05 Jun 05

White House confirms Koran mistreatment
(Erada) The Pentagon last night confirmed several incidents in which guards at Guantanamo Bay prison mistreated the Koran. The incidents included a guard deliberately kicking the holy book, as well as someone writing an obscenity in a Koran. A guard's urine also splashed on a prisoner's Koran. Two weeks ago, the White House launched a verbal offensive against the media in response to a now-retracted Newsweek report alleging that United States interrogators at the detention centre had flushed a Koran down a toilet. The publication of the Newsweek article last month was followed by violent anti-United States protests in a number of countries - including Afghansitan, where 15 people were killed and scores injured in rioting in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
(Erada is an independent daily run by the Afghan Media and Resource Centre.)

Taleban claim to have killed soldiers
(Outlook) The Taleban and provincial authorities issued conflicting statements on Saturday about recent clashes between their forces. Taleban spokesman Lutfullah Hakimi said his organisation had killed a large number of soldiers during an attack on a convoy in the Mizana district of the southern province of Zabul. But the chief of police in Mizana, while acknowledging that the Taleban had ambushed a convoy, said the gunmen had been pushed back by retaliatory fire. The frequency of such attacks is relatively high in Zabul province, in comparison with other parts of Afghanistan.
(Outlook is an independent daily published in English.)

Cartoon of the Day

Italian star launches appeal for hostage's release
(Kabul Times) An Italian movie star has launched an appeal for the release of an Italian aid worker abducted two weeks ago, the interior ministry said. Michele Placido - best known for his recurring role as "Kamissar Cattani" in the "La Piovra" series of detective films, broadcast in Afghanistan in the 1980s - called on Afghans to help free Clementina Cantoni, who was kidnapped from her car in Kabul by four gunmen. "Clementina has devoted so much to helping the Afghan people. Each one of you now can help her to come back safely. Please help Clementina," Placido said in a videotaped message.
(Kabul Times is a state-run paper published in English every other day.)

Mine blast leaves one dead, three injured in Ghazni
(Cheragh) A landmine explosion has left one person dead and three injured in the Band-e-Sarde area of the southern province of Ghazni. The devices involved were left over from the war years. In a past incident in the same district, four people were killed and 18 injured when a vehicle hit a landmine. The Mine Detection and Dog Centre, MDC, and Afghan Technical Consultants, ATC, are involved in ongoing de-mining work at the site of the explosion.
(Cheragh is an independent daily run by the Development and Democracy Association.)

Two US soldiers killed
(Anis) Two soldiers of the United States-led Coalition Forces were killed and two others, including their Afghan interpreter, wounded on Friday after their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in the Argon district of Paktika province. No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the incident. But remnants of the Taleban regime - ousted by the US in late 2001 following the events of September 11 that year - have intensified their activities over the past two months.
(Anis is a state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

50 Iranian enterprises involved in Afghanistan's economic sector
(Hewad) Iran's commercial attaché in Kabul, Hossein Kamranfar, announced on Wednesday that 50 Iranian trade and service companies are currently active in Afghanistan. Kamranfar said the companies are involved in producing potable water, medicine, polyethylene pipes, electrical switches, concrete, computers and liquid gas cylinder filling devices. They are also involved in the wood industry, construction of housing and restaurants and the establishment of dental clinics, he added. "[Iran and Afghanistan] have enjoyed constant trade exchanges for a long time, with the exception of a short period during the Taleban rule," he said.
(Hewad is state-run daily published mostly in Pashto.)

Poetry festival concludes in Lugar
(Arman-e-Milli) The first ever Sanzali Gul Mela poetry festival concluded in the Mohammand Agha district of the southern province of Lugar on Saturday. The event attracted numerous poets, writers and researchers from different parts of the province, as well as a great many members of the public. As part of the festivities, eminent scholar Mohammad Asif Samim laid the foundation of the Lugar Literacy Society, comprising youth from all over the province. Similar festivals and poetry contests have taken place in a number of other provinces across Afghanistan, including Nangarhar, Wardak, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar, Zabul, Helmand and Kabul.
(Arman-e-Milli is an independent daily run by a group of journalists.)

