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‘Homework to Do’: The Afghanistan-Pakistan Peace Talk Tipping Point
by Shamila N. Chaudhary, Omar Samad Apr 26, 2013 10:05 AM EDT The Daily Beast
Don’t get too excited about this week’s revived peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan, since both countries came to the table with specific, complicated demands. But Shamila N. Chaudhary and Omar Samad say hope is not lost—but appointing an envoy to the region is essential.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s diplomatic initiative to host talks between Afghan and Pakistani leaders in Brussels this week was a timely step meant to reset tense relations between the two South Asian neighbors, and revive stalled talks with the Taliban as the 2014 deadline for the U.S. and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan approaches.
With no immediate breakthrough on the horizon, the Secretary emerged after three hours of talks saying that both sides have "some very specific homework to do.” In other words, it may be naïve to expect quick results, but specific demands have been exchanged that require action within a specific time frame. The most challenging might be prodding Taliban leaders to enter talks.
Years of acrimony and mistrust have left the two countries suspicious of each other’s motivations, and without active and judicious U.S. and international participation in the political end-game, the heavy investments made since 9/11 to fight terrorism and help stabilize the region might end up being in vain.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have soured since February when it was announced at a trilateral meeting hosted by the British Prime Minister that a peace deal may be possible within six months.
Afghanistan expected some movement from Islamabad to nudge the Taliban, whose leadership resides in Pakistan, to enter into talks. But Kabul is now accusing Pakistan of “sabotaging the peace effort,” pointing to several areas of contention:
1. Attacks on security forces and civilians by militants allegedly using Pakistani sanctuaries.
2. Artillery shelling and related civilian deaths in Kunar and Nuristan border provinces and the construction of Pakistani border outposts on the Afghan side of the border.
3. Uncoordinated releases of ineffective Taliban detainees in Pakistan, who have since disappeared.
4. Pakistan’s reluctance to release key Taliban figures, including Taliban number two, Mullah Ghani Beradar, to facilitate talks.
The Pakistanis demand that:
1. Afghanistan extradite Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Faqir Mohamad and rein in Mullah Fazlullah, whom both target Pakistan.
2. Deny Pakistani Taliban safe havens in Afghanistan from where they can attack Pakistan.
3. Afghanistan downgrades ties with India and reduces India’s footprint in the country, which Pakistan believes threatens its national security, and Afghans view as soft power projection.
4. Pakistan assumes a primary role in Taliban peace talks.
For their part, the Taliban refuse to talk to Kabul until all foreign troops leave, but want to re-engage the U.S. on the release of Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo.
The U.S., non-committal to releasing prisoners at this stage due to congressional oversight, insists the peace process be Afghan-led. This remains a contradiction until and unless the Afghan Taliban are pushed toward talks.
Years of acrimony and mistrust have left the two countries suspicious of each other’s motivations, and without active and judicious U.S. and international participation in the political end-game, the heavy investments made since 9/11 to fight terrorism and help stabilize the region might end up being in vain.
There is rising anxiety over shrinking timelines as Afghans deal with complex 2014 transition issues and hold the belief that the militants are buying time and merely paying lip service to peace overtures. They fear that if Afghanistan slips into crisis, instability and the rise of militancy will engulf the whole region.
Pakistan worries about further destabilization of its tribal areas and provinces bordering Afghanistan which would be incapable of accommodating large influxes of Afghan refugees.
Part of the problem can be traced to a historic border dispute. Contrary to Pakistani expectations, Afghanistan has never officially recognized the “Durand Line” as the international border with Pakistan, a boundary delineated by colonial Britain in the 19th century. Pakistan recognizes the international border and expects a de jure resolution of the issue. The unresolved dispute haunts both countries today in their inability to control the flow of militants across the border.
Also contributing to bilateral tensions is Pakistan’s use of Islamic extremists both during and after the Afghan-Soviet war, giving rise to the Taliban brand of extremism in Afghanistan and more recently empowering groups like the Pakistani Taliban who directly threaten Pakistan.
Afghanistan and Pakistan’s problems are reaching a tipping point. As much as policy-makers in Washington feel less invested in the Afghan endgame, the U.S. has few choices but to play a key role in assuring a relatively safe denouement by 2014 that would provide some assurance to both sides that the international community is committed to regional stability.
An extremist takeover would undoubtedly lead to wider ethnic and sectarian conflict instigated by emboldened armed militants in a region that holds nuclear weapons - hence Secretary Kerry’s urgent attempt to reset the dialogue.
The United States must focus on helping Afghanistan through the transition – albeit with respect to the country’s growing sovereignty - facilitate an eventless withdrawal and leave behind a manageable law and order situation. On these fronts, if there is any progress to be made in the little time left, President Obama should prioritize focused diplomatic engagement.
The first step, beyond Secretary Kerry’s timely mediation, is to appoint a new special envoy. The position of Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan sits vacant since January. A new envoy should be high-powered and well-versed in dealing with sensitive geo-political intricacies to deal with Afghanistan’s transitional tantrums, Taliban rigidity, Pakistan’s uncertainty, regional complexities, coordination with international allies and relevant U.S. agencies to ensure that the endgame is not lost.
Dozens Killed In Kandahar Bus Crash
April 26, 2013 By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Afghan officials say 45 people have been killed in a road incident near the southern city of Kandahar.
A spokesman for the governor of Kandahar Province said women and children were among the dead and at least 10 others were injured in the April 26 crash.
The spokesman, Javid Faisal, said a loaded bus collided with a fuel tanker.
The cause of the incident is being investigated, but a spokesman for the governor of neighboring Helmand Province said the truck had been attacked by Taliban militants and left burning in the middle of the road when the bus collided with it.
The Kandahar governor's spokesman denied that report.
The passengers on the bus were reportedly mostly laborers seeking work in the region's poppy fields.
With reporting by dpa
Why we should be optimistic about Afghanistan
CNN (blog) By Erlan Idrissov, Special to CNN April 25th, 2013
Editor’s note: Erlan Idrissov is minister of foreign affairs in Kazakhstan. The views expressed are his own.
The view that chaos and violence inevitably await Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force in 2014 is misguided. Indeed, this sort of prognosis is a potentially dangerous self-fulfilling prophecy.
The fact is that there is actually cause for some optimism that with the right level of assistance from its friends and neighbors, and through the creation of a peaceful environment in its immediate neighborhood, Afghanistan can overcome its historical isolation and take its rightful place in the heart of Asia.
This week, Almaty – Kazakhstan’s second city – will host foreign ministers participating in the Istanbul Process in support of Afghanistan. The meeting, building on a process launched in November 2011, will provide important opportunities to increase the level of regional cooperation and coordination ahead of the transfer of security control in Afghanistan from international to Afghan security forces in 2014.
The Istanbul Process, which brings together 15 regional countries supported by 16 members of the international community and numerous international organizations, has developed a wide-range of activities and measures across fields including political and security, economic, education, cultural and legal. Included are confidence-building measures in areas such as counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics, emergency situations, trade opportunities and regional infrastructure.
A key step toward a more stable Afghanistan is the development of transportation links to facilitate trade within the region, and Afghanistan can benefit hugely from the creation of the “New Silk Road,” bringing together Eurasia and South Asia via new road, rail and energy corridors.
As the largest land-locked country in the world, Kazakhstan has a strong interest in having the best possible access to global markets, including to its south. The stabilization of Afghanistan and its pursuit of harmonious relations with its neighbors are an important part of that process, as is the normalization of Iran’s relations with the international community.
All this means that integrating Afghanistan into its neighborhood should create a “win-win” situation for all the countries in the region and for the international community as a whole. But it won’t be easy, and it is necessary for all involved to gradually establish the conditions for the Afghan people to find the political solutions that can unite the country and provide the necessary leadership for long-term renewal.
The reality is that there are no magic solutions to Afghanistan’s problems, and we must accept the fact that only Afghans can decide the country’s way forward. The international community should therefore limit its efforts to promoting the social and economic rehabilitation of Afghanistan and stay out of politics.
Afghanistan’s population is 70 to 80 percent rural, and encouraging Afghans back into productive employment on the land could have a major economic impact and improve the security situation in much of the country. With this in mind, Kazakhstan has been training Afghan agricultural specialists, and has also provided large volumes of seed. It has also provided professional training for 1,000 Afghan students in its higher education institutions in areas ranging from engineering to medicine as part of a $50 million program aimed at helping Afghanistan overcome a difficult legacy in education.
A further challenge is that Afghanistan remains the undisputed global leader in production and supply of illicit heroin and opium to the global market. The criminalization of Afghanistan’s economy is creating serious problems in many countries along the main export routes for these products, including in Kazakhstan. The only reliable way to combat this is to develop an economy that supports other types of legal activity. At present, opium poppy production is the only social safety net for many farmers.
Solutions to many of Afghanistan’s problems are obvious. What is usually much less clear is how to create an environment that is conducive to applying them.
The Istanbul Process is one such way, and is a natural means of integrating Afghanistan into a regional cooperation framework.
As Afghanistan’s government takes over responsibility for the country’s security, its relations with neighboring countries are already taking on increased prominence. As neighbors, we feel we must live up to our responsibilities and make the most of this opportunity.
Afghan police take first, faltering steps in fight against corruption
Reuters By Katharine Houreld 26/04/13
Herat, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's security forces are routinely accused of murder, rape and corruption on a grand scale, but a new anti-corruption police unit's sole conviction last year was a junior policeman who forged some documents, the head of the unit told Reuters.
Abuses by the 152,000-strong Afghan police have pushed whole districts into the arms of the Taliban, officials say. Now international forces hope the Shafafiyat - Dari for transparency - anti-corruption unit will crack down on corrupt police.
