Floods Force Thousands From Homes in Pakistan
By CARLOTTA GALL
The New York Times
SUKKUR, Pakistan — Floodwaters continued to surge Sunday into areas of southern Pakistan, forcing thousands more people to abandon their homes in haste and flee to higher ground. Attention has now focused on the province of Sindh as the floods that have torn through the length of the country for three weeks move finally toward the Arabian Sea.
Water reached within half a mile of Shadad Kot, a town of 150,000 people, on Sunday afternoon, and several nearby villages were already cut off when a protective embankment began to give way, Yasin Shar, the district coordination officer of Shadad Kot, said by telephone. Most of the population has been evacuated, and more were still leaving, he said.
“We are trying to save the embankment and keep on repairing wherever it is damaged, but the water is flowing with a lot of pressure,” Mr Shar said. “We hope the embankment won’t break. We are praying.”
Nearly five million people have been displaced from the worst flooding ever recorded in Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands are being housed in orderly tented camps set up in army compounds, schools and other public buildings, but thousands more are living on roadsides and canal embankments, spreading out mats under the trees or making shade over the simple rope beds they brought with them.
The town of Sukkur is overflowing with the influx of displaced people. On the edge of the town, a group of 15 families with scores of children are camped along the Dadu Canal. Their mood is nervous, edgy, and they race in a horde after any vehicle that slows down in the hopes it bears food or assistance. One woman showed her fractured arm, the result of a tussle for food.
“People are looting, people run after trucks snatching things,” said Shad Mohammad, 28, a shopkeeper and father of five, who came here after his town of Ghospur was flooded 15 days ago. “People come, sometimes the government comes, or charities with food. Sometimes you get something, sometimes not.”
The children are often hungry and crying, he said. “We don’t know what will happen to us, we have lost everything. We have nothing here, just the clothes we are wearing,” he said.
He and others spoke of their anxiety that because Sindh is so low-lying, it would take months for the waters to subside, and for them to return home. And they know they will return to nothing. The water was up to their necks so their mud-brick houses will have collapsed, and their animals drowned, they said. Surviving would be difficult without assistance, and few expressed confidence they would receive much.
The older people were more resigned. “We will sit under the sky, and God will provide what he wills,” said Qaim Din, 50, a father of eight, who had to abandon his donkey and a single buffalo to the floods as the family fled the rising waters.
The younger men expressed anger and impatience.
“We are not living here happily,” said another man, also named Qaim Din but not related. A fertilizer dealer, he came here after his village 125 miles away was flooded. “We are angry, and they are treating us like animals,” he said.
“You are talking of anger, we are sometimes thinking of killing this government,” he said. “If you go further along this road, you will see people, you will see their faces, they are hurting.”
“Food is creating a law-and-order situation because there is no proper system to look after these people,” said Jamshaid Khan Dasti, a member of Parliament from a neighboring constituency in Punjab Province. There were already incidents of looting and burglary, and he said he had already requested the government to deploy paramilitary rangers to prevent it deteriorating.
The majority of the displaced were falling outside the humanitarian net, he said. In his district, 800,000 people were displaced, but only 100,000 were being provided for in camps. “The rest are scattered, stuck in different places and they don’t have food or water,” he said. “Their lives are in danger, and their frustration is increasing.”
A former prime minister, Zafarullah Khan Jamali, a member of Parliament whose constituency in neighboring Baluchistan was 90 percent under water, warned that the mood would only worsen.
“These people will be out in the streets, this is what I see,” he said. “I have been through many floods, in ’56, ’73,’76 and 2007, but I have never seen a government less bothered.” He added, “The state is a failure, and the people will come out and naturally nothing can stop the wave of people.”
Asked if he was talking about a revolution, he replied, “Yes. We are heading toward that, very fast.”
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Pakistan floods: "I have never seen a government less bothered."
August 22, 2010:
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Karzai tries to rein in private security firms
Hired guns prove trouble for Karzai
Al Jazeera
08/18/2010
By Evan Hill
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has issued a decree that may put an end to the enormous and lucrative business of providing private security in his war-torn country.
According to Karzai's decree, the government will dissolve all foreign and domestic security companies by December, making jobless the tens of thousands of locals and foreigners employed in the industry.
Many powerful Afghans have a hand in the private security business, and eliminating their income would almost assuredly upset the balance of power throughout the country, not to mention force foreign diplomatic personnel and other aid organisations to quickly find adequate security in a land rife with danger.
But hired guns, both local and foreign, have also proved to be a headache for Karzai, killing and wounding civilians and exercising prince-like control over supply lines, in the process making the Afghan government appear as a sideshow in the provision of development and stability to its own people. [...]
