facilitated and assisted with insider attack planning and execution," it noted.
The coalition military officials have recently said that about 25 percent of the so-called "green-on-blue" insider attacks are in some manner related to the Taliban-led insurgency. They said the factors that contribute to the so-called green on blue shootings are wide-ranging from infiltration and impersonation to personal grievances.
More than 60 U.S. and NATO soldiers were killed in 45 green-on- blue attacks last year, according to coalition officials. So far this year, One British service member was killed in such attack in the country's southern province of Helmand.
The Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, has yet to make comments.
NATO defense ministers to meet on Afghanistan on Friday
KABUL, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The defense ministers of the NATO and other troop contributing nations will later this week discuss the situation in Afghanistan, said a NATO spokesman here on Monday.
"On Thursday and Friday this week, 21 and 22 February, NATO and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) Defense Ministers meet at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium," spokesman Dominic Medley told a press briefing.
This is the normal and regularly scheduled meeting of the ministers, he said, adding "Afghanistan will be on the agenda on Friday,"
Afghan Defense Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi will address the 50 ISAF defense ministers, he said.
The new ISAF Commander General Joeph Dunford and NATO Senior Civilian Representative will also provide updates at the meeting, he added.
"It is expected that ministers will hear briefings on the latest situation in Afghanistan, on transition, on redeployment, on sustaining the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and on plans for the new NATO mission after 2014 to train, advise and assist," he noted.
Currently 100,000-strong foreign troops with nearly 66,000 of them Americans are being deployed in Afghanistan.
Under the U.S. President Barack Obama's withdrawal plan 33,000 U.S. troops already pulled out of Afghanistan in September last year and another 34,000 will return home within one year. Most of ISAF are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
The ANSF have taken full control of areas where about 75 percent of Afghan population lives.
U.S. troops in Afghanistan will switch from combat to support role -- training, advising and assisting Afghan forces -- this spring, Obama has said.
New Zealand Defense Minister to hold talks with Afghan, ISAF military chiefs
WELLINGTON, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman is to hold talks in Brussels this week with his Afghanistan counterpart and the military head of the U.S.-led international force to discuss New Zealands future commitments to Afghanistan.
Coleman is to attend the NATO/ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) summit to outline New Zealand's commitment after the departure of the 200-strong Provincial Reconstruction Team in April.
He said in a statement Monday that he was scheduled to meet Afghanistan Defence Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi and new ISAF Commander General Joe Dunford.
Coleman would also visit Paris to meet French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Chief of Defense Force, and other French military contacts, before going to London for a range of defense and state services engagements.
Coleman would return via New York where he would hold meetings with United Nations heads of missions to garner support for New Zealand's campaign for a seat on the Security Council.
Earlier Monday, Coleman announced New Zealand would keep 27 military personnel in Afghanistan after it withdraws the bulk of its troops in April.
Most of the deployments would initially operate from the closing of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Bamyan Province for a one-year period to the end of April 2014.
The deployments were in addition to a contribution of 2 million U.S. dollars per year from 2015 to help sustain the Afghan National Security Forces after the ISAF mission concluded.
After The Afghan Pullout, The Dangers For Central Asia
By John Herbst and William Courtney February 17, 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
In his State of the Union speech on February 12, U.S. President Barack Obama declared that by the end of 2014 "our war in Afghanistan will be over." This step, long expected, will decrease security in neighboring Central Asia. Flows northward from Afghanistan of terrorists and narcotics will put at greater risk a region already weakened by corruption, despotism, and ethnic and water tensions. The West should do more to enhance security in Central Asia, comprised of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
U.S. policy is predicated on the expectation that the 350,000-strong Afghan National Army, with assistance from U.S. advisers, will be able to keep the Taliban at bay. It is more likely that after 2014, barring a political agreement, the Taliban will remain in the field with control in most Pashtun areas and perhaps beyond. A bloodied but still standing Taliban would also pose a danger beyond its borders.
In the 1990s, Taliban control in Afghanistan spurred extremists in Central Asia. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan and carried out bombings in Uzbekistan and kidnappings in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In 2004 a splinter group, the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), claimed suicide bombings in Uzbekistan and targeted the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Tashkent. Both groups are now holed up in ungoverned areas of Pakistan, but as NATO leaves Afghanistan they will probably carry the fight back to Central Asian homelands.
