28 Aug 05

UN concerned at increasing insurgent attacks
(The Kabul Times) The United Nations Security Council has expressed concern about Taleban and al-Qaeda attacks during the parliamentary election campaign. The UN special delegation said that the extremist groups will be targeted by the government and international forces. Jean Arnault, the UN special delegate said, "The extremist groups have increased their violence and used explosives to aggravate the security situation." He added that thousands of American and NATO forces are ready to ensure security for the of parliamentary elections. Polling stations will be protected by the Afghan National Army and the police, he added.
(The Kabul Times is a state-run paper published in English every other day.)

Candidates concerned at election campaign killings
(Islah)The murder of several candidates for the parliamentary poll has caused concern for others campaigning for parliament and provincial councils. Shukria Barakzai, who is standing as a candidate in Kabul, said, "It is very difficult to ensure security in Afghanistan, and the government has never been able to do it. Now that the parliamentary elections are due to take place, no candidate is assured of security in the elections." Thirty-three seats have been allocated for Kabul in the Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of parliament, but there are 400 hundred candidates running there for the elections scheduled for September 18. Sultan Ahmad Baheen, a spokesman for the election management body, expressed satisfaction with the work of ISAF, the national police, and the national army.
(Islah is a state run daily mostly in Dari.)

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Suspected Taleban kill two in southern Afghanistan
(Cheragh)Suspected Taleban insurgents have shot and killed a government cartographer and a businessman in southern Afghanistan. "The two were killed by armed Taleban on motorbikes," provincial police chief Amanullah Khan said. The gunmen attacked the men as they were walking home in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. Taleban spokesman Latif Hakimi claimed responsibility, saying that the mapmaker, named Amanullah, was the acting governor of the province. However, according to the police chief, the victim was "just a cartographer, nothing else". Taleban attacks in the country's southern and eastern regions have soared, ahead of Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections in decades, to be held on September 18.
(Cheragh is an independent daily run by the Development and Democracy Association.)

US soldier killed in Paktika
(Arman-e-Milli) One US soldier was killed and five others injured when their armoured vehicle hit an improvised mine in Paktika province, the US military said. The number of US soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year is now over 60. The incident comes as US soldiers launched operations to ensure security in the parliamentary elections slated for September 18. They recently announced the killing of 16 Taleban insurgents in southern Afghanistan. The Taleban have announced that they will not attack polling stations on election day.
(Arman-e-Milli is an independent daily run by a group of journalists.)

Eight killed in car accident
(Erada) Eight people were killed and six others injured when a truck collided with a van in the Kalakan district of Kabul province. The van was traveling towards Kabul city from Kapista when it was hit by a speeding truck. Dr. Abdullah, chief of the Mir Bachakot district emergency hospital said the wounded, including one woman, were moved to Kabul for treatment. Mohammad Yaqub Zalmai, police chief of Kalakan district said that the truck driver had made off and police are searching the area for him.
(Erada is an independent daily run by the Afghan Media and Resource Centre.)

Three US soldiers injured in convoy attack
(Outlook) Three US soldiers were wounded when their convoy came under attack about 40 kilometres east of Kabul on August 26, the US military said the following day. The wounded troops were evacuated to the hospital at the Bagram base for treatment, where their condition is said to be stable. "Coalition forces were conducting operations to disrupt enemy forces when they came under fire. A US Army attack helicopter responded to the scene but the enemy fled the area," read a statement released by the US military at Bagram. The current year is considered the worst the US military has had in terms of casualties in Afghanistan. According to some reports, the death toll has reached 75, the highest since they arrived in the country nearly four years ago.
(Outlook is an independent daily published in English.)

Two Japanese tourists missing
(Anis) Two Japanese tourists are missing in southern Afghanistan, after crossing into the country from Pakistan. According to some reports, the pair - a man and a woman - disappeared in Spin Boldak in Kandahar, but Afghan security officials deny that they ever entered Afghanistan. Interior ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said that based on information received from Afghan border posts, no Japanese national has crossed the border to Afghanistan in the past month and a half. According to reports, the man and woman, both teachers, left a hotel in Quetta and crossed the border in a car from Chaman into southern Afghanistan on August 8.
(Anis is state-run daily published mostly in Dari.)

World Bank to help build roads
(Hewad) The Afghan government, in collaboration with the World Bank, will is to start the reconstruction of 260 kilometres of roads that lead to villages in seven provinces, officials said on August 27. An agreement was signed between the ministers of rural rehabilitation and development, public works and the World Bank on the 15 million US dollar project. Sohrab Ali Safar, the minister of public works, said the programme will cover the reconstruction of roads for villages in Kabul, Herat, Bamian, Kunduz, Logar, Paktika and Parwan provinces, and will create jobs for 600,000 people.
(Hewad is a state run daily mostly in Pashto.)

29 Aug 05

Taleban say they killed election candidate
(Arman-e-Milli) Militants gunned down a parliamentary candidate in Uruzgan province on August 28. Haji Atiqullah was killed 20 kilometres south of the provincial capital Tarin Kowt. Urozgan governor Jan Mohammad Khan confirmed the killing, and said that the Taleban were behind the attack. He added that two of Haji Atiqullah's friends were wounded in the incident. The Taleban claimed responsibility for the murder, saying the victim held a government post during the presidential elections and was still supporting the Karzai administration. Officials from the Joint Electoral Management Body, JEMB, said an investigation into the murder is continuing, though the murderers' identity is yet known.
(Arman-e-Milli is an independent daily run by a group of journalists.)

Outrage at soft sentences for US soldiers convicted of prisoner abuse
(Outlook) Afghanistan's president has condemned as too lenient the jail terms of up to three months each handed down to two US soldiers whose abuse of Afghan detainees their death. "We think the punishments given to those who have severely violated human rights are very light and unexpectedly lenient," said President Hamed Karzai's spokesman Karim Rahimi on August 27. The two men who died were 22-year-old taxi driver Dilawar and 30-year-old Mullah Habibullah. The two soldiers were tried in a US military court in Texas, leading to the first judicial sentences handed to any American soldier for prisoner abuse in Afghanistan since 2001.
(Outlook is an independent daily published in English.)

Three die in land dispute
(Erada) Three people were killed and 18 others wounded in a dispute over land in Laghman province. Local people said the clash erupted in the Badi Abad area as the families of Allah Gul and Qayoum Akhunzada exchanged fire over a piece of land. Local officials in Nangarhar province blamed the violence on a family feud, and said investigations are ongoing in order to arrest the perpetrators. Residents said that the dead included one from Akhunzada's family and two from Allah Gul's. An official of the Nangarhar province said the injured had been taken to Jalalabad hospital for treatment.
(Erada is an independent daily run by the Afghan Media and Resource Centre.)

German defence minister visits Afghanistan
(Cheragh) German defence minister Peter Struck began a two-day official visit to Afghanistan on August 28. During his stay, he will visit German soldiers serving in Afghanistan as part of ISAF. Some 450 German soldiers have been stationed in the northern province of Kunduz to help expedite the reconstruction and stability process in this city. Currently 2,250 German soldiers are working with ISAF in Afghanistan.
(Cheragh is an independent daily run by the Development and Democracy Association.)