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Taliban capture 11 foreigners in Afghanistan
By THOMAS WAGNER | Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban took 11 civilians prisoner, including eight Turks and a Russian, after their cargo helicopter made an emergency landing in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Monday, in the first large scale capture of foreigners there in nearly six years.
Security forces dispatched to the remote area retreated after engaging in firefights with the insurgents but failing to secure the area or retrieve the captives.
The crisis began Sunday when the civilian transport aircraft was forced down in strong winds and heavy rain in the village of Dahra Mangal in the Azra district of Logar province, southeast of Kabul, District Governor Hamidullah Hamid told The Associated Press. He said the helicopter came down in a gorge in the densely forested region, known for narrow gorges and rugged mountains, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Pakistani border.
Taliban fighters then captured everyone aboard the helicopter and took them away, Hamid said.
In a telephone interview, Arsala Jamal, the Logar provincial governor, identified the prisoners as eight Turks, one Afghan translator and two foreign pilots of unknown nationality.
Although the capture or kidnapping of foreigners is not uncommon in Afghanistan, large scale captures of foreigners are rare.
The last such instance was in July 2007, when the Taliban abducted 23 South Korean church volunteers as they traveled by bus along a dangerous road in southern Afghanistan. The militants killed two men soon after taking them and later gradually released all the remaining captives over a month.
Last month, the Taliban released a Turkish engineer that they kidnapped two years ago. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said at the time that the engineer was released as a goodwill gesture.
In this case, the foreigners fell into the hands of the Taliban, as opposed to an insurgent initiative aimed at capturing them. Even so, it showed again that the Taliban are still a formidable force facing the Afghan military and police, who will be responsible for security after most foreign forces leave next year.
Stepan Anikeyev, the Russian Embassy's press attache in Kabul, said in a phone interview that a Russian man was being held prisoner. He said the Russians know he was one of the two pilots but could not identify him.
There was no information about the other pilot.
In Ankara, Bulent Arinc, Turkey's deputy prime minister and government spokesman, said eight Turks and two pilots were aboard the helicopter and that Taliban took them prisoner. "We hope that they are rescued as soon as possible and will return to the region where they were working," he said, without saying what the Turks were doing in Afghanistan. The discrepancy in the number of captives could not be immediately reconciled.
"A helicopter that belongs to no military organization made emergency landing in an area of Logar province," Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said.
Security forces were dispatched to the area where the helicopter landed and engaged in firefights with the Taliban but quickly retreated because they had no support, said Logar Deputy Police Chief Rais Khan Abdul Rahimzai.
"We brought the police back because there was no help from the (NATO) coalition or the Afghan army. The police were unable to secure the area, which is very rural, and we were worried," Rahimzai said. He said that information they had from the region was that the prisoners were taken by the Taliban to Hisarak district of neighboring Nangarhar province.
The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force said there were no members of the force or "U.S. personnel onboard the Turkish helicopter," denying an earlier Taliban claim that they had detained Americans on the aircraft.
ISAF spokeswoman Erin Stattel said the coalition was assisting in the recovery of the aircraft, but would not say how. She could not say whether the helicopter made a precautionary landing or the Taliban had forced it down.
Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency, quoting an unidentified official from the Khorasan company in Kabul, as saying an MI-8 type helicopter it owns made an emergency landing near the town of Azra due to bad weather conditions. There were 11 people on board, including eight Turks, one Afghan and one Russian, Anadolu quoted the official as saying.
The helicopter reportedly belonged to a company called Khorasan Cargo Airlines. No one was answering telephones at Khorasan's offices in Kabul or in Dubai.
Rahimzai said he didn't know what kind of cargo the helicopter was carrying, where it was headed, or whether it was working for NATO.
In other incidents on Monday, six police officers were killed in two separate insurgent attacks in the south, said provincial spokesman Ummar Zawaq.
He said two police officers and two Taliban were killed when insurgents attacked a patrol in the Khan Nashim district, and four police were killed in a firefight in the Marjah district. He said the Taliban took the weapons from the dead police officers after shooting them.
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AP writers Amir Shah and Patrick Quinn in Kabul, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed to this report.
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Follow Thomas Wagner on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/tjpwagner.
President Karzai urges China’s role in Afghan peace process
By MIRWAIS ADEEL - 22 Apr 2013, 11:51 am Khaama Press
Afghan president Hamid Karzai emphasized on the importance of China’s role in Afghan peace process with the militant groups in Afghanistan, insisting peace as a must necessity for any nation.
While speaking during an interview with Chinese Phoenix Satellite Television, president Karzai called China an important neighbor of Afghanistan and insisted on China’s role in
Afghan peace talks considering the country a major world power and a friend of Afghanistan.
Karzai said, “Afghanistan views China not only as a good neighbor, as a neighbor that has been doing good for the Afghan people for long but also as the second biggest economy in the world, as a rising superpower of the world and a superpower that is a neighbor of Afghanistan.”
He also insisted on continued cooperation of China, Russia, India and other neighbors, was important for stability and progress in Afghanistan.
“We, as you said rightly, are known as the graveyard of empires, not because we wanted Afghanistan to be the graveyard for those empires but because of the way those empires behaved worse and the consequences were the collapse of those empires”, president Karzai responded to a question regarding Afghanistan, being known as the graveyard of empires.
In regards to post-2014 security concerns in Afghanistan, president Karzai said, Afghanistan would keep on the road that it has taken, and continue to make progress.
NATO foreign ministers to meet on Afghanistan
KABUL, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of the NATO and other troop contributing nations will meet Tuesday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, a NATO spokesman said here Monday.