Al Jazeera
08/18/2010
By Evan Hill
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has issued a decree that may put an end to the enormous and lucrative business of providing private security in his war-torn country.
According to Karzai's decree, the government will dissolve all foreign and domestic security companies by December, making jobless the tens of thousands of locals and foreigners employed in the industry.
Many powerful Afghans have a hand in the private security business, and eliminating their income would almost assuredly upset the balance of power throughout the country, not to mention force foreign diplomatic personnel and other aid organisations to quickly find adequate security in a land rife with danger.
But hired guns, both local and foreign, have also proved to be a headache for Karzai, killing and wounding civilians and exercising prince-like control over supply lines, in the process making the Afghan government appear as a sideshow in the provision of development and stability to its own people. [...]
Liberals, don't cut and run
Liberals stand with Afghanistan
Politico
08/18/2010
By Joshua Gross
For liberals, Afghanistan was always the “good war.” Until, quite suddenly, it wasn’t.
While the Bush administration was bogged down in Iraq, liberals inside and outside of Congress argued that Afghanistan was being underresourced and ignored. Until, quite suddenly, it was a quagmire, the mission unwinnable, the land ungovernable.
A total of 102 Democrats opposed the recent $37 billion supplemental war funding bill, which followed in the wake of 92,000 classified documents released by WikiLeaks. Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are growing bolder in their opposition to the war, with Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) writing in The Hill: “This war is not worth the huge investment, in blood and treasure, which the American people have been asked to make for nearly a decade.”
Liberals should re-examine the conventional wisdom on Afghanistan and provide President Barack Obama the support that he needs to finish the job. As our nation approaches the ninth anniversary of America’s longest war, there are several compelling reasons to stand with Afghanistan.
America Has an Ethical Obligation to Afghanistan
America’s relationship with Afghanistan began long before Sept. 11. After the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan in 1979, the U.S. poured guns and money into the hands of the country’s most dangerous and fanatical leaders. When the U.S. withdrew its support of the mujahedeen, these warlords turned on one another and tore the country apart.
In 2002, President George W. Bush promised Afghans a Marshall Plan, but his administration tried to stabilize Afghanistan on the cheap. When the Taliban were still on the ropes early in the mission, Afghans were provided only $57 per person in foreign assistance, compared with $679 in Bosnia and $206 in Iraq. Even more disastrous, we neglected to provide the requisite number of ground troops, forcing U.S. and NATO commanders to rely on airstrikes; the resulting civilian casualties further distanced the population from the Afghan government.
Afghanistan Is Not Ungovernable
Contrary to popular opinion, Afghanistan is not ungovernable. Afghanistan was relatively peaceful and stable from the late 19th century until the early 1970s. During this time, Afghanistan’s weak central government provided its citizens with a degree of law and order by making deals with local elites. As American planners scale back their ambitions, they are rediscovering this forgotten chapter of Afghan history, which provides a model for decentralized political development.
While Afghanistan has been steadily declining since 2006, the catastrophic decline described by the mainstream media since President Obama’s West Point speech has been somewhat hyperbolic. Every year, the number of Afghans who perceive gains in security, economic opportunity and reconstruction increases slightly, according to polling done by the Asia Foundation. Localized economic development campaigns that have been Afghan led, such as the National Solidarity Program, have been extremely successful.
Liberals Have Long Advocated a Civilian Surge
Since 2001, liberals have decried the heavy military footprint in Afghanistan, arguing that the civilian-military balance must be recalibrated. Since the Obama administration’s strategic review, the U.S. has been slowly reining in the military, while injecting diplomats and aid workers into positions of responsibility.
For the first time, civilians are working alongside military commanders in provincial reconstruction teams, sharing the burden of engaging tribal leaders and bolstering the Afghan government’s ability to provide goods and services to its people. Gen. David Petraeus, who recently took over ISAF command from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, is committed to prioritizing the protection of civilians over hunting down the Taliban.
From Washington, it may look like “too little, too late,” but on the ground in Afghanistan, diplomats and aid workers believe they can turn around a failing intervention. President Obama inherited a neglected war. Now, his administration is beginning to realistically define success and providing long-needed manpower and resources.
Afghanistan Is Bigger Than Karzai
Corruption is endemic in Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai’s angelic aura wore off long ago. But Afghanistan is home to 26 million people. Only a handful of them have their hands in the public purse (or on the opium stalk). We must not lose sight of the effect that America’s stabilizing influence has on the Afghan people, even if the government’s perfidy is inexcusable. Over time, American diplomatic leverage can push through the reforms necessary to loosen Karzai’s hold over hundreds of local-level government appointments and institute stronger checks and balances in Kabul.
