Afghan chaos growing Options

[Marine]

Afghan women at work

Some shedding the burqa and opening businesses

By Michelle Roberts

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


GLENDALE, Ariz. - Just a few years ago, Kamela Sediqi had to hide her blossoming tile business from the Taliban. She used a false name, worked from home and had to smuggle material under her burqa.

Now she and 14 other Afghan women are participating in a special program to help them expand or build businesses in their struggling nation - a kind of refresher course on capitalism.

"Afghan women are fearless. These women are totally fearless and they are ready to move on," said Mina Sherzoy, director of Afghanistan's Women's Entrepreneurship Development program.

A businesswoman herself who returned to Afghanistan from San Francisco in 2002, Sherzoy accompanied the women from Kabul to this Phoenix suburb for the program at Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management.

The two-week training is a business school overview, covering everything from marketing to accounting and will culminate with the development of business plans. The women have been paired with mentors, who will continue to help them over the next several years.

The Artemis Project - named for the Greek goddess of the hunt and protector of women and children - was the brainchild of Barbara Barrett, a board member at Thunderbird, a graduate school focused on global business.

Barrett is on the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council and visited Afghanistan about a year and a half ago. There, Barrett said she "saw the extraordinary courage, resilience and strength of the Afghan women and the extraordinary challenges they face on a daily basis."

The program - targeted at educated, English-speaking women entrepreneurs - was funded with private and public contributions, including one from the U.S. Agency on International Development.

The women were selected with help from officials and nonprofits in Afghanistan, said Steven Stralser, the Thunderbird professor directing the Artemis Project. He hopes it will be a prototype.

Under the hard-line rule of the Taliban, women were barred from working and girls weren't allowed to attend school. Since the regime's fall, millions of girls have enrolled in school and women have restarted their careers, but it will likely be a generation before they are able to make up for lost time.

Sediqi, 28, began a tile business in 1996 as the Taliban was coming to power. It was dangerous and illegal, but she had help from her brother and support from other family members, she said.

Under the disguise of a false name, she worked for years shrouded in the burqa until the Taliban was toppled by U.S. military forces in late 2001. Some business partners didn't recognize her after she shed the burqa, she said.

Today, she employs 270 women who make gabions, large metal cages filled with rocks for flood-control projects. Her biggest challenge is being able to expand rapidly enough to meet demand and beat foreign competitors, Sediqi said.

Sherzoy said it's imperative for women to be mobilized in Afghanistan, where decades of war have left the population skewed. More than 55 percent of the population is now women, and there are more than 70,000 widows in Kabul alone, she said.

"How do you take care of them? It's through these programs," she said. "The only way you can build this country is through women."

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee...ss/10684505.htm

[ghostgovt]

http://europhobia.blogspot.com/2005/04/let...fghanistan.html

Monday, April 11, 2005
Letter from Afghanistan


"There was a lot of traffic, like in all Afghan cities, and everyone was driving like a maniac, again like everywhere in Afghanistan. The convoy has to stay together, but this one little Corolla insisted on passing and cutting them off. This makes them nervous, and they would pass it and try to get together again. It got between the car behind us and my car (the first one) and then started tail-gaiting us to speed up (it was a part of the road where it couldn’t pass). The guy sitting next to me solved the problem by opening his window and sticking his AK-47 out."

"We then went to the airport to meet the ISAF commander, a nice Turkish guy who showed us his guest book. Hillary Clinton signs like a 7th grader and Condoleezza Rice signed in the wrong place, crossed it out, and then signed again in the right place. We then went to the airport to meet the ISAF commander, a nice Turkish guy who showed us his guest book. Hillary Clinton signs like a 7th grader and Condoleezza Rice signed in the wrong place, crossed it out, and then signed again in the right place. Hamid Karzai has a nice signature. Condoleezza Rice had been there the day before, but I was mad at her for coming to Afghanistan. She made some PR stops just for the day, closed all of the downtown roads and in the city of Kandahar (almost always the worst place), a bomb went off where she was supposed to drive an hour alter. She wasn’t even there, but 5 passers-by were killed and 32 were injured. I hope she thinks her visit was worth it."

[Marine]

US air strikes kill 12 suspected Taliban in Afghanistan
Mon Apr 11, 2:58 PM ET South Asia - AFP

GARDEZ, Afghanistan (AFP) - Twelve suspected Taliban militants died in air strikes by US helicopter gunships and tankbuster jets in southeastern Afghanistan, officials said.

Two members of the US-led coalition were also injured after fighting broke out early Monday in Paktia province, a hotbed of activity by Afghanistan's ousted Islamic regime.

The battle began when insurgents fired a dozen rockets in a bid to kill a former Afghan military chief on a road between Kabul and Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, security commander Ghulam Nabi Salem told AFP.

Kheyal Baaz Khan Sherzai, the ex-military commander of neighbouring Khost province, survived the attack.

"But Afghan forces chased the attackers in the mountains and the fighting began. It lasted until late afternoon," Salem said.

US-led military air support was then called in, he added. Twelve insurgents were killed and their bodies were recovered by local troops and US-led forces.

"We recovered the bodies of 12 Taliban in Shiwak's mountains," Salem said, referring to a mountainous district some 35 kilometers (20 miles) south of Gardez.

The US military confirmed that its air and ground forces were engaged in the incident but did not confirm the Taliban fatalities.

"In Gardez there was a request from coalition forces for assistance. The coalition did assist with A-10s and helicopters," US military spokeswoman Lieutenant Cindy Moore told AFP.

A-10s, nicknamed Warthogs for their ungainly looks, are heavily armed jets famed for their ability to take out tanks and armoured vehicles.


"My understanding is two coalition members were wounded but are in stable condition," Moore said. She did not say how they were injured.

An AFP correspondent in the area saw at least four US helicopters and a jet flying overhead near Shiwak and also heard loud bangs, similar to air bombardment.

The battle comes in the midst of an apparent spring offensive by the Taliban, who have emerged from Afghanistan's harshest winter for a decade to launch a string of attacks on US and Afghan forces.

More than 18,000 US-led forces, including some 2,000 American airmen are based in Afghanistan to help root out the remnants of the Taliban. The US-led coalition ousted the Islamic regime in late 2001.

Sherzai, accompanied by a group of his soldiers who had been disarmed under a government and United Nations-backed programme, were travelling to Kabul when the attack took place.