More Afghans will turn for sustenance to the opium industry, perhaps one-third of their country's gross domestic product. Trafficking northward will exacerbate staggering addiction problems in Central Asia and Russia. Afghanistan and nearby areas provide over four-fifths of Europe's heroin.
Central Asia faces other sources of insecurity. Dams that may be built in impoverished Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan would boost their economies but choke off much downstream water for agriculture in Uzbekistan. Its ruler, Islam Karimov, recently warned of "water wars." The lush Ferghana Valley -- shared by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan -- is a swirl of peoples and oppression, and a recruiting ground for Islamic jihadists. In 2005, a large number of protesters died at the hands of Uzbek security forces in Andijon, Uzbekistan, and in 2010 several hundred Uzbeks and a much smaller number of Kyrgyz died in ethnic clashes in the Kyrgyz city of Osh and nearby areas. A cesspool of corruption in Central Asia undermines governance. On Transparency International's index of corruption perceptions of 174 countries, Central Asian states rank poorly, averaging 157th place.
Caught Between Great Powers
Central Asia lies between ambitious regional and great powers. In December 2012, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cautioned against Russia's manipulation of a customs union it dominates in order to "re-Sovietize" Eurasia. Despite popular objections at home, Kazakhstan has joined the union but resists its becoming a political body. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan may have no choice but to sign up since one-third to one-half of their economies depend on migrant-labor remittances from Russia. If after NATO draws down in Afghanistan fighting spreads northward, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- both of which host Russian military bases -- might seek added protection from Moscow even as they try to maintain wiggle room to protect their own interests.
China looms large in Central Asian economies, enriching opportunities for trade and inward investment. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan now ship energy long distances to China, helping shield them from Russian control of export pipelines as a political and financial lever. China employs the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to boost its Central Asian interests, for now mainly economic and energy. It does not publicly challenge Russia's geopolitical role there, but economic dynamism increases China's sway and Central Asia's room for maneuver.
Troop reductions in Afghanistan will lessen NATO's need for logistical support via the northern distribution network through Central Asia. Frictions within the region could heighten transport impediments. Wary of a NATO pullback that would leave them more exposed, Central Asians want continued Western support to forestall IMU and IJU subversion, counter narcotics smuggling, and help them balance Russian and Chinese power.
For the West to augment security in Central Asia will not be easy. After September 11, 2001, Russian President Vladimir Putin sanctioned a U.S. and coalition presence there to support operations in Afghanistan, but no longer. Russia urges the United States' ouster from its transit base in Kyrgyzstan and opposes a Western presence even to address narcotics and terrorism threats.
Another constraint is authoritarian governance and human rights abuse in Central Asia. The West should offer pragmatic aid but be wary of providing security tools that might be turned against domestic protesters.
Third, the West will want to take account of Russian and Chinese sensitivities. The West does not seek to enhance its position in Central Asia at their expense, but rather to bolster common security. For example, stronger borders that stem the flow of terrorists and narcotics should serve Moscow and Beijing's interests.
Beyond NATO forces leaving behind in Central Asia some of the equipment they withdraw from Afghanistan, there are two broad areas for security cooperation: information exchanges and border security. The West ought to seek arrangements with willing Central Asian governments on more robust sharing of information about terrorism, narcotics, and criminal threats, while protecting sources and methods. Building on solid, low-key work by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union, the West should examine how it could provide better practices and technology to tighten security along borders with Afghanistan, especially in the badlands areas. This would impede terrorist strikes into Central Asia and help its governments suppress infiltration. Western security dialogues with China and Russia could spur wider cooperative efforts and improve understanding.
After 2014, Central Asia ought not to become the focal point of a new "Great Game," a battleground in which outside contestants seek to impose their writ. Central Asia will need help in securing its people against external dangers, but autocratic rule and weak governance are just as serious a threat. Frankly, Western interest in helping Central Asia will increasingly depend on whether freedoms expand and human dignity is respected.
John Herbst was U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan and Ukraine, and consul general in Jerusalem. He is currently the director of the Center for Complex Operations at National Defense University. William Courtney was U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan and Georgia, and special assistant to the president for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. The views expressed here are the authors' own and do not represent those of RFE/RL.
In Kabul’s ‘Car Guantánamo,’ Autos Languish and Trust Dies
New York Times By AZAM AHMED February 17, 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan - On the northern edge of Kabul, down a road riddled with mammoth potholes, is a secure site that bears all the marks of a prison: high stone walls topped with concertina wire, police officers barking into walkie-talkies, forsaken visitors pacing the compound’s edge, waiting for a sign of hope.