For most of President Hamid Karzai's 11-year reign, there has been little interest in anti-corruption in the army or police. The country's two most powerful institutions receive billions of dollars from donors annually but struggle just to recruit and maintain a force bled by high rates of desertion.
Rampant graft in one of the world's poorest and most corrupt nations has long been a major irritant for Western backers whose aid has propped up the Afghan economy for more than a decade.
At the U.S.-funded Dawood military hospital in Kabul, wounded soldiers and police suffered from gangrene and maggots, starved and died in filthy corridors. U.S. lawmakers said $43 million for medicine, food and equipment had gone missing.
That's the type of case the Afghan-run anti-corruption units should investigate. The police unit was set up a year ago, with the military planning to follow suit this spring.
Since then, hundreds of police accused of abuse have been fired, transferred or given punishments like cleaning toilets. But the Shafafiyat police unit was stumped when asked about successful prosecutions.
"We have done good work but we are not satisfied. We need to do more," said Major General Abdul Massoud Rageb, the burly, grey-bearded head of the unit.
He said the unit by itself had secured one conviction resulting in a jail term. Records show Mohammed Daud was sentenced in February to a year in jail for forging vehicle documents in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
LAUGH OR CRY?
Shafafiyat was also part of an investigation into the ex-governor of eastern Nuristan province and provincial police officials who stole half a million dollars earmarked for police salaries. The Taliban seized three districts from unpaid police who deserted their posts, said the Attorney General's office.
Last year, the provincial police officials were sentenced to between six and 10 years in jail. The governor, who stole the lion's share of the cash, got two months in jail.
"We didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this sentence," said Lieutenant General Ghulam Ranjbar, who oversees military and police corruption cases at the Attorney General's office.
A Shafafiyat official showed Reuters a large binder of documents on the case and said Shafafiyat led the investigation. But Ranjbar said Shafafiyat did not have a lead role. Rageb did not mention the case until prompted.
Those two cases are the only ones Shafafiyat can positively say ended in jail terms, highlighting a key problem: the unit seems unable to track complaints properly, hindering analysis of their performance.
Rageb said Shafafiyat received 1,758 complaints last year, but his deputy put that at 1,024. A NATO counterpart said there were around 1,600 in one province alone - and there are 34 provinces in Afghanistan.
Out of those cases, 44 were referred for prosecution and entered into a black binder that sits among the framed photographs in Rageb's office. Shafafiyat stop tracking a case once they refer it to prosecutors. They found out about the Nuristan sentences from the newspaper.
"We don't really get any feedback," said Rageb's deputy, Colonel Mubien Rahimi ruefully.
THOUSANDS OF CASES, NO BUDGET
There's plenty to investigate - 5,424 policemen were accused of crimes ranging from desertion to murder and rape last year, the Attorney General's office said. Several officials there said they did not even know about Shafafiyat.
No one knows how many police have been convicted. Shafafiyat referred Reuters to the Attorney General's office, who referred to the Ministry of Interior, who referred to the Supreme Court, who asked Reuters for a written request. They did not reply.
Problems stretch beyond case tracking. When Shafafiyat officers travel, they are housed and protected by the police they are investigating.
Investigators often get death threats. There's also little to no protection for witnesses, informants, judges, lawyers, or members of civil society working alongside Shafafiyat.
"We do face pressure in some cases," Rageb acknowledged, declining to give examples.
Shafafiyat has no dedicated budget of its own. Salaries are paid by the international donors bankrolling the entire police force. The United Nations donated equipment and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), anxious to improve police performance ahead of the 2014 drawdown of foreign troops, helps Shafafiyat with transport and logistics.
But when ISAF flew Shafafiyat and anti-corruption campaigners to the western town of Herat this month, ISAF officers could not get clearance to leave base and attend the meeting in the police headquarters.
Five members of civil society groups meant to provide civilian oversight were also on the trip. None could name a complaint that Shafafiyat had solved, and most seemed unaware how complaints were recorded or investigated.
"We are just here to support the process," said Gul Maky Siawash of the Afghan Women's Coalition for Fighting Corruption.
When asked about the Shafafiyat police unit's greatest achievement so far, Brigadier General Flemming Agerskov, Rageb's ISAF counterpart, said they had investigated some serious rape allegations. Human rights groups say police often use young boys as sex slaves or rape women at roadblocks.
ISAF doesn't track individual cases because they are encouraging Afghans to do it themselves, Agerskov said. The Ministry of Interior plans to put a case tracking system into place, he said, but it was unclear when.
Rahimi and his colleagues said they spent six months tracking down an alleged police rapist last year. By the time they found him, the man had been shot, possibly by the victim's family. They could name no other cases and had no statistics on the number of rape complaints received.
"I don't know of any policeman who has been jailed for rape. It's part of a broader pattern of impunity for the security forces in Afghanistan," said Heather Barr, the head of Human Rights Watch in Afghanistan.
"I interviewed one woman who had gone to police to report a rape and was raped again by the head of that police station."
The woman had not lodged a complaint with Shafafiyat.
Suspected Taliban militant kills 5 Afghan police
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, April 26 (Xinhua) -- A suspected Taliban insurgent opened fire and killed five policemen in Kunduz Province 250 km north of Kabul on Friday, a local official said.
The man took a gun and opened fire at a checkpoint of local police in Sharawan area of Dasht-e-Archi early Friday when the policemen were asleep, the district police chief Hamid Agha told Xinhua.
He disguised himself as a guest came to the checkpoint on Thursday night and had dinner with the policemen who slept inside, said Agha.
He killed five on the spot and made his good escape, Agha added.
Without pointing finger at any groups or individuals, the official said investigation is underway to identify and arrest those behind the bloody attack.
Meantime, Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed of responsibility in talks with media via telephone from unknown location, saying Taliban fighters seized police arms and ammunitions after killing five policemen.
Russian Minister Warns Of 'Degrading' Situation In Afghanistan
April 26, 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov is warning that Afghanistan will face new challenges because of the country's "degrading political and military situation."
He spoke on April 26 at the ministerial meeting of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Morgulov said that with Afghanistan planning to hold a presidential election in 2014 and with most NATO troops withdrawing by the end of that year, instability could spread into to Central Asia and pose a "threat to Russia and its allies."
He added that Afghanistan's national reconciliation process has stalled.
The declaration of the Istanbul Process on Regional Security and Cooperation for a Secure and Stable Afghanistan was adopted in November 2011.
It was signed by Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and the United Arab Emirates.
Based on reporting by ITAR-TASS and Interfax
UK starts controlling drones in Afghanistan from British soil
RAF's unmanned Reaper aircraft had been operated from Creech airforce base in Nevada, but missions from Lincolnshire began this week
The Guardian By Nick Hopkins 25 April 2013
Remotely controlled armed drones used to target insurgents in Afghanistan have been operated from the UK for the first time, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.
Missions of the missile-carrying Reaper aircraft began from a newly built headquarters at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire earlier this week – five years after the MoD bought the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to monitor and attack the Taliban.
Since then the UK has been controlling the RAF's five Reaper aircraft from Creech airforce base in Nevada because the British military did not have the capability to fly them from here.
However, the MoD made building a new UAV hub at Waddington a priority following the 2010 strategic defence and security review, and the centre "stood up" at the end of last year.
Waddington has become the home of XIII squadron, and defence officials said pilots from the unit have now started to take command of Reapers, working in tandem with the team in America.
There are three operating terminals at the base in Lincolnshire, and they had to go through extensive technical trials before they were deemed ready for use.
"We aren't flying any more operations than we were before, but with the time differences between the US, Afghanistan and the UK, it is now possible for pilots at Waddington to work in relay with the those in the US," said a source.
There are no current plans to disband the squadron in the US, which is expected to continue operating until the end of next year, when all Nato combat operations in Afghanistan will finally come to an end.
The RAF has bought five more Reaper aircraft, which are expected to be deployed in Afghanistan over the summer, bringing the total to 10. British UAVs have flown 45,000 hours in Afghanistan, and fired 350 weapons, including Hellfire missiles.
Though the MoD insists it operates with aircraft only in support of British troops, and only in Helmand province, the use of UAVs has been dominated by the CIA's controversial programme to target insurgent leaders in Pakistan.
These strikes have sometimes caused civilian casualties, and have raised questions over the legality and morality of using remotely piloted systems in areas that are not conflict zones.
The disclosure comes at a sensitive time for the MoD – just two days before a protest outside RAF Waddington organised by CND, the Drone Campaign Network, Stop the War and War on Want.
The coalition has warned that switching control of drones to Waddington from US bases marks an unwelcome expansion in the UK's UAV programme.
"Drones, controlled far away from conflict zones, ease politicians' decisions to launch military strikes and order extra-judicial assassinations, without democratic oversight or accountability to the public," said Rafeef Ziadah, from War on Want.
Chris Nineham, vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition, added: "Drones are being used to continue the deeply unpopular War on Terror, with no public scrutiny. They're using them to fight wars behind our backs. These remote-controlled killing machines should be banned."
Central Asian ministers discuss Afghan reconciliation
ALMATY, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of the Central Asian countries put their views on Afghan reconciliation at a meeting here Friday.
Saudi Arabian Deputy Foreign Minister AbdulAziz bin Abdullah said the process of national reconciliation in Afghanistan should be managed by its people with the support of the international community.
"We are for supporting the process of national reconciliation in Afghanistan on the condition that they are managed by the Afghans themselves, in accordance with the Constitution, with the support of the international community," he told the third ministerial conference of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the foreign military presence in Afghanistan was the main causes of terrorism and drug trafficking.
"Part of the region suffers from foreign military intervention, which undermines the ability of the authorities of the country to restore order themselves," he said.
