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Kerry to host Afghan, Pakistan talks
By MATTHEW LEE | Associated Press – Mon, Apr 22, 2013
BRUSSELS (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he would host a meeting of top Afghan and Pakistani officials this week in Brussels to discuss reconciliation with the Taliban and other issues.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his defense minister, along with Pakistan's military chief and foreign secretary, will attend Wednesday's meeting, Kerry said.
"I will be meeting with President Karzai and General (Ashfaq Parvez) Kayani and the civilian foreign minister from Pakistan while I am here," Kerry told reporters. He said the goal was to advance the peace process "in the simplest most, most cooperative, most cogent way so that we wind up with both Pakistan's and Afghanistan's interests being satisfied but most importantly with a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, which is worth the expenditure and the treasure and effort of these last years."
Reconciliation efforts between the Taliban and Afghanistan promoted by the United States have hit several snags, including the assassination of Karzai's hand-picked negotiator, which shattered the little trust that existed between his government and Taliban elements that might be willing to talk peace.
At the same time, Karzai has repeatedly said that any reconciliation cannot take place without the involvement of Pakistan, whose security services have close ties to the Taliban.
Afghanistan accused Pakistan earlier this month of placing unacceptable conditions on efforts to bring peace to the country after nearly 12 years of war, the latest in a series of barbed exchanges that has sunk relations between the two neighbors to a new low.
Luring the Taliban to the negotiating table is a key goal of the United States and its allies as they work for a peaceful solution in Afghanistan ahead of the final pullout of foreign combat forces in 20 months.
Afghanistan and its international backers consider Pakistan a critical player in bringing the Taliban and other militant groups into peace talks. Pakistan holds dozens of Taliban prisoners and has been accused of backing the insurgents in an effort to be able to exert influence in Afghanistan after foreign troops.
But in Islamabad, the foreign ministry said Kayani and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani will attend the Trilateral Core Group Meeting.
"Pakistan has consistently endeavored to facilitate an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. Pakistan remains committed to continue its positive and constructive role towards a durable peace in Afghanistan," the statement said.
The Afghan side was less supportive of Pakistan's role so far, with a Karzai spokesman noting that the Pakistanis have taken no practical steps yet.
"As you know there have been many talks and negotiations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, but I must say unless Pakistan does not act honestly and take practical steps to what they are saying, it will be very difficult to have any progress in the peace process or fight against terrorism and extremism, so we need an honest and practical act by the Pakistanis on all those issues that they are committing and promising," Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said.
Kerry is in Brussels to attend a NATO foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday. He will also meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and various European officials.
Associated Press reporter Rahim Faiez contributed from Kabul
Pakistan must play positive role in Afghanistan: NATO
By Adrian Croft and David Brunnstrom
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Pakistan must play a positive role in bringing stability to Afghanistan as foreign troops prepare to leave in 2014, the head of NATO said on Tuesday, before a U.S.-chaired meeting that will try to ease friction between often feuding neighbors.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will host talks between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and senior Pakistan officials in Brussels on Wednesday, with the aim of calming tension over border disputes and the stalled peace process.
"If we are to ensure long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan we also need a positive engagement of Afghanistan's neighbors, including Pakistan," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters as alliance foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss NATO's mission in Afghanistan.
Wednesday's U.S.-chaired meeting is part of a series of on-off discussions between Afghanistan and Pakistan at the behest of the United States. Rasmussen said he would meet Karzai later on Tuesday.
Afghanistan has grown increasingly frustrated with Pakistan over efforts to pursue a peace process involving the Taliban, suggesting that Islamabad is intent on keep Afghanistan unstable until after foreign combat forces have left at the end of 2014.
U.S. officials hope that Kerry, who has a good relationship with Karzai, can bring the parties back to the negotiating table and make constructive progress on an issue that has long-term security implications for Washington.
Kerry said on Monday the aim of the meeting would be to "try to talk about how we can advance this process in the simplest, most cooperative and most cogent way, so that we wind up with both Pakistan's and Afghanistan's interests being satisfied, but, most importantly, with a stable and peaceful Afghanistan."
TENSION
The talks follow weeks of tension with Pakistan over their 2,600 km (1,600 mile) border and stalled peace efforts.
Although there have been several meetings in Western capitals over the past few months in which representatives of the Taliban have met Afghan peace negotiators, there have been no signs of a breakthrough.
Kabul accuses Pakistan of harboring the Taliban leadership in the city of Quetta and using militants as proxies to counter the influence of India in Afghanistan.
As well as Karzai and Kerry, Wednesday's meeting will include Afghanistan's defense minister, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and Pakistan's foreign secretary, Jalil Jilani, the U.S. official said.
NATO-led forces are expected to cede the lead role for security in Afghanistan this spring to Afghan soldiers, 12 years after the United States invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban government harboring Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader who masterminded the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities.
Most foreign combat forces are due to pull out by the end of 2014, leaving a smaller NATO-led training mission behind and a U.S. force to fight militants.
The White House has yet to decide how many U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan after 2014 and this could be a factor influencing both Taliban and Pakistani strategy. Much depends on progress in negotiations with Karzai on a Bilateral Security Agreement to define the future legal status of U.S. forces.
NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels on February 22 discussed keeping a combined NATO force of between 8,000 and 12,000 troops. That compares to combined NATO forces of about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan now.
General James Mattis, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command, said in March he had recommended keeping 13,600 American troops in Afghanistan after 2014.
(Editing by Jon Hemming)
Despite Gains Against Taliban, Helmand Residents Feel Insecure
By Frud Bezhan and Mustafa Sarwar April 23, 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
After years of bloodshed, a tenuous calm has emerged in Helmand. Large swaths of the southern Afghan province, once a bastion of the Taliban insurgency, have been wrested from militant control.
The daily firefights and roadside bombs that plagued Helmand have abated. Development is evident. Schools have been built, roads have been paved, and markets reopened. Local elections have been held, giving the government the opportunity to expand its presence to remote areas.
But despite the inroads, security in the province has been piecemeal and few residents appear optimistic about the future.
Some express fears that the Taliban will return in force once foreign troops leave. Others say Afghanistan's fledgling security forces will be unable to protect the hard-fought gains made in Helmand. And rampant corruption has diminished confidence in the local government.
A Job Undone?
Around 8,000 American and 9,000 British soldiers are currently deployed in the province, but most are on their way out in keeping with the expected withdrawal of most foreign forces by the end of 2014.
The 24,000 Afghan National Army (ANA) troops stationed in Helmand now lead the vast majority of combat operations -- about 80 percent. In the coming months, they will take full control of security in the province, with coalition forces stepping back into an advisory role.
Some residents who spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan said they were concerned that international troops will leave before the job is done. The Taliban, despite being pushed back, has continued intermittent fighting in pockets in the province's north. The province's poppy harvest, which provides some 40 percent of the world's opium supply, remains a prized asset for the militants.
Abdul Aziz is a resident of Lashkargah, the provincial capital. Aziz says that without the presence of Western soldiers, Helmand will descend into chaos. He says that while the daily violence in the capital has slowed, militants have continued to sow fear through sporadic attacks on tribal elders and government officials.
"There is no security. Currently, you see that the Taliban are placing mines inside the city." Aziz says. "And if foreign troops go out [of Afghanistan], it is possible that we will go back to [how it was] three or four years ago. And the Taliban might come back and take control of all the areas and all efforts made by the government and the military will have been in vain."
'Creeping Back'
In several northern districts in Helmand, violence has gone up in the past year. Najeeb Dawari is a resident of the Marjah district, the scene of one of the largest offensives of the war. He says the huge sacrifices made to capture Marjah could all be for nothing if coalition forces leave without leaving behind an Afghan force capable of protecting those gains.