The 50 foreign ministers of NATO and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) nations, Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul and representatives from the United Nations and the European Union, will meet to discuss developments of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and the future of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, spokesman Dominic Medley told a joint press briefing.
"At the meeting tomorrow, ministers will discuss the significant milestone expected later this year, when the Afghan National Security Forces take the lead for security across the country," he said.
Currently, 100,000-strong foreign troops with nearly 66,000 of them Americans are being deployed in Afghanistan.
"In a separate meeting, NATO foreign ministers will also talk with their Russian counterpart. Amongst other topics, they are expected to launch the second phase of the NATO-Russia Council Helicopter Maintenance Trust Fund for Afghanistan," Medley added.
Under the U.S. President Barack Obama's withdrawal plan, 33,000 U.S. troops already pulled out of Afghanistan last year and another 34,000 will return home by February next 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.
At the same briefing, the Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Seddiq Seddiqi utterly rejected a report released by a Non- Governmental Organization "Safety Office" which said there were 2, 331 insurgent-initiated attacks in the first quarter of this year, a 47 percent increase over the same period last year.
"Our assessment is different. The Interior Ministry and the Afghan National Police (ANP) have registered 1,020 security incidents across the country in the first three months in 2013," he said, adding that the findings of the Afghan NGO Safety Office was totally incorrect.
Afghan interpreters arrive in New Zealand to seek shelter
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Thirty Afghan interpreters and their families arrived in Auckland on Monday to start new lives in New Zealand.
The interpreters were employed by the New Zealand Defence Force in Afghanistan, most of them working with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan province.
Ninety-four Afghans, including 20 children, were met at the Whenuapai air base by Chief of the Defence Force Lieutenant- General Rhys Jones, Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse and Police Commissioner Peter Marshall on Monday afternoon, Radio New Zealand reported.
In 2012, the New Zealand government agreed to accept them under its refugee quota, amid fears they would be targeted by the Taliban when New Zealand troops left Bamyan in April this year.
The group will stay at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Center in South Auckland for eight weeks before settling in Hamilton and Palmerston North.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said on Monday he wishes all the best for the Afghan interpreters and their families.
Key said the men played a vital role in the operation of the Provincial Reconstruction Team and is grateful for their service.
Afghan Businesses Look to Expand, Despite 2014 Worries
Bethany Matta VOA News April 21, 2013
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — As international troops prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014, some businesses and aid groups are looking to curb their investments in the country. But others are planning to expand, despite the uncertainty. Bethany Matta reports from Kabul.
Even for those Afghans who are not anxious about the security situation when foreign troops withdraw, 2014 still creates anxiety when it comes to businesses and the economy.
Afghanistan's economy grew around 11 percent last year, but the expected decline in military and civilian aid and uncertain security situation makes some investors wary.
Abass, a local store owner, said “When people say 2014 is going to be a dangerous year, in my view, nothing will happen. But, as far as 2014 goes for business, it (will) have an impact on trade and business.”
Despite worries about the security situation and the capability of the government, many businesses are planning to expand - such as Coca Cola, with its line of Minute Maid juices.
The company wants to invest millions more to increase capacity, but land is a problem. The factory and parking lot are already used for storage.
East Horizon also faces its own difficulties, but land is not one of them. They've taken their investment to the skies.
The airline, opening just four months ago, already has seven routes.
Flights to Bamiyan, where it is hard to travel the road because of insecurity, are usually full. In another month the airline will be adding two more planes and additional routes.
East Horizon's chief executive and captain, Jahed Azimi, says Afghanistan needs flights to remote provinces to create business opportunities and development.
"We see that there will be some potential, of course the road is not that easy. But, our board of directors and myself we decided that Afghans should stand on their feet and do their job by themselves," he said.
More than a decade of foreign assistance has a mixed track record in Afghanistan, where basic security remains the biggest concern.
But advertising consultant Mustafa Mirza says there is rich and growing market for some consumer goods that did not even exist several years ago.
“I don't think anything will happen in the private sector, like if you go out in Kabul you've got super stores like 'Finest' and 'Spinneys,' you can get cat food for example. There was no concept of cat food two or three years ago, but now its like the shelves are full and there is a big inventory of quality food products," he said.
Cat food, energy drinks , 3G Internet … all products Afghans have been exposed to the last decade are not likely to go away when the troops leave. This year's strong harvest season means consumers should have more money to spend in the months ahead.
So, although some companies and organizations cut back or cut out altogether, others are taking risks on an Afghan-led economy.
Pakistan interim gov't refuses to try Musharraf for treason
ISLAMABAD, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani caretaker government on Monday refused to initiate high treason proceeding against former President Pervez Musharraf, saying it has a limited mandate to hold elections and deal with routine affairs.
There are five petitions seeking Musharraf's treason trial for allegedly subverting the constitution and declaring a state of emergency in 2007.
Attorney General Altaf Qadir submitted a formal reply to the Supreme Court, saying the interim government wants to leave the issue to the next government as it has no mandate to pursue the case.
In a five-page reply, he argued that the interim government only looks into day to day affairs and that it should avoid involvement in controversial matters.
Qadir said that the interim government traditionally does not deal with important policy matters and leave such matters to the next government after the May 11 parliamentary elections.
The petitioners asked the Supreme Court to direct the government to prosecute Musharraf under the High Treason ( Punishment) Act of 1973.
Musharraf is facing other legal cases, including the 2006 killing of Baloch tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti and the 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.
He had dismissed the elected government of Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in October 1999.