In his view, this intervention was "a fertile breeding ground" for the development of terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and other illegal activities.
However, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev said a hasty withdrawal of the international coalition could produce radical political groups up-country and in neighboring states.
The transfer of responsibility in security to the Afghan authorities should be implemented gradually, Abdyldaev said.
On Nov. 2, 2011, at the Istanbul conference on Afghanistan, China, Russia, Afghanistan and Central Asian countries adopted a declaration on regional security and cooperation for a secure and stable Afghanistan. In June 2012, the second ministerial conference was held in Kabul.
Afghan Powerful Figures Facilitate Release of Arrested Kidnappers
TOLOnews.com By Anisa Shahid 25 April 2013
Kabul police is concerned about the influence of powerful figures to facilitate the release of kidnappers who have been arrested by the police, Head of Kabul Police's Criminal Investigation Department, General abdul Zahir, said on Thursday.
General Zahir said that even figures in power and members of both houses support these criminals.
Meanwhile, it is said that a man who is accused of kidnapping, murdering, amputations and torturing will be tried on Sunday in the appellate court.
The office of the Attorney General says that the crimes of this man are clear and it wants the appellate court to consider justice regarding him.
Previously, the primary court has given him acquittal, while there is evidence with police and he has pleaded guilty.
This decision of the primary court has raised concerns of the Ministry of Interior and judicial organs and those who have been kidnapped by this man.
"I can't believe that a man who has committed murder and amputated ears of a kidnapped man will be released without charge, and proved innocent. What kind of judiciary is this? All the people are waiting for justice," an affected man said.
Previously, Kabul police had also expressed concerns over interference of figures in power and even a number of members of both houses for releasing of criminals.
"In connection to one of the kidnappers that we had arrested a number of the parliamentarians intended to release him. They talked and compromised with judges and tried to release him. Therefore lives of both Police and people are in danger," General Abdul Zahir said.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General Office said that the charges against Abdul Samad are proved, the decision of the primary court to release him is unacceptable and for this reason his case has referred to the appellate court.
"We hope that the appellate court would sentence him justly," Abdul Baseer Azizi General Attorney Spokesman said.
From the other side, head of the appellate court says that he has received the case and it is planning to hold the first session on Saturday.
Meanwhile, directorate of judiciary power of the Supreme Court assured Afghans that this case will be investigated seriously.
Abdullah Ataie head of judiciary power of the Supreme Court said that the Judge is free in terms of issuing his verdict and nobody is allowed to interfere in his work, but the case can also be referred to another appellate court".
The man is accused of amputation of the ears of three men and also kidnapping and there are concerns that he will be released.
About one year ago, Kabul police had arrested a man from Khair Khana area of Kabul who abducted a doctor and had asked him money. Police says this man is named Abdul Samad and is accused of kidnapping and amputation of ears of many others.
According to the Kabul police, there are 11 documents and strong evidence which prove the charges against the man.
Gen. Allen: Fewer U.S. troops could do job in Afghanistan
USA Today By Jim Michaels April 25, 2013
The former top commander in Afghanistan said he initially recommended that 13,600 U.S. troops remain in the country when the American combat role there ends after 2014, but believes the mission could still be accomplished with less.
"I always believed that was the number that I should recommend," retired Marine general John Allen said of the 13,600 recommendation. A lower number would accomplish the job, but require more assistance from allies, he said.
The issue of what size residual force to leave in Afghanistan has been the subject of debate as the United States grapples with winding down a war that has lasted more than 10 years.
"The question is if you get a number less than that can you still accomplish the mission," Allen said. "I believe there was a number less than that that could still accomplish the mission with acceptable risk." Allen declined to specify the lesser number.
However, the German defense minister said after a NATO meeting in February that then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he envisioned between 8,000 and 12,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2014.
The White House has not reached a decision on numbers.
Republicans, such as Sen. John McCain, have accused the Obama administration of accelerating the pace of the drawdown too quickly, potentially jeopardizing military gains by not leaving a robust force behind. The Afghans also have expressed worries about being abandoned.
Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, who assumed command in February from Allen, said recently that he has not yet made a recommendation but would see how Afghan security forces perform as a new fighting season opens.
This is the first fighting season with Afghan security forces leading most operations. "I believe this summer will be the bellwether for Afghan performance into 2014," Dunford told the Senate Armed Services Committee recently.
After 2014, U.S. forces will provide advisers for the Afghan security forces and a counterterrorism force capable of targeting al-Qaeda militants. U.S. allies are also expected to contribute to the adviser mission.
Coalition advisers will be embedded in the Defense and Interior ministries and at the corps level, where top-level operations are planned, around the nation. Coalition forces will also be required to provide security for some U.S. agencies that remain in Afghanistan.
"The United States has been very clear: We are going to put a military force into Afghanistan post-2014 to train, advise, assist and conduct (counterterrorism)," Allen said. "That is a certainty."
Dunford and Allen said the specific number of forces is less critical than assuring the Afghans that the United States and its allies will not abandon them when the combat mission ends at the end of 2014.
The current climate of uncertainty worries the Afghans, Allen said.
"In the absence of clarity of what the post-2014 period will look like we are going to see increasingly, I believe, a hedging strategy," Allen said.
The climate of uncertainty makes businesses less willing to invest and neighboring countries hesitant to support a peace process, Allen said. Women, who were severely repressed under the Taliban and have since won back a number of rights, are also worried.
"I know they are very concerned about having clarity about the future," Allen said.
"The longer we don't have that clarity, the more difficult it will be to walk back those hedging strategies," Allen said.
Allen, who stepped down from the Afghanistan command in February, is officially retired from the Marine Corps.
Reporters Without Borders Criticises Afghan Govt Efforts to Impose Censorship On Media
TOLOnews.com By Shakeela Ahbrimkhil 25 April 2013
Reporters Without Borders has expressed concern as the Ulema Council asked President Hamid Karzai to prevent broadcasting of videos and programmes that the council considers as morally unacceptable.
The concerns raised after reports that President Karzai had accepted the suggestion from the Ulema Council.
Nai (agency for supporting free media) warns that the government should support and protect freedom of speech, otherwise the destiny of Afghan leaders would be like that of the Arab leaders
But the ministry of culture and information says that it is committed to protect freedom of speech and democratic values in Afghanistan.
Increase of violence against journalists and efforts to impose censorship against a number of media has made Reporters Without Border concerned about the fate of freedom of expression in Afghanistan.
Reporters Without Border criticised the censorship efforts, calling it a violation of freedom of speech and at odds with the commitments of Kabul in this regard.
"The government must redouble its efforts to protect journalists in response to this increase in threats and violence by Taliban, enemies of freedom of information and other pressure groups," Reporters Without Borders said. "Its indifference to these violations of hard-won fundamental freedoms is serious endangering the public's right to be informed."
Maulawi Shahzada Shahed member and spokesperson of the Council of Ulema said that the council alongside other issues has repeatedly asked that broadcasting of obscene movies, running of extremist music and dancing which are against Islamic values should be prevented.
Mujeeb Khalwatgar head of Nai said that the decree by the Ulema Council is worded ambiguously and that he considers such a censorship against the constitution.
The organisation Nai calls on the Afghan President Hamid Karzai to act in line with his obligations to protect freedom of speech.
If the will of an individual hurts freedom of the people it doesn't mean that we accept it. And we act as the Taliban regime did, it means that we will act like a fascist regime. No, we will never do this, said Jalal Noorani, advisor to the Ministry of Information and Culture.
Reporters without borders attributes violence and most of the threats against Afghan reporters to Taliban.
This organisation says that there have been at least 30 cases of physical attacks and threats against journalists by local officials, policemen and Taliban since the start of the year, ten of which occurred in the past ten days.
Protest planned as Britain takes over drone control in Afghanistan
LONDON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- An anti-war protest is planned for the coming Saturday in Lincolnshire, England, as British Royal Air Force (RAF) starts to remotely operate drones flying in Afghanistan from British soil.
The protest, called by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Drone Campaign Network, Stop the War Coalition and War on Want, will see crowds march from Lincoln South Park to the peace camp at RAF Waddington, Britain's new Center of Drone Operations.
Local media reported Thursday that for the first time, RAF pilots have operated drone missions over Afghanistan from Britain.
"XIII Squadron has commenced supporting ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) and Afghan ground troops in Afghanistan with armed intelligence and surveillance missions, which are remotely piloted from RAF Waddington," Sky News reported quoting Britain's Ministry of Defense.
Up until this week, all such missions in the Afghan conflict had been conducted at Creech air force base in Nevada, the United States.
Britain currently has five Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles and has planned to double it this spring.
Over the past four years, the U.S. has launched hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya, with reliable reports showing thousands of people have been killed, including hundreds of children, CND said, adding the protest aims to call on the government to abandon the use of drones as weapons of war.
"Drones make it much easier for politicians to launch military intervention and assassinate suspects anywhere in the world. Drones are making the world a much more dangerous place," the organizers said.
Nato To Train Afghan Pilots in Modern Ways
TOLOnews.com By Anisa Shahid 25 April 2013
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Nato will train Afghan pilots in Shindand Air Base, Nato officials said.
Afghan pilots will receive standard training in Shindand Air Base, the one and only training centre for Afghan Air Forces.
Shindand Air Base was set up four years ago in Shindand district of western Herat province for training of Afghan air forces by Nato.
"Although it's new, having been created only four years ago, the Afghan Air Force is going to be capable of supporting all the ground operations with troop movement, cargo movement and supplying and deploying people all over Afghanistan," Senior Advisor, Colonel Lucian Ippoliti said.