A "surge" consisting of 15,000 U.S. and British soldiers was dispatched to Marjah, a Taliban stronghold in central Helmand. After months of fierce fighting that resulted in high numbers of fatalities, Marjah was wrested from Taliban control by the end of 2010.
Dawari says the Taliban is now "creeping back" and could pounce again once coalition forces depart.
"People are very hopeless now. When I myself go out to the city, I have this point in mind as to whether I will return home soundly," Dawari says, "All is hopeless. When we see the police, they are in danger. Despite being armed and having authority, they are being killed in the city. So, as an ordinary shopkeeper, I am afraid that there will be a suicide attack today and that I will be killed in the next attack."
A sign of the fragile gains was an audacious attack carried out earlier this year by insurgents against Camp Bastion, a heavily fortified NATO base in northern Helmand that houses some 20,000 British troops. Militants using mortars and rocket-propelled grenades killed two American Marines in February and destroyed or severely damaged eight attack jets, causing more than $200 million in damage.
The bold attack on Camp Bastion, one of the largest and best defended posts in Afghanistan, stands as the costliest single attack that the international coalition has sustained in terms of damage.
Corruption Allegations
As fearful as locals are of a Taliban comeback, they are equally angry at the provincial and central government, which they accuse of being ineffective and corrupt.
Aziz says farmers, many of whom have been left impoverished as a result of the government's poppy-eradication campaign, will quickly return to cultivation and look to the Taliban for protection.
He alleges that while many officials outwardly support the war on drugs, many turn a blind eye to poppy harvesting and even extort money from farmers.
"In the current situation, the Afghan forces cannot [maintain security] because all the senior and junior officials are thinking about their own pockets," Aziz says. "Because of that, I don't think that the government will be able to safeguard Afghanistan or, in general, Helmand after 2014."
Despite the fragile security in Helmand, the international presence there is diminishing by the day. Out of the 240 NATO bases that were once located in the province, only 44 remain. Helmand's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), which has been heavily involved in efforts to rebuild hospitals, schools, and roads over the past seven years, is also packing its bags.
The drawdown of foreign forces is going into motion just as Afghan troops enter the heaviest fighting season. Questions surround the readiness of Afghan forces, which suffer from a high rate of desertion, a poor reenlistment record, low morale, and a lack of equipment.
But officials believe the Afghan security forces and police will be able to manage, whatever the Taliban throws at it. Abdul Nabil, the provincial police chief of Helmand, is among those who are optimistic.
"We have always said that the [Afghan National Police] are becoming more professional with every passing day," Nabil says. "The provincial police department of Helmand is trying all it can to train a police force that the people want and the law requires."
Elias Dayee of RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan contributed to this report
Local Afghan Official Says Talks Under Way To Free Hostages
April 23, 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
KABUL -- An Afghan official says negotiations are under way with the Taliban to free a group of mainly Turkish hostages.
They were captured after their helicopter went down on April 21 during bad weather in a militant-controlled area in eastern Afghanistan's Logar Province.
The eight Turkish engineers, an Afghan, and two pilots from Russia and Kyrgyzstan were onboard.
Abdul Wali Wakil, the provincial council chief of Logar, told RFE/RL that a local Taliban commander, Mullah Sadar-e Azam, was holding the hostages.
Wakil said that progress had been made in talks with Azam's group, and he was hopeful the hostages will be released soon.
Another local official, Din Mohammad Darwish, said tribal elders were playing an important role in negotiations.
With reporting by Reuters
MOI Accuses Afghan Senators, MPs of Interference
TOLOnews.com By Mursal Mansoory 22 April 2013
Afghan Minister of Interior Mujtaba Patang, during a National Security Council meeting on Sunday expressed concern over illegal interference of Senators and MPs in the affairs of the ministry of interior.
Minister of interior considers interference of the representatives of the national council as illegal and calls it a serious challenge ahead of himself, adding that he received more than fifty thousand application forms for doing personal work from the national council representatives in the last four months.
The minister says that he has been summoned thirty two times to parliament and fourteen times to the senate house.
The ministry says that members of both houses in these letters want that their persons of interest must be hired in different departments of the ministry.
"If we hire people in request of the representatives of both houses or if we hire people based on their interests in every field, then there will be no future for the country's police," Sediq Sediqi Minister of Interior's Spokesman said.
Meanwhile, many of national council members called for disclosure of the names of the accused representatives.
"Come and tell the session who we have appointed and in which field and where they are," Wazhma Safi member of Senate said.
Many members of homeland security and defence committee of senate house in a statement said that the applications have been given by persons, not by the senate house.
"They must be named to the national council so that we know who are acting illegally," Daoud Asas member of senate house said.
On the other hand, some Afghans blame their representatives in the national council over corruption.
"None of our representatives has done anything for us. They only think about their own pockets," a Kabul resident said.
The ministry of interior says that while less than two years is left for taking full security responsibility from foreign forces, but illegal and personal requests and interference of the national council members will slow down plans of the ministry.
Taliban abduct 9 Afghan deminers in Kandahar province
By SAYED JAWAD - 23 Apr 2013, 3:15 pm Khaama Press
According to officials in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan, at least nine Afghan deminers were kidnapped by unknown gunmen in this province.
The officials further added, the incident took place in restive Maiwand district.
Provincial governor spokesman Jawid Faisal confirming the report said the deminers were held while they were on their way back from the minefield on Monday.
Mr. Faisal further added the deminers were returning from the field in two vehicles and were abducted by unknown gunmen.
Provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq also confirmed the report and said Afghan security forces have launched a search operation to rescue the deminers.
Taliban militants group claimed responsibility behind the abduction.
Karzai Leaves For Brussels Meeting With U.S., Pakistani Officials
April 23, 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has departed for Brussels ahead of a meeting there with U.S. Secretary of State of State John Kerry and senior Pakistani officials to discuss the faltering Afghan peace process.
Aimal Faizi, Karzai's chief spokesman, said the meeting has been arranged to repair ties between Kabul and Islamabad.
Tensions between the two neighbors have soured recently over border disputes and the failing reconciliation process.
Faizi on April 22 said Pakistan had failed to deliver on its promises regarding the reconciliation process.
"Our message to Pakistan is enough is enough," Faizi said. "This time we will tell Pakistan that our people's patience is running out and we can't wait for Pakistan to deliver on Afghan peace promises."
The meetings will include Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and Afghan Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
Government won't claw back danger pay overpayments in Afghanistan: PM
Canada.com By The Canadian Press April 22, 2013
Ottawa - The Harper government has backed away from a proposal to claw back overpayments of danger pay for soldiers in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says soldiers won't have to repay hundreds of dollars they got through an administrative error.
After an outcry two weeks ago, the Conservatives backed away from a plan to reduce danger pay for Canadian troops training Afghan soldiers in Kabul.
The proposal to cut the danger money by almost a third, or nearly $500 a month for each soldier, is under review.
Now, the government is backing off again.
Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair says Defence Minister Peter MacKay has lost control of his department.
"This is the second incident in two weeks where Conservatives have tried to short-change soldiers who are placed in harm's way," Mulcair said during question period.
Harper dismissed the pay problem as a mistake.
"Certain soldiers were paid more than they should have because of an administrative error," he said. "That should not have been the case.
"It's certainly not the fault of the soldiers themselves. For that reason the minister has made very clear they will not have to repay those amounts."
MacKay said he has told officials to ensure the soldiers don't get punished for the government's mistake. "I firmly believe that this is unfair., to penalize soldiers and their families."
Liberal MP John McKay said the government is trying to dodge responsibility.
