26 Jun 05

Commander surrenders arms to stand for parliament
(Arman-e-Milli) A former mujahedin commander from the northern province of Takhar has voluntarily surrendered his arms to security officials under the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process run by the UN. Commander Piram Qul, who had handed in his weapons in the Rostaq district, promised to dissolve his private militia and join the race for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The heavy and light weapons were taken to Taloqan on June 25. The cache included 300 Kalashnikov-47 rifles, 60 rocket-propelled grenades and a number of other light and heavy weapons. The Joint Electoral Management Body had set July 1 as the deadline for candidates to hand in their arms or face being disbarred from standing.
(Arman-e-Milli is an independent daily.)

School set on fire in Logar
(Erada) An unknown group of bandits torched a girl's school on June 21 in the Charshanba Tipa district of the southern province of Logar. Hamidullah and Noor Hasan, who work as guards at the school, said six armed men broke into the school compound and doused the walls with petrol. The two guards were tied to a tree while the buildings were on fire. Two classrooms and tents used as temporary premises were burnt down, while the rest of the building suffered partial damage. About 567 pupils attended the school, said headmaster Khwaja Zahiruddin. Provincial police chief Nasir Massoud said his officers were patrolling in the area when they were informed about the incident. The two guards have been taken into custody for interrogation, he added.
(Erada is an independent daily run by the Afghan Media and Resource Centre.)

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New Pakistani ambassador arrives in Kabul
(Anis) Miangul Akbarzeb, Pakistan's new ambassador to Afghanistan, arrived in Kabul on June 25. Zafar Ali Khan, third secretary at Islamabad's embassy, said the new ambassador would take charge from June 26. Akbarzeb replaces Rustam Shah Mohmand, who has been in Kabul since the fall of the Taleban regime in late 2001. Earlier, Pakistan's minister for information and culture said in an interview that the new ambassador would seek to cement ties between the two countries.
(Anis is a state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

Foreign minister attends G8 meeting
(Kabul Times) Foreign minister D. Abdullah Abdullah attended the G8 foreign ministers' session on Afghanistan in London on June 23. The G8 ministers congratulated the Afghan people and government for the "remarkable progress" achieved since the Bonn agreement of December 2001. In return, Abdullah minister praised the engagement and partnership of the G8 nations and members of the international community in providing assistance to rebuild the country, and welcomed their continued commitment to support Afghanistan in the post-Bonn period. Dr. Abdullah agreed with the G8 ministers that the country still faces serious challenges.
(The Kabul Times is a state-run newspaper published in English every other day.)

Afghanistan registers voters
(Islah) Afghanistan on June 25 launched a month-long voter registration period for the September 18 parliamentary election. The Afghan-UN Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) said that by July 21, it aims to have registered about two million voters who were not old enough to take part in for last October's presidential poll, others who have simply not registered before, and people who have lost their registration cards or moved home. Some 10.6 million Afghans registered for the October 9 presidential elections. Despite threats by Taleban guerillas to disrupt the process, the presidential polls passed off almost without incident. Security remainsthe the biggest challenge facing the Afghan government. The United Nations has called for broader security efforts to protect voters from violence.
(Islah is a state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

27 Jun 05

Five killed in blast in Takhar
(Anis) Five Afghan staff members with the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme, DDR, and two ISAF soldiers were killed in an explosion in Takhar province on June 26. Three other Afghans working on DDR were injured. Interior ministry officials said the blast happened when the troops and DDR staffers were carrying a consignment of ammunition from Rostaq district to a disarmament base in the provincial capital.
(Anis is a state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

Thirty tons of drugs set on fire
(Hewad)To mark international counternarcotics day, more than 30 tons of drugs were torched in Deh Sabz district of Kabul on June 26. The ministers of internal affairs, economics, counternarcotics and health, and the British ambassador, attended the ceremony. General Mohammad Daud, head of the interior ministry's anti-narcotics directorate, said the consignment of drugs included 13,484 kilograms of opium, 2,009 kilograms of heroin, 1,500 kilograms of morphine and 9,090 kilograms of hashish.
(Hewad is a state-run daily published mostly in Pashtu.)

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Interior minister resigns
(Cheragh)Unconfirmed reports circulating in the capital say that Ali Ahmad Jalali resigned as interior minister on June 25. Jalali's letter of resignation has reportedly been accepted by President Hamed Karzai. The deputy minister, Engineer Zaras, is said to have taken charge in the interim. Similar rumours circulated earlier this year but proved unfounded.
(Cheragh is an independent daily run by the Development and Democracy Association.)

Large group of refugees to return from Pakistan
(Arman-e-Milli) Some 15,000 Afghan refugees will return to Afghanistan by July 6. The refugees, now living in Karachi, will enter the country via Chaman and Torkham routes. Most of them come originally from the northern provinces of Balkh, Kunduz and Takhar. A UNHCR statement released in Islamabad said refugees in Karachi are returning under the UN's voluntary repatriation scheme. A survey jointly conducted by the UNHCR and the Pakistani government in February 2005 indicated that there are more than three million Afghans still living in Pakistan.
(Arman-e-Milli is an independent daily.)

Floods destroy hundreds of homes in Nangarhar
(Islah) The recent overflowing of the Kabul and Kunar rivers have damaged 281 houses and inundated thousands of acres of cultivated land destroying crops in the eastern province of Nangarhar. Dr Asif Qazizada, in charge of the Emergency Assistance Commission, told a June 26 press conference that the flooding had damaged many homes over large areas in various parts of the province. Dr Asif said they had asked the Red Crescent and the Rural Rehabilitation Ministry for assistance and the defence ministry had provided two helicopters to deliver aid. Abdul Hadi Asim, in charge of the rural rehabilitation in Nangarhar, said the World Food Programme had pledged support for 300 families. "We will soon receive the aid for onward distribution among the affected families," he said. Meanwhile, a number of people affected by rising water levels have accused the flood commission for not informing them in time. They said the government must devise an alarm system so as to give timely information to people living near rivers.
(Islah is a state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

UN warns of Afghan instability
(Outlook) The United Nations' top envoy for Afghanistan has said that violence is threatening security in the run-up to the September elections. Jean Arnault said that rebels loyal to the former Taleban had become more aggressive. His comments came as the Afghan and US-led forces ended a big military operation in southern Afghanistan, reports said. Afghanistan has seen some of its worst bloodshed in recent months, with a spate of attacks blamed on the Taleban.. Arnault told the UN Security Council that Afghanistan's national security was going through what a "negative evolution". "The country is confronted with an escalation in both the number and gravity of incidents affecting several provinces," he added.
(Outlook is an independent daily published in English.)