Afghanistan Security News

Drugs Undermine Afghanistan's Efforts to Rebuild, International Herald Tribune

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:31 GMT

Afghanistan is the world's largest opium producer and exporter but most people tend to forget that it is also a huge narcotics consumer. A 2005 survey estimated that there are some 920,000 drug users in a country of 26 million. For a long time, people living in remote parts of Afghanistan have had a casual attitude towards opium, using it as a panacea for just about anything due to a lack of medicines. But such lifelong addiction exacts a tremendous strain, sapping people of their energy to work, slowly undermining their health as well as the general well-being of their family. In recent years, the Afghan government has rolled out plans to help wean addicts off opium and eradicate poppy fields. It is under pressure from the international community to stop poppy cultivation. Afghanistan is the source of most of the world's supply of opium, from which heroin is derived. The bulk of Afghanistan's poppy production comes from the south, an area where Taliban insurgents wield considerable influence and over which Kabul has only partial control. Security sources say the Taliban takes a 10 percent share of poppy yields.

Supporting Links:

ARTICLE: More Provinces Poppy-Free, But Opium Production Still High, IRIN (May 12)

ARTICLE: Poppy harvest creates easy work, good money, CTV News (May 12)

ARTICLE: Fighting Taliban, ignoring their crop, Associated Press (May 7)

REPORT: Illicit Drug Trends in Afghanistan, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Apr. 2008)

REPORT: Responding to Afghanistan’s Opium Economy Challenge: Lessons and Policy Implications from a Development Perspective, The World Bank (Mar. 12)

REPORT: Seeds of Insecurity: The Afghan Opium Problem - UNODC Annual Report 2008, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Mar. 10)

REPORT: Anatomy of a Fallacy: The Senlis Council and Narcotics in Afghanistan, Centre for International Governance Innovation (Feb. 1)

Afghan Army Far From Fighting Fit, Asia Times

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:31 GMT

Over the past few years, the Afghan National Army (ANA) has often been presented as a success story. This certainly holds some truth, at least in comparison with Afghanistan's national police, which is widely seen as a complete failure. The ANA is reasonably well behaved and quite popular throughout most of Afghanistan. Its initial difficulties in retaining troops within the ranks seem to have been addressed to some extent and both the desertion and absence-without-leave (AWOL) rates are down from the high levels of 2002-2006. AWOL rates in particular have declined dramatically over the past 18 months, to a relatively low 8%, from about 33% in 2006. This appears to be the combined result of a presidential decree turning AWOL into a crime, a widespread media campaign, rising unemployment and rising food prices, which force even less than enthusiastic recruits to stick to the ANA. The number of infantry battalions now stands at 36, while the army as a whole numbers 37,000 men; still substantially short of its personnel projections, but way above the 22,000 which it numbered at the end of summer 2007.

Supporting Links:

ARTICLE: Afghanistan Receives US-Acquired AN-32 Transports, Flight Global (May 8)

ARTICLE: Afghan National Army Forging Ahead To Autonomy, Globe and Mail (Apr. 7)

ARTICLE: Afghanistan's President Karzai Seeks Bigger Role For Army, Sydney Morning Herald (Apr. 4)

NATO Could End Rotating Command In Southern Afghanistan, Agence France-Presse

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:31 GMT

NATO could change its rotating command of southern Afghanistan and give the role to a single country, amid concern that the current system is boosting the Taliban insurgency, NATO's top US general said Thursday. "Everything is open," General Bantz Craddock told AFP when asked how command of the Taliban hotbed area, which currently alternates between Canada, Britain and the Netherlands, was likely to change. Craddock said he received a letter from the commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, saying "it would be better if we had one country take lead as opposed to rotate." ISAF includes 47,000 soldiers from 40 countries who work alongside a separate US-led coalition numbering about 20,000 and the Afghan security forces to defeat extremist violence. Regional governors from Afghanistan warned earlier this week that failure by Western powers to coordinate their military deployment could ultimately play into the hands of the Taliban, because some countries had gained a reputation as softer targets while others were more aggressive. Craddock said he would make a recommendation but the decision would be made in the political arena.