"New day, new screw-ups. Blame the bureaucrats."
The proposal to cut danger pay was made by a joint committee of bureaucrats from National Defence and Treasury Board which meets only four times a year.
They said Kabul is safer than Afghanistan's volatile south, where Canadian soldiers no longer serve.
But there was an immediate and strong reaction, which left officials from the prime minister's office on down calling for the committee to reconvene and reverse the decision.
Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney made it clear the governing Conservatives were not happy.
"This decision was not appropriate, and we are asking for this decision to be reviewed,'' he said.
Parliament Approves Two Articles of Election Law
TOLOnews.com By Rafi Sediqi Monday, 22 April 2013
Afghanistan's parliament on Monday approved the second and fourth articles of the election law out of 11 controversial articles.
The second article of the Election Law in which government has suggested a free system of nomination, was approved by parliament.
The fourth article says that votes must be counted in polling centres.
"The free system of election is in the interest of our country. We are against complex systems, because political parties lack the ability to represent majority of the people," Member of Parliament Kamal Naser Osoli said.
"The free nomination system is important and every one can independently nominate and go to parliament," Member of Parliament Assadullah Saadati said.
But a number of parliamentarians want a complex system of election in which a third of parliament seats are allocated to political parties.
They emphasise that there should be some privileges for political parties.
"Some privileges should be given to political parties, in this case all political parties can have widespread participation in elections," Member of Parliament Zahir Saadat said.
"The Election Law guarantees Afghanistan's future, we can't bring democracy in the absence of political parties," Member of Parliament Farkhonda Zahra Naderi said.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan Independent Election Commission IEC says if the counting process is done in polling centres, it will avoid fraud in elections.
"It will avoid fraud if the counting is done in centres," Head of IEC Fazl Ahmad Manawi said.
It comes as the Afghan government and parliament have been arguing on 11 controversial articles of the Election Law.
The parliament is going to discuss the remaining 9 articles of the law in the next days.
Al Qaeda-linked plot to attack passenger train broken up by Canadian, U.S. authorities
Fox News April 22, 2013
Canadian authorities announced Monday they have broken up an Al Qaeda-linked terror plot to attack a passenger train as it crossed over a bridge in the Toronto area.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Monday that two suspects have been arrested on terrorism charges. Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, who live in greater Montreal and Toronto -- were conspiring to carry out an Al Qaeda-supported attack against Via Rail, but posed no immediate threat to the public.
"It was definitely in the planning stage but not imminent," RCMP chief superintendent Jennifer Strachan told reporters at a news conference.
The six-month investigation, called “Project Smooth,” was coordinated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, CBC said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement the operation was coordinated by a multi-agency team comprised of the national police, Canadian Security Intelligence Services, the Canada Border Service Agency and other law enforcement and national security partners in Montreal and Toronto, Canada's two largest cities.
The plot is unrelated to the Boston Marathon attack, U.S. Justice Department sources said.
Charges against the two men include conspiring to carry out an attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group. Police said the men are not Canadian citizens, but they would not comment on where they are originally from.
Sources tell Fox News that the suspects wanted to have an economic impact and make a big statement.
The suspects are expected in Canadian court for a bail hearing Tuesday.
Afghan security forces face first fighting season alone
US troops reduced to advisory role as Taliban begins its annual onslaught.
Global Post By Ben Brody April 22, 2013
Qalat, Afghanistan - Beside the twisted remains of three Afghan police trucks destroyed by roadside bombs, a pomegranate tree too young to bear fruit grows through a tangle of razor wire.
The tree's home is a small Afghan National Police base within sight of a former American combat outpost in Arghandab District, Zabul Province, where pitched battles raged against the Taliban just last year.
In years past, the police base would have had easy access to American military resources and firepower. Not anymore. The base was transferred recently to the Afghan National Army, and the American role reduced to an advisory one.
US troops who are in a position to respond to attacks on Afghan forces say their current posture is laissez faire — Black Hawks will not, for example, be delivering US troops into battle on behalf of Afghan forces. Under very limited circumstances Afghan units may request assistance from American attack or medevac helicopters, otherwise, the Afghan forces are on their own this summer.
While conventional US forces no longer conduct proactive combat operations in Zabul's districts, soldiers like Maj. Jon Gutierrez, an American advisory team member from the Arizona National Guard's 1/158th Infantry, advise their counterparts in the Afghan police. Gutierrez is the operations officer for his unit, so he trains the Zabul police operations officers in planning and managing their missions.
“They understand we're leaving, that resources are dwindling and that we can't provide them with the resources that their previous advisory team did,” Gutierrez said. “That said, we've found that when they ask us to do a job they should be doing themselves and we say no, they tend to figure it out for themselves.”
Afghan police officers at the Arghandab base say their district is relatively peaceful at the moment, but fear for their colleagues further afield in Day Chopan and Mizan. There, they say, the Afghan forces are ringed in with Taliban mines and improvised explosive devices to keep them from patrolling through neighboring villages.
"When (US forces) left the district bases the enemy attacked us for two weeks," said 1st Lt. Kabir, a young Afghan police officer in Zabul. "They thought we would be easy to defeat, but we fought back and scared them off."
Kabir said his officers are motivated and fight well, but need better weapons and more ammunition if they are to prevail through the typically violent summers.
It is likely the initial attacks were of a symbolic or probing nature. In past years in Zabul and Kandahar, the Taliban's preferred tactics have involved the use of IEDs and car bombs, rather than mass attacks on fortified positions.
With the United States largely withdrawn, the lead now falls to senior members of the Afghan security forces like Col. Jalani Khan, the deputy police chief of Zabul. He is a burly 33-year veteran of police work in Afghanistan and something of a local cult of personality.
Khan has been wounded approximately 11 times (estimates vary) in his career, and US commanders describe him as a tremendously capable leader. Like many Afghan security officials, Khan worked for the Soviets during their occupation. After the Soviet withdrawal and the civil war, Khan was imprisoned for seven years under the Taliban, and still harbors a deep contempt for the movement.
“He's like the Dirty Harry of Zabul,” Gutierrez said. “He's trained with the KGB and Russian military. Working together professionally I have to strike a balance between giving him the respect he deserves without fawning over him like everybody else (in the Afghan police).”
Khan describes the Afghan National Police in Zabul as suffering from many small problems, but fewer large ones. The problems he lists are endemic to Afghanistan, not just to Zabul's police forces: illiteracy, corruption and a poor military intelligence network.
He acknowledged that, to American ears, these problems seem large. But he said he feels the very presence of his officers in the districts makes up for these issues by providing some measure of security and rule of law.
In district outposts like Arghandab, widespread illiteracy hampers his officers' ability to request re-supply and they have difficulty communicating their exact location to nearby forces. Both Kabir and Khan said this breeds contempt within the police for the Afghan army — by the time the army figures out where the police are fighting, the battle is long over. The two forces, while usually garrisoned in adjacent bases, often refuse to work together. Khan was barred from entering a meeting at an Afghan army base last week.
Khan, a native of the far-western Farah Province, pointed to a recent massacre there, where at least 44 were killed at a courthouse by nine Taliban gunmen who also died, as an example of a huge Afghan military intelligence failure.
"The (intelligence officers) are very weak — they should be working 24 hours a day, instead they are sleeping," Khan said. "The huge amounts of money they are given, they steal it instead of doing their jobs."
He said he has strict security protocols in place at his headquarters in Qalat, and suggested that if his counterparts in Farah had done the same, the massacre would not have happened.
Two days after Khan said this, a huge car bomb detonated between US and Afghan convoys in front of a Qalat hospital, killing five Americans and an Afghan doctor, and wounding 20 more. The bomb may have targeted the Zabul governor, Mohammad Ashraf Naseri, who was in the vicinity but was unhurt.