Afghan pilots will be trained in a way that Italians, US and Hungarian pilots are getting trained in their countries.
"The way that we train pilots in Afghanistan is the same as we use in Italy or in Hungary or in America, but we have to keep in mind that we're in an operational environment and not in a normal situation. We train like we would fight," Instructor Pilot Major Davide Dulcetii said.
It is said that Nato and Russia have funded the second phase of Afghan Air Forces a few days ago.
The United States and Russia with Nato Secretary General in Brussels agreed to financially and technically support Afghan air forces.
Afghanistan Air Force was established in the reign of King Amanullah in 1924 and modernised and developed during the kingdom of Mohammad Zahir Shah.
EXCLUSIVE: Up to 50 US helicopters in Afghanistan badly damaged in hail storm
Fox News By Justin Fishel April 25, 2013
EXCLUSIVE: As many as 50 U.S. and Coalition military helicopters were badly damaged in a hailstorm at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan this week. The damage was severe enough that the helicopters are grounded until they can be repaired.
The storm moved through southern Afghanistan on April 23.
A military spokesman says "ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] has already implemented actions to mitigate the effects of the storm and our forces continue to receive all necessary support."
Fox News was told by one service member serving at a remote outpost in southern Afghanistan, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, that he was told "supplies and personnel movement are going to be restricted because of lack of deployable helicopters."
This service member said he was told that around 50 helicopters were damaged and grounded as a result. Several U.S. officials have confirmed that number, although ISAF would not comment on the exact number, citing concerns about operational security.
One military official said repairs are likely to happen quickly and that it is a "top priority" right now.
UAE to Support Afghanistan Beyond 2014
TOLOmews.com By Zabiullah Jahanmal 25 April 2013
United Arab Emirates has pledged long-term aid to Afghanistan after 2014, Arab officials said on Thursday.
United Arab Emirates' Embassy to Afghanistan said that as part of supporting development projects in Afghanistan the country's aid will be continued after 2014, especially in reconstruction projects.
United Arab Emirates is a big donor to Afghanistan among the Arab countries, and has aided millions of dollars in housing, health, higher education, roads and education sectors for years now.
I think, we are also in Afghanistan beyond 2014 and we will continue to support Afghanistan. We beyond 2014, we have a lot of projects in Afghanistan and we have spent lots of money in Afghan projects, United Arab Emirates Ambassador in Afghanistan Yousuf Al Ali said.
It comes as 40 kilo meters border road of western Helmand province is under reconstruction by United Arab Emirates. The UAE officials in Afghanistan added that their country will also fund reconstruction of the second part of the road in the future.
Afghanistan Still Needs Foreign Workers: Officials
TOLOnews.com By Milad Sakandari 25 April 2013
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs on Thursday said that Afghanistan still needs foreign workers in professional fields.
The ministry says that although there is an increase in Afghan workers' capacity compared to last year but still there is a need to hire foreign workers in professional fields.
The ministry says that due to lack of Afghan professional workers in different fields, they have legally permitted foreigners to work in Afghanistan in the last 7 years.
"We still need foreign workers in fields where Afghans do not have enough ability or no ability," Hossamuddin Hamrah deputy minister of Labour and Social Affairs told TOLOnews.
At present, more than 17,200 foreign workers have received work permits in Afghanistan, he added.
In the mean time, many of parliament members say that the government has not provided necessary opportunities to professionalise Afghans in various fields in the past eleven years.
"In the past ten years the government could not provide education opportunities for Afghans in professional fields, so that our own Afghans could be hired in professional fields," Ubaidullah Ramin parliament member said.
The deputy minister says that currently there are a number of Afghans in non-professional and semi-professional fields but in professional fields there is a need for more foreign workers to be hired.
Nangarhar Protestors' Demands to Be Discussed In Jirga
TOLOnews.com By TOLOnews.com 25 April 2013
The Nangarhar protestors' demands will be discussed in a Jirga in a week, the provincial parliamentarians said on Thursday.
The province's parliamentarians, tribal elders and jihadi leaders on Thursday in a gathering decided to discuss the residents' problems in a jirga to find a solution.
The jirga which is expected to announce a final decision over the problem will be attended by Nangarhar parliamentarians, tribal elders, religious scholars and jihadi leaders of the province.
The residents should stop their protests during a week, the gathering said.
"The Jirga seeks solution for all the problems which are suggested by residents of Nangahar to be addressed. With the majority of votes, we decide and will see whether the implementation of decision belongs to local officials or central government," Nangarhar parliamentarian Faraidon Momand said.
"Rise of corruption and construction of gates by Pakistani military are said to be the main agenda to be discussed by elders next Thursday. A solution should be found and we will share the outcome with the media," Nangahar parliamentarian Abdul Zahir Qadir said.
It comes as the residents of eastern Nangarhar province have protested against Governor Gul Agha Shirzai in reaction to the construction of military buildings across Durand border line by Pakistani military forces.
The protestors have accused the provincial governor of dealing with Pakistani side and asked the central government to dismiss him as soon as possible.
The ‘Poisoned’ Girls of Afghanistan
The New York Times By Matthieu Aikins April 25, 2013
It’s happening again.
On April 21, the authorities in Takhar Province in northeastern Afghanistan announced that up to 74 girls at Bibi Maryam school had fallen ill and were suspected of having been poisoned by gas. On April18, more than a dozen girls were hospitalized at a nearby school with similar symptoms. The governor’s spokesman, Sulaiman Moradi, was quoted as blaming the “enemies of the government and the country” for poisoning the girls.
But I’m willing to bet that there was no poison.
Over the past few years, thousands of girls have fallen victim to waves of alleged poisonings in Afghan schools. The government, media and education activists have blamed the Taliban, and the police in a number of provinces have produced the “guilty” parties, with some of them confessing on national television.
But last July when I investigated the subject for Newsweek, I discovered never-released reports showing that the United Nations, the World Health Organization and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force had investigated the incidents for years and had never found, despite extensive laboratory tests, any evidence of toxins or poisoning — a fact that may explain ISAF’s conspicuous silence on the issue.
The girls’ symptoms provide a clue to the real cause, however. Despite the high number of victims, their symptoms are mild — dizziness, nausea and fainting, as opposed to the internal bleeding and convulsions doctors would expect from most toxins — and there are no recorded deaths associated with the incidents. The overwhelming majority of the girls were discharged from the hospital within a few hours.
These facts, along with case histories, have convinced experts at the World Health Organization that the “poisonings” are likely a form of mass hysteria known as “mass psychogenic illness.” Indeed, according to Dr. Sayed Abed, an internal-medicine specialist at Takhar’s provincial hospital, the recently affected girls show the same minor symptoms as they did last year.
“There is a zero-percent chance they were poisoned,” he said told me. “It’s a psychological cause.”
The phenomenon of groups of people falling ill for psychological, rather than physical, reasons is not unknown, nor is it limited to Afghanistan. Moreover, the typical victims are school-age girls. In late 2011, when a group of girls in Le Roy, New York , fell victim to a mysterious twitching illness, medical authorities eventually concluded it was psychogenic.
School-age girls in Afghanistan are among the country’s most vulnerable groups. Already suffering from insecurity, malnutrition and poverty, they are also subject to the pressures of puberty and the country’s severe gender inequality. In the climate of fear created by media reports of Taliban “poisonings,” many girls are no doubt highly susceptible. In past cases, a trigger — a farmer spraying pesticides next door, a propane leak, a new girl having an epileptic seizure — has caused widespread panic and the onset of the familiar symptoms.
This does not mean the girls are faking it. Their illness is real, just as real as a person’s clinical depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. And they need help, in the form of counseling and education, as well as long-term interventions to improve school conditions and access to mental health resources.
But as long as the government and media remain in denial about the real cause of the incidents, the victims won’t receive that counseling. Those who fulminate against the Taliban, and who mindlessly publicize each “poisoning,” only contribute to the generalized anxiety that helps precipitate these incidents and bring harm to their victims.
Meanwhile, there is a darker side to this story. Who are the “perpetrators” of these nonexistent crimes being paraded on TV? Last year in Takhar, I found that the Afghan intelligence service had arrested two 17-year-old girls named Seema Gul and Shukira. A female interrogator beat them into confessing to poisoning their schoolmates, and one of the girl’s videotaped confession was distributed and broadcast on a number of local stations. After I published my story, and ISAF and the U.N. put pressure on the government, the girls were released, but none of the provincial officials involved in the incident were held accountable for their actions.
In past years, new waves of “poisonings” have coincided with the onset of warm weather, and these latest incidents are likely the first of a new crop this summer. There are encouraging signs that Afghans are beginning to be aware of their true nature: Most news organizations have treated the incidents with caution, and Gen. Khair Mohammad Temor, police chief of Takhar Province, also debunked them, in apparent contradiction to the province’s governor.
“The only reason is rumors,” he said. “We haven’t seen any symptoms of poisoning.”
But if the incidents continue, other provincial officials may be less scrupulous as they come under pressure to make them stop. A strong stand is needed.
Pakistan plans to seal Afghan border, restrict movement of Afghan refugees May 11 for election
Associated Press April 26, 2013
Islamabad - Pakistani officials say they’ll seal their border with Afghanistan and restrict the movement of Afghan refugees on May 11 during parliamentary elections.
Officials at the Interior Ministry and the election commission said Friday the measure is aimed at preventing terrorist attacks during the vote.
Officials did not say how they would restrict the movement of hundreds of thousands of people spread out across the country or close the porous border.
Pakistan announced similar measures in the past but failed to take action.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
About 1.6 million registered Afghan refugees and 1 million other Afghans live in Pakistan.