Musharraf had resigned in August 2008 to avoid impeachment by the parliament and then went into exile. He returned to Pakistan last month to take part in the general elections.
Afghan interpreters could be offered relocation to Britain
David Cameron expected to make decision on Tuesday affecting up to 1,100 who risked lives helping UK forces in Afghanistan
The Guardian By Nick Hopkins April 21, 2013
Hundreds of Afghan interpreters who have risked their lives working with UK forces in Helmand province could be offered relocation to Britain this week when David Cameron reviews the issue at a meeting of the national security council.
The prime minister has been given three broad options and is expected to make a decision on Tuesday that could affect up to 1,100 Afghan nationals – including more than 600 interpreters, who could be in grave danger from reprisals once Nato forces leave Afghanistan in 2014.
The most comprehensive option involves offering a relocation package similar to the one given to local interpreters after the Iraq war.
But two cheaper ideas also being considered include offering the interpreters a series of "economic incentives" to remain in Afghanistan, and requiring them to apply for asylum in the usual way, without preferential treatment.
This would infuriate campaigners, who have argued the interpreters must be given immediate special status as a reward for the dangerous work they have undertaken.
Twenty interpreters have died since 2001 – five were abducted and murdered by insurgents. Dozens of others have been wounded. The US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have all granted Afghan interpreters the right to asylum.
The Taliban has declared a death sentence on all Afghans working with Nato forces in the country, and some members of the national security council have privately expressed fears the UK will look miserly, and lacking in compassion, unless the interpreters are given the option to live in the UK.
The interpreters are paid well compared with most Afghans – about £1,000 a month – but the cash cannot protect them from revenge attacks.
"You can offer the interpreters every economic incentive in the world to stay in their own country, but that isn't going to remove the threat posed to them," said one Whitehall source.
Last week senior military figures and politicians joined calls for the interpreters to be offered asylum, saying the country had a "moral obligation" to protect them.
In an open letter, the former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown and General Mike Jackson, head of the army during the Iraq war, said: "The British military's job in Afghanistan would have been impossible without local interpreters, who have risked their lives and made extraordinary sacrifices just like British soldiers.
"After the Iraq war the UK gave Iraqi interpreters asylum in this country, but – shamefully – Britain is the only Nato country yet to do this for Afghan interpreters."
Though the Foreign Office has promised to help the interpreters, there has been criticism of the scheme offered to Iraqi interpreters, which defence officials have said "is expensive and complex to administer".
But in the latest Commons defence select committee report on Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, a former director general for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Foreign Office, said it would be possible to repatriate staff and for them to start a new life.
"We employ a vast number of interpreters and highly skilled people within the [Nato] mission. As we have seen elsewhere, if given lump sums and the right kind of training, they can come out and start setting up businesses of their own," he said.
Kuwait Energy Group May Sign Afghan Exploration Accord in June
Bloomberg By Fiona MacDonald April 21, 2013
A group including Kuwait Energy Co., a privately owned oil and natural-gas company, may sign an agreement in early June for two exploration blocks in northern Afghanistan, Chief Executive Officer Sara Akbar said.
“It’s in the government’s hands, we’ve almost negotiated all the terms with the government but there’s a whole process that goes in Afghanistan,” Akbar said in an interview in Kuwait today. Kuwait Energy is part of a group including Turkey’s state-owned TPAO and Dubai-based Dragon Oil Plc (DGO) that submitted bids in November for the exploration and production agreement, which is part of the 2012 Afghan-Tajik Phase 1 tender.
Kuwait Energy is still planning to sell shares in London and is waiting for the right moment, Akbar said.
“There is a huge discount in the value for companies operating in the Middle East so I think until things settle a little bit in the Middle East, I don’t think we will get the value that we are looking for,” she said.
Kuwait Energy, which posted 29 percent increase in profit last year, sees growth in 2013 through developing its operations in Yemen, Egypt and Iraq, according to Akbar. It is also building on its relations with Libya with a view to entering that market, she said.
“This year it will be a better year, except I see there is pressure on the oil price,” Akbar said. “So production will be up, but I don’t know about the oil price.”
Kuwait Energy, which also operates in Oman, Ukraine, Latvia, Russia and Pakistan, has a current daily production of 17,966 barrels of oil equivalent. The company plans to drill 16 exploration wells and 56 development wells this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fiona MacDonald in Kuwait atfmacdonald4@bloomberg.net
No Deadline Set for Signing Kabul-Washington Security Pact: MOFA
TOLOnews By Haseeb Maudoodi 21 April 2013
Afghan foreign minister stated Sunday that the government of Afghanistan has not specified any deadline for signing the security agreement with the United States and that once signed the agreement will not be implementable before the end of 2014.
While the strategic agreement between the two countries was signed last May and it is said that a one-year timeframe after the strategic pact was given for signing the security pact, the foreign ministry has said there is no such thing as a deadline for signing the next pact.
"There was not and has not been such a thing as a deadline determined for the bilateral security agreement between Afghanistan and the United States of America," said Janan Moosazai, spokesman of Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The agreement will clear the manners of continuation to Kabul-Washington cooperation on security, defence, and fight against insurgency. However, it is essential to consider interests of both sides within the agreement, the ministry added.
"What's important to the government of Afghanistan is to sign a comprehensive and truly long-term agreement with the United States of America, an agreement that will support interests of both sides, an agreement that can be enforced between the two countries for a long time. We shouldn't do it hurriedly, to sign a document with which one side or another is not satisfied," he added.
Moosazai pointed out that the starting point to implement the security pact between the two countries is considered to be the beginning of 2015.