Residents here call it Car Guantánamo.
Behind these walls are thousands of cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles and even bicycles, lined up in vehicular purgatory after falling afoul of the Kabul traffic police. Things that have landed cars in the slammer: illegal left turns, parking violations, involvement in fender-benders and, perhaps most egregious, failure to pay a bribe.
“I’ve been waiting two months to get my van back,” said Sayed Wahid, whose quest to reclaim it, after it was impounded for an expired international permit, propelled him on an exhausting odyssey through no fewer than six different government agencies. “How do you think I feel about the government?”
Mr. Wahid’s experience is far from isolated. Some Kabul residents describe efforts spanning many months and big money to free their vehicles, only to win back a chassis long since stripped down for its parts. Keenly aware of the horror stories, most people here go to great lengths to avoid any interaction at all with the traffic police.
Taken as a case study of trust in government, then, Car Guantánamo has only a grim prognosis to offer.
“Here in this country, there is no rule of law,” said Prof. Wadir Safi, director of the Independent National Legal Training Center. “Traffic incidents are the smallest part of it.”
Bad experiences with the police are, of course, not specific only to Afghanistan. But the stakes here are among the highest: the international community has poured more than a decade of intense effort and aid into building an accountable justice system in Afghanistan, calling it crucial to government efforts to draw support away from the Taliban and local warlords.
Despite that, most Afghans still say they have little faith that their government can honestly enforce the law. The rules are unevenly applied, punitive to those who can least afford it, and mostly irrelevant to those with money and power. Transparency International recently ranked Afghanistan as the third most corrupt country in the world, after Somalia and North Korea.
For their part, police officers — the most ubiquitous faces of government for everyday Afghans — insist they are doing their job.
“If someone makes a wrong turn, what should we do, give them a basket of flowers?” asked Gen. Asadullah Khan, the chief of traffic police in Kabul. “Those who break the law typically complain about the police.”
On the streets of Kabul, though, pessimism prevails. When it comes to accidents, the prudent driver is most likely to try, if at all possible, to settle the dispute on the spot, well before officers arrive.
And accidents are only growing more common. Kabul’s population has exploded over the past decade, and the mayor’s office estimates that there are 650,000 vehicles vying for the right of way on a network of narrow streets built to accommodate about 30,000. The city’s tricky traffic circles, omnipresent potholes and pedestrian overflow have created a knot of smog and frustration. International institutions have attempted to assist the city with traffic management, but progress can be hard to find.
The police force’s main strategy to thin the glut of vehicles has been to crack down on drivers without licenses, no longer simply fining them, but sending them to jail for up to six months. Cars without proper registration are confiscated and impounded — Guantánamo bound.
The traffic has become big business in Kabul, with the city raking in about $40 million a year in fees and fines, according to General Khan.
Among the most notorious prongs of the traffic division is the Incident Unit, which rolls around the city from accident to accident, making determinations of blame and plucking errant cars from the road.
“The Incident Unit, they are now famous,” acknowledged Sidiq Sidiqqi, the spokesman of the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police.
He even had his own experience to recount. Shaking his head, he told of how his government vehicle had recently been hit by another car. He quickly called the traffic police to the scene, he recounted. But both drivers became frantic, warning him that if the Incident Unit came, there would be trouble. The driver of the other vehicle quickly paid up for the damage and went on his way.
“We are trying to put programs and policies into place to fix things,” Mr. Sidiqqi said. “We have the funding. We just have poor training.”
As for the infamous impound lot, General Khan, the traffic police chief, knows the widely held nickname for it. But he bristles and insists on using its official title: the Kabul Traffic Police Parking Lot.
By any name, it is busy. Every year, about 3,000 cars, 3,000 motorcycles and an undetermined number of bicycles are imprisoned in Car Guantánamo, according to government figures. General Khan did not have readily available figures for how many are released, but suggested visiting the lot to ask people their thoughts about the system. A steady drizzle accompanied a throng of dejected car owners during a recent visit to the impound lot. The men stared at a half-dozen police officers stationed behind the gates, sipping chai and chatting casually.
Rows of vehicles fill the lot in varying states of degradation — scores of the omnipresent Corollas of Kabul, armored S.U.V.s, a few colorfully painted Pakistani transport trucks. Hundreds of motorcycles line the edges of the mud lot. A mangled mass of metal sits in the center of the area, the size of several football fields, where wrecked motorcycles are piled. A confiscated bicycle pokes through the top of the heap.