We Are Protecting the Rights of Women
Liberalism, when reduced to its essence, promotes liberty and equality with the goal of expanding opportunities for individuals. Afghan women like Bamiyan Gov. Habiba Sarabi, human rights activist Wazhma Frogh, Parliamentarian Shinkai Karokhail and Mozhdah Jamalzadah, known as “Afghanistan’s Oprah,” are advancing women’s liberty and equality little by little, day by day. This is why negotiating with the Taliban is not a silver bullet and why any political reconciliation must be predicated on respect for the Afghan constitution, which enshrines the rights of women and minorities.
American blood is not being shed in Afghanistan simply to preserve the rights of women, but liberals should not cynically dismiss this noble goal. The image of Afghan girls going to newly built schools should continue to fill Americans with pride; we are making a difference.
Don’t take my word for it. Ask an Afghan yourself. Seek out conversations with Afghan-Americans — whose opinions the mainstream media largely ignore — and ask them what they think about the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. You most likely will get an earful. Of course, many Afghans inside and outside of Afghanistan continue to be demoralized by corruption, civilian casualties and insecurity, as well as Karzai’s fraudulent election and erratic behavior. But most will admit that the continued presence of the U.S. is far better than the alternative.
Advocates for progressive reform across the greater Middle East will closely watch our withdrawal from Afghanistan. Our leaders must resist premature calls for a troop drawdown and ensure that Afghanistan does not backslide into fanaticism and anarchy. We protect the homeland and advance liberal values by honoring our commitment to the Afghan people.
Joshua Gross served as the media relations director of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington from 2006 to 2008. He is a recent graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Politico
08/18/2010
By Joshua Gross
For liberals, Afghanistan was always the “good war.” Until, quite suddenly, it wasn’t.
While the Bush administration was bogged down in Iraq, liberals inside and outside of Congress argued that Afghanistan was being underresourced and ignored. Until, quite suddenly, it was a quagmire, the mission unwinnable, the land ungovernable.
A total of 102 Democrats opposed the recent $37 billion supplemental war funding bill, which followed in the wake of 92,000 classified documents released by WikiLeaks. Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are growing bolder in their opposition to the war, with Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) writing in The Hill: “This war is not worth the huge investment, in blood and treasure, which the American people have been asked to make for nearly a decade.”
Liberals should re-examine the conventional wisdom on Afghanistan and provide President Barack Obama the support that he needs to finish the job. As our nation approaches the ninth anniversary of America’s longest war, there are several compelling reasons to stand with Afghanistan.
America Has an Ethical Obligation to Afghanistan
America’s relationship with Afghanistan began long before Sept. 11. After the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan in 1979, the U.S. poured guns and money into the hands of the country’s most dangerous and fanatical leaders. When the U.S. withdrew its support of the mujahedeen, these warlords turned on one another and tore the country apart.
In 2002, President George W. Bush promised Afghans a Marshall Plan, but his administration tried to stabilize Afghanistan on the cheap. When the Taliban were still on the ropes early in the mission, Afghans were provided only $57 per person in foreign assistance, compared with $679 in Bosnia and $206 in Iraq. Even more disastrous, we neglected to provide the requisite number of ground troops, forcing U.S. and NATO commanders to rely on airstrikes; the resulting civilian casualties further distanced the population from the Afghan government.
Afghanistan Is Not Ungovernable
Contrary to popular opinion, Afghanistan is not ungovernable. Afghanistan was relatively peaceful and stable from the late 19th century until the early 1970s. During this time, Afghanistan’s weak central government provided its citizens with a degree of law and order by making deals with local elites. As American planners scale back their ambitions, they are rediscovering this forgotten chapter of Afghan history, which provides a model for decentralized political development.
While Afghanistan has been steadily declining since 2006, the catastrophic decline described by the mainstream media since President Obama’s West Point speech has been somewhat hyperbolic. Every year, the number of Afghans who perceive gains in security, economic opportunity and reconstruction increases slightly, according to polling done by the Asia Foundation. Localized economic development campaigns that have been Afghan led, such as the National Solidarity Program, have been extremely successful.
Liberals Have Long Advocated a Civilian Surge
Since 2001, liberals have decried the heavy military footprint in Afghanistan, arguing that the civilian-military balance must be recalibrated. Since the Obama administration’s strategic review, the U.S. has been slowly reining in the military, while injecting diplomats and aid workers into positions of responsibility.