"The bilateral security agreement between Afghanistan and the United States of America is for the phase after transition process, that means even if the bilateral security agreement between Afghanistan and the United States of America is signed tomorrow, it will not be enforced and implemented before the end of 2014. Therefore, the commencement for implementing the bilateral security agreement is January 2015," he said.
Although it has been constantly said that Afghanistan's security will be sturdily in relation to signing of US-Afghanistan security agreement, some have doubted how the two sides would respond to each other's demands.
Corrupt MPs Should Be Identified, Referred to Judiciary: Senate
TOLOnews By Rafi Sediqi 21 April 2013
Complaints commission of Afghan senate urged Sunday that all the MPs involved in corrupt dealings should be identified and referred to the judiciary organisations, for which a number of MPs had called upon their administrative board to investigate the issue last week.
"The corrupt ones within the parliament should be revealed and those who are identified to have received money and are involved in such deals should be referred to the judiciary organisations. We expect the president to do this," said Zalmai Zabuli, head of the Senate's complaints commission.
Stressing on the revelation of the names of those involved in corrupt deals, a number of senators said the issue has put the reputation of the National Assembly under question.
"A number of MPs have said that there are about 80 corrupt MPs in the parliament, but investigations will reveal that there are more than 80," said senator Rafiullah Haidari, "This issue should be addressed."
"There are those in the parliament who work for the people, but there are also a number of MPs who have been called famous commissioners, receiving contracts and projects," said senator Belqis Roshan.
Although some of the MPs have not rejected the corruption within the parliament, they have said that both the parliament and the senate should fight against corruption in a serious manner.
"Currently, there are no organisations without corruption. Both assemblies should start a joint policy for fighting against corruption," said Farkhunda Zahra Naderi, MP.
"They shouldn't just accuse each other," she added. The comments come after the parliament summoned 11 ministers earlier this month, for spending insufficient amount of their development budget, however all of the ministers received votes of confidence in which a number of MPs suggested corrupt dealings were involved.
World Circus Day Celebrated in Kabul
TOLOnews By Azem Arash 21 April 2013
World circus day was celebrated in Kabul with performance by members of Afghan Mini Mobile Circus for Children (MMCC) Sunday.
With the celebration on this international day, we want to show the world a new face of Afghanistan away from violence and conflict, said MMCC children in Kabul among whom are those who have come from different parts of the country.
Afghanistan is a country where there is no regular programme for amusement of children. But in recent years enthusiasm of children has caused Afghanistan to gain membership of the international circus federation.
"International Circus Day is celebrated every year all over the world.
This year, Afghanistan was the only country in Asia to celebrate it,"said Hameed Rohan, MMCC staff.
One of the MMCC members said "By performing these shows we want to expose that Afghan children are progressing."
"The very interesting fact is that Afghanistan is one of the 40 countries...and none of the neighbouring countries have that capacity to celebrate this universal celebration of the circus day," said David Mason, trainer at Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children.
Circus activities are currently being taught by the MMCC for Afghan children across 25 provinces, reaching as many as 2.7 million live audience, Mason said.
Bomb kills four Pakistani soldiers near Afghan border
AFP Apr 21, 2013
Miranshah, Pakistan - A roadside bomb targeting a military convoy on Sunday killed four Pakistan army soldiers and wounded four more in a northwestern tribal area near the Afghan border, officials said.The blast was triggered by remote control in Mirali town in north Waziristan tribal district, a notorious hub of Taliban and Al-Qaida linked militants.
"The roadside bomb planted near Khawaja Khar check post went off when a convoy left Mirali on its way to the northwestern city of Bannu," a local security official said, adding that four soldiers died and four more were rushed to hospital.
An army official in the northwestern city of Peshawar confirmed the attack on the convoy of more than a dozen vehicles and the casualty toll.
"The bomb was planted under a culvert near the check post, it destroyed one military vehicle and killed four soldiers," he said, adding that another four were wounded in the blast.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
Pakistan suffers from near daily bomb and shooting attacks, which officials blame on Taliban and Al-Qaida-linked militants.
According to Islamabad, more than 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism since Al-Qaida's September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
HRW Concerned Over Condition of Afghan Women
TOLOnews By Abdul Wali Arian 21 April 2013
Concerned over the condition of women in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch warned Saturday that continuation of the current situation would destroy what has been achieved.
Part of the concern by the watch goes to the condition of beggar women who – as claimed by Afghan social affairs ministry – are forced by some mafia groups for what they do.
"Obviously, poverty is a very serious issue in Afghanistan for many families, and poverty always affects women the most, there are some who go without food, without medical care when a family can't afford these things," Human Rights Watch researcher, Heather Barr, told TOLOnews.
HRW warns that Afghanistan's achievement in women's rights field will be destroyed if current challenges continue in the country.
Despite considerable achievements in women's rights by Afghanistan throughout the past years, it yet seems there has been no fundamental change made.
Across the capital Kabul, there are still many Afghan women who sit on dusty roads and beg for money, women among whom are those who take their small children to streets as well.
One of the beggar women told TOLOnews "My life is too bad. We have to beg on the street, the government does not help us."
Another woman who has lost his husband two years ago said "I have a very bad life. I have kept this bread for 10 days and I am still feeding my son with it."
HRW believes that the living conditions of beggar women across country are worse than what one could imagine.
"This is violation of their personality, violation of their social progress, and this is a serious violation of human rights," said Moosa Mahmoodi, executive director of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.
A few years ago, Afghan government founded a commission to collect all the beggars from the streets, a decision which seems did not reach fruition.