They are a legacy of their home country’s repeated conflicts. Pakistanis often accuse them of importing terrorism and crime.
www.afghanistanewscenter.com
by Shamila N. Chaudhary, Omar Samad Apr 26, 2013 10:05 AM EDT The Daily Beast
Don’t get too excited about this week’s revived peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan, since both countries came to the table with specific, complicated demands. But Shamila N. Chaudhary and Omar Samad say hope is not lost—but appointing an envoy to the region is essential.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s diplomatic initiative to host talks between Afghan and Pakistani leaders in Brussels this week was a timely step meant to reset tense relations between the two South Asian neighbors, and revive stalled talks with the Taliban as the 2014 deadline for the U.S. and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan approaches.
With no immediate breakthrough on the horizon, the Secretary emerged after three hours of talks saying that both sides have "some very specific homework to do.” In other words, it may be naïve to expect quick results, but specific demands have been exchanged that require action within a specific time frame. The most challenging might be prodding Taliban leaders to enter talks.
Years of acrimony and mistrust have left the two countries suspicious of each other’s motivations, and without active and judicious U.S. and international participation in the political end-game, the heavy investments made since 9/11 to fight terrorism and help stabilize the region might end up being in vain.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have soured since February when it was announced at a trilateral meeting hosted by the British Prime Minister that a peace deal may be possible within six months.
Afghanistan expected some movement from Islamabad to nudge the Taliban, whose leadership resides in Pakistan, to enter into talks. But Kabul is now accusing Pakistan of “sabotaging the peace effort,” pointing to several areas of contention:
1. Attacks on security forces and civilians by militants allegedly using Pakistani sanctuaries.
2. Artillery shelling and related civilian deaths in Kunar and Nuristan border provinces and the construction of Pakistani border outposts on the Afghan side of the border.
3. Uncoordinated releases of ineffective Taliban detainees in Pakistan, who have since disappeared.
4. Pakistan’s reluctance to release key Taliban figures, including Taliban number two, Mullah Ghani Beradar, to facilitate talks.
The Pakistanis demand that:
1. Afghanistan extradite Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Faqir Mohamad and rein in Mullah Fazlullah, whom both target Pakistan.
2. Deny Pakistani Taliban safe havens in Afghanistan from where they can attack Pakistan.
3. Afghanistan downgrades ties with India and reduces India’s footprint in the country, which Pakistan believes threatens its national security, and Afghans view as soft power projection.
4. Pakistan assumes a primary role in Taliban peace talks.
For their part, the Taliban refuse to talk to Kabul until all foreign troops leave, but want to re-engage the U.S. on the release of Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo.
The U.S., non-committal to releasing prisoners at this stage due to congressional oversight, insists the peace process be Afghan-led. This remains a contradiction until and unless the Afghan Taliban are pushed toward talks.
Years of acrimony and mistrust have left the two countries suspicious of each other’s motivations, and without active and judicious U.S. and international participation in the political end-game, the heavy investments made since 9/11 to fight terrorism and help stabilize the region might end up being in vain.
There is rising anxiety over shrinking timelines as Afghans deal with complex 2014 transition issues and hold the belief that the militants are buying time and merely paying lip service to peace overtures. They fear that if Afghanistan slips into crisis, instability and the rise of militancy will engulf the whole region.
Pakistan worries about further destabilization of its tribal areas and provinces bordering Afghanistan which would be incapable of accommodating large influxes of Afghan refugees.
Part of the problem can be traced to a historic border dispute. Contrary to Pakistani expectations, Afghanistan has never officially recognized the “Durand Line” as the international border with Pakistan, a boundary delineated by colonial Britain in the 19th century. Pakistan recognizes the international border and expects a de jure resolution of the issue. The unresolved dispute haunts both countries today in their inability to control the flow of militants across the border.
Also contributing to bilateral tensions is Pakistan’s use of Islamic extremists both during and after the Afghan-Soviet war, giving rise to the Taliban brand of extremism in Afghanistan and more recently empowering groups like the Pakistani Taliban who directly threaten Pakistan.
Afghanistan and Pakistan’s problems are reaching a tipping point. As much as policy-makers in Washington feel less invested in the Afghan endgame, the U.S. has few choices but to play a key role in assuring a relatively safe denouement by 2014 that would provide some assurance to both sides that the international community is committed to regional stability.
An extremist takeover would undoubtedly lead to wider ethnic and sectarian conflict instigated by emboldened armed militants in a region that holds nuclear weapons - hence Secretary Kerry’s urgent attempt to reset the dialogue.
The United States must focus on helping Afghanistan through the transition – albeit with respect to the country’s growing sovereignty - facilitate an eventless withdrawal and leave behind a manageable law and order situation. On these fronts, if there is any progress to be made in the little time left, President Obama should prioritize focused diplomatic engagement.
The first step, beyond Secretary Kerry’s timely mediation, is to appoint a new special envoy. The position of Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan sits vacant since January. A new envoy should be high-powered and well-versed in dealing with sensitive geo-political intricacies to deal with Afghanistan’s transitional tantrums, Taliban rigidity, Pakistan’s uncertainty, regional complexities, coordination with international allies and relevant U.S. agencies to ensure that the endgame is not lost.
Dozens Killed In Kandahar Bus Crash
April 26, 2013 By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Afghan officials say 45 people have been killed in a road incident near the southern city of Kandahar.
A spokesman for the governor of Kandahar Province said women and children were among the dead and at least 10 others were injured in the April 26 crash.
The spokesman, Javid Faisal, said a loaded bus collided with a fuel tanker.
The cause of the incident is being investigated, but a spokesman for the governor of neighboring Helmand Province said the truck had been attacked by Taliban militants and left burning in the middle of the road when the bus collided with it.
The Kandahar governor's spokesman denied that report.
The passengers on the bus were reportedly mostly laborers seeking work in the region's poppy fields.
With reporting by dpa
Why we should be optimistic about Afghanistan
CNN (blog) By Erlan Idrissov, Special to CNN April 25th, 2013
Editor’s note: Erlan Idrissov is minister of foreign affairs in Kazakhstan. The views expressed are his own.
The view that chaos and violence inevitably await Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force in 2014 is misguided. Indeed, this sort of prognosis is a potentially dangerous self-fulfilling prophecy.
The fact is that there is actually cause for some optimism that with the right level of assistance from its friends and neighbors, and through the creation of a peaceful environment in its immediate neighborhood, Afghanistan can overcome its historical isolation and take its rightful place in the heart of Asia.
This week, Almaty – Kazakhstan’s second city – will host foreign ministers participating in the Istanbul Process in support of Afghanistan. The meeting, building on a process launched in November 2011, will provide important opportunities to increase the level of regional cooperation and coordination ahead of the transfer of security control in Afghanistan from international to Afghan security forces in 2014.
The Istanbul Process, which brings together 15 regional countries supported by 16 members of the international community and numerous international organizations, has developed a wide-range of activities and measures across fields including political and security, economic, education, cultural and legal. Included are confidence-building measures in areas such as counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics, emergency situations, trade opportunities and regional infrastructure.
A key step toward a more stable Afghanistan is the development of transportation links to facilitate trade within the region, and Afghanistan can benefit hugely from the creation of the “New Silk Road,” bringing together Eurasia and South Asia via new road, rail and energy corridors.
As the largest land-locked country in the world, Kazakhstan has a strong interest in having the best possible access to global markets, including to its south. The stabilization of Afghanistan and its pursuit of harmonious relations with its neighbors are an important part of that process, as is the normalization of Iran’s relations with the international community.
All this means that integrating Afghanistan into its neighborhood should create a “win-win” situation for all the countries in the region and for the international community as a whole. But it won’t be easy, and it is necessary for all involved to gradually establish the conditions for the Afghan people to find the political solutions that can unite the country and provide the necessary leadership for long-term renewal.
The reality is that there are no magic solutions to Afghanistan’s problems, and we must accept the fact that only Afghans can decide the country’s way forward. The international community should therefore limit its efforts to promoting the social and economic rehabilitation of Afghanistan and stay out of politics.
Afghanistan’s population is 70 to 80 percent rural, and encouraging Afghans back into productive employment on the land could have a major economic impact and improve the security situation in much of the country. With this in mind, Kazakhstan has been training Afghan agricultural specialists, and has also provided large volumes of seed. It has also provided professional training for 1,000 Afghan students in its higher education institutions in areas ranging from engineering to medicine as part of a $50 million program aimed at helping Afghanistan overcome a difficult legacy in education.
A further challenge is that Afghanistan remains the undisputed global leader in production and supply of illicit heroin and opium to the global market. The criminalization of Afghanistan’s economy is creating serious problems in many countries along the main export routes for these products, including in Kazakhstan. The only reliable way to combat this is to develop an economy that supports other types of legal activity. At present, opium poppy production is the only social safety net for many farmers.
Solutions to many of Afghanistan’s problems are obvious. What is usually much less clear is how to create an environment that is conducive to applying them.
The Istanbul Process is one such way, and is a natural means of integrating Afghanistan into a regional cooperation framework.
As Afghanistan’s government takes over responsibility for the country’s security, its relations with neighboring countries are already taking on increased prominence. As neighbors, we feel we must live up to our responsibilities and make the most of this opportunity.
Afghan police take first, faltering steps in fight against corruption
Reuters By Katharine Houreld 26/04/13
Herat, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's security forces are routinely accused of murder, rape and corruption on a grand scale, but a new anti-corruption police unit's sole conviction last year was a junior policeman who forged some documents, the head of the unit told Reuters.
Abuses by the 152,000-strong Afghan police have pushed whole districts into the arms of the Taliban, officials say. Now international forces hope the Shafafiyat - Dari for transparency - anti-corruption unit will crack down on corrupt police.