Meanwhile Afghan forces on Sunday arrested six suspected Taliban fighters in Uruzgan province, also in the restive southeastern Afghanistan, according to a military commander.

"We arrested six Taliban," General Muslim Hamed, military commander of southern Afghanistan told AFP. "We had intelligence about their presence in the area," he added.

Dozens of people, including soldiers, police and civilians have been killed in Taliban-linked violence this year. In 2004 bloodshed blamed on the Taliban left over 850 dead.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...an_050411185826

[Marine]

Afghan Police Say 12 Taliban Killed After Ambush
Mon Apr 11,12:15 PM ET World - Reuters
By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Twelve Taliban insurgents were killed on Monday in a battle with U.S. and Afghan government forces in the volatile southeast of the country, police said.

Two soldiers from the U.S.-led foreign force in Afghanistan were wounded in the fighting which also involved U.S. aircraft, a U.S. military spokeswoman said. The two wounded troops were in stable condition.

"We collected 12 enemy bodies killed during the operation," Hai Gul Sulaimankhel, police chief of Paktia province told Reuters.

The insurgents were killed after they attempted to assassinate Kheyal Baaz Khan Sherzai, the former military commander of neighboring Khost province, as he traveled on a main road near Gardez town.

U.S. and Afghan forces responded with a joint ground and air attack in two areas to the east of Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, Sulaimankhel said.

A Taliban spokesman confirmed the fighting but said only one Taliban fighter died while five Afghan government troops were killed, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press reported.

The battle followed an increase in rebel attacks in parts of the south and east where the militants have been most active since their overthrow by U.S.-led forces in late 2001.

The attacks have followed a lull over the winter after the guerrillas failed in a vow to derail an October presidential election.

Earlier, Khost's governor Mirajuddin Patan said five guerrillas had been killed after their failed attack on Sherzai, a prominent ally of U.S.-led troops hunting the Taliban when he was provincial commander.

"Sherzai survived the ambush and as a result of the American air attacks, five Taliban were killed," Patan told Reuters.

Lieutenant Cindy Moore, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military, declined to comment on Taliban deaths in the fighting.

If confirmed, the toll of Taliban dead would be the highest in months.

Last week, the guerrillas said they killed a senior provincial official after kidnapping him in the southern province of Zabul, the third such murder of a local official in the south in less than a week.

The guerrillas killed five policemen in a clash in Zabul on Thursday.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...an_taliban_dc_2

[Marine]

Hard times for Afghanistan's drug smugglers
Mon Apr 11, 1:35 PM ET


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Rivers flooding, US soldiers at the border and corrupt militias losing their jobs and weapons -- life as a drug smuggler in southern Afghanistan isn't what it used to be for Ahmed Jan.

Getting convoys of 60 or 70 off-road vehicles, each filled with a ton of dry opium resin, through a day's drive from southern Kandahar city to the border with Iran has become complicated in recent months, he tells AFP.

"It is much more difficult to get stuff out of the country so it's only a few secret routes that are running, like rivers of drugs," says Jan, a rotund man in his 40s using a pseudonym.

His problems are an indication that Afghanistan's fight against narcotics is paying off. President Hamid Karzai came to office last year pledging to wage a 'jihad' or holy war on drugs, backed by the US and other western governments.

With between 40 to 60 percent of Afghanistan's economy generated by opium in 2004, both the US and the UN have warned that the country is tottering on the brink of becoming a "narco-state".

After three years of focusing on battling the Taliban as the Afghan opium industry spiralled, the US has pledged 780 million to battle narcotics in the country over the next year, and tightened security along the border.

Border checkpoints in Afghanistan, previously staffed by militia commanders in the pockets of the smuggling mafia, are now manned by US forces and American-trained soldiers from the fledgling Afghan army.

Opium prices have dropped sharply because traffickers can't move their vast stocks out of Afghanistan.

Last year, dry opium resin was selling for 142 dollars per kilo at the farm gate at harvest, according to UN figures.

Now it sells for around 100 dollars, according to Attatullah, an opium grower in Zhare district, about 30 minutes' drive outside Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban movement.

"The American soldiers are blocking the routes," 36-year-old Attatullah tells AFP, standing knee-deep in a field of poppies which are beginning to burst into flower.

Afghanistan's extreme weather has also helped stem the drug trade. After seven years of drought, the landlocked nation has finally seen rain and many smuggling routes which crossed dry riverbeds en route to Pakistan and Iran are now blocked by flowing water.

A third factor has been the disarmament of militias, which after fighting the Soviets and then joining the US against the Taliban have now been removed from their posts as part of a UN-backed drive.

"People who were disarmed had a very good business running checkpoints so now they will be compelled to find other forms of income like drug-running," Jan says.

"Because of disarmament it's much harder to get enough guns for our convoys."

The convoys are always heavily armed. Each of the 60 or so 4x4s travels with five to 10 people who are paid between 1,600 and 2,200 dollars each for the risk involved.

As a lower-ranking smuggler, Jan equips four or five vehicles to travel with the larger convoy while the bigger operators provide up to 10 vehicles each.

"There is over a ton of opium in each Land Cruiser, and we expect them to defend the cargo with their lives," said Jan.

But for all the inconveniences now facing smugglers and the corrupt officials who help them, it is farmers used to planting nothing but opium who stand to lose out most from the crackdown.

An internationally backed eradication team arrives in Kandahar province in mid-April to tackle the poppy fields.

According to a joint UN-Afghan government survey Kandahar is one of five provinces where opium cultivation has risen since the new year, despite plummeting production in the rest of the country.

New police chief Lieutenant General Mohammed Ayoub Salangi, installed by Karzai last month to stem the province's drugs trade and growing lawlessness, said an eradication strategy was being worked out.

"We will have a meeting with government officials, the army and the eradication force to decide whether and how much to eradicate," he told AFP.

However the farmers will lose a year's income if their crops are wiped out, while a government strategy to provide them with alternative livelihoods is only in its infancy.

Smuggler Jan warned that widespread eradication could fuel support for the Taliban insurgency in the south.

"People can't rise up themselves if their fields are destroyed but they can lend support to the Taliban who are all still living in the suburbs of Kandahar," he said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...gs_050411173521

[Marine]

Source: Xinhua News Agency
Date: 11 Apr 2005
US to bridge Afghanistan with Tajikistan

KABUL, Apr 11, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The US military in Afghanistan is going to connect the post-war Afghanistan with Tajikistan by building a bridge over Oxus River, chief of US Army Corps of Engineers in Afghanistan said here on Monday.