"This is a serious social problem. We are trying to solve it based on the law to support deprived families," said Amina Afzali, Minister of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
By THOMAS WAGNER | Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban took 11 civilians prisoner, including eight Turks and a Russian, after their cargo helicopter made an emergency landing in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Monday, in the first large scale capture of foreigners there in nearly six years.
Security forces dispatched to the remote area retreated after engaging in firefights with the insurgents but failing to secure the area or retrieve the captives.
The crisis began Sunday when the civilian transport aircraft was forced down in strong winds and heavy rain in the village of Dahra Mangal in the Azra district of Logar province, southeast of Kabul, District Governor Hamidullah Hamid told The Associated Press. He said the helicopter came down in a gorge in the densely forested region, known for narrow gorges and rugged mountains, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Pakistani border.
Taliban fighters then captured everyone aboard the helicopter and took them away, Hamid said.
In a telephone interview, Arsala Jamal, the Logar provincial governor, identified the prisoners as eight Turks, one Afghan translator and two foreign pilots of unknown nationality.
Although the capture or kidnapping of foreigners is not uncommon in Afghanistan, large scale captures of foreigners are rare.
The last such instance was in July 2007, when the Taliban abducted 23 South Korean church volunteers as they traveled by bus along a dangerous road in southern Afghanistan. The militants killed two men soon after taking them and later gradually released all the remaining captives over a month.
Last month, the Taliban released a Turkish engineer that they kidnapped two years ago. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said at the time that the engineer was released as a goodwill gesture.
In this case, the foreigners fell into the hands of the Taliban, as opposed to an insurgent initiative aimed at capturing them. Even so, it showed again that the Taliban are still a formidable force facing the Afghan military and police, who will be responsible for security after most foreign forces leave next year.
Stepan Anikeyev, the Russian Embassy's press attache in Kabul, said in a phone interview that a Russian man was being held prisoner. He said the Russians know he was one of the two pilots but could not identify him.
There was no information about the other pilot.
In Ankara, Bulent Arinc, Turkey's deputy prime minister and government spokesman, said eight Turks and two pilots were aboard the helicopter and that Taliban took them prisoner. "We hope that they are rescued as soon as possible and will return to the region where they were working," he said, without saying what the Turks were doing in Afghanistan. The discrepancy in the number of captives could not be immediately reconciled.
"A helicopter that belongs to no military organization made emergency landing in an area of Logar province," Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said.
Security forces were dispatched to the area where the helicopter landed and engaged in firefights with the Taliban but quickly retreated because they had no support, said Logar Deputy Police Chief Rais Khan Abdul Rahimzai.
"We brought the police back because there was no help from the (NATO) coalition or the Afghan army. The police were unable to secure the area, which is very rural, and we were worried," Rahimzai said. He said that information they had from the region was that the prisoners were taken by the Taliban to Hisarak district of neighboring Nangarhar province.
The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force said there were no members of the force or "U.S. personnel onboard the Turkish helicopter," denying an earlier Taliban claim that they had detained Americans on the aircraft.
ISAF spokeswoman Erin Stattel said the coalition was assisting in the recovery of the aircraft, but would not say how. She could not say whether the helicopter made a precautionary landing or the Taliban had forced it down.
Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency, quoting an unidentified official from the Khorasan company in Kabul, as saying an MI-8 type helicopter it owns made an emergency landing near the town of Azra due to bad weather conditions. There were 11 people on board, including eight Turks, one Afghan and one Russian, Anadolu quoted the official as saying.
The helicopter reportedly belonged to a company called Khorasan Cargo Airlines. No one was answering telephones at Khorasan's offices in Kabul or in Dubai.
Rahimzai said he didn't know what kind of cargo the helicopter was carrying, where it was headed, or whether it was working for NATO.
In other incidents on Monday, six police officers were killed in two separate insurgent attacks in the south, said provincial spokesman Ummar Zawaq.
He said two police officers and two Taliban were killed when insurgents attacked a patrol in the Khan Nashim district, and four police were killed in a firefight in the Marjah district. He said the Taliban took the weapons from the dead police officers after shooting them.
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AP writers Amir Shah and Patrick Quinn in Kabul, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed to this report.
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Follow Thomas Wagner on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/tjpwagner.
President Karzai urges China’s role in Afghan peace process
By MIRWAIS ADEEL - 22 Apr 2013, 11:51 am Khaama Press
Afghan president Hamid Karzai emphasized on the importance of China’s role in Afghan peace process with the militant groups in Afghanistan, insisting peace as a must necessity for any nation.
While speaking during an interview with Chinese Phoenix Satellite Television, president Karzai called China an important neighbor of Afghanistan and insisted on China’s role in
Afghan peace talks considering the country a major world power and a friend of Afghanistan.
Karzai said, “Afghanistan views China not only as a good neighbor, as a neighbor that has been doing good for the Afghan people for long but also as the second biggest economy in the world, as a rising superpower of the world and a superpower that is a neighbor of Afghanistan.”
He also insisted on continued cooperation of China, Russia, India and other neighbors, was important for stability and progress in Afghanistan.
“We, as you said rightly, are known as the graveyard of empires, not because we wanted Afghanistan to be the graveyard for those empires but because of the way those empires behaved worse and the consequences were the collapse of those empires”, president Karzai responded to a question regarding Afghanistan, being known as the graveyard of empires.
In regards to post-2014 security concerns in Afghanistan, president Karzai said, Afghanistan would keep on the road that it has taken, and continue to make progress.
NATO foreign ministers to meet on Afghanistan
KABUL, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of the NATO and other troop contributing nations will meet Tuesday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, a NATO spokesman said here Monday.