Supporting Links:

ARTICLE: Germany To Build 600-Bed Hospital In Afghan North, Red Orbit (May 12)

ARTICLE: US And NATO Battle On Uneven Afghan Patchwork, Reuters (May 8)

ARTICLE: Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Visits Afghanistan, Dutch News (May 8)

British Troops In Afghanistan Should Fight For 15 Months, Not Six: NATO Chief, The Daily Mail

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:31 GMT

The commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan has urged British troops to spend more time on the frontline – and away from their loved ones – in a bid to get better results against the Taliban. General Dan McNeill insisted longer tours of up to 15 months would lead to a swifter victory against the insurgents, that could see a reduction in the number of international troops as early as 2011. British soliders currently fight spend six months in the country before returning home. Gen McNeill, an American who is nearing the end of his 17 month command in Kabul, said longer tours were key to winning the counter-insurgency because they let soldiers develop a better understanding of the country. British colonial officers in the nineteenth century used to spend years at a time in remote Afghan frontier posts, but Gen McNeill admitted longer tours today would put more strain on families, and could increase pressure on an overstretched force. Gen McNeill, who revealed he has met the Chief of Britain's defence staff to discuss ways of improving results in Helmand, said: "I would simply point out to the chiefs of the militaries that are part of this alliance, that tour length does matter."

Supporting Links:

ARTICLE: NATO's Afghan Mission In Trouble, Says Brown, The Daily Telegraph (Apr. 29)

ARTICLE: More British Troops Set For Afghanistan As NATO Snubs Call For Reinforcements, The Daily Record (Apr. 4)

ARTICLE: Senior British Diplomat: 'Defeat' a Real Possibility in Afghanistan, Voice of America News (Feb. 13)

Taliban Deliver Silent Death Threats After Midnight, Reuters India

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:31 GMT

Afghans call them 'night letters' -- notes scattered or pushed under doorways by Taliban militants in the dead of night, threatening villagers' lives if they cooperate with foreign forces and the government. The threats have picked up in recent weeks in areas across southeastern Afghanistan, U.S. officers and Afghans say, as the Taliban intensify their activities along the Pakistan border and in mountainous communities inland towards Kabul. The notes are often poorly written but the message is clear -- have nothing to do with the foreign troops or serve in the government they back, otherwise, your business will be destroyed, your livestock snatched or your throat cut. At least six people have had either throats slit or were beheaded by the militants for allegedly acting as spies for the foreign forces only in recent weeks in various parts of southeastern Afghanistan, according to officials and the Taliban. Scores have lost their lives for failing to take notice of the Taliban's verbal threats, or in the form of the 'night letters', since 2006 when the al Qaeda-backed Taliban made a return. "It's usually the merchants or those with something to lose," says Lieutenant Augie Gonzalez, a platoon commander based at a camp outside Khost.

Supporting Links:

ARTICLE: Time to talk to Taliban, The Australian (May 9)

ACADEMIC ARTICLE: The Taliban Insurgency and an Analysis of Shabnamah (Night Letters), Small Wars and Insurgencies (Sep. 2007)

REPORT: Taliban communications, old and new, Jane's Terrorism and Security Monitor (NOv. 2007)

A Counterinsurgency Grows in Khost: An Unheralded US Success in Afghanistan, The Weekly Standard

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:31 GMT

While news reports like to speak of a 'resurgent Taliban' in Afghanistan, in the 14 provinces that make up Regional Command East in Afghanistan they are a defeated military force. Not only do the Taliban refuse to engage American forces directly, they have not won an engagement with the Afghan National Army in a year. Even the unimpressive Afghan National Police have lately been winning battles with the insurgents. RC-East is one of five regional commands in the NATO-led military and development mission in Afghanistan, and the only one under U.S. command. Colonel Marty Schweitzer of the 82nd Airborne Division has just finished a 15-month deployment commanding coalition forces in six provinces in eastern Afghanistan. Here on the eastern border and in the north of the country, the insurgency is largely a matter of IEDs and VBIEDs (Vehicle Born Improvised Explosion Devices), with the occasional suicide bomber. The counterinsurgency is what's resurgent. The rugged terrain Schweitzer was responsible for shares a long border with Pakistan and is inhabited by 4.9 million Afghans, mostly poor and illiterate Pashtuns. But U.S. forces have made great progress in these six provinces.

Supporting Links:

ARTICLE: Afghan "Spring Offensive" A Myth: US Commander, Reuters (May 9)

ARTICLE: New Terror Tactics For a New Year, The Strategy Page (Apr. 25)

ARTICLE: Taliban Declares New Afghan Offensive, Reuters (Mar. 28)

Job Creation Should Top Canada's Afghan Strategy: Kandahar Leaders, Canadian Press

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:31 GMT

The adage that 'idle are the devil's workshop' may date to the 12th century, but it has a particularly poignant ring today in southern Afghanistan as the annual poppy harvest winds down and NATO forces brace for a possible spike in violence. Village leaders and power brokers throughout Kandahar province are pleading with the Canadian military and development officials to focus more money and attention on massive make-work projects. Such jobs, usually back-breaking construction work, would serve to keep chronically under-employed, or jobless Afghan males of fighting age - between 18 and 25 - from falling into the clutches of Taliban recruiters. "I would like to see the Canadians to mostly focus on the projects (where) they can create jobs," said Ahmed Wali Karzai, head of the provincial council in Kandahar and half brother to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Canada's Conservative government, through a special cabinet committee chaired by Trade Minister David Emerson, is in the process of setting benchmarks - objectives to be achieved in Kandahar before the military mission ends in 2011.