The Farah massacre, a carefully planned attack in a far-flung and normally peaceful district, and the bombing in Qalat may well herald the beginning of the Afghan security forces' first fighting season on their own. In Kabul, people are already drawing parallels between the massacre and the Taliban's early attacks during their rise to power in 1996.
According to US soldiers who advise and assist the police in Zabul, effective command and control of the Afghan security forces hinges on a handful of charismatic, influential leaders like Colonel Khan and Governor Naseri. Assassination attempts on key figures like them will likely be the focus of future Taliban attacks aiming to destabilize the Afghan government.
Khan lives with his family in a village near Qalat, and according to Gutierrez, Taliban leaders and their families live there as well.
“It's like a mafia situation — they know each other is there, but they have an understanding: you don't mess with each others' families,” Gutierrez said. “It creates a balance, but if Jalani or other key individuals were removed, there could be a breakout of violence.”
Taliban's Promotional Activities Rise in Kandahar
TOLOnews.com By TOLOnews.com 22 April 2013
The Taliban's promotional activities have been increased in southern Kandahar province, raising the concerns of the residents, local officials said Monday.
The officials have said that Taliban's promotional pictures are seen in most mobile phones and audio cassette stores in Kandhar city.
Taliban's promotional activities are not something new in the province, but recently their activities have created worries among local officials there.
Provincial head of Information and Culture Department Dawakhan Minapal said at a press conference in the city that Taliban's propaganda including suicide attacks and Taliban's songs are release thorough some music cassettes, computer and mobile stores of the city.
" We have launched combat to avoid Taliban's propaganda. We carry out the combat with cooperation of security forces to seize all Taliban's music cassettes and videos of insurgent attacks from all stores."
It comes as Kandahar residents have expressed concern over release of Taliban's propaganda pictures.
"The government should prevent Taliban's propaganda, because this will negatively affect minds of youths and teenagers," said a resident of Kandahar.
The head of Information and Culture Department in Kandahar vowed to combat against such activities with the cooperation of provincial security forces.
Kandahar province is bordered by Pakistan, and insurgents have become more active in the province recently, targeting local security forces.
Pakistan Building Up Second Gate in Eastern Nangarhar
TOLOnews.com By Abdul Wali Arian 22 April 2013
The Pakistan military has started to build up the second gate in Goshta district of eastern Nangarhar province, reports said.
The reports said that Pakistan's military are building up the gate along the Durand line and it's not yet completed.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Ministry of Interior did not confirm the reports, saying that the Pakistan military have not yet removed the first gate form Goshta district of the province.
"We are in talks. They have not yet removed the walls [the first gate] and the border police were in the area. We cannot confirm the building of the second gate," the Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.
Afghan experts believe that Pakistan's recent military checkpoints in eastern areas of Afghanistan are a clear invasion to Afghanistan soil.
A former Afghan military member Gen. Abdul Hadi Khalid said: "We should defend the sovereignty and integrity of our country."
"The building of the gates by Pakistani military are against the sovereignty of Afghanistan and it is a clear invasion" Afghan professor of Law Mohammad Tahir Hashimi said.
It comes as, Afghanistan's Ministries of Defence and Interior said last week that they will take immediate action to stop Pakistan's military buildup along the Durand line near eastern Nangarhar province, suggesting it may be encroaching on Afghan territory.
The ministries declared Pakistan's actions against international laws, arguing that any activity along the border needs to be approved by both nations.
The comments follow President Hamid Karzai's order at a meeting of the Afghan National Security Council last week for the gate and other "Pakistani military installations near the Durand Line" to be removed immediately .
The council also called on the coalition forces to give details of the circumstances in which it helped Pakistan develop 11 military checkpoints along the border 10 years ago.
US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians back in court for hearing
By Gene Johnson, The Associated Press
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Robert Bales, the U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians during a 2012 rampage, is scheduled in court Tuesday for another hearing.
Defence lawyers for Bales and military prosecutors were to convene at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Seattle.
Bales is to be court-martialed on premeditated murder and other charges in the attack on two villages in southern Afghanistan. The Ohio native and father of two is accused of slaying mostly women and children during pre-dawn raids on March 11, 2012.
Bales, 39, has not entered a plea. The Army is seeking the death penalty. The U.S. military has not executed anyone since 1961.
The slayings last year drew such angry protests that the U.S. temporarily halted combat operations in Afghanistan, and it was three weeks before American investigators could reach the crime scenes.
Bales' defence team has said the government's case is incomplete, and outside experts believe a key issue going forward will be to determine if Bales suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Bales served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During a previous preliminary hearing, prosecutors built a strong eyewitness case against the veteran soldier, with troops recounting how they saw Bales return to the base alone, covered in blood. One soldier testified that Bales woke him up in the middle of the night, saying he had just shot people at one village and that he was heading out again to attack another. The soldier said he didn't believe Bales and went back to sleep.
Afghan witnesses questioned via a video link from a forward operating base near Kandahar City described the horror of that night. A teenage boy recalled how the gunman kept firing as youths scrambled, yelling: "We are children! We are children!"
An Army criminal investigations command special agent testified earlier that Bales tested positive for steroids three days after the killings, and other soldiers testified that Bales had been drinking the evening of the massacre.
Foreigners feared kidnapped by Afghanistan Taliban
Ten civilians are missing, feared kidnapped, after their helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing in eastern Afghanistan.
Global Post By Jessica Phelan April 22, 2013
Authorities are hunting for ten civilians who they believe have been kidnapped by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan.
Seven Turks, two Russians and one Afghan have been missing since bad weather forced their helicopter to make an emergency landing in the Azra district of Logar province, south of Kabul, on Sunday night.
The aircraft was later found empty, and the Taliban claimed they had seized its passengers.
"Mujahideen immediately surrounded the chopper, detained [the] foreigners aboard and completely destroyed the helicopter," one spokesman told Reuters.
The hostages "were captured alive and were then transferred to the most secure region of the nation," a statement on a Taliban website said.
Afghan authorities are in touch with local tribal elders to try and negotiate with the insurgents for the hostages' release, a government spokesman in Logar told the BBC.
Turkey is holding "intensive talks" with Kabul about the situation, a Turkish foreign ministry spokesman said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said that it had assisted the search for the helicopter, without giving further details.
The Russian-made helicopter was reportedly chartered from Afghanistan's Khorasan Cargo Airlines to carry Turkish construction workers from the town of Khost to Kabul. The three others onboard were pilots and crew.
Logar province, near the border with Pakistan, has a strong insurgent presence.
World Bank to Fund Training of Afghans in Information Technology
TOLOnews.com By Zabiullah Jahanmal 22 April 2013
Afghan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) will train 50,000 staff in Information Technology for three years, with funding from the World Bank.
At the graduation ceremony of 150 students who were trained in IT section, the ministry officials said that MCIT is endeavoring to train IT specialists in the country.
The World Bank funds capacity building plans in Afghanistan, in which 50,000 people will be trained in several phases in Information technology section.
The graduated students who are the first group of this training's graduates are going to be introduced to the government and private sector.
"After supplying preliminary services to the people, there is a new policy to go towards electronical governance to bring good quality services for people of Afghanistan," MCIT Deputy Minister Baryalai Hasam said.
Meanwhile, the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry urged government agencies to provide job opportunities for the graduates.
"On behalf of our ministry, I ask all companies and agencies to hire these specialists of information technology," The Labour and Social Affairs ministry Deputy Wasel Noor Mohmand said.
