Policeman and daughter shot dead In south
(Outlook) Unidentified armed men shot dead a traffic police officer along with his daughter in Helmand province on August 1, an official said the following day. "The incident took place yesterday morning in Gresk district, and a police officer and his nine-year old daughter were killed," said Mohiudin Khan, provincial secretary. Blaming the Taleban for the attack, the official said "the enemies of peace and security" were behind the attack. Remnants of the Taleban, whose regime was toppled by the US military in late 2001, have intensified their attacks on Afghan and American troops since early 2005. More than 400 people, including insurgents, Afghan and US soldiers, public servants and civilians have been killed.
(Outlook is an independent daily published in English.)

Two aid workers kidnapped in Farah province
(Arman-e-Milli) Gunmen in Farah province have abducted two workers from Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance, CHA, an Afghan non-government organisation. A logistics officer with CHA and his driver were on their way back to Farah after conducting a survey in the Bakwah district when they were kidnapped by five armed men driving a Toyota Corolla, said Wahid Waqfi, the group's regional representative in Herat. He added that unidentified armed men had stopped a CHA car on the Herat-Kandahar highway some time ago. CHA implements health, agriculture, education and construction projects across Afghanistan, and is funded by the World Bank.
(Arman-e-Milli is an independent daily run by a group of journalists.)

Kandaharis say Taleban on the prowl
(Erada) Residents of the Panjawi and Zhari districts of the southern Kandahar province have warned that Taleban militants are present in these areas, and that as a result aid groups are refusing to work there. Local officials have insisted the area is secure. One man said he gave up his job with a non-government organisation after being told he had to go and work in Kandahar.
(Erada is independent daily run by the Afghan Media and Resource Centre.)

EU observer team arrives ahead of parliamentary vote
(Anis) A group of European Union experts has come to Afghanistan to observe the parliamentary election process. The observers have been selected from 18 member countries of the EU and will divide into two groups to monitor the election process in all 34 provinces. Parliamentary and provincial council elections are scheduled for September 18, the first such polls for many years.
(Anis is a state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

President Karzai attends Saudi king's funeral
(Islah) Afghan president Hamed Karzai went to Saudi Arabia to attend the funeral of King Fahd. President Karzai was accompanied by foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and other senior government figures, and by Sebghatullah Mujaddidi, head of the Afghan Reconciliation Commission, and former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani. Both of the latter are former leaders of mujahedin groups.
(Islah is a state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

Kabul shrine to be rebuilt
(Hewad) Reconstruction work began on July 2 at the Khwaja Eshaq Khatelani shrine, also known as Shah Shahid, located in Kabul's 8th district. Sayed Makhdum Rahin, the minister of information, culture and tourism, addressed a ceremony to mark the start of work and said, "Shah Shahid is one of the historic shrines of Kabul city, and based on agreements between the information ministry and USAID, it will be reconstructed in four months at a total cost of 34,530 US dollars." The present shrine to Khatelani dates back to reconstruction work carried out under 18th Afghan king Ahmad Shah Durrani, but has suffered recent environmental damage.
(Hewad is a state daily mostly in Pashto.)