Supporting Links:

ARTICLE: New general arrives to take up command of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, The Canadian Press (May 7)

ARTICLE: Corrupt Officials Not Receiving Canadian Money: Ambassador, Canada.com (May 7)

ARTICLE: Canada Confusing Political, Aid Relief Goals in Afghanistan, MD Says, Toronto Star (Apr. 22)

U.S. Urges Islamabad To Fight Terrorists As Fragile Peace Collapses, Radio Free Europe // Radio Liberty

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:31 GMT

After a two month lull in the violence that has plagued Pakistan's border regions, Islamist militants appear to have resumed the violence when a recent suicide-bomb attack in the northwestern city of Bannu killed five. The May 6 attack is a setback to the peace efforts of newly elected Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who has advocated negotiations to end Islamist militancy in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Washington has demanded that Pakistan fulfill its antiterror commitments. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte emphasized in Washington on May 5 the importance of bringing Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) under government control, as parts of the 27,000 square kilometer region along the Afghan border are controlled by Taliban insurgents and widely believed to host Al-Qaeda militants. Washington is concerned by the new Pakistani government's reported negotiations with the Taliban. Prime Minister Gillani has made negotiations a priority in his attempts to restore peace to the restive border region. Pakistan concluded various accords in 2004, 2005, and 2006 with the Taliban in the Waziristan region on the Afghan border. But American, NATO, and Afghan officials blame these agreements for the strengthening of the Taliban.

Supporting Links:

ARTICLE: More pressure on Pakistan truce, BBC (May 8)

ARTICLE: New govt bid to resume talks with N. Waziristan militants, Dawn (May 7)

REPORT: Pakistan’s Taliban Negotiating Peace, Preparing for War, Global Terrorism Analysis // The Jamestown Foundation (May 6)

UN Closes Afghan Refugee Centre, British Broadcasting Corporation

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:31 GMT

The UN has closed its repatriation centre in eastern Afghanistan because of unrest in the city of Jalalabad. The temporary closure comes as aid agencies say it is becoming more difficult to operate in parts of the country as security worsens. More than 60,000 Afghan refugees from neighbouring Pakistan have passed through the UN centre this year. The UN says it decided to close the centre after protests closed the main road from Kabul to the Pakistan border. In one demonstration, locals claimed that US forces had killed three civilians in a military operation. The other protest, Jalalabad, was connected to the killing of a local MP's father and the kidnapping of seven members of his family. The UN High Commission for Refugees is keen to stress that the closure is only a temporary measure. Deteriorating security is partly because of the Taleban insurgency. But as the incident in Jalalabad demonstrates, the violence is often rooted in local disputes. Many Afghans believe that the government in Kabul is weak and has failed to impose law and order in much of the country.

Supporting Links:

REPORT: Internal Displacement in Afghanistan, Brookings Institution (Nov, 2007)

REPORT: Return to Afghanistan? A study of Afghans living in Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran, ReliefWeb // Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (Oct. 2005)

ACADEMIC ARTICLE: Afghan Migratory Strategies and the Three Solutions to the Refugee Problem, Refugee Studies Quarterly (May 2)

Afghan Security Chiefs Suspended After Karzai Attack, The Guardian

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:31 GMT

Afghanistan's top civilian counterterrorism official and the chief of police in Kabul are among eight security officials who have been suspended from their posts after an assassination attempt on the country's president, Hamid Karzai, officials said today. The attorney general's office will question the officials, who were considered responsible for security at the time of the attack, on April 27, said Hayatullah Hayat, a spokesman for the office. Karzai escaped unhurt from the gunfire at a military parade in Kabul, which was also attended by foreign ambassadors. Three people were killed in the attack. The Taliban said it had carried out the attempt on Karzai's life. But officials also blamed al-Qaida-linked militants based in neighbouring Pakistan, and arrested two Afghan government employees for alleged involvement in the plot. Hayat did not specify why the eight officials - among them Abdul Manan Farahi, the interior ministry official in charge of counterterrorism - had been suspended. He said their fate, including whether or not they would face criminal charges, would be decided after questioning, but he did not say whether they were considered suspects.

Supporting Links:

ARTICLE: Afghan Governors Criticize NATO Fight Against Taliban Militants, Bloomberg (May 6)

ARTICLE: Afghanistan: Government Workers Arrested In Plot To Kill Karzai, Radio Free Europe // Radio Liberty (May 5)

ARTICLE: Afghanistan Intelligence Says Pakistan Behind Attack On President Karzai, AHN News (Apr. 30)