"We recently made to award a contract for the construction of the Afghanistan-Tajikistan Bridge spanning the Pyandzh River at Shir Khan in Kunduz province. This bridge will serve as a vital link connecting the central Asian region with outside markets," John B. O'Dowd told at a press conference.

Kunduz in northeast Afghanistan has been serving as the base of more than 300 troops of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) over the past three years.

The contract of the 28 million US dollars project was signed with the Italian firm Rizzani de Eccher S.P.A of Udine on March 21, he added.

"This bridge will contribute to the economic development and integration of both nations. It will also inevitably contribute to the long term peace and security of this region," said John.

"We have requested nearly 800 million dollars for fiscal year 2005 and are pleased to show progress in effectively and efficiently awarding new projects to continue to improve the stability and living conditions in Afghanistan," the US officer said.

[ghostgovt]

http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=48541


Afghan official reported kidnapped in former Taliban stronghold

Associated Press / April 9, 2005

Suspected militants have kidnapped a government official in a former Taliban stronghold of southeastern Afghanistan, police said Saturday.

Serajuddin, head of the local water and power department, disappeared on Thursday near Qalat, the capital of Zabul province, 335 kilometers (210 miles) southwest of Kabul, deputy police chief Jailani Khan told The Associated Press.

Armed men halted the official, who like many Afghans goes by one name, as he rode a motorbike from Qalat to a nearby village, Khan said, citing witnesses questioned in the investigation.

He said one man had been detained for questioning but that a search of the area had turned up no clues on the victim's whereabouts.

"We don't know if he's dead of alive," Khan said.

Taliban-led militants have revived their attacks across the south and east of Afghanistan after a winter lull, countering claims from U.S. military commanders and government officials that they are a fading force.

[Marine]

Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Date: 13 Apr 2005
UNHCR worker reflects changing profile of Afghan returnees
By Jack Redden, UNHCR

ISLAMABAD, April 13 (UNHCR) – Attia Ali had a brother in Denmark, a sister in the Netherlands and a well-paid job in Pakistan. It is a tribute to the enduring draw and improving prospects of Afghanistan that she has quit her job and is now headed back to her homeland.

"Since the situation in my country is improving, plus almost all Afghans are moving back to Afghanistan, I feel homesick," she said at the UNHCR office in Islamabad, where she has worked for five years as a translator in interviews with asylum seekers. "I want to go to my country, settle down and stay with my father."

Ali, a 40-year-old former university instructor, reflects a change in the profile of those Afghans who are returning from Pakistan. The 1.6 million who flooded back home in 2002 after the overthrow of the Taliban government were largely new arrivals, mostly poor and uneducated.

Now many are like Ali – Afghans who are well-established in Pakistan and could easily be expected to consider it home. They are giving up their present occupations but are confident that the future lies in re-establishing themselves in an Afghanistan that is finally emerging from decades of war.

Homayun Saqib, the only other Afghan member of the UNHCR staff in Islamabad – regulations prohibit hiring of refugees other than in specialised roles like translation – has also announced plans to leave Pakistan at the end of the month. After five years with the United Nations, he is resigning to take up a new job in Afghanistan.

Ali's life in Pakistan began at the start of 1993 when Kabul, which had been largely untouched by the fighting of the 1980s during the Soviet occupation, became a battlefield between warring mujahideen militias. Kabul University, where she had been teaching English, was a devastated frontline where illiterate gunmen had replaced students.

"The civil war was going on. At that time the Hekmatyar group was fighting with different factions and since we had been displaced from several areas, we had no choice but to flee," she said. "They were firing a thousand rockets a day."

With no prospect of any improvement, she fled with her father, her brother and his family. In Pakistan she taught English at a private institution in Islamabad. In 2000, she joined UNHCR, where her fluency in Dari, one of Afghanistan's two main languages, and English was needed by the protection section.

During her exile, her brother was accepted as a refugee by Denmark and a sister was given a new life in the Netherlands. But with the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, Ali saw the first hope of a return to her beloved Kabul. When lines of trucks carried refugees back to Afghanistan in the following months, she herself went to Kabul to check whether she could join the return.

"Conditions were very bad, especially in security – kidnappings and robberies were taking place. There was also no shelter," she said. Ali returned to Islamabad to see if peace would hold, if order could be restored and rebuilding begun.

While aid funds were available, the problems of a country that had been at war since the end of the 1970s were overwhelming. Understandably, Afghans with the option of staying in Pakistan or Iran – the two main countries of asylum through the wars – did not join the initial rush back to Afghanistan.

"This year my family, who had already returned, said it was better. When I went, I found people much happier – that's why I am looking forward to restarting my life in Afghanistan," Ali said.

She secured a job with the UN organization involved in preparing for the country's legislative elections expected later this year and asked if she could return under the same UNHCR voluntary repatriation programme that has assisted 2.3 million Afghans to go home from Pakistan since 2002.

Ali does not need the modest financial assistance – a travel grant of $13 to reach Kabul and an extra $12 to help get re-established – but the documents provided by UNHCR will ease the task of moving her belongings back. Like other returnees, she arranged her own transport – a van to carry the belongings of herself, her aunt and uncle – and after final checks of documents by UNHCR, set off on the road back to Afghanistan.

"In 1992, it was clear to all the civilian population that the country would deteriorate further. This year I feel the start of improvement – conditions will get better and development will happen," Ali said. "This year a different kind of people are going back, people who have jobs here but, like me, they want to return. I have resigned to return to my country."

[Marine]

Source: United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Date: 08 Apr 2005
WFP Emergency Report No. 15 of 2005

(A) Highlights

( Middle East,Central Asia and Eastern Europe: (1) Afghanistan (2) Iraq

© East & Central Africa: (1) Burundi (2) Congo (3) Congo, DR (4) Djibouti (5) Ethiopia (6) Rwanda (7) Sudan (8) Tanzania (9) Uganda

(D) West Africa: (1) Regional (2) Burkina Faso (3) Chad (4) Cote d'Ivoire (5) Ghana (6) Guinea (7) Liberia (8) Mali

(E) Southern Africa: (1) Regional (2) Angola (3) Lesotho (4) Madagascar (5) Malawi (6) Namibia (7) Swaziland (8) Zambia (9) Zimbabwe

(F) Asia: (1) Indonesia (2) Korea (DPR) (3) Laos (4) Myanmar (5) Sri Lanka

(G) Latin America and Caribbean: (1) Bolivia (2) Colombia (3) Cuba (4) Guatemala (5) Haiti (6) Nicaragua (7) Peru

(A) Highlights

(a) The planned beneficiary caseload for WFP’s tsunami response in Indonesia, for the month of April, increased to 720,000 people, including people affected by the earthquake that struck North Sumatra on 28 March.