The 50 foreign ministers of NATO and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) nations, Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul and representatives from the United Nations and the European Union, will meet to discuss developments of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and the future of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, spokesman Dominic Medley told a joint press briefing.
"At the meeting tomorrow, ministers will discuss the significant milestone expected later this year, when the Afghan National Security Forces take the lead for security across the country," he said.
Currently, 100,000-strong foreign troops with nearly 66,000 of them Americans are being deployed in Afghanistan.
"In a separate meeting, NATO foreign ministers will also talk with their Russian counterpart. Amongst other topics, they are expected to launch the second phase of the NATO-Russia Council Helicopter Maintenance Trust Fund for Afghanistan," Medley added.
Under the U.S. President Barack Obama's withdrawal plan, 33,000 U.S. troops already pulled out of Afghanistan last year and another 34,000 will return home by February next 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.
At the same briefing, the Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Seddiq Seddiqi utterly rejected a report released by a Non- Governmental Organization "Safety Office" which said there were 2, 331 insurgent-initiated attacks in the first quarter of this year, a 47 percent increase over the same period last year.
"Our assessment is different. The Interior Ministry and the Afghan National Police (ANP) have registered 1,020 security incidents across the country in the first three months in 2013," he said, adding that the findings of the Afghan NGO Safety Office was totally incorrect.
Afghan interpreters arrive in New Zealand to seek shelter
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Thirty Afghan interpreters and their families arrived in Auckland on Monday to start new lives in New Zealand.
The interpreters were employed by the New Zealand Defence Force in Afghanistan, most of them working with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan province.
Ninety-four Afghans, including 20 children, were met at the Whenuapai air base by Chief of the Defence Force Lieutenant- General Rhys Jones, Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse and Police Commissioner Peter Marshall on Monday afternoon, Radio New Zealand reported.
In 2012, the New Zealand government agreed to accept them under its refugee quota, amid fears they would be targeted by the Taliban when New Zealand troops left Bamyan in April this year.
The group will stay at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Center in South Auckland for eight weeks before settling in Hamilton and Palmerston North.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said on Monday he wishes all the best for the Afghan interpreters and their families.
Key said the men played a vital role in the operation of the Provincial Reconstruction Team and is grateful for their service.
Afghan Businesses Look to Expand, Despite 2014 Worries
Bethany Matta VOA News April 21, 2013
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — As international troops prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014, some businesses and aid groups are looking to curb their investments in the country. But others are planning to expand, despite the uncertainty. Bethany Matta reports from Kabul.
Even for those Afghans who are not anxious about the security situation when foreign troops withdraw, 2014 still creates anxiety when it comes to businesses and the economy.
Afghanistan's economy grew around 11 percent last year, but the expected decline in military and civilian aid and uncertain security situation makes some investors wary.
Abass, a local store owner, said “When people say 2014 is going to be a dangerous year, in my view, nothing will happen. But, as far as 2014 goes for business, it (will) have an impact on trade and business.”
Despite worries about the security situation and the capability of the government, many businesses are planning to expand - such as Coca Cola, with its line of Minute Maid juices.
The company wants to invest millions more to increase capacity, but land is a problem. The factory and parking lot are already used for storage.
East Horizon also faces its own difficulties, but land is not one of them. They've taken their investment to the skies.
The airline, opening just four months ago, already has seven routes.
Flights to Bamiyan, where it is hard to travel the road because of insecurity, are usually full. In another month the airline will be adding two more planes and additional routes.
East Horizon's chief executive and captain, Jahed Azimi, says Afghanistan needs flights to remote provinces to create business opportunities and development.
"We see that there will be some potential, of course the road is not that easy. But, our board of directors and myself we decided that Afghans should stand on their feet and do their job by themselves," he said.
More than a decade of foreign assistance has a mixed track record in Afghanistan, where basic security remains the biggest concern.
But advertising consultant Mustafa Mirza says there is rich and growing market for some consumer goods that did not even exist several years ago.
“I don't think anything will happen in the private sector, like if you go out in Kabul you've got super stores like 'Finest' and 'Spinneys,' you can get cat food for example. There was no concept of cat food two or three years ago, but now its like the shelves are full and there is a big inventory of quality food products," he said.
Cat food, energy drinks , 3G Internet … all products Afghans have been exposed to the last decade are not likely to go away when the troops leave. This year's strong harvest season means consumers should have more money to spend in the months ahead.
So, although some companies and organizations cut back or cut out altogether, others are taking risks on an Afghan-led economy.
Pakistan interim gov't refuses to try Musharraf for treason
ISLAMABAD, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani caretaker government on Monday refused to initiate high treason proceeding against former President Pervez Musharraf, saying it has a limited mandate to hold elections and deal with routine affairs.
There are five petitions seeking Musharraf's treason trial for allegedly subverting the constitution and declaring a state of emergency in 2007.
Attorney General Altaf Qadir submitted a formal reply to the Supreme Court, saying the interim government wants to leave the issue to the next government as it has no mandate to pursue the case.
In a five-page reply, he argued that the interim government only looks into day to day affairs and that it should avoid involvement in controversial matters.
Qadir said that the interim government traditionally does not deal with important policy matters and leave such matters to the next government after the May 11 parliamentary elections.
The petitioners asked the Supreme Court to direct the government to prosecute Musharraf under the High Treason ( Punishment) Act of 1973.
Musharraf is facing other legal cases, including the 2006 killing of Baloch tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti and the 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.
He had dismissed the elected government of Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in October 1999.
Musharraf had resigned in August 2008 to avoid impeachment by the parliament and then went into exile. He returned to Pakistan last month to take part in the general elections.