The men waiting outside share similar stories. Illegal parking. Expired tags. Arguing with the traffic police. They have waited anywhere from a single day to more than two months to retrieve their vehicles. Confused by the byzantine system, most simply plead with the police to return their cars. No luck there.
In November, Mr. Wahid had driven his van from Kunduz down to Kabul when he was pulled over at a checkpoint in the capital. His license and car tags were clean, but a permit to cross international borders, though not needed for that specific trip, had expired.
For a moment, he said, he considered bribing the officer. He has regretted every day for the past two months his decision not to.
Mr. Wahid caught the bus back north to sort out his paperwork. But when he got back to Kabul, the Foreign Ministry officials would not accept it: They did not believe it was authentic. So he went for help to the traffic department, but that, too, proved fruitless.
A hustler by nature, Mr. Wahid tried a multipronged approach. He visited the Interior Ministry, the Kabul police chief and the Parliament, where he found a helpful member from Kunduz. He received letters urging the authorities to release his vehicle. When that failed to work, he applied again for his international permit with the government.
Now, $1,600 into his grim journey, he says he is still not sure he is any closer to getting his vehicle back.
He has been holed up in Kabul, borrowing money to live and taking the long bus ride to see his family on the weekends.
Despite it all, he somehow seems mostly unruffled. He simply doesn’t expect the government to work for him.
“What can I say?” he asked, plucking at the embroidery on his clothing. “This is not even a government.”
Jawad Sukhanyar and Sangar Rahimi contributed reporting.
Afghan coach seek BCCI support to develop cricket in Afghanistan
By Sadaf Shinwari - 18 Feb 2013, 2:53 pm Khaama Press
The cricket board of Afghanistan has called for the BCCI to provide more support to Afghanistan cricket, highlighting England’s support for their neighbouring Associate nations.
Kabir Khan, the Afghanistan coach said, “If you look at England they go out of their way to support the associate cricket nations in their region, which include Holland, Ireland and Scotland.”
“They allow their players to play in their county and league system, while giving them valuable assistance through various coaching programmes.” Khan said adding that “In comparison, South Asia has four Test-playing nations – Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – [yet despite this] we don’t get the same kind of support, except for Pakistan. India has the influence and money to do a lot for Afghanistan cricket if they wanted. But so far we are still waiting.
He also added, “There’s a lot of passion for cricket in Afghanistan, and there are good players, but we suffer mainly because we don’t have a domestic cricket structure. We don’t get enough matches in this region.”
The Afghanistan team is currently in Lahore for a month-long conditional camp which also includes a series of matches against Pakistan A and several regional sides. The team trained at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, where they were granted access to all facilities and coaches at hand.
The Afghan cricket team is due to play against Scotland in the ICC League series 4-day match apart from 2 ODIs and one T20 in preparation for World T20 next year. It has set its sights on the 2015 World Cup to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Top US general in Afghanistan says coalition can still be effective despite airstrike ban
Associated Press February 17 , 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan - The top American commander in Afghanistan said on Sunday that he believes the U.S.-led NATO coalition can operate effectively despite the Afghan president’s decision to ban Afghan security forces from requesting airstrikes in residential areas.
President Hamid Karzai on Saturday said he decided on the ban after Afghan security services asked the U.S. military for an airstrike during a joint Afghan-NATO operation last week. Afghan officials said the airstrike killed 10 civilians, including women and children, in northeast Kunar province along with four insurgents.
The death of civilians during military operations, particularly in airstrikes, has been among the most divisive issues of the 11-year-old war. The U.S.-led coalition has implemented measures to mitigate them, but the Afghan military also relies heavily on air support to gain an upper hand in the fight against Taliban militants and other insurgents.
Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford told reporters during a briefing that he was working out the details of the ban with Afghanistan’s defense minister and military chief.
“This is a sovereign nation and the president is exercising sovereignty,” Dunford said, adding that NATO had “made extraordinary progress in mitigating risks to civilians and we will continue to do so.”
Dunford said coalition forces believe they can conduct “effective operations within the president’s guidance” because it falls within a tactical directive issued last year by his predecessor, Marine Gen. John Allen.
The U.S.-led military coalition said last June that it would limit airstrikes to a self-defense weapon of last resort for troops and would avoid hitting structures that could house civilians. That followed a bombardment that killed 18 civilians celebrating a wedding in eastern Logar province, which drew an apology from the American commander.