The ministry of communication and information technology said that the ministry intends to computerise government agencies to deliver standard services. Therefore, there is a need to train specialists.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
By MATTHEW LEE | Associated Press – Mon, Apr 22, 2013
BRUSSELS (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he would host a meeting of top Afghan and Pakistani officials this week in Brussels to discuss reconciliation with the Taliban and other issues.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his defense minister, along with Pakistan's military chief and foreign secretary, will attend Wednesday's meeting, Kerry said.
"I will be meeting with President Karzai and General (Ashfaq Parvez) Kayani and the civilian foreign minister from Pakistan while I am here," Kerry told reporters. He said the goal was to advance the peace process "in the simplest most, most cooperative, most cogent way so that we wind up with both Pakistan's and Afghanistan's interests being satisfied but most importantly with a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, which is worth the expenditure and the treasure and effort of these last years."
Reconciliation efforts between the Taliban and Afghanistan promoted by the United States have hit several snags, including the assassination of Karzai's hand-picked negotiator, which shattered the little trust that existed between his government and Taliban elements that might be willing to talk peace.
At the same time, Karzai has repeatedly said that any reconciliation cannot take place without the involvement of Pakistan, whose security services have close ties to the Taliban.
Afghanistan accused Pakistan earlier this month of placing unacceptable conditions on efforts to bring peace to the country after nearly 12 years of war, the latest in a series of barbed exchanges that has sunk relations between the two neighbors to a new low.
Luring the Taliban to the negotiating table is a key goal of the United States and its allies as they work for a peaceful solution in Afghanistan ahead of the final pullout of foreign combat forces in 20 months.
Afghanistan and its international backers consider Pakistan a critical player in bringing the Taliban and other militant groups into peace talks. Pakistan holds dozens of Taliban prisoners and has been accused of backing the insurgents in an effort to be able to exert influence in Afghanistan after foreign troops.
But in Islamabad, the foreign ministry said Kayani and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani will attend the Trilateral Core Group Meeting.
"Pakistan has consistently endeavored to facilitate an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. Pakistan remains committed to continue its positive and constructive role towards a durable peace in Afghanistan," the statement said.
The Afghan side was less supportive of Pakistan's role so far, with a Karzai spokesman noting that the Pakistanis have taken no practical steps yet.
"As you know there have been many talks and negotiations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, but I must say unless Pakistan does not act honestly and take practical steps to what they are saying, it will be very difficult to have any progress in the peace process or fight against terrorism and extremism, so we need an honest and practical act by the Pakistanis on all those issues that they are committing and promising," Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said.
Kerry is in Brussels to attend a NATO foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday. He will also meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and various European officials.
Associated Press reporter Rahim Faiez contributed from Kabul
Pakistan must play positive role in Afghanistan: NATO
By Adrian Croft and David Brunnstrom
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Pakistan must play a positive role in bringing stability to Afghanistan as foreign troops prepare to leave in 2014, the head of NATO said on Tuesday, before a U.S.-chaired meeting that will try to ease friction between often feuding neighbors.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will host talks between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and senior Pakistan officials in Brussels on Wednesday, with the aim of calming tension over border disputes and the stalled peace process.
"If we are to ensure long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan we also need a positive engagement of Afghanistan's neighbors, including Pakistan," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters as alliance foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss NATO's mission in Afghanistan.
Wednesday's U.S.-chaired meeting is part of a series of on-off discussions between Afghanistan and Pakistan at the behest of the United States. Rasmussen said he would meet Karzai later on Tuesday.
Afghanistan has grown increasingly frustrated with Pakistan over efforts to pursue a peace process involving the Taliban, suggesting that Islamabad is intent on keep Afghanistan unstable until after foreign combat forces have left at the end of 2014.
U.S. officials hope that Kerry, who has a good relationship with Karzai, can bring the parties back to the negotiating table and make constructive progress on an issue that has long-term security implications for Washington.
Kerry said on Monday the aim of the meeting would be to "try to talk about how we can advance this process in the simplest, most cooperative and most cogent way, so that we wind up with both Pakistan's and Afghanistan's interests being satisfied, but, most importantly, with a stable and peaceful Afghanistan."
TENSION
The talks follow weeks of tension with Pakistan over their 2,600 km (1,600 mile) border and stalled peace efforts.
Although there have been several meetings in Western capitals over the past few months in which representatives of the Taliban have met Afghan peace negotiators, there have been no signs of a breakthrough.
Kabul accuses Pakistan of harboring the Taliban leadership in the city of Quetta and using militants as proxies to counter the influence of India in Afghanistan.
As well as Karzai and Kerry, Wednesday's meeting will include Afghanistan's defense minister, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and Pakistan's foreign secretary, Jalil Jilani, the U.S. official said.
NATO-led forces are expected to cede the lead role for security in Afghanistan this spring to Afghan soldiers, 12 years after the United States invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban government harboring Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader who masterminded the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities.
Most foreign combat forces are due to pull out by the end of 2014, leaving a smaller NATO-led training mission behind and a U.S. force to fight militants.
The White House has yet to decide how many U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan after 2014 and this could be a factor influencing both Taliban and Pakistani strategy. Much depends on progress in negotiations with Karzai on a Bilateral Security Agreement to define the future legal status of U.S. forces.
NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels on February 22 discussed keeping a combined NATO force of between 8,000 and 12,000 troops. That compares to combined NATO forces of about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan now.
General James Mattis, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command, said in March he had recommended keeping 13,600 American troops in Afghanistan after 2014.
(Editing by Jon Hemming)
Despite Gains Against Taliban, Helmand Residents Feel Insecure
By Frud Bezhan and Mustafa Sarwar April 23, 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
After years of bloodshed, a tenuous calm has emerged in Helmand. Large swaths of the southern Afghan province, once a bastion of the Taliban insurgency, have been wrested from militant control.
The daily firefights and roadside bombs that plagued Helmand have abated. Development is evident. Schools have been built, roads have been paved, and markets reopened. Local elections have been held, giving the government the opportunity to expand its presence to remote areas.
But despite the inroads, security in the province has been piecemeal and few residents appear optimistic about the future.
Some express fears that the Taliban will return in force once foreign troops leave. Others say Afghanistan's fledgling security forces will be unable to protect the hard-fought gains made in Helmand. And rampant corruption has diminished confidence in the local government.
A Job Undone?
Around 8,000 American and 9,000 British soldiers are currently deployed in the province, but most are on their way out in keeping with the expected withdrawal of most foreign forces by the end of 2014.
The 24,000 Afghan National Army (ANA) troops stationed in Helmand now lead the vast majority of combat operations -- about 80 percent. In the coming months, they will take full control of security in the province, with coalition forces stepping back into an advisory role.
Some residents who spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan said they were concerned that international troops will leave before the job is done. The Taliban, despite being pushed back, has continued intermittent fighting in pockets in the province's north. The province's poppy harvest, which provides some 40 percent of the world's opium supply, remains a prized asset for the militants.
Abdul Aziz is a resident of Lashkargah, the provincial capital. Aziz says that without the presence of Western soldiers, Helmand will descend into chaos. He says that while the daily violence in the capital has slowed, militants have continued to sow fear through sporadic attacks on tribal elders and government officials.
"There is no security. Currently, you see that the Taliban are placing mines inside the city." Aziz says. "And if foreign troops go out [of Afghanistan], it is possible that we will go back to [how it was] three or four years ago. And the Taliban might come back and take control of all the areas and all efforts made by the government and the military will have been in vain."
'Creeping Back'
In several northern districts in Helmand, violence has gone up in the past year. Najeeb Dawari is a resident of the Marjah district, the scene of one of the largest offensives of the war. He says the huge sacrifices made to capture Marjah could all be for nothing if coalition forces leave without leaving behind an Afghan force capable of protecting those gains.