Afghan interpreters could be offered relocation to Britain
David Cameron expected to make decision on Tuesday affecting up to 1,100 who risked lives helping UK forces in Afghanistan
The Guardian By Nick Hopkins April 21, 2013
Hundreds of Afghan interpreters who have risked their lives working with UK forces in Helmand province could be offered relocation to Britain this week when David Cameron reviews the issue at a meeting of the national security council.
The prime minister has been given three broad options and is expected to make a decision on Tuesday that could affect up to 1,100 Afghan nationals – including more than 600 interpreters, who could be in grave danger from reprisals once Nato forces leave Afghanistan in 2014.
The most comprehensive option involves offering a relocation package similar to the one given to local interpreters after the Iraq war.
But two cheaper ideas also being considered include offering the interpreters a series of "economic incentives" to remain in Afghanistan, and requiring them to apply for asylum in the usual way, without preferential treatment.
This would infuriate campaigners, who have argued the interpreters must be given immediate special status as a reward for the dangerous work they have undertaken.
Twenty interpreters have died since 2001 – five were abducted and murdered by insurgents. Dozens of others have been wounded. The US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have all granted Afghan interpreters the right to asylum.
The Taliban has declared a death sentence on all Afghans working with Nato forces in the country, and some members of the national security council have privately expressed fears the UK will look miserly, and lacking in compassion, unless the interpreters are given the option to live in the UK.
The interpreters are paid well compared with most Afghans – about £1,000 a month – but the cash cannot protect them from revenge attacks.
"You can offer the interpreters every economic incentive in the world to stay in their own country, but that isn't going to remove the threat posed to them," said one Whitehall source.
Last week senior military figures and politicians joined calls for the interpreters to be offered asylum, saying the country had a "moral obligation" to protect them.
In an open letter, the former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown and General Mike Jackson, head of the army during the Iraq war, said: "The British military's job in Afghanistan would have been impossible without local interpreters, who have risked their lives and made extraordinary sacrifices just like British soldiers.
"After the Iraq war the UK gave Iraqi interpreters asylum in this country, but – shamefully – Britain is the only Nato country yet to do this for Afghan interpreters."
Though the Foreign Office has promised to help the interpreters, there has been criticism of the scheme offered to Iraqi interpreters, which defence officials have said "is expensive and complex to administer".
But in the latest Commons defence select committee report on Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, a former director general for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Foreign Office, said it would be possible to repatriate staff and for them to start a new life.
"We employ a vast number of interpreters and highly skilled people within the [Nato] mission. As we have seen elsewhere, if given lump sums and the right kind of training, they can come out and start setting up businesses of their own," he said.
Kuwait Energy Group May Sign Afghan Exploration Accord in June
Bloomberg By Fiona MacDonald April 21, 2013
A group including Kuwait Energy Co., a privately owned oil and natural-gas company, may sign an agreement in early June for two exploration blocks in northern Afghanistan, Chief Executive Officer Sara Akbar said.
“It’s in the government’s hands, we’ve almost negotiated all the terms with the government but there’s a whole process that goes in Afghanistan,” Akbar said in an interview in Kuwait today. Kuwait Energy is part of a group including Turkey’s state-owned TPAO and Dubai-based Dragon Oil Plc (DGO) that submitted bids in November for the exploration and production agreement, which is part of the 2012 Afghan-Tajik Phase 1 tender.
Kuwait Energy is still planning to sell shares in London and is waiting for the right moment, Akbar said.
“There is a huge discount in the value for companies operating in the Middle East so I think until things settle a little bit in the Middle East, I don’t think we will get the value that we are looking for,” she said.
Kuwait Energy, which posted 29 percent increase in profit last year, sees growth in 2013 through developing its operations in Yemen, Egypt and Iraq, according to Akbar. It is also building on its relations with Libya with a view to entering that market, she said.
“This year it will be a better year, except I see there is pressure on the oil price,” Akbar said. “So production will be up, but I don’t know about the oil price.”
Kuwait Energy, which also operates in Oman, Ukraine, Latvia, Russia and Pakistan, has a current daily production of 17,966 barrels of oil equivalent. The company plans to drill 16 exploration wells and 56 development wells this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fiona MacDonald in Kuwait atfmacdonald4@bloomberg.net
No Deadline Set for Signing Kabul-Washington Security Pact: MOFA
TOLOnews By Haseeb Maudoodi 21 April 2013
Afghan foreign minister stated Sunday that the government of Afghanistan has not specified any deadline for signing the security agreement with the United States and that once signed the agreement will not be implementable before the end of 2014.
While the strategic agreement between the two countries was signed last May and it is said that a one-year timeframe after the strategic pact was given for signing the security pact, the foreign ministry has said there is no such thing as a deadline for signing the next pact.
"There was not and has not been such a thing as a deadline determined for the bilateral security agreement between Afghanistan and the United States of America," said Janan Moosazai, spokesman of Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The agreement will clear the manners of continuation to Kabul-Washington cooperation on security, defence, and fight against insurgency. However, it is essential to consider interests of both sides within the agreement, the ministry added.
"What's important to the government of Afghanistan is to sign a comprehensive and truly long-term agreement with the United States of America, an agreement that will support interests of both sides, an agreement that can be enforced between the two countries for a long time. We shouldn't do it hurriedly, to sign a document with which one side or another is not satisfied," he added.
Moosazai pointed out that the starting point to implement the security pact between the two countries is considered to be the beginning of 2015.