The coalition, however, can still carry out airstrikes on its own accord.
“I believe the support we will provide to the Afghans is exactly consistent with the coalition’s tactical directive,” Dunford said.
The U.N. mission in Afghanistan said 83 civilians were killed and 46 wounded in aerial attacks by international military forces in the first half of 2012. That figure was down 23 percent from the same period of 2011 — the deadliest year on record for civilians in the Afghan war. It said two-thirds of the casualties last year were women and children and insurgents were responsible for the overwhelming majority of the deaths.
Karzai’s decision, however, could hamper the Afghan force’s ability to fight the insurgency as it robs them of one of their most potent weapons. It also runs counter to Afghan requests for NATO to supply their security forces with aircraft capable of carrying out airstrikes. The Afghan military has repeatedly implored the United States for jet fighters, such as F-16’s, and heavy weapons — including tanks and artillery.
“There are other ways we can support our Afghan partners other than air ordinance,” Dunford said without elaborating. He said the Afghan security forces will have to take Karzai’s decree into account when they make future operational plans.
Afghans currently lead about 90 percent of military operations nationwide and will fully take charge in the spring. However, they remain heavily dependent on the coalition for air support and medical evacuations from remote areas.
Karzai announced his decree on airstrikes on Saturday and said he would formally issue it in coming days.
He also has issued a decree that orders the prosecution of Afghan security forces involved in torturing prisoners and requires all future interrogations be videotaped.
That decree, issued late Saturday, came after a government delegation agreed with a U.N. report that found widespread abuse in Afghan prisons more than a year after reforms were promised. The Afghan government had previously maintained that torture occurred rarely, if at all, but said it would put more oversight in place to make sure prisoners were not being abused.
After a two-week fact-finding mission, an Afghan government delegation said earlier this month that it had found credible evidence that close to half of the prisoners the delegation interviewed were tortured.
Karzai said in a 12-article decree that existing laws needed to be implemented in order to prevent torture, such as access to defense lawyers and limits on how long a suspect can be held without charge. Karzai also said that all interrogations should be videotaped and that district-level detention officials should get higher salaries.
The decree stressed the importance of prosecuting anyone accused of mistreatment. It also calls on the country’s chief justice, the interior minister, the head of the intelligence service and the justice minister to produce a report every three months on their progress on these reforms.
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Associated Press writers Heidi Vogt and Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.
Isaf Backs Karzai's Ban on Air Support for Afghan Raids
TOLOnews.com By Karim Amini Sunday, 17 February 2013
Isaf's new commander in Afghanistan said the coalition supports President Hamid Karzai's ban on the Afghan army calling for Isaf air support during military operations, giving an assurance that the operations can still be effective.
Gen Joseph Dunford told a group of senior reporters Sunday morning that the US-led foreign troops will continue to support the missions within the new framework declared by Karzai on Saturday.
"We are prepared to provide support in line with the president's intent," he said, adding that he will meet with Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammedi and Chief of Army Staff Gen Sher Mohammad Karimi at midday to discuss the "technical" aspects of how the president's directive would work.
"Keep in mind that there are other ways we can support our Afghan partners other than air ordnance," he said. "I believe we will provide the support to the Afghan forces consistent with the coalition tactical directive."
Dunford, who only took charge of the Afghan mission a week ago, pointed out that the Afghan army for its part will also have to factor the directive into their operations.
"It's not about what happens in the middle of operations, it's how you plan operations. What the Afghan security forces will do is plan their operations to factor that guidance in. I am confident we can continue to conduct effective operations within the president's guidance," he said, adding that the details will be worked out in the coming days.
Karzai said Saturday that the Afghan army can no longer call for air support during military operations after at least 10 civilians were reportedly killed last week in a Nato airstrike during a joint Afghan-coalition night raid in eastern Kunar province.
It is not the first time that an airstrike has mistakenly killed a number of civilians.
Former Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh backed the president's decision and urged for air missions to only be carried out against possible threats from outside the country and not in Afghan civilian areas.
"It is not necessary for a small mission to expect jets to bombard an area. Even if there is a tactical success after it, there will be a big strategic loss resulting. If civilians are killed, there will be a larger gap between the people and the government and this is harmful," Saleh told TOLOnews Sunday.
But the decision received some criticism from at least one political party which suggested it will give the insurgency more strength in the villages.