( WFP in March dispatched 52,000 tons of food to distribution points within Sudan’s Darfur region: the highest amount since the start of the operation in April 2004.

© Shortage of funding forces WFP to cut half of the non-cereal part of daily food rations for one million people in Darfur.

(d) WFP has distributed a one-month food ration to several thousand of the victims of the explosions which occurred in Juba town, southern Sudan, a few weeks ago.

(e) Some 25,000 persons have been identified as in urgent need of food assistance by a joint WFP/FEWS-Net/Government of Djibouti assessment mission.

(f) WFP is providing high energy biscuits and a one-month general ration to people affected by recent violence near Cote d’Ivoire’s buffer zone.

(g) From 1 April WFP expanded its relief and recovery activities in Uganda; now targeting 2.6 million IDPs, refugees and other vulnerable groups.

(h) WFP is concerned about a potential humanitarian disaster in some Colombia's Bojaya area, and provided emergency food assistance to people that became displaced due to violence in that and other areas.

( Middle East,Central Asia and Eastern Europe

(1) Afghanistan
(a) The security situation remained relatively calm in most of the country. The exception was in the south and southeast, where some security incidents threatened humanitarian work.
( From 31 March to 6 April, WFP assisted 341,500 beneficiaries.

© Through recently completed Food-For-Work projects, some 20 km of canals in Dand district of Kandahar and eight km of roads in Delaram district of Nimroz were rehabilitated. The rebuilding of these communal infrastructures contributes to increased agricultural production and enhances access to local markets.

(d) On 4 April, a commercial truck carrying WFP food plunged into a river in a valley near Kishim district of Badakhshan province, causing injury to the driver. The truck was delivering oil to Fayz Abad. Recent snow and rainfall have damaged roads, particularly in remote areas of the country, hampering food aid deliveries to vulnerable populations.

(e) UN and partners’ joint efforts continued to assist the flood and winter affected people. WFP provided 50 tons of mixed food for distribution to 5,400 flood affected people in Ghazni and 66 tons for 3,540 winter affected people in Kharwar district of Logar and Chak district of Wardak. In Khost, 50 tons of food is pre-positioned for potential floods, while another 50 tons will soon arrive in Paktya.

(f) Furthermore, over 6,000 people in Hilmand, Kandahar, Nimroz and Zabul provinces who were affected by floods and winter conditions have received WFP food assistance.

(g) In Farah, 25 tons of food were distributed to 780 flood affected families. The Provincial Disaster Emergency Task Force carried out an assessment of flood damage in the area and requested immediate assistance for 4,500 families. WFP, in collaboration with other UN agencies, has accelerated efforts to meet food needs of the affected households. Initial reports indicate that floods have caused damage to several villages in the central Ghor province. WFP has pre-positioned food in the area and will start distribution once a comprehensive assessment of the situation has been fully completed.

(2) Iraq

(a) The Public Distribution System’s (PDS) March distribution has been completed in most governorates, though some governorates are still distributing the February ration.

( Available information indicates that there are significant country-wide shortfalls in rice, sugar and milk and infant formula. Some governorates continue to report serious shortfalls of nearly every PDS commodity.

© The frequent periods of border closure continue to create bottle-necks at border crossings which, in turn, slow down the rate at which food can be imported overland into Iraq. Nevertheless, Some 865 tons of pea/wheat blend, which will be used for vulnerable group feeding, has been dispatched into Iraq after delays at the Syrian border. In addition, approximately 1000 tons of high energy biscuits have been dispatched from Syria to destinations in Iraq, including Baghdad, Ninewa and Tameen. Thus far, distribution has taken place in Baghdad and Mosul, and the biscuits have been well received by students and teachers. Students of the schools where the distribution is taking place will be eligible to submit drawings for a worldwide WFP drawing contest among schools who receive WFP’s Food for Education support.

(d) An agreement was finalized between WFP and the Iraqi Central Office for Statistics and Information Technology (COSIT) on the follow-up report to last year’s Baseline Food Security Analysis. WFP will also work with COSIT to build institutional capacities for monitoring food security and to improve the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of interventions related to food security in Iraq. Activities are expected to commence in May.

[Marine]

Source: United Nations News Service
Date: 07 Apr 2005
Nearly 7,000 Afghans return home as UN refugee agency resumes repatriation

One month after resuming its voluntary repatriation programme of Afghans from Pakistan, the United Nations refugee agency reported today that nearly 7,000 people had returned home with its assistance, a number that should balloon to 400,000 by the end of the year.

From Iran, where the voluntary repatriation programme continued through the winter, the number of Afghans returning since the start of 2005 was just over 4,000, a number expected to reach 350,000 this year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

Overall, more than 3.5 million Afghan refugees have gone home from the two countries since the agency began a voluntary repatriation programme in 2002, following the fall of the Taliban regime there.

Last year alone, UNHCR helped in the return of more than three-quarters of a million people. There are between 2 million and 3 million Afghans still in Iran and Pakistan.

Under the repatriation programme, each returning Afghan receives a cash grant for transport assistance ranging from $3 to $34 per person, depending on the destination. They are also provided with a cash grant of $12 in place of food and non-food items distributed previously.

[anderson_perry]

The UN has announced that Afghanistan is in very bad ways. I read also the other day that the US is doubling it's troops there. Infind it more than interesting that in the UN's closing statements, that Afghanistan has deeply suffered in more than it's 20 yrs of war. That would be back when the US CIA created the Bin Laden Taliban and war with Russia. Another intervention by our govt that has left a country in shambles and depending on more financial aid from American taxpayers.


UN warns of fresh Afghan chaos

BBC
21.02.2005

[Afghanistan remains one of the world's poorest states and without action could plunge into chaos, once again posing an international threat, a UN report says.

