24 Jul 05

Fifteen civilians killed in Taleban attack
(Arman-e-Milli) The Taleban have murdered 15 Afghans in the central province of Dai Kundi. Those killed had links with the Coalition forces, said Taleban spokesman Latif Hakimi. The Taleban ambushed the group of 15 in the Khushkak area as they were going to work; they sliced off their ears, cut out their eyes, and poured acid on them. According to reports, more than 70 Taleban have moved in from Helmand province and are now stationed in the area. Local people are assisting the government security forces, as there are not enough police or troops to fight the insurgents.
(Arman-e-Milli is an independent paper run by a group of journalists.)

Two assassinations in Kandahar
(Cheragh)Mullah Naqibullah, the district judge of Pajwai district, Kandahar province, and the chief administrator from Shah Walikot in the same province were killed by unknown armed men on July 23, officials said. The head of Panjwai district, Niaz Mohammad Khan, said Naqibullah's killers fled on motorbikes. The police chief in Shah Walikot did not rule out Taleban involvement in the killing of the local government chief. The Taleban has yet to claim responsibility for the killiings, in the past the group has said it was behind similar attacks.
(Cheragh is an independent daily run by the Development and Democracy Association.)

Three men confess to planning Kabul violence
(The Kabul Times)Police officials in Kabul say three people now being held in custody have admitted that they were planning subversive activities in Kabul. An official in the interior ministry's counter-terrorism department said the suspects were picked up separately on July 12, 13 and 14, in Kabul and Koh-e-Safi. Police also seized four 4 mines, two guns, four remote-control devices, a radio and other equipment. During interrogation, the detainees reportedly confessed that they had been instructed to use violence to demonstrate that Kabul is insecure and unstable.
(The Kabul Times is a state-run paper published in English every other day.)

London bomb victim had lost parents to Taleban killings
(Erada) Atiqullah Sharif, the Afghan man killed in the July 7 London bombing, was the son of parents were killed by the Taliban, reports The Independent, a UK-based newspaper. Sharif was the only surviving male member of the family, and had fled Afghanistan to seek asylum in Britain. During President Hamed Karzai's recent visit to the United Kingdom, he laid a wreath at King's Cross Station where many innocent people, including Sharifi, were killed. An official at the Afghan embassy in London said Sharifi's body would be sent back to Afghanistan.
(Erada is an independent daily run by the Afghan Media Resource Centre.)

New court buildings for Paktia
(Anis) A new judicial complex opened in the southern province of Paktia on July 23. The building was constructed at a cost of 200,000 US dollars, provided by the United States Agency for International Development. The inauguration ceremony in Gardez was attended by Qazi Bahauddin Baha, the head of Afghanistan's judicial reform commission. Baha said lower-level courts in Paktia did not previously possess their own buildings, and had to use various private and government institutions to hold sessions. Baha said he hoped other provincs would also soon get facilities of their own.
(Anis is state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

25 Jul 05

Explosives seized in Kandahar
(Arman-e-Milli) Police have seized explosives and ammunition from a house in the unsettled southern city of Kandahar, security officials said on July 24. Five hand grenades, along with bullets and other explosive devices, were recovered in the centre of the city, said an intelligence official. The head of the provincial intelligence directorate, Sadullah, said the owner of the house was now under interrogation, but he gave no further details of the seizure. Kandahar has seen intensified Taleban offensives in recent months.
(Arman-e-Milli is an independent paper run by a group of journalists.)

Pakistan premier in Kabul
(Hewad) Prime minister Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan arrived in Kabul for an official visit on July 24. He will hold talks with Afghan pesident Hamed Karzai and former king Mohammad Zahir Shah during his visit. Aziz is visiting Afghanistan at the invitation of President Karzai to promote high-level contacts between the two countries.
(Hewad is a state-run daily published mostly in Pashto.)

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Four smugglers arrested in Herat
(Anis) Police arrested four drug smugglers in the western province of Heart on July 23, a police official said. The interior ministry's press office told state-run Bakhtar News Agency that police caught the suspected smugglers in Karkh district, along with four motorcycles and 40 kilograms of opium. A gun and a satellite phone were also recovered from the criminals, police said. Herat has become a centre for the narcotics trade because of its location on the border with Turkmenistan and Iran.
(Anis is a state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

Fifty Afghan refugees detained
(Erada) Pakistani border police have arrested more than 50 Afghan nationals for not having proper documents. Thirty-five were detained in the Faqirabad area, where a large number of Afghan refugees have settled. The operation against illegal immigrants will continue until the city is cleansed of offenders, said a police official. Zawar Shah, the uncle of one of those detained in the crackdown, said the family had been living in the neighbourhood for the last 20 years, but no one has ever asked him about his passport. Matiullah, a spokesman for the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, argued that Afghans in Pakistan qualify as refugees under international law, and are therefore not required to obtain visas to stay there.
(Erada is an independent daily run by the Afghan Media Resource Centre.)

Ex-military get jobs in new army
(Outlook) Out of 11,000 former army men fired by President Hamed Karzai's interim government in 2002, 8,800 are to be reinstated after passing a test. Major-General Juma Naser, aide to the deputy defence minister, told a press conference on July 24 that the personnel passed an examination of their professional knowledge, skills, age and health. They will be accommodated in the new Afghan National Army, which is projected to reach a complement of 70,000. Defence ministry sources said more than 22,800 former ministry officials and soldiers were tested in two phases, and the 8,800 managed to meet criterion set for recruitment to the new army.
(Outlook is an independent daily published in English.)

New batch of soldiers ready to fight
(Cheragh) A group of 590 army recruits received their diplomas today at the Kabul Military Training Centre. Defence ministry spokesman General Zaher Azimi presented the 39th Battalion of the Afghan National Army, and said the recruits were ready to travel anywhere in Afghanistan to boost security. Some analysts believe short-term courses are not enough, and that soldiers should attend longer courses.
(Cheragh is an independent daily run by the Development and Democracy Association.)