For most of President Hamid Karzai's 11-year reign, there has been little interest in anti-corruption in the army or police. The country's two most powerful institutions receive billions of dollars from donors annually but struggle just to recruit and maintain a force bled by high rates of desertion.
Rampant graft in one of the world's poorest and most corrupt nations has long been a major irritant for Western backers whose aid has propped up the Afghan economy for more than a decade.
At the U.S.-funded Dawood military hospital in Kabul, wounded soldiers and police suffered from gangrene and maggots, starved and died in filthy corridors. U.S. lawmakers said $43 million for medicine, food and equipment had gone missing.
That's the type of case the Afghan-run anti-corruption units should investigate. The police unit was set up a year ago, with the military planning to follow suit this spring.
Since then, hundreds of police accused of abuse have been fired, transferred or given punishments like cleaning toilets. But the Shafafiyat police unit was stumped when asked about successful prosecutions.
"We have done good work but we are not satisfied. We need to do more," said Major General Abdul Massoud Rageb, the burly, grey-bearded head of the unit.
He said the unit by itself had secured one conviction resulting in a jail term. Records show Mohammed Daud was sentenced in February to a year in jail for forging vehicle documents in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
LAUGH OR CRY?
Shafafiyat was also part of an investigation into the ex-governor of eastern Nuristan province and provincial police officials who stole half a million dollars earmarked for police salaries. The Taliban seized three districts from unpaid police who deserted their posts, said the Attorney General's office.
Last year, the provincial police officials were sentenced to between six and 10 years in jail. The governor, who stole the lion's share of the cash, got two months in jail.
"We didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this sentence," said Lieutenant General Ghulam Ranjbar, who oversees military and police corruption cases at the Attorney General's office.
A Shafafiyat official showed Reuters a large binder of documents on the case and said Shafafiyat led the investigation. But Ranjbar said Shafafiyat did not have a lead role. Rageb did not mention the case until prompted.
Those two cases are the only ones Shafafiyat can positively say ended in jail terms, highlighting a key problem: the unit seems unable to track complaints properly, hindering analysis of their performance.
Rageb said Shafafiyat received 1,758 complaints last year, but his deputy put that at 1,024. A NATO counterpart said there were around 1,600 in one province alone - and there are 34 provinces in Afghanistan.
Out of those cases, 44 were referred for prosecution and entered into a black binder that sits among the framed photographs in Rageb's office. Shafafiyat stop tracking a case once they refer it to prosecutors. They found out about the Nuristan sentences from the newspaper.
"We don't really get any feedback," said Rageb's deputy, Colonel Mubien Rahimi ruefully.
THOUSANDS OF CASES, NO BUDGET
There's plenty to investigate - 5,424 policemen were accused of crimes ranging from desertion to murder and rape last year, the Attorney General's office said. Several officials there said they did not even know about Shafafiyat.
No one knows how many police have been convicted. Shafafiyat referred Reuters to the Attorney General's office, who referred to the Ministry of Interior, who referred to the Supreme Court, who asked Reuters for a written request. They did not reply.
Problems stretch beyond case tracking. When Shafafiyat officers travel, they are housed and protected by the police they are investigating.
Investigators often get death threats. There's also little to no protection for witnesses, informants, judges, lawyers, or members of civil society working alongside Shafafiyat.
"We do face pressure in some cases," Rageb acknowledged, declining to give examples.
Shafafiyat has no dedicated budget of its own. Salaries are paid by the international donors bankrolling the entire police force. The United Nations donated equipment and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), anxious to improve police performance ahead of the 2014 drawdown of foreign troops, helps Shafafiyat with transport and logistics.
But when ISAF flew Shafafiyat and anti-corruption campaigners to the western town of Herat this month, ISAF officers could not get clearance to leave base and attend the meeting in the police headquarters.
Five members of civil society groups meant to provide civilian oversight were also on the trip. None could name a complaint that Shafafiyat had solved, and most seemed unaware how complaints were recorded or investigated.
"We are just here to support the process," said Gul Maky Siawash of the Afghan Women's Coalition for Fighting Corruption.
When asked about the Shafafiyat police unit's greatest achievement so far, Brigadier General Flemming Agerskov, Rageb's ISAF counterpart, said they had investigated some serious rape allegations. Human rights groups say police often use young boys as sex slaves or rape women at roadblocks.
ISAF doesn't track individual cases because they are encouraging Afghans to do it themselves, Agerskov said. The Ministry of Interior plans to put a case tracking system into place, he said, but it was unclear when.
Rahimi and his colleagues said they spent six months tracking down an alleged police rapist last year. By the time they found him, the man had been shot, possibly by the victim's family. They could name no other cases and had no statistics on the number of rape complaints received.
"I don't know of any policeman who has been jailed for rape. It's part of a broader pattern of impunity for the security forces in Afghanistan," said Heather Barr, the head of Human Rights Watch in Afghanistan.
"I interviewed one woman who had gone to police to report a rape and was raped again by the head of that police station."
The woman had not lodged a complaint with Shafafiyat.
Suspected Taliban militant kills 5 Afghan police
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, April 26 (Xinhua) -- A suspected Taliban insurgent opened fire and killed five policemen in Kunduz Province 250 km north of Kabul on Friday, a local official said.
The man took a gun and opened fire at a checkpoint of local police in Sharawan area of Dasht-e-Archi early Friday when the policemen were asleep, the district police chief Hamid Agha told Xinhua.
He disguised himself as a guest came to the checkpoint on Thursday night and had dinner with the policemen who slept inside, said Agha.
He killed five on the spot and made his good escape, Agha added.
Without pointing finger at any groups or individuals, the official said investigation is underway to identify and arrest those behind the bloody attack.
Meantime, Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed of responsibility in talks with media via telephone from unknown location, saying Taliban fighters seized police arms and ammunitions after killing five policemen.
Russian Minister Warns Of 'Degrading' Situation In Afghanistan
April 26, 2013 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov is warning that Afghanistan will face new challenges because of the country's "degrading political and military situation."
He spoke on April 26 at the ministerial meeting of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Morgulov said that with Afghanistan planning to hold a presidential election in 2014 and with most NATO troops withdrawing by the end of that year, instability could spread into to Central Asia and pose a "threat to Russia and its allies."
He added that Afghanistan's national reconciliation process has stalled.
The declaration of the Istanbul Process on Regional Security and Cooperation for a Secure and Stable Afghanistan was adopted in November 2011.
It was signed by Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and the United Arab Emirates.
Based on reporting by ITAR-TASS and Interfax
UK starts controlling drones in Afghanistan from British soil
RAF's unmanned Reaper aircraft had been operated from Creech airforce base in Nevada, but missions from Lincolnshire began this week
The Guardian By Nick Hopkins 25 April 2013
Remotely controlled armed drones used to target insurgents in Afghanistan have been operated from the UK for the first time, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.
Missions of the missile-carrying Reaper aircraft began from a newly built headquarters at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire earlier this week – five years after the MoD bought the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to monitor and attack the Taliban.
Since then the UK has been controlling the RAF's five Reaper aircraft from Creech airforce base in Nevada because the British military did not have the capability to fly them from here.
However, the MoD made building a new UAV hub at Waddington a priority following the 2010 strategic defence and security review, and the centre "stood up" at the end of last year.
Waddington has become the home of XIII squadron, and defence officials said pilots from the unit have now started to take command of Reapers, working in tandem with the team in America.
There are three operating terminals at the base in Lincolnshire, and they had to go through extensive technical trials before they were deemed ready for use.
"We aren't flying any more operations than we were before, but with the time differences between the US, Afghanistan and the UK, it is now possible for pilots at Waddington to work in relay with the those in the US," said a source.
There are no current plans to disband the squadron in the US, which is expected to continue operating until the end of next year, when all Nato combat operations in Afghanistan will finally come to an end.
The RAF has bought five more Reaper aircraft, which are expected to be deployed in Afghanistan over the summer, bringing the total to 10. British UAVs have flown 45,000 hours in Afghanistan, and fired 350 weapons, including Hellfire missiles.
Though the MoD insists it operates with aircraft only in support of British troops, and only in Helmand province, the use of UAVs has been dominated by the CIA's controversial programme to target insurgent leaders in Pakistan.
These strikes have sometimes caused civilian casualties, and have raised questions over the legality and morality of using remotely piloted systems in areas that are not conflict zones.
The disclosure comes at a sensitive time for the MoD – just two days before a protest outside RAF Waddington organised by CND, the Drone Campaign Network, Stop the War and War on Want.
The coalition has warned that switching control of drones to Waddington from US bases marks an unwelcome expansion in the UK's UAV programme.
"Drones, controlled far away from conflict zones, ease politicians' decisions to launch military strikes and order extra-judicial assassinations, without democratic oversight or accountability to the public," said Rafeef Ziadah, from War on Want.
Chris Nineham, vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition, added: "Drones are being used to continue the deeply unpopular War on Terror, with no public scrutiny. They're using them to fight wars behind our backs. These remote-controlled killing machines should be banned."
Central Asian ministers discuss Afghan reconciliation
ALMATY, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of the Central Asian countries put their views on Afghan reconciliation at a meeting here Friday.
Saudi Arabian Deputy Foreign Minister AbdulAziz bin Abdullah said the process of national reconciliation in Afghanistan should be managed by its people with the support of the international community.
"We are for supporting the process of national reconciliation in Afghanistan on the condition that they are managed by the Afghans themselves, in accordance with the Constitution, with the support of the international community," he told the third ministerial conference of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the foreign military presence in Afghanistan was the main causes of terrorism and drug trafficking.
"Part of the region suffers from foreign military intervention, which undermines the ability of the authorities of the country to restore order themselves," he said.