"The president has almost legitimatised the Taliban. Our ground troops cannot fight the Taliban – they are not as equipped as the Taliban. This means that the Taliban will gradually take over villages and then districts," the leader of the National Front Ahmad Zia Massoud said Sunday.
Civilian harm has been one of the most controversial issues between Afghanistan and Nato.
It was civilian casualties that led the Karzai government to push for Afghans to take control of military night raids in a signed agreement last year. It is also one of the reasons that Karzai has frequently voiced his desire to see foreign forces withdrawn from outposts in provincial villages.
Politicians Call for Clarity on Taliban Talks
TOLOnews.com By Shakeela Ahbrimkhil Sunday, 17 February 2013
The government must make it very clear what it expects the Taliban will want from a peace deal and what the government is willing to give them, a number of political parties said Sunday at a gathering of the Youth Network for Change in Kabul.
"The government must present a plan for the people for what the Taliban will want and what they [the government] will give them. The political process is a process of giving and taking and during this process independence, sovereignty and the current democracy should be protected," Afghan National Party leader Astana Gull Shirzad said.
Some present at the conference rejected any negotiation plan with the Taliban, saying the group was extremist and will never respect the will of the people.
"The Taliban wants to bring the authority of the Church [as in the past] into the current living conditions of the people and wants to impose it on the people of Afghanistan. So should we share with the Taliban their terms of politics? Who can accept such a leader, especially the young generation?" National Party leader Ahmad Zia Masooud told the crowd.
The politicians also reiterated a warning to the government to ensure it prevents any fraud or cheating in the upcoming presidential election or risk destabilising Afghanistan even to the point of civil war
"This election must be very transparent and held carefully and the nation must be assured that the next president was elected by the votes of people," Astana Gull Shirzad said.
The political parties said the government should change its decision to allow the old voting cards in the 2014 poll to ensure there is no fraudulent votes.
300 Telecom Towers Targeted by Insurgents Since 2001: MCIT
TOLOnews.com By Shahla Murtazaie Sunday, 17 February 2013
Telecom towers have been damaged or destroyed by insurgent attacks around 300 times in the past decade – an average of more than two attacks a month, the Afghan Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) said Sunday.
MCIT minister Amirzai Sangeen said the government has managed to repair most of the damage, but there are still constant threats.
Speaking at the annual coordination conference for provincial communication departments, the minister called on the provincial department chiefs to prevent sales of unregistered SIM cards and the use of illegal SIM boxes.
Pointing out some of the other challenges facing the communications sector across Afghanistan, Sangeen said that following a decision made in coordination with communications companies, in the future SIM cards will be sold inactivated, and the customer will need to register their SIM to use it.
In addition, the Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) and heads of provincial communication departments are going to step up surveillance of internet cafes to block unauthorised websites, he said.
"As our representatives in the provinces, you have to seriously inspect this issue, to check which company's SIM cards are being sold illegally, and you have to arrest them. You have to show which branch it is, and shut it down with the help of police. ATRA will also cooperate with you over this matter," Sangeen told those at the meeting.
A number of provincial communication heads working in parts of the country which are considered insecure did not comment on the manner of services of communication companies, with some even saying that there are no communication service problems in their provinces.
"There are no specific problems in the southwest that is obstructing our developments. But the head of communications in the southwest has asked for an increased budget which is to be resolved soon," head of Helmand communications, Omidullah Zaheer, said.
According to the communications minister, Afghan TV broadcasts will soon be transferred to digital, and an independent satellite will be launched to improve the country's telecommunication sector.
Zabul Airport Budget Insufficient, Local Officials Say
TOLOnews.com By Zabihullah Jhanmal Sunday, 17 February 2013
Local officials in southern Zabul province said Sunday that the budget for a new provincial airport is insufficient to complete the construction, but they will begin building it anyway.
The Ministry of Finance has allocated US$1million for the airport which is expected to be built in the coming year, however local officials told TOLOnews that "it is not enough for a standard airport".
Nevertheless, construction on the project will begin.
"We will try to have an airport in the province and very soon we will start the construction work," acting provincial chief Mohammad Jan Rasouliar said.
Zabul member of Parliament Hamidullah Tokhi said they have requested from the Ministry of Transport and Aviation to build the airport because the residents of Zabul were facing major transport problems.
"We are in talks with the Ministry of Transportation and Aviation to start the work. We have been speaking to the government and we convinced them to build an airport for the residents of the province," he said.
The construction of an airport is expected to play an important role in development in the province and lessen threats from insurgents faced by residents and traders on the highways.
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