A "surge" consisting of 15,000 U.S. and British soldiers was dispatched to Marjah, a Taliban stronghold in central Helmand. After months of fierce fighting that resulted in high numbers of fatalities, Marjah was wrested from Taliban control by the end of 2010.
Dawari says the Taliban is now "creeping back" and could pounce again once coalition forces depart.
"People are very hopeless now. When I myself go out to the city, I have this point in mind as to whether I will return home soundly," Dawari says, "All is hopeless. When we see the police, they are in danger. Despite being armed and having authority, they are being killed in the city. So, as an ordinary shopkeeper, I am afraid that there will be a suicide attack today and that I will be killed in the next attack."
A sign of the fragile gains was an audacious attack carried out earlier this year by insurgents against Camp Bastion, a heavily fortified NATO base in northern Helmand that houses some 20,000 British troops. Militants using mortars and rocket-propelled grenades killed two American Marines in February and destroyed or severely damaged eight attack jets, causing more than $200 million in damage.
The bold attack on Camp Bastion, one of the largest and best defended posts in Afghanistan, stands as the costliest single attack that the international coalition has sustained in terms of damage.
Corruption Allegations
As fearful as locals are of a Taliban comeback, they are equally angry at the provincial and central government, which they accuse of being ineffective and corrupt.
Aziz says farmers, many of whom have been left impoverished as a result of the government's poppy-eradication campaign, will quickly return to cultivation and look to the Taliban for protection.
He alleges that while many officials outwardly support the war on drugs, many turn a blind eye to poppy harvesting and even extort money from farmers.
"In the current situation, the Afghan forces cannot [maintain security] because all the senior and junior officials are thinking about their own pockets," Aziz says. "Because of that, I don't think that the government will be able to safeguard Afghanistan or, in general, Helmand after 2014."
Despite the fragile security in Helmand, the international presence there is diminishing by the day. Out of the 240 NATO bases that were once located in the province, only 44 remain. Helmand's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), which has been heavily involved in efforts to rebuild hospitals, schools, and roads over the past seven years, is also packing its bags.
The drawdown of foreign forces is going into motion just as Afghan troops enter the heaviest fighting season. Questions surround the readiness of Afghan forces, which suffer from a high rate of desertion, a poor reenlistment record, low morale, and a lack of equipment.
But officials believe the Afghan security forces and police will be able to manage, whatever the Taliban throws at it. Abdul Nabil, the provincial police chief of Helmand, is among those who are optimistic.
"We have always said that the [Afghan National Police] are becoming more professional with every passing day," Nabil says. "The provincial police department of Helmand is trying all it can to train a police force that the people want and the law requires."
Elias Dayee of RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan contributed to this report
Local Afghan Official Says Talks Under Way To Free Hostages
April 23, 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
KABUL -- An Afghan official says negotiations are under way with the Taliban to free a group of mainly Turkish hostages.
They were captured after their helicopter went down on April 21 during bad weather in a militant-controlled area in eastern Afghanistan's Logar Province.
The eight Turkish engineers, an Afghan, and two pilots from Russia and Kyrgyzstan were onboard.
Abdul Wali Wakil, the provincial council chief of Logar, told RFE/RL that a local Taliban commander, Mullah Sadar-e Azam, was holding the hostages.
Wakil said that progress had been made in talks with Azam's group, and he was hopeful the hostages will be released soon.
Another local official, Din Mohammad Darwish, said tribal elders were playing an important role in negotiations.
With reporting by Reuters
MOI Accuses Afghan Senators, MPs of Interference
TOLOnews.com By Mursal Mansoory 22 April 2013
Afghan Minister of Interior Mujtaba Patang, during a National Security Council meeting on Sunday expressed concern over illegal interference of Senators and MPs in the affairs of the ministry of interior.
Minister of interior considers interference of the representatives of the national council as illegal and calls it a serious challenge ahead of himself, adding that he received more than fifty thousand application forms for doing personal work from the national council representatives in the last four months.
The minister says that he has been summoned thirty two times to parliament and fourteen times to the senate house.
The ministry says that members of both houses in these letters want that their persons of interest must be hired in different departments of the ministry.
"If we hire people in request of the representatives of both houses or if we hire people based on their interests in every field, then there will be no future for the country's police," Sediq Sediqi Minister of Interior's Spokesman said.
Meanwhile, many of national council members called for disclosure of the names of the accused representatives.
"Come and tell the session who we have appointed and in which field and where they are," Wazhma Safi member of Senate said.
Many members of homeland security and defence committee of senate house in a statement said that the applications have been given by persons, not by the senate house.
"They must be named to the national council so that we know who are acting illegally," Daoud Asas member of senate house said.
On the other hand, some Afghans blame their representatives in the national council over corruption.
"None of our representatives has done anything for us. They only think about their own pockets," a Kabul resident said.
The ministry of interior says that while less than two years is left for taking full security responsibility from foreign forces, but illegal and personal requests and interference of the national council members will slow down plans of the ministry.
Taliban abduct 9 Afghan deminers in Kandahar province
By SAYED JAWAD - 23 Apr 2013, 3:15 pm Khaama Press
According to officials in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan, at least nine Afghan deminers were kidnapped by unknown gunmen in this province.
The officials further added, the incident took place in restive Maiwand district.
Provincial governor spokesman Jawid Faisal confirming the report said the deminers were held while they were on their way back from the minefield on Monday.
Mr. Faisal further added the deminers were returning from the field in two vehicles and were abducted by unknown gunmen.
Provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq also confirmed the report and said Afghan security forces have launched a search operation to rescue the deminers.
Taliban militants group claimed responsibility behind the abduction.
Karzai Leaves For Brussels Meeting With U.S., Pakistani Officials
April 23, 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has departed for Brussels ahead of a meeting there with U.S. Secretary of State of State John Kerry and senior Pakistani officials to discuss the faltering Afghan peace process.
Aimal Faizi, Karzai's chief spokesman, said the meeting has been arranged to repair ties between Kabul and Islamabad.
Tensions between the two neighbors have soured recently over border disputes and the failing reconciliation process.
Faizi on April 22 said Pakistan had failed to deliver on its promises regarding the reconciliation process.
"Our message to Pakistan is enough is enough," Faizi said. "This time we will tell Pakistan that our people's patience is running out and we can't wait for Pakistan to deliver on Afghan peace promises."
The meetings will include Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and Afghan Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
Government won't claw back danger pay overpayments in Afghanistan: PM
Canada.com By The Canadian Press April 22, 2013
Ottawa - The Harper government has backed away from a proposal to claw back overpayments of danger pay for soldiers in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says soldiers won't have to repay hundreds of dollars they got through an administrative error.
After an outcry two weeks ago, the Conservatives backed away from a plan to reduce danger pay for Canadian troops training Afghan soldiers in Kabul.
The proposal to cut the danger money by almost a third, or nearly $500 a month for each soldier, is under review.
Now, the government is backing off again.
Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair says Defence Minister Peter MacKay has lost control of his department.
"This is the second incident in two weeks where Conservatives have tried to short-change soldiers who are placed in harm's way," Mulcair said during question period.
Harper dismissed the pay problem as a mistake.
"Certain soldiers were paid more than they should have because of an administrative error," he said. "That should not have been the case.
"It's certainly not the fault of the soldiers themselves. For that reason the minister has made very clear they will not have to repay those amounts."
MacKay said he has told officials to ensure the soldiers don't get punished for the government's mistake. "I firmly believe that this is unfair., to penalize soldiers and their families."
Liberal MP John McKay said the government is trying to dodge responsibility.
"New day, new screw-ups. Blame the bureaucrats."