In his view, this intervention was "a fertile breeding ground" for the development of terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and other illegal activities.
However, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev said a hasty withdrawal of the international coalition could produce radical political groups up-country and in neighboring states.
The transfer of responsibility in security to the Afghan authorities should be implemented gradually, Abdyldaev said.
On Nov. 2, 2011, at the Istanbul conference on Afghanistan, China, Russia, Afghanistan and Central Asian countries adopted a declaration on regional security and cooperation for a secure and stable Afghanistan. In June 2012, the second ministerial conference was held in Kabul.
Afghan Powerful Figures Facilitate Release of Arrested Kidnappers
TOLOnews.com By Anisa Shahid 25 April 2013
Kabul police is concerned about the influence of powerful figures to facilitate the release of kidnappers who have been arrested by the police, Head of Kabul Police's Criminal Investigation Department, General abdul Zahir, said on Thursday.
General Zahir said that even figures in power and members of both houses support these criminals.
Meanwhile, it is said that a man who is accused of kidnapping, murdering, amputations and torturing will be tried on Sunday in the appellate court.
The office of the Attorney General says that the crimes of this man are clear and it wants the appellate court to consider justice regarding him.
Previously, the primary court has given him acquittal, while there is evidence with police and he has pleaded guilty.
This decision of the primary court has raised concerns of the Ministry of Interior and judicial organs and those who have been kidnapped by this man.
"I can't believe that a man who has committed murder and amputated ears of a kidnapped man will be released without charge, and proved innocent. What kind of judiciary is this? All the people are waiting for justice," an affected man said.
Previously, Kabul police had also expressed concerns over interference of figures in power and even a number of members of both houses for releasing of criminals.
"In connection to one of the kidnappers that we had arrested a number of the parliamentarians intended to release him. They talked and compromised with judges and tried to release him. Therefore lives of both Police and people are in danger," General Abdul Zahir said.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General Office said that the charges against Abdul Samad are proved, the decision of the primary court to release him is unacceptable and for this reason his case has referred to the appellate court.
"We hope that the appellate court would sentence him justly," Abdul Baseer Azizi General Attorney Spokesman said.
From the other side, head of the appellate court says that he has received the case and it is planning to hold the first session on Saturday.
Meanwhile, directorate of judiciary power of the Supreme Court assured Afghans that this case will be investigated seriously.
Abdullah Ataie head of judiciary power of the Supreme Court said that the Judge is free in terms of issuing his verdict and nobody is allowed to interfere in his work, but the case can also be referred to another appellate court".
The man is accused of amputation of the ears of three men and also kidnapping and there are concerns that he will be released.
About one year ago, Kabul police had arrested a man from Khair Khana area of Kabul who abducted a doctor and had asked him money. Police says this man is named Abdul Samad and is accused of kidnapping and amputation of ears of many others.
According to the Kabul police, there are 11 documents and strong evidence which prove the charges against the man.
Gen. Allen: Fewer U.S. troops could do job in Afghanistan
USA Today By Jim Michaels April 25, 2013
The former top commander in Afghanistan said he initially recommended that 13,600 U.S. troops remain in the country when the American combat role there ends after 2014, but believes the mission could still be accomplished with less.
"I always believed that was the number that I should recommend," retired Marine general John Allen said of the 13,600 recommendation. A lower number would accomplish the job, but require more assistance from allies, he said.
The issue of what size residual force to leave in Afghanistan has been the subject of debate as the United States grapples with winding down a war that has lasted more than 10 years.
"The question is if you get a number less than that can you still accomplish the mission," Allen said. "I believe there was a number less than that that could still accomplish the mission with acceptable risk." Allen declined to specify the lesser number.
However, the German defense minister said after a NATO meeting in February that then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he envisioned between 8,000 and 12,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2014.
The White House has not reached a decision on numbers.
Republicans, such as Sen. John McCain, have accused the Obama administration of accelerating the pace of the drawdown too quickly, potentially jeopardizing military gains by not leaving a robust force behind. The Afghans also have expressed worries about being abandoned.
Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, who assumed command in February from Allen, said recently that he has not yet made a recommendation but would see how Afghan security forces perform as a new fighting season opens.
This is the first fighting season with Afghan security forces leading most operations. "I believe this summer will be the bellwether for Afghan performance into 2014," Dunford told the Senate Armed Services Committee recently.
After 2014, U.S. forces will provide advisers for the Afghan security forces and a counterterrorism force capable of targeting al-Qaeda militants. U.S. allies are also expected to contribute to the adviser mission.
Coalition advisers will be embedded in the Defense and Interior ministries and at the corps level, where top-level operations are planned, around the nation. Coalition forces will also be required to provide security for some U.S. agencies that remain in Afghanistan.
"The United States has been very clear: We are going to put a military force into Afghanistan post-2014 to train, advise, assist and conduct (counterterrorism)," Allen said. "That is a certainty."
Dunford and Allen said the specific number of forces is less critical than assuring the Afghans that the United States and its allies will not abandon them when the combat mission ends at the end of 2014.
The current climate of uncertainty worries the Afghans, Allen said.
"In the absence of clarity of what the post-2014 period will look like we are going to see increasingly, I believe, a hedging strategy," Allen said.
The climate of uncertainty makes businesses less willing to invest and neighboring countries hesitant to support a peace process, Allen said. Women, who were severely repressed under the Taliban and have since won back a number of rights, are also worried.
"I know they are very concerned about having clarity about the future," Allen said.
"The longer we don't have that clarity, the more difficult it will be to walk back those hedging strategies," Allen said.
Allen, who stepped down from the Afghanistan command in February, is officially retired from the Marine Corps.
Reporters Without Borders Criticises Afghan Govt Efforts to Impose Censorship On Media
TOLOnews.com By Shakeela Ahbrimkhil 25 April 2013
Reporters Without Borders has expressed concern as the Ulema Council asked President Hamid Karzai to prevent broadcasting of videos and programmes that the council considers as morally unacceptable.
The concerns raised after reports that President Karzai had accepted the suggestion from the Ulema Council.
Nai (agency for supporting free media) warns that the government should support and protect freedom of speech, otherwise the destiny of Afghan leaders would be like that of the Arab leaders
But the ministry of culture and information says that it is committed to protect freedom of speech and democratic values in Afghanistan.
Increase of violence against journalists and efforts to impose censorship against a number of media has made Reporters Without Border concerned about the fate of freedom of expression in Afghanistan.
Reporters Without Border criticised the censorship efforts, calling it a violation of freedom of speech and at odds with the commitments of Kabul in this regard.
"The government must redouble its efforts to protect journalists in response to this increase in threats and violence by Taliban, enemies of freedom of information and other pressure groups," Reporters Without Borders said. "Its indifference to these violations of hard-won fundamental freedoms is serious endangering the public's right to be informed."
Maulawi Shahzada Shahed member and spokesperson of the Council of Ulema said that the council alongside other issues has repeatedly asked that broadcasting of obscene movies, running of extremist music and dancing which are against Islamic values should be prevented.
Mujeeb Khalwatgar head of Nai said that the decree by the Ulema Council is worded ambiguously and that he considers such a censorship against the constitution.
The organisation Nai calls on the Afghan President Hamid Karzai to act in line with his obligations to protect freedom of speech.
If the will of an individual hurts freedom of the people it doesn't mean that we accept it. And we act as the Taliban regime did, it means that we will act like a fascist regime. No, we will never do this, said Jalal Noorani, advisor to the Ministry of Information and Culture.
Reporters without borders attributes violence and most of the threats against Afghan reporters to Taliban.
This organisation says that there have been at least 30 cases of physical attacks and threats against journalists by local officials, policemen and Taliban since the start of the year, ten of which occurred in the past ten days.
Protest planned as Britain takes over drone control in Afghanistan
LONDON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- An anti-war protest is planned for the coming Saturday in Lincolnshire, England, as British Royal Air Force (RAF) starts to remotely operate drones flying in Afghanistan from British soil.
The protest, called by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Drone Campaign Network, Stop the War Coalition and War on Want, will see crowds march from Lincoln South Park to the peace camp at RAF Waddington, Britain's new Center of Drone Operations.
Local media reported Thursday that for the first time, RAF pilots have operated drone missions over Afghanistan from Britain.
"XIII Squadron has commenced supporting ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) and Afghan ground troops in Afghanistan with armed intelligence and surveillance missions, which are remotely piloted from RAF Waddington," Sky News reported quoting Britain's Ministry of Defense.
Up until this week, all such missions in the Afghan conflict had been conducted at Creech air force base in Nevada, the United States.
Britain currently has five Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles and has planned to double it this spring.
Over the past four years, the U.S. has launched hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya, with reliable reports showing thousands of people have been killed, including hundreds of children, CND said, adding the protest aims to call on the government to abandon the use of drones as weapons of war.
"Drones make it much easier for politicians to launch military intervention and assassinate suspects anywhere in the world. Drones are making the world a much more dangerous place," the organizers said.
Nato To Train Afghan Pilots in Modern Ways
TOLOnews.com By Anisa Shahid 25 April 2013
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Nato will train Afghan pilots in Shindand Air Base, Nato officials said.
Afghan pilots will receive standard training in Shindand Air Base, the one and only training centre for Afghan Air Forces.
Shindand Air Base was set up four years ago in Shindand district of western Herat province for training of Afghan air forces by Nato.
"Although it's new, having been created only four years ago, the Afghan Air Force is going to be capable of supporting all the ground operations with troop movement, cargo movement and supplying and deploying people all over Afghanistan," Senior Advisor, Colonel Lucian Ippoliti said.
Afghan pilots will be trained in a way that Italians, US and Hungarian pilots are getting trained in their countries.