Three years after the US campaign to topple the Taleban, there were serious problems in areas such as health, employment and education, it said]

[ Illicit drugs were still a major part of the Afghan economy and it was now the world's leading producer of opium. Physical violence by armed militias and attacks by the Taleban were still going on, the report added.

And while the legal economy had grown by 25 to 30% since the fall of the Taleban, there has been little trickle-down to the poorest sectors of society, according to the UN.

If such grievances were not addressed, "Afghanistan will collapse into an insecure state, a threat to its own people as well as the international community", it said.

'War to blame'

Speaking at the report's launch, Afghanistan's minister for rural development, Hanif Atmar, acknowledged how dire things were.

"It's painful but this is nothing new. We all knew it," he said, referring to the country's poverty ranking.

The report noted that most people interviewed had expressed pessimism and fear that they had been bypassed by reconstruction.

The authors conclude that more than 20 years of war is more to blame for the situation than any other factor.]

i suppose the only thing thats going to bring real change to afghanistan and other trouble spots is change itself....

somehow i see the growing presence of technology and other western nicities bridging the gap between our two worlds.... it's not going to happen over night

and we'd be fools to think so

- perry

[ghostgovt]

http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...325/1001/news01

Ocalans' son killed in Afghanistan
Helicopter wreck took life of Staff Sgt. Sanders

OCALA - One of the 15 soldiers killed in last week's fiery helicopter crash in Afghanistan is the son of a couple who live in Ocala.

Staff Sgt. Charles "Chuck" Sanders Jr., 29, wanted to be just like his dad.

He wanted to have a family and he wanted to be a soldier. And Sanders got what he wanted. Ten years ago, he enlisted in the Army while his father and his family were stationed in Germany.

"I cried. I was very upset," said Mary Sanders, 47, recalling the day her son enlisted. "The recruiter was afraid of me. . . . I was so angry. Chuck was my baby.

[ghostgovt]

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cf...=49&ItemID=7644


US Mercenaries Spill Blood Over Afghan Opium ......... by Nick Meo
April 14, 2005

It was the first day of Afghanistan's new opium eradication programme and the quiet town of Maiwand in Kandahar province had been chosen for action.

Hundreds of Afghan eradicators under the command of American private security contractors were going to head into the fields around the town and destroy the beautiful red and white blooms days before they could be harvested for their narcotic sap.

But instead of the peaceful, model operation that was promised as an example to demonstrate the Kabul government's serious intentions, Maiwand and its surrounding villages exploded into violence in what could be a foretaste of resistance to Western-backed efforts to bring Afghanistan's opium industry under control.

By the end of yesterday four government soldiers had been wounded by gunfire from farmers, American security contractors were said to be sheltering behind razor wire in a protected camp, and Afghan police and counter-narcotics forces had fought fierce battles which local people said left five dead. Plans to eradicate poppies were temporarily shelved in the area as political bigwigs shuttled to and fro trying to ease tensions and broker some kind of deal with the angry opium farmers.

[Marine]

Source: United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, daily briefing
Date: 14 April, 2005


Civic education campaign starting; first posters released
With the elections now scheduled for 18 September, the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) is starting to publish material to inform Afghans of their rights and duties as voters - or as candidates. This is done in the framework of a countrywide civic education campaign, much like it was done during the Presidential Election.

Displayed behind me are the first two posters produced by the JEMB. As you see, the posters are in Dari and Pashto. One of them urges Afghans to vote for the Wolesi Jirga and the Provincial Councils. The other reminds voters they need to be registered to cast their ballots and for those who have not yet registered, they will be able to do so in the near future.

As more visual material will be released for the civic education campaign, they will all bear the same inscription, which you can read at the bottom of the posters in the section in green: “Vote and participate in the rebuilding of Afghanistan!” This will be the civic education campaign’s trademark.

We have CDs on the side-table. Each includes a digital copy of both posters, in Dari and Pashto. Print media, please feel free to download the posters and publish them in your newspapers.

Three-week candidate nomination period to begin on April 30th
On April 3rd, the JEMB made a decision regarding candidate nomination for the elections. From April 30th until May 19th, candidates will be able to register their applications to run for the Wolesi Jirga or the Provincial Councils in Candidate Nomination Offices, which are currently established in each 34 province.

To do so however, potential candidates will have to meet specific requirements as stipulated in the Constitution, the Electoral Law and the JEMB regulations. Potential candidates will have to be registered as voters, be over the age of 18 - in the case of the Provincial Councils - and over 25 for the Wolesi Jirga; candidates will not be able to apply if convicted or deprived from their civil rights by a court decision. In addition, potential candidates will have to present a list of signatures of registered voters, provide a monetary deposit and sign and abide by the Code of Conduct for Candidates. One of the key points of the Code of Conduct is the compulsory declaration by candidates that they do not command – or belong to – illegal military forces or armed groups. Finally, in certain cases specified by the law, candidates may also have to resign from public office.

By 25th May, a preliminary list of candidates will be finalized. From June 4th until June 9th, candidates and registered voters will be permitted to challenge the nomination of candidates on the preliminary list.


Flood Update
With the weather warming up, snow melting and heavy rains, the rising level of water in many Afghan rivers is now being closely monitored, as it is far higher than seasonal levels. Among the rivers being most watched are the Helmand river, which already provoked floods three weeks ago, the Amu Darya up North, the Logar river, the Heriroad river in Herat and the Panjshir river, which flows from the Panjshir valley all the way down to Pakistan through Parwan, Kapisa and Nangarhar. A joint assessment mission from the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), the Ministry of Water and Power, and the Department of Disaster Preparedness is currently evaluating the potential risk of floods along the Panjshir River for nearby inhabitants.

The rising levels of waters directly affect seven regions of Afghanistan, which are high-risk zones. These areas are in and around Kabul as well as in Herat, Kandahar, Khost, Nangarhar, Balkh and Kunduz provinces. According to the Ministry of Water and Power, floods in these provinces could affect up to 100,000 persons; therefore the pre-positioning and response mechanisms which have been put in place both at the central and provincial levels, bring together all those who may offer a valuable contribution in case of floods.