The proposal to cut danger pay was made by a joint committee of bureaucrats from National Defence and Treasury Board which meets only four times a year.
They said Kabul is safer than Afghanistan's volatile south, where Canadian soldiers no longer serve.
But there was an immediate and strong reaction, which left officials from the prime minister's office on down calling for the committee to reconvene and reverse the decision.
Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney made it clear the governing Conservatives were not happy.
"This decision was not appropriate, and we are asking for this decision to be reviewed,'' he said.
Parliament Approves Two Articles of Election Law
TOLOnews.com By Rafi Sediqi Monday, 22 April 2013
Afghanistan's parliament on Monday approved the second and fourth articles of the election law out of 11 controversial articles.
The second article of the Election Law in which government has suggested a free system of nomination, was approved by parliament.
The fourth article says that votes must be counted in polling centres.
"The free system of election is in the interest of our country. We are against complex systems, because political parties lack the ability to represent majority of the people," Member of Parliament Kamal Naser Osoli said.
"The free nomination system is important and every one can independently nominate and go to parliament," Member of Parliament Assadullah Saadati said.
But a number of parliamentarians want a complex system of election in which a third of parliament seats are allocated to political parties.
They emphasise that there should be some privileges for political parties.
"Some privileges should be given to political parties, in this case all political parties can have widespread participation in elections," Member of Parliament Zahir Saadat said.
"The Election Law guarantees Afghanistan's future, we can't bring democracy in the absence of political parties," Member of Parliament Farkhonda Zahra Naderi said.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan Independent Election Commission IEC says if the counting process is done in polling centres, it will avoid fraud in elections.
"It will avoid fraud if the counting is done in centres," Head of IEC Fazl Ahmad Manawi said.
It comes as the Afghan government and parliament have been arguing on 11 controversial articles of the Election Law.
The parliament is going to discuss the remaining 9 articles of the law in the next days.
Al Qaeda-linked plot to attack passenger train broken up by Canadian, U.S. authorities
Fox News April 22, 2013
Canadian authorities announced Monday they have broken up an Al Qaeda-linked terror plot to attack a passenger train as it crossed over a bridge in the Toronto area.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Monday that two suspects have been arrested on terrorism charges. Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, who live in greater Montreal and Toronto -- were conspiring to carry out an Al Qaeda-supported attack against Via Rail, but posed no immediate threat to the public.
"It was definitely in the planning stage but not imminent," RCMP chief superintendent Jennifer Strachan told reporters at a news conference.
The six-month investigation, called “Project Smooth,” was coordinated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, CBC said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement the operation was coordinated by a multi-agency team comprised of the national police, Canadian Security Intelligence Services, the Canada Border Service Agency and other law enforcement and national security partners in Montreal and Toronto, Canada's two largest cities.
The plot is unrelated to the Boston Marathon attack, U.S. Justice Department sources said.
Charges against the two men include conspiring to carry out an attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group. Police said the men are not Canadian citizens, but they would not comment on where they are originally from.
Sources tell Fox News that the suspects wanted to have an economic impact and make a big statement.
The suspects are expected in Canadian court for a bail hearing Tuesday.
Afghan security forces face first fighting season alone
US troops reduced to advisory role as Taliban begins its annual onslaught.
Global Post By Ben Brody April 22, 2013
Qalat, Afghanistan - Beside the twisted remains of three Afghan police trucks destroyed by roadside bombs, a pomegranate tree too young to bear fruit grows through a tangle of razor wire.
The tree's home is a small Afghan National Police base within sight of a former American combat outpost in Arghandab District, Zabul Province, where pitched battles raged against the Taliban just last year.
In years past, the police base would have had easy access to American military resources and firepower. Not anymore. The base was transferred recently to the Afghan National Army, and the American role reduced to an advisory one.
US troops who are in a position to respond to attacks on Afghan forces say their current posture is laissez faire — Black Hawks will not, for example, be delivering US troops into battle on behalf of Afghan forces. Under very limited circumstances Afghan units may request assistance from American attack or medevac helicopters, otherwise, the Afghan forces are on their own this summer.
While conventional US forces no longer conduct proactive combat operations in Zabul's districts, soldiers like Maj. Jon Gutierrez, an American advisory team member from the Arizona National Guard's 1/158th Infantry, advise their counterparts in the Afghan police. Gutierrez is the operations officer for his unit, so he trains the Zabul police operations officers in planning and managing their missions.
“They understand we're leaving, that resources are dwindling and that we can't provide them with the resources that their previous advisory team did,” Gutierrez said. “That said, we've found that when they ask us to do a job they should be doing themselves and we say no, they tend to figure it out for themselves.”
Afghan police officers at the Arghandab base say their district is relatively peaceful at the moment, but fear for their colleagues further afield in Day Chopan and Mizan. There, they say, the Afghan forces are ringed in with Taliban mines and improvised explosive devices to keep them from patrolling through neighboring villages.
"When (US forces) left the district bases the enemy attacked us for two weeks," said 1st Lt. Kabir, a young Afghan police officer in Zabul. "They thought we would be easy to defeat, but we fought back and scared them off."
Kabir said his officers are motivated and fight well, but need better weapons and more ammunition if they are to prevail through the typically violent summers.
It is likely the initial attacks were of a symbolic or probing nature. In past years in Zabul and Kandahar, the Taliban's preferred tactics have involved the use of IEDs and car bombs, rather than mass attacks on fortified positions.
With the United States largely withdrawn, the lead now falls to senior members of the Afghan security forces like Col. Jalani Khan, the deputy police chief of Zabul. He is a burly 33-year veteran of police work in Afghanistan and something of a local cult of personality.
Khan has been wounded approximately 11 times (estimates vary) in his career, and US commanders describe him as a tremendously capable leader. Like many Afghan security officials, Khan worked for the Soviets during their occupation. After the Soviet withdrawal and the civil war, Khan was imprisoned for seven years under the Taliban, and still harbors a deep contempt for the movement.
“He's like the Dirty Harry of Zabul,” Gutierrez said. “He's trained with the KGB and Russian military. Working together professionally I have to strike a balance between giving him the respect he deserves without fawning over him like everybody else (in the Afghan police).”
Khan describes the Afghan National Police in Zabul as suffering from many small problems, but fewer large ones. The problems he lists are endemic to Afghanistan, not just to Zabul's police forces: illiteracy, corruption and a poor military intelligence network.
He acknowledged that, to American ears, these problems seem large. But he said he feels the very presence of his officers in the districts makes up for these issues by providing some measure of security and rule of law.
In district outposts like Arghandab, widespread illiteracy hampers his officers' ability to request re-supply and they have difficulty communicating their exact location to nearby forces. Both Kabir and Khan said this breeds contempt within the police for the Afghan army — by the time the army figures out where the police are fighting, the battle is long over. The two forces, while usually garrisoned in adjacent bases, often refuse to work together. Khan was barred from entering a meeting at an Afghan army base last week.
Khan, a native of the far-western Farah Province, pointed to a recent massacre there, where at least 44 were killed at a courthouse by nine Taliban gunmen who also died, as an example of a huge Afghan military intelligence failure.
"The (intelligence officers) are very weak — they should be working 24 hours a day, instead they are sleeping," Khan said. "The huge amounts of money they are given, they steal it instead of doing their jobs."
He said he has strict security protocols in place at his headquarters in Qalat, and suggested that if his counterparts in Farah had done the same, the massacre would not have happened.
Two days after Khan said this, a huge car bomb detonated between US and Afghan convoys in front of a Qalat hospital, killing five Americans and an Afghan doctor, and wounding 20 more. The bomb may have targeted the Zabul governor, Mohammad Ashraf Naseri, who was in the vicinity but was unhurt.