"The way that we train pilots in Afghanistan is the same as we use in Italy or in Hungary or in America, but we have to keep in mind that we're in an operational environment and not in a normal situation. We train like we would fight," Instructor Pilot Major Davide Dulcetii said.
It is said that Nato and Russia have funded the second phase of Afghan Air Forces a few days ago.
The United States and Russia with Nato Secretary General in Brussels agreed to financially and technically support Afghan air forces.
Afghanistan Air Force was established in the reign of King Amanullah in 1924 and modernised and developed during the kingdom of Mohammad Zahir Shah.
EXCLUSIVE: Up to 50 US helicopters in Afghanistan badly damaged in hail storm
Fox News By Justin Fishel April 25, 2013
EXCLUSIVE: As many as 50 U.S. and Coalition military helicopters were badly damaged in a hailstorm at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan this week. The damage was severe enough that the helicopters are grounded until they can be repaired.
The storm moved through southern Afghanistan on April 23.
A military spokesman says "ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] has already implemented actions to mitigate the effects of the storm and our forces continue to receive all necessary support."
Fox News was told by one service member serving at a remote outpost in southern Afghanistan, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, that he was told "supplies and personnel movement are going to be restricted because of lack of deployable helicopters."
This service member said he was told that around 50 helicopters were damaged and grounded as a result. Several U.S. officials have confirmed that number, although ISAF would not comment on the exact number, citing concerns about operational security.
One military official said repairs are likely to happen quickly and that it is a "top priority" right now.
UAE to Support Afghanistan Beyond 2014
TOLOmews.com By Zabiullah Jahanmal 25 April 2013
United Arab Emirates has pledged long-term aid to Afghanistan after 2014, Arab officials said on Thursday.
United Arab Emirates' Embassy to Afghanistan said that as part of supporting development projects in Afghanistan the country's aid will be continued after 2014, especially in reconstruction projects.
United Arab Emirates is a big donor to Afghanistan among the Arab countries, and has aided millions of dollars in housing, health, higher education, roads and education sectors for years now.
I think, we are also in Afghanistan beyond 2014 and we will continue to support Afghanistan. We beyond 2014, we have a lot of projects in Afghanistan and we have spent lots of money in Afghan projects, United Arab Emirates Ambassador in Afghanistan Yousuf Al Ali said.
It comes as 40 kilo meters border road of western Helmand province is under reconstruction by United Arab Emirates. The UAE officials in Afghanistan added that their country will also fund reconstruction of the second part of the road in the future.
Afghanistan Still Needs Foreign Workers: Officials
TOLOnews.com By Milad Sakandari 25 April 2013
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs on Thursday said that Afghanistan still needs foreign workers in professional fields.
The ministry says that although there is an increase in Afghan workers' capacity compared to last year but still there is a need to hire foreign workers in professional fields.
The ministry says that due to lack of Afghan professional workers in different fields, they have legally permitted foreigners to work in Afghanistan in the last 7 years.
"We still need foreign workers in fields where Afghans do not have enough ability or no ability," Hossamuddin Hamrah deputy minister of Labour and Social Affairs told TOLOnews.
At present, more than 17,200 foreign workers have received work permits in Afghanistan, he added.
In the mean time, many of parliament members say that the government has not provided necessary opportunities to professionalise Afghans in various fields in the past eleven years.
"In the past ten years the government could not provide education opportunities for Afghans in professional fields, so that our own Afghans could be hired in professional fields," Ubaidullah Ramin parliament member said.
The deputy minister says that currently there are a number of Afghans in non-professional and semi-professional fields but in professional fields there is a need for more foreign workers to be hired.
Nangarhar Protestors' Demands to Be Discussed In Jirga
TOLOnews.com By TOLOnews.com 25 April 2013
The Nangarhar protestors' demands will be discussed in a Jirga in a week, the provincial parliamentarians said on Thursday.
The province's parliamentarians, tribal elders and jihadi leaders on Thursday in a gathering decided to discuss the residents' problems in a jirga to find a solution.
The jirga which is expected to announce a final decision over the problem will be attended by Nangarhar parliamentarians, tribal elders, religious scholars and jihadi leaders of the province.
The residents should stop their protests during a week, the gathering said.
"The Jirga seeks solution for all the problems which are suggested by residents of Nangahar to be addressed. With the majority of votes, we decide and will see whether the implementation of decision belongs to local officials or central government," Nangarhar parliamentarian Faraidon Momand said.
"Rise of corruption and construction of gates by Pakistani military are said to be the main agenda to be discussed by elders next Thursday. A solution should be found and we will share the outcome with the media," Nangahar parliamentarian Abdul Zahir Qadir said.
It comes as the residents of eastern Nangarhar province have protested against Governor Gul Agha Shirzai in reaction to the construction of military buildings across Durand border line by Pakistani military forces.
The protestors have accused the provincial governor of dealing with Pakistani side and asked the central government to dismiss him as soon as possible.
The ‘Poisoned’ Girls of Afghanistan
The New York Times By Matthieu Aikins April 25, 2013
It’s happening again.
On April 21, the authorities in Takhar Province in northeastern Afghanistan announced that up to 74 girls at Bibi Maryam school had fallen ill and were suspected of having been poisoned by gas. On April18, more than a dozen girls were hospitalized at a nearby school with similar symptoms. The governor’s spokesman, Sulaiman Moradi, was quoted as blaming the “enemies of the government and the country” for poisoning the girls.
But I’m willing to bet that there was no poison.
Over the past few years, thousands of girls have fallen victim to waves of alleged poisonings in Afghan schools. The government, media and education activists have blamed the Taliban, and the police in a number of provinces have produced the “guilty” parties, with some of them confessing on national television.
But last July when I investigated the subject for Newsweek, I discovered never-released reports showing that the United Nations, the World Health Organization and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force had investigated the incidents for years and had never found, despite extensive laboratory tests, any evidence of toxins or poisoning — a fact that may explain ISAF’s conspicuous silence on the issue.
The girls’ symptoms provide a clue to the real cause, however. Despite the high number of victims, their symptoms are mild — dizziness, nausea and fainting, as opposed to the internal bleeding and convulsions doctors would expect from most toxins — and there are no recorded deaths associated with the incidents. The overwhelming majority of the girls were discharged from the hospital within a few hours.
These facts, along with case histories, have convinced experts at the World Health Organization that the “poisonings” are likely a form of mass hysteria known as “mass psychogenic illness.” Indeed, according to Dr. Sayed Abed, an internal-medicine specialist at Takhar’s provincial hospital, the recently affected girls show the same minor symptoms as they did last year.
“There is a zero-percent chance they were poisoned,” he said told me. “It’s a psychological cause.”
The phenomenon of groups of people falling ill for psychological, rather than physical, reasons is not unknown, nor is it limited to Afghanistan. Moreover, the typical victims are school-age girls. In late 2011, when a group of girls in Le Roy, New York , fell victim to a mysterious twitching illness, medical authorities eventually concluded it was psychogenic.
School-age girls in Afghanistan are among the country’s most vulnerable groups. Already suffering from insecurity, malnutrition and poverty, they are also subject to the pressures of puberty and the country’s severe gender inequality. In the climate of fear created by media reports of Taliban “poisonings,” many girls are no doubt highly susceptible. In past cases, a trigger — a farmer spraying pesticides next door, a propane leak, a new girl having an epileptic seizure — has caused widespread panic and the onset of the familiar symptoms.
This does not mean the girls are faking it. Their illness is real, just as real as a person’s clinical depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. And they need help, in the form of counseling and education, as well as long-term interventions to improve school conditions and access to mental health resources.
But as long as the government and media remain in denial about the real cause of the incidents, the victims won’t receive that counseling. Those who fulminate against the Taliban, and who mindlessly publicize each “poisoning,” only contribute to the generalized anxiety that helps precipitate these incidents and bring harm to their victims.
Meanwhile, there is a darker side to this story. Who are the “perpetrators” of these nonexistent crimes being paraded on TV? Last year in Takhar, I found that the Afghan intelligence service had arrested two 17-year-old girls named Seema Gul and Shukira. A female interrogator beat them into confessing to poisoning their schoolmates, and one of the girl’s videotaped confession was distributed and broadcast on a number of local stations. After I published my story, and ISAF and the U.N. put pressure on the government, the girls were released, but none of the provincial officials involved in the incident were held accountable for their actions.
In past years, new waves of “poisonings” have coincided with the onset of warm weather, and these latest incidents are likely the first of a new crop this summer. There are encouraging signs that Afghans are beginning to be aware of their true nature: Most news organizations have treated the incidents with caution, and Gen. Khair Mohammad Temor, police chief of Takhar Province, also debunked them, in apparent contradiction to the province’s governor.
“The only reason is rumors,” he said. “We haven’t seen any symptoms of poisoning.”
But if the incidents continue, other provincial officials may be less scrupulous as they come under pressure to make them stop. A strong stand is needed.
Pakistan plans to seal Afghan border, restrict movement of Afghan refugees May 11 for election
Associated Press April 26, 2013
Islamabad - Pakistani officials say they’ll seal their border with Afghanistan and restrict the movement of Afghan refugees on May 11 during parliamentary elections.
Officials at the Interior Ministry and the election commission said Friday the measure is aimed at preventing terrorist attacks during the vote.
Officials did not say how they would restrict the movement of hundreds of thousands of people spread out across the country or close the porous border.
Pakistan announced similar measures in the past but failed to take action.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
About 1.6 million registered Afghan refugees and 1 million other Afghans live in Pakistan.
They are a legacy of their home country’s repeated conflicts. Pakistanis often accuse them of importing terrorism and crime.
www.afghanistanewscenter.com