The issues I have just mentioned were discussed the day before yesterday (April 12th) by the Disaster Response Committee. The Committee reviewed the situation throughout the country, and although no large-scale floods are currently happening the rising levels of water could signal a deterioration of the situation. This meeting, which is held once a week, was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Water and Power, Refugees and Repatriation, Public Works, Public Health, Interior, the Department of Disaster Preparedness the Municipality of Kabul as well as representatives of UNAMA, Coalition Forces or ISAF.

DDR reaches another milestone; 48,000 now disarmed
As of yesterday (Wednesday), 47,956 former soldiers and officers have disarmed according to the Afghanistan's New Beginnings Programme (ANBP). With scheduled disarmaments of military units for today (Thursday), the total will be over 48,000.

Since the start of the Afghan year, on March 21, more than 4,000 Afghan Military Forces (AMF) personnel have disarmed and the disarmament program is on schedule to be completed by end of June 2005.

Meanwhile 42,543 former AMF personnel have either entered the reintegration phase or completed it. Reintegration provides support and training so former combatants can start new careers.

In terms of heavy weapons collection, so far 8,926 heavy weapons have been collected and are now in guarded compounds throughout the country. The only remaining significant amounts of heavy weaponry are in Kunduz (about 165), and the Shindand-Farah region where there are about 60.

Maimana Illegal Armed Group to voluntarily hand over weapons
For the first time, this Sunday (April 17), Afghanistan’s New Beginnings Programme will receive a significant number of weapons from a so-called Illegal Armed Group.

The former commander of 200 Division in Maimana Faryab Province will voluntarily hand over hundreds of light weapons, such as AK-47s. Fatulah Khan has already given ANBP a large stockpile of ammunition.

Both the weapons and the ammunition were never considered part of the AMF DDR process.

Fatulah Khan will be available for media interviews on Sunday morning following the ceremony in Maimana. The event is set for 11:30 am at the 35th Regiment Compound in Maimana. Commander Khan says he hopes that his actions will encourage others to voluntarily hand over weaponry.

Unlike in the DDR process, those handing over weapons and ammunition do not receive any reintegration benefits.

Members of ANBP’s public information team will be on hand in Maimana to assist the media.

Afghanistan’s New Beginnings Programme has been helping the government with the initial planning for a nation-wide disarmament program aimed at Illegal, or criminal groups.

For further information about the proposed program please contact the government.

Rehabilitation of Kabul Male Detention Centre and Pol-e Charki prison underway
As part of the Criminal Justice Reform Programme, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is running a project to rehabilitate both the Kabul Male Detention Centre and Block 1 of Pol-e Charki prison.

In Pol-e Charki, the new renovations, which began yesterday and will take two months to complete, will provide family meeting areas as required under the international Standard Minimum Rules for Prisoners. In addition, sports facilities and an exercise area will be built. Security fences will also be fixed.

This is the second phase of renovations. The restoration of the water supply, electrical and canal systems, the opening of a health clinic, and the construction of a kitchen were completed last June.

The Italian government contributed US $1,900,000 to reform the penitentiary system at the central level, of which US $170,000 has been allocated for the renovation of Pol-e Charki, Block 1.

As for the Kabul Male Detention Centre, the project activities include the rehabilitation of the water supply and electricity systems, the refurbishing of rooms and corridors, and the construction of security towers. Work began at the end of March and will take five months to complete. Again, financial support was made available courtesy of the Government of Italy in the amount of US $184,000.

UNODC is also ready to begin reform activities of the penitentiary system at the provincial level. With a funding frame of about US $10 million - of which US $6 million has been contributed by the Government of Italy - these changes will contribute to improve the quality of Afghanistan’s prisons.

UNODC has been working to improve Afghanistan’s prison system since 2003. Upgrading the working conditions of the prison staff through renovation of facilities, and training the prison staff in management, ethic rules, and international conventions and regulations are also goals of the prison system reform.

A ceremony, to mark the initiation of activities under this project, was held yesterday (April 13) at Pol-e Charki. It was attended by Sarwar Danish, the Minister of Justice, Jolanda Brunetti, the Italian Ambassador, and Doris Buddenberg, the UNODC Representative for Afghanistan.


UNHCR, other agencies off to Pakistan to explain and listen to refugees’ questions about returning to Afghanistan
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) together with the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation is organizing a two-week mission to hold talks with Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Under the slogan “Go-and-Talk” a ten-member delegation will be holding talks with Afghan refugees and Pakistani officials in five cities. The aim of the visit is to explain to refugees the reality of daily life in Afghanistan as well as to listen to concerns they may have about returning to their homeland.

The ten-member group, comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), the Return Commission, UNHCR and UNAMA, left for Pakistan yesterday (Wednesday April 13th).

Similar “Go-and-Talk” visits have taken place in Iran and within Afghanistan for internally displaced persons.

More than three million Afghans have returned from Pakistan and Iran with UNHCR assistance since March 2002 when voluntary repatriation began.


MoWA holds workshop on National Action Plan for Afghan Women
During our last briefing we told you about the one-day National Action Plan workshop held by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs with staff from the Ministry of Transportation and the support of the United Nations Women’s Fund (UNIFEM) on April 10.

The workshop has resulted in a high-level commitment towards addressing women’s issues in the transportation sector. The workshop, which brought together 45 participants including high officials and the deputy minister of the Ministry of Transportation discussed ways to improve transportation policy for women.

The results of the workshop will form part of the National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan being developed by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. The Ministry of Transportation is the first Afghan ministry to undertake this process.

More ministry-based planning workshops will be conducted in the next three weeks in order to develop the first draft of the Action Plan.

[Marine]

Source: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Date: 14 Apr 2005
ADB project to bring electricity to poor in rural towns of Afghanistan

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (14 April 2005) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$50 million loan and grant assistance package for a power supply improvement project that will help improve the living conditions of about 1.2 million poor people in rural Afghanistan.

A highly concessional $26.5 million loan will finance the construction of 206 kilometers of a 110kV transmission network, while a $23.5 million grant will finance the construction and rehabilitation of associated substations and low-voltage distribution systems.

The project will cover 11 rural towns - Breshna Kot, Imam Sahib, Jalalabad, Khan Abad, Mehtarlam, Muhammad Agha, Puli Alam, Qarghayi, Sarepul, Surobi, and Taluqan - as well as adjacent rural areas in the northern, eastern, and southern provinces of Afghanistan.

More than 90,000 households, most of whom are poor, will be connected to the grid once the project is completed. The project will also offer about 18,000 electricity connection kits with affordable and flexible payment options.