The Farah massacre, a carefully planned attack in a far-flung and normally peaceful district, and the bombing in Qalat may well herald the beginning of the Afghan security forces' first fighting season on their own. In Kabul, people are already drawing parallels between the massacre and the Taliban's early attacks during their rise to power in 1996.
According to US soldiers who advise and assist the police in Zabul, effective command and control of the Afghan security forces hinges on a handful of charismatic, influential leaders like Colonel Khan and Governor Naseri. Assassination attempts on key figures like them will likely be the focus of future Taliban attacks aiming to destabilize the Afghan government.
Khan lives with his family in a village near Qalat, and according to Gutierrez, Taliban leaders and their families live there as well.
“It's like a mafia situation — they know each other is there, but they have an understanding: you don't mess with each others' families,” Gutierrez said. “It creates a balance, but if Jalani or other key individuals were removed, there could be a breakout of violence.”
Taliban's Promotional Activities Rise in Kandahar
TOLOnews.com By TOLOnews.com 22 April 2013
The Taliban's promotional activities have been increased in southern Kandahar province, raising the concerns of the residents, local officials said Monday.
The officials have said that Taliban's promotional pictures are seen in most mobile phones and audio cassette stores in Kandhar city.
Taliban's promotional activities are not something new in the province, but recently their activities have created worries among local officials there.
Provincial head of Information and Culture Department Dawakhan Minapal said at a press conference in the city that Taliban's propaganda including suicide attacks and Taliban's songs are release thorough some music cassettes, computer and mobile stores of the city.
" We have launched combat to avoid Taliban's propaganda. We carry out the combat with cooperation of security forces to seize all Taliban's music cassettes and videos of insurgent attacks from all stores."
It comes as Kandahar residents have expressed concern over release of Taliban's propaganda pictures.
"The government should prevent Taliban's propaganda, because this will negatively affect minds of youths and teenagers," said a resident of Kandahar.
The head of Information and Culture Department in Kandahar vowed to combat against such activities with the cooperation of provincial security forces.
Kandahar province is bordered by Pakistan, and insurgents have become more active in the province recently, targeting local security forces.
Pakistan Building Up Second Gate in Eastern Nangarhar
TOLOnews.com By Abdul Wali Arian 22 April 2013
The Pakistan military has started to build up the second gate in Goshta district of eastern Nangarhar province, reports said.
The reports said that Pakistan's military are building up the gate along the Durand line and it's not yet completed.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Ministry of Interior did not confirm the reports, saying that the Pakistan military have not yet removed the first gate form Goshta district of the province.
"We are in talks. They have not yet removed the walls [the first gate] and the border police were in the area. We cannot confirm the building of the second gate," the Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.
Afghan experts believe that Pakistan's recent military checkpoints in eastern areas of Afghanistan are a clear invasion to Afghanistan soil.
A former Afghan military member Gen. Abdul Hadi Khalid said: "We should defend the sovereignty and integrity of our country."
"The building of the gates by Pakistani military are against the sovereignty of Afghanistan and it is a clear invasion" Afghan professor of Law Mohammad Tahir Hashimi said.
It comes as, Afghanistan's Ministries of Defence and Interior said last week that they will take immediate action to stop Pakistan's military buildup along the Durand line near eastern Nangarhar province, suggesting it may be encroaching on Afghan territory.
The ministries declared Pakistan's actions against international laws, arguing that any activity along the border needs to be approved by both nations.
The comments follow President Hamid Karzai's order at a meeting of the Afghan National Security Council last week for the gate and other "Pakistani military installations near the Durand Line" to be removed immediately .
The council also called on the coalition forces to give details of the circumstances in which it helped Pakistan develop 11 military checkpoints along the border 10 years ago.
US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians back in court for hearing
By Gene Johnson, The Associated Press
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Robert Bales, the U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians during a 2012 rampage, is scheduled in court Tuesday for another hearing.
Defence lawyers for Bales and military prosecutors were to convene at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Seattle.
Bales is to be court-martialed on premeditated murder and other charges in the attack on two villages in southern Afghanistan. The Ohio native and father of two is accused of slaying mostly women and children during pre-dawn raids on March 11, 2012.
Bales, 39, has not entered a plea. The Army is seeking the death penalty. The U.S. military has not executed anyone since 1961.
The slayings last year drew such angry protests that the U.S. temporarily halted combat operations in Afghanistan, and it was three weeks before American investigators could reach the crime scenes.
Bales' defence team has said the government's case is incomplete, and outside experts believe a key issue going forward will be to determine if Bales suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Bales served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During a previous preliminary hearing, prosecutors built a strong eyewitness case against the veteran soldier, with troops recounting how they saw Bales return to the base alone, covered in blood. One soldier testified that Bales woke him up in the middle of the night, saying he had just shot people at one village and that he was heading out again to attack another. The soldier said he didn't believe Bales and went back to sleep.
Afghan witnesses questioned via a video link from a forward operating base near Kandahar City described the horror of that night. A teenage boy recalled how the gunman kept firing as youths scrambled, yelling: "We are children! We are children!"
An Army criminal investigations command special agent testified earlier that Bales tested positive for steroids three days after the killings, and other soldiers testified that Bales had been drinking the evening of the massacre.
Foreigners feared kidnapped by Afghanistan Taliban
Ten civilians are missing, feared kidnapped, after their helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing in eastern Afghanistan.
Global Post By Jessica Phelan April 22, 2013
Authorities are hunting for ten civilians who they believe have been kidnapped by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan.
Seven Turks, two Russians and one Afghan have been missing since bad weather forced their helicopter to make an emergency landing in the Azra district of Logar province, south of Kabul, on Sunday night.
The aircraft was later found empty, and the Taliban claimed they had seized its passengers.
"Mujahideen immediately surrounded the chopper, detained [the] foreigners aboard and completely destroyed the helicopter," one spokesman told Reuters.
The hostages "were captured alive and were then transferred to the most secure region of the nation," a statement on a Taliban website said.
Afghan authorities are in touch with local tribal elders to try and negotiate with the insurgents for the hostages' release, a government spokesman in Logar told the BBC.
Turkey is holding "intensive talks" with Kabul about the situation, a Turkish foreign ministry spokesman said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said that it had assisted the search for the helicopter, without giving further details.
The Russian-made helicopter was reportedly chartered from Afghanistan's Khorasan Cargo Airlines to carry Turkish construction workers from the town of Khost to Kabul. The three others onboard were pilots and crew.
Logar province, near the border with Pakistan, has a strong insurgent presence.
World Bank to Fund Training of Afghans in Information Technology
TOLOnews.com By Zabiullah Jahanmal 22 April 2013
Afghan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) will train 50,000 staff in Information Technology for three years, with funding from the World Bank.
At the graduation ceremony of 150 students who were trained in IT section, the ministry officials said that MCIT is endeavoring to train IT specialists in the country.
The World Bank funds capacity building plans in Afghanistan, in which 50,000 people will be trained in several phases in Information technology section.
The graduated students who are the first group of this training's graduates are going to be introduced to the government and private sector.
"After supplying preliminary services to the people, there is a new policy to go towards electronical governance to bring good quality services for people of Afghanistan," MCIT Deputy Minister Baryalai Hasam said.
Meanwhile, the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry urged government agencies to provide job opportunities for the graduates.
"On behalf of our ministry, I ask all companies and agencies to hire these specialists of information technology," The Labour and Social Affairs ministry Deputy Wasel Noor Mohmand said.
The ministry of communication and information technology said that the ministry intends to computerise government agencies to deliver standard services. Therefore, there is a need to train specialists.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com