"The bilateral security agreement between Afghanistan and the United States of America is for the phase after transition process, that means even if the bilateral security agreement between Afghanistan and the United States of America is signed tomorrow, it will not be enforced and implemented before the end of 2014. Therefore, the commencement for implementing the bilateral security agreement is January 2015," he said.
Although it has been constantly said that Afghanistan's security will be sturdily in relation to signing of US-Afghanistan security agreement, some have doubted how the two sides would respond to each other's demands.
Corrupt MPs Should Be Identified, Referred to Judiciary: Senate
TOLOnews By Rafi Sediqi 21 April 2013
Complaints commission of Afghan senate urged Sunday that all the MPs involved in corrupt dealings should be identified and referred to the judiciary organisations, for which a number of MPs had called upon their administrative board to investigate the issue last week.
"The corrupt ones within the parliament should be revealed and those who are identified to have received money and are involved in such deals should be referred to the judiciary organisations. We expect the president to do this," said Zalmai Zabuli, head of the Senate's complaints commission.
Stressing on the revelation of the names of those involved in corrupt deals, a number of senators said the issue has put the reputation of the National Assembly under question.
"A number of MPs have said that there are about 80 corrupt MPs in the parliament, but investigations will reveal that there are more than 80," said senator Rafiullah Haidari, "This issue should be addressed."
"There are those in the parliament who work for the people, but there are also a number of MPs who have been called famous commissioners, receiving contracts and projects," said senator Belqis Roshan.
Although some of the MPs have not rejected the corruption within the parliament, they have said that both the parliament and the senate should fight against corruption in a serious manner.
"Currently, there are no organisations without corruption. Both assemblies should start a joint policy for fighting against corruption," said Farkhunda Zahra Naderi, MP.
"They shouldn't just accuse each other," she added. The comments come after the parliament summoned 11 ministers earlier this month, for spending insufficient amount of their development budget, however all of the ministers received votes of confidence in which a number of MPs suggested corrupt dealings were involved.
World Circus Day Celebrated in Kabul
TOLOnews By Azem Arash 21 April 2013
World circus day was celebrated in Kabul with performance by members of Afghan Mini Mobile Circus for Children (MMCC) Sunday.
With the celebration on this international day, we want to show the world a new face of Afghanistan away from violence and conflict, said MMCC children in Kabul among whom are those who have come from different parts of the country.
Afghanistan is a country where there is no regular programme for amusement of children. But in recent years enthusiasm of children has caused Afghanistan to gain membership of the international circus federation.
"International Circus Day is celebrated every year all over the world.
This year, Afghanistan was the only country in Asia to celebrate it,"said Hameed Rohan, MMCC staff.
One of the MMCC members said "By performing these shows we want to expose that Afghan children are progressing."
"The very interesting fact is that Afghanistan is one of the 40 countries...and none of the neighbouring countries have that capacity to celebrate this universal celebration of the circus day," said David Mason, trainer at Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children.
Circus activities are currently being taught by the MMCC for Afghan children across 25 provinces, reaching as many as 2.7 million live audience, Mason said.
Bomb kills four Pakistani soldiers near Afghan border
AFP Apr 21, 2013
Miranshah, Pakistan - A roadside bomb targeting a military convoy on Sunday killed four Pakistan army soldiers and wounded four more in a northwestern tribal area near the Afghan border, officials said.The blast was triggered by remote control in Mirali town in north Waziristan tribal district, a notorious hub of Taliban and Al-Qaida linked militants.
"The roadside bomb planted near Khawaja Khar check post went off when a convoy left Mirali on its way to the northwestern city of Bannu," a local security official said, adding that four soldiers died and four more were rushed to hospital.
An army official in the northwestern city of Peshawar confirmed the attack on the convoy of more than a dozen vehicles and the casualty toll.
"The bomb was planted under a culvert near the check post, it destroyed one military vehicle and killed four soldiers," he said, adding that another four were wounded in the blast.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
Pakistan suffers from near daily bomb and shooting attacks, which officials blame on Taliban and Al-Qaida-linked militants.
According to Islamabad, more than 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism since Al-Qaida's September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
HRW Concerned Over Condition of Afghan Women
TOLOnews By Abdul Wali Arian 21 April 2013
Concerned over the condition of women in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch warned Saturday that continuation of the current situation would destroy what has been achieved.
Part of the concern by the watch goes to the condition of beggar women who – as claimed by Afghan social affairs ministry – are forced by some mafia groups for what they do.
"Obviously, poverty is a very serious issue in Afghanistan for many families, and poverty always affects women the most, there are some who go without food, without medical care when a family can't afford these things," Human Rights Watch researcher, Heather Barr, told TOLOnews.
HRW warns that Afghanistan's achievement in women's rights field will be destroyed if current challenges continue in the country.
Despite considerable achievements in women's rights by Afghanistan throughout the past years, it yet seems there has been no fundamental change made.
Across the capital Kabul, there are still many Afghan women who sit on dusty roads and beg for money, women among whom are those who take their small children to streets as well.
One of the beggar women told TOLOnews "My life is too bad. We have to beg on the street, the government does not help us."
Another woman who has lost his husband two years ago said "I have a very bad life. I have kept this bread for 10 days and I am still feeding my son with it."
HRW believes that the living conditions of beggar women across country are worse than what one could imagine.
"This is violation of their personality, violation of their social progress, and this is a serious violation of human rights," said Moosa Mahmoodi, executive director of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.
A few years ago, Afghan government founded a commission to collect all the beggars from the streets, a decision which seems did not reach fruition.
"This is a serious social problem. We are trying to solve it based on the law to support deprived families," said Amina Afzali, Minister of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com