Insurgent attacks predicted
(Anis) A senior US commander has warned that insurgents are likely to step up attacks as Afghanistan moves closer to the parliamentary elections. General Jason Kamiya, chief of operations for the US-led Coalition forces in southeast Afghanistan, told a news conference in Kabul that the insurgents are trying to push ahead with their challenge to the foreign military presence in the country. He said that since the insurgents have lost the ability to fight face-to-face in southern and eastern Afghanistan, they are trying to sow fear among the population by using explosives and mines.
(Anis is a state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

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Election candidate to surrender arms
(Hewad) An Afghan parliamentary candidate [editor's note: unnamed] has announced that he will surrender his weapons. He made the declaration on August 1 during a meeting of the Disarmament and Reintegration Committee chaired by Din Mohammad, the Kabul governor of Kabul. The other candidates present at the meeting denied possessing weapons. Candidates still holding arms have to surrender them by August 4.
(Hewad is a state daily mostly in Pashto.)

Four injured in attack on UN office in Nuristan
(Outlook) Four people were wounded when unidentified men fired rockets at the UN office in the Nuragram district of the eastern Nuristan province, officials said. Three of the injured were working for a local NGO while the fourth was a driver with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan, UNAMA. Nuragram's local government chief accused the Taleban and al-Qaeda of being behind the attack. Adrian Edwards, UNAMA's spokesman in Kabul, said he was unaware of the incident, but Afghan defence ministry spokesman General Zaher Azimi confirmed it had taken place and added that investigations were under way to identify and catch those responsible.
(Outlook is an independent daily published in English.)

Two aid workers injured in attack
(Arman-e-Milli) An unidentified armed man has shot and injured two employees of an aid organisation in Helmand province. Local officials said the attack in the Sangin district was carried out by a man on a motorcycle who fired on a car belonging to the aid organisation. Police have not yet released the names of the injured men.
(Arman-e-Milli is an independent daily run by a group of journalists.)

Attack leads to capture of suspected Taleban
(Erada) Following the attack on an aid group's car in Sangin district, US-led Coalition forces arrested 20 suspected Taleban members. Mohammad Wali Alizai, spokesman for the governor of Helmand province, said, "After the car was attacked, the Coalition forces immediately launched operations in the district and arrested twenty suspected Taleban".
(Erada is an independent daily run by the Afghan Media and Resource Centre.)

Tragic death highlights suicide among women
(Cheragh) A young woman named Farzana, 24, drowned herself in the river Kokchah on July 31, in the northern province of Badakhshan. Neighbours said she committed suicide to avoid being married off to her cousin. Nasrin Raufi, head of the Badakhshan department for women's affairs, said the major cause of such suicides was the lack of awareness of human rights in general and women's rights in particular. According to reports, eight young women have committed suicide in Badakhshan during the past two years, with the main reasons cited being family problems and forced marriages.
(Cheragh is an independent daily run by the Development and Democracy Association.)

Indian premier to visit Afghanistan
(Kabul Times) Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh is expected to visit Kabul in August to lay the foundation stone for the new parliament building, which is to be built by India's Central Public Works Department. India has been closely involved in the reconstruction of Afghanistan since the fall of the Taleban, training government staff, building roads, helping rebuild medical infrastructure and running air services. India's constitution was a source of inspiration when Afghan lawmakers were drafting their new document.
(Kabul Times is a state newspaper published in English every other day.)