"Access to electricity is essential for economic growth," says Sohail Hasnie, an ADB Senior Energy Specialist. "It will also help improve learning opportunities for children, allow home-based businesses to expand into small-scale commercial or industrial operations, and result in net savings to customers as electricity is cheaper than kerosene and fuelwood."

Years of conflict have severely damaged Afghanistan's power generation, transmission, and distribution systems, leaving most of the country's 28 million people with no access to reliable, modern forms of energy such as electricity, gas, and liquid fuels.

Only about 9% of the country has access to electricity. The country has no national transmission grid, and the overall condition of lines is very poor. Distribution systems are stretched beyond their technical and economic lives, and substations and low-voltage distribution networks have been either destroyed or are overloaded.

The project's components are the most critical ones in the Government's power master plan. The project also complements an earlier ADB project that is rehabilitating and reconstructing damaged transmission lines and substations in the north for importing power from neighboring countries.

A $750,000 technical assistance grant accompanies the project to strengthen project management, planning, design, implementation, and operation and maintenance of the Ministry of Energy and Water, the executing agency for the project.

As Afghanistan one of the poorest post-conflict countries in the Asia and Pacific region, Afghanistan is eligible for grants from ADB's concessional Asian Development Fund. ADB's loan and grant, both from ADF, will therefore finance the entire project cost of $50 million. Special terms will also be applied to the loan. It carries a 40-year term, including a 10-year grace period with 1% interest charge throughout the term, to be capitalized during the grace period and charged to the loan account.

The project is due for completion in June 2008.

The Asian Development Bank is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance. Established in 1966, it is owned by 63 members, with 45 from the region.

[Marine]

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Date: 14 Apr 2005
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
Afghanistan: Warlord attacks provincial disarmament team


KABUL, 14 April (IRIN) - Several police officers and militia troops were injured in a serious armed encounter in Lashkargah, the capital of the southern Helmand province, on Wednesday after a local a commander refused to surrender arms under a provincial government programme disarming illegal militias in the troubled province.

According to local authorities in Helmand the clashes happened when commander Khano, an infamous warlord in Lashkargah, attacked troops who had been assigned to disarm the commander's troops.

"We deployed more police to the scene and after serious skirmishes all Khano's troops were disarmed and arrested," Haji Mohammad Wali, a provincial spokesman in Helmand, told IRIN from Lashkargah.

He added that Khano himself was in hospital suffering from serious injuries. A local civil servant who declined to be named, told IRIN three gunmen loyal to Khano were killed during the fighting.

The disarming was ordered by provincial officials following a series of armed robberies and highway muggings in the province. Local authorities aim to disarm hundreds of militiamen to improve security in the province.

"This is separate from the UN [United Nations] DDR [Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration of ex-combatants], we use the local police and there is no compensation for weapons confiscated," Wali said, adding that resistance from illegal armed groups was not uncommon as the disarmament was often carried out by force.

Like many southern provinces, Helmand suffers from insurgent attacks on government and aid bodies, which have slowed down the reconstruction process in the drought-affected region.

"This is very challenging but with current insecurity and armed robberies this kind of action [disarming illegal militias] is vital for stability in the province," Wali added.

With parliamentary elections slated for September, disarming the many local warlords who hold sway outside the capital is a pre-requisite for free and fair elections, President Hamid Karzai's government has said.

The UN has disarmed nearly 50,000 of an estimated 60,000 ex-combatants throughout the country since the DDR programme started in late 2003.

But the Afghan Ministry of Defence estimates that there are still more than 100,000 illegally armed gunmen, most loyal to warlords or local tribal chiefs, who also need to be disarmed.

[heritage]

The other day, Karzi asked Rumsfeld for long term help from the U.S. Rumsfeld declined to say how long the U.S. military would stay in Afghanistan. Why are we spending money there?

U.S. to Upgrade Air Bases in Afghanistan

Updated 11:54 AM ET March 28, 2005 
http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pr...8943da00&src=ap

By STEPHEN GRAHAM

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The United States is spending $83 million to upgrade its two main air bases in Afghanistan, an Air Force general said Monday, the latest indication that American forces will remain in the country for years.

Brig. Gen. Jim Hunt said the money was being spent on construction projects already underway at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, and Kandahar Air Field in the south. A new runway is being built at Bagram, the biggest Afghan airfield used by the U.S. military.

"We are continuously improving runways, taxiways, navigation aids, airfield lighting, billeting and other facilities to support our demanding mission," Hunt said at a news conference in the capital.

Afghan leaders are seeking a long-term "strategic partnership" with the United States, which expects to complete the training of the country's new 70,000-strong army next year.

It remains unclear if that will include permanent American bases in a region that includes Iran, nuclear rivals India and Pakistan and oil-rich Central Asia. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on a visit to Kabul earlier this month that Washington had not decided how long to keep troops here.

U.S. commanders have said they may cut their 17,000-strong force this year if a Taliban insurgency wanes, but say the Afghan government remains vulnerable and that some kind of U.S. presence will be needed for years.

In an interview with CNN's "Late Edition," Army Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said fresh skirmishes along the Pakistani frontier showed "the fight is not out of the Taliban completely, and not out of the al-Qaida people that are operating in that region."

Asked where Osama bin Laden might be, Abizaid said only that "an awful lot of al-Qaida leadership" was operating in the mountainous border region and that U.S. troops were watching the area "with great interest."

Hunt said 150 U.S. aircraft, including ground-attack jets and helicopter gunships as well as transport and reconnaissance planes, were using 14 airfields around Afghanistan. Many are close to the Pakistani border. Other planes such as B-1 bombers patrol over Afghanistan without landing......

[Marine]

Source: Government of Canada
Date: 30 Mar 2005
One more step towards a safer Afghanistan
By Capt Jean-Marc Mercier

Camp Julien, KABUL - Canadian soldiers responded to two separate incidents on March 18 and retrieved a significant quantity of munitions from local Afghans in the Kabul area.

Early that morning, Task Force Kabul (TFK) engineers safely recovered approximately 300 lbs of munitions from a site south of Kabul while the Kabul Multinational Brigade (KMNB) Reconnaissance Squadron provided security at the site. The munitions were moved to another location where they will be safely destroyed in the near future.

This weapons cache consisted of several Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), 20mm and 30mm shells, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, a large variety of rifle and machine gun ammunition rounds and a small amount of explosives.