06 Jun 05

Kabul wants continued reconstruction support
(Anis) Foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah urged the international community on Sunday to continue in its support for the ongoing reconstruction process in Afghanistan. Speaking at a press conference following his return from a trip abroad, Dr Abdullah said the government was currently discussing its post-election agenda and would need cooperation from the international community after the parliamentary elections. He told journalists that reconstruction is an important feature of a draft agreement drawn up recently by the United Nations Security Council on the post-election era in Afghanistan. He added that the UN had also reaffirmed its support for peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan. Regarding his visit to Canada, Abdullah said that country had pledged to donate 8 million US dollars to Afghanistan for the elections themselves.
(Anis is state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

One insurgent killed, six arrested in Zabul province
(Hewad)Government forces have launched a military operation to arrest those suspected of involvement in recent instability in the city of Qalat, in Zabul province. Kandahar military corps commander General Muslim Hamed, said his men had battled with a group of Taleban insurgents, killing one and arresting six others. The operation was launched in the Safa area north of Kandahar city and continued on to the Kabul-Kandahar highway.
(Hewad is state-run daily published mostly in Pashto.)

Cartoon of the Day

Flood leaves four dead in Badakhshan
(Cheragh)Flooding has left four dead in the Darwaz district of the north-eastern province of Badakhshan. A World Health Organisation, WHO, official, Dr. Abdul Aziz, said those killed included a woman and child. About 50 dwellings have also been destroyed, Aziz said, as well as hundreds of saplings and many hectares of fields. The Badakhsan Health Department has reportedly sent a medical team to the area to evaluate the situation. Floods have blocked roads in Yaftal, Darwaz and Ragh districts of Badakhshan, where it continues to rain.
(Cheragh is an independent daily run by the Development and Democracy Association.)

Girl, mother strangled
(Outlook) The bodies of a young girl and her mother have been found in Zinda jan district in the western Province of Herat. Police official Nisar Ahmad Paikar said that the women have been identified as Sitar, 35, and her daughter Malika, 16. "Police found the dead bodies while patrolling the area during the night," Paikar said. The two women were apparently strangled to death after going out to collect wood. Qadir, a relative of the murdered women, complained that the criminals were still at large and that people had no security of life or property in the area. "Only two weeks ago, a rich man from Zinda jan was killed by gunmen in broad daylight, while police did nothing to arrest the killers," he added.
(Outlook is an independent daily published in English.)

Cop, woman gunned down in Herat
(Erada) Two people have been killed and one wounded in two separate incidents in Herat on Saturday night. In the first episode, a policeman fatally shot one of his colleagues and an unidentified woman at a security post in a park in Herat city. Officials said the suspect escaped after committing the crime. The motive for the killing is not known but a doctor in the intensive care unit of Herat Regional Hospital reportedly said that the woman's body had been sent for medical examination to determine whether or not she had been raped. In another incident, a policeman was left seriously injured after unidentified gunmen opened fire on him in the Takht-i-Zafar park in the city. The assailants managed to run away, while the wounded policeman was taken to hospital in critical condition.
(Erada is an independent daily run by the Afghan Media and Resource Centre.)

Arms seized in Paktia
(Arman-e-Milli) Weapons and ammunition have been seized in the Dandi Patan district in the southern province of Paktia, provincial security officials said on Sunday. Provincial security chief Ghulam Nabi Salim said security forces recovered the arms cache - which included a machine-gun, five rockets and a number of light weapons - during an operation on Saturday night. The weapons and ammunition were seized during searches of a number of houses, Salim said, but no one was arrested. Just a few weeks ago, security officials in the same district confiscated five bags of hashish, 25 mortar rounds, three anti-tank mines, four missiles and ten hand grenades from a man known as Ali Marjan.
(Arman-e-Milli is an independent daily run by a group of journalists.)