Later in the day, the TFK Force Protection Company (FP Coy) was conducting a foot patrol in a neighbourhood near Camp Julien when they were approached by a group of Afghans who identified a small weapons cache in a local home. The infantry section secured the scene while Canadian engineers again recovered several RPGs and 60mm mortar rounds.

Kabul is far from being a completely safe environment. However, the fact that these weapons caches were turned over by concerned citizens is significant in that it demonstrates the will of local Afghans to work alongside the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to make their homeland a safer place.

At the end of February, Colonel Walter Semianiw, Commander of TFK, hosted a meeting with Mr. Nazar Mohammad Taj, Mayor of Kabul's Police District Seven. During their conversation, the Mayor stated how pleased and reassured he was to see Canadian soldiers in his community. He spoke on behalf of his constituents when he mentioned that he was just as concerned as ISAF about the threats to security while his countrymen and international organizations are working hard to rebuild the country.

"Afghanistan is heading in the right direction," said Col Semianiw. "Afghans are very courageous people who have suffered tremendously from decades of conflict. It is important that we work closely with them to help achieve peace and stability and ultimately a better quality of life."

The signs of cooperation between ISAF and Afghans are becoming increasingly tangible and frequent. While there is still a great deal of work to be done to improve security in Afghanistan, instances like the turning over of the aforementioned weapons caches illustrates the faith that Afghans have in the Canadian and ISAF soldiers who are helping them restore their country.

Capt Mercier is a Public Affairs Officer with TFK

[Marine]

Source: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Date: 25 Mar 2005
Rebuilding Afghanistan: Weekly activity update 19 - 25 Mar 2005
Strengthening the Government

Enhancing Afghan civil society

A strong civil society in Afghanistan will create stability, build local government accountability, and provide a public framework for upcoming national elections. The I-PACS (Initiative to Promote Afghan Civil Society) program, launched in January 2005, focuses on building a strong, sustainable civil society in Afghanistan by supporting the enactment of a NGO law, capacity building through training and mentoring, and small grant funding for CSOs (Civil Society Organizations). CSOs include, but are not limited to: NGOs, social and cultural organizations, associations, shuras (community elders), CDCs (Community Development Councils), women and youth groups, unions, and cooperatives.

An initial civil society assessment will inform program direction. Twentytwo Afghans were trained in survey, interview, and focus group techniques and are currently working in 22 selected provinces. The assessment will be completed by the end of the April and will be shared broadly. Also this month, after several weeks of intense meetings, the draft NGO law was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for consideration. This law will set guidelines and establish a structure for the NGO community. Last month, the I-PACS program began an assessment of capacity building needs. The findings, currently under review, will steer the goals and plan for organizational development support to local CSOs. Also, I-PACS awarded its first grant for $2,200 to Afghan Peace-Seeker Women Council (APWC) for an event celebrating International Women’s Day. Contracts for 3 additional grants are in process.

Empowering Communities

Building capacity in rural Afghan communities

The Literacy and Community Empowerment Program (LCEP) will provide Afghan communities with the tools and knowledge to support themselves in the areas of literacy, governance and economic growth. Over the next two years, this innovative, sustainable and communitydriven model for rural village development will work in 200 communities in five targeted provinces. LCEP will offer a literacy program for community members and provide training to the newlyorganized Afghan Community Development Councils (CDCs.) To promote economic growth, LCEP will teach community members how to organize local savings banks and micro-enterprise activities. A new national Literacy Learning Center in Kabul will serve as the hub of the program’s tools and training development. Lastly, LCEP will help advance the practice of monitoring and evaluation in development projects by providing training for Afghan professionals in the field.

Creating Conditions for Stability

Bridge to connect communities and end conflict

Kakrag village is in a remote and mountainous area in central Afghanistan that is home to Hazaras and Tajiks. In consultation with both Tajik and Hazara communities, USAID identified a bridge and retaining wall as high-priority needs for both communities. Because there was no bridge to cross the river, people from the Hazara village, located above Kakrag, were forced to cross the Tajik villagers’ farmland with their carts. Since the continual traffic across the farmland damaged the fields and crops, relations between the Hazaras and the Tajiks in the area were strained.

The bridge was successfully completed and awaits hand-over to the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in Bamiyan. Both communities are pleased with the construction of the bridge and retaining wall, which alleviated tensions between two ethnic groups.

Security Incidents

Note: Hostile attacks are reported through USAID's security contractors and the Associated Press

Number of Hostile Attacks: During this reporting period, there were six hostile attacks resulting in 32 injuries, five deaths, and one kidnapping.

USAID Related: During this reporting period, there was no hostile attack directly affecting USAID related projects and/or staff. There were six other attacks against other aid agencies and NGOs.

Latest Attack: On March 17 in Kandahar City experienced two explosions. Around 11am, an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) was detonated, killing 5 civilians and wounding 32 others, including 3 women. WFP (World Food Programme) and UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) vehicles had just passed by the area, the WFP vehicle was damaged, but there were no casualties or injuries reported for either agency. One person was arrested and taken to custody for investigation. Earlier that morning, an IED was detonated near a UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services) vehicle. The vehicle was slightly damaged, but no one was injured.

This graphic shows the number of hostile attacks by month. In September 2004, there were 7 hostile incidents directly affecting USAID related activities and 17 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities. In October 2004, there were 3 hostile incidents directly affecting USAID related activities and 18 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities. In November 2004, there were 2 hostile incidents directly affecting USAID related activities and 10 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities. In December 2004, there were 3 hostile incidents directly affecting USAID related activities and 4 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities. In January 2005, there was 1 hostile incident directly affecting USAID related activities and 8 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities. In February 2005, there were 2 hostile incidents directly affecting USAID related activities and 8 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities. In March 2005, there has been 1 hostile incident directly affecting USAID related activities and 16 indirect hostile incidents affecting USAID activities. ANSO Security Reporting began in September 2004.

[ghostgovt]

The other day, Karzi asked Rumsfeld for long term help from the U.S. Rumsfeld declined to say how long the U.S. military would stay in Afghanistan. Why are we spending money there?

This is part of the BushCo World Order as these first permanent bases in Afghanistan/Eurasia will mark the begining of such a (PNAC) takever. This will become many US govt controlled ppl's new address in the years to come. The money is for the buildup.