For the first time, civilians are working alongside military commanders in provincial reconstruction teams, sharing the burden of engaging tribal leaders and bolstering the Afghan government’s ability to provide goods and services to its people. Gen. David Petraeus, who recently took over ISAF command from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, is committed to prioritizing the protection of civilians over hunting down the Taliban.
From Washington, it may look like “too little, too late,” but on the ground in Afghanistan, diplomats and aid workers believe they can turn around a failing intervention. President Obama inherited a neglected war. Now, his administration is beginning to realistically define success and providing long-needed manpower and resources.
Afghanistan Is Bigger Than Karzai
Corruption is endemic in Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai’s angelic aura wore off long ago. But Afghanistan is home to 26 million people. Only a handful of them have their hands in the public purse (or on the opium stalk). We must not lose sight of the effect that America’s stabilizing influence has on the Afghan people, even if the government’s perfidy is inexcusable. Over time, American diplomatic leverage can push through the reforms necessary to loosen Karzai’s hold over hundreds of local-level government appointments and institute stronger checks and balances in Kabul.
We Are Protecting the Rights of Women
Liberalism, when reduced to its essence, promotes liberty and equality with the goal of expanding opportunities for individuals. Afghan women like Bamiyan Gov. Habiba Sarabi, human rights activist Wazhma Frogh, Parliamentarian Shinkai Karokhail and Mozhdah Jamalzadah, known as “Afghanistan’s Oprah,” are advancing women’s liberty and equality little by little, day by day. This is why negotiating with the Taliban is not a silver bullet and why any political reconciliation must be predicated on respect for the Afghan constitution, which enshrines the rights of women and minorities.
American blood is not being shed in Afghanistan simply to preserve the rights of women, but liberals should not cynically dismiss this noble goal. The image of Afghan girls going to newly built schools should continue to fill Americans with pride; we are making a difference.
Don’t take my word for it. Ask an Afghan yourself. Seek out conversations with Afghan-Americans — whose opinions the mainstream media largely ignore — and ask them what they think about the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. You most likely will get an earful. Of course, many Afghans inside and outside of Afghanistan continue to be demoralized by corruption, civilian casualties and insecurity, as well as Karzai’s fraudulent election and erratic behavior. But most will admit that the continued presence of the U.S. is far better than the alternative.
Advocates for progressive reform across the greater Middle East will closely watch our withdrawal from Afghanistan. Our leaders must resist premature calls for a troop drawdown and ensure that Afghanistan does not backslide into fanaticism and anarchy. We protect the homeland and advance liberal values by honoring our commitment to the Afghan people.
Joshua Gross served as the media relations director of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington from 2006 to 2008. He is a recent graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Insurgency pussyfoots into east Afghanistan
Foreigners boost insurgency in eastern Afghanistan
By KATHY GANNON (AP) – 13 hours ago
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — As the spotlight of the Afghan war focuses on the south, insurgent activity is increasing in parts of the east, with Arab and other foreign fighters linked to al-Qaida infiltrating across the rugged mountains with the help of Pakistani militants, Afghan and U.S. officials say.
Security in eastern Afghanistan is critical because the region includes the capital, Kabul, which the insurgents have sought to surround and isolate from the rest of the country. The east also borders Pakistan, where al-Qaida's leaders fled after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion drove the Taliban from power.
Gen. Mohammed Zaman Mahmoodzai, head of Afghanistan's border security force, told The Associated Press that infiltration by al-Qaida-linked militants has been increasing in his area since March.
"One out of three are Arabs," he said, coming mostly from Pakistan's Bajaur and Mohmand tribal areas where the Pakistan military is battling Pakistani Taliban insurgents.
The advent of spring makes it easier to move through mountain passes into Afghanistan, though Mahmoodzai believes the influx of Arabs has been greater than can be explained by seasonal trends.
A NATO official said he thought Mahmooodzai's estimate of Arab infiltration was high but acknowledged that activity by foreign fighters was running "a little more than average" in the east. He said most of them were believed to be Pakistanis, Chechens and Tajiks although it was difficult to determine their origins.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is sensitive.
In some cases, militants enter the country through legal crossing points such as Torkham, 35 miles east of Jalalabad. Mahmoodzai said the infiltrators carry fake passports and visas provided by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based group that India blames for the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai that left 166 people dead.
"We know it is Lashkar-e-Taiba because we have sources inside the Afghan Taliban," Mahmoodzai said. "They said the Arabs are coming here through Lashkar-e-Taiba."
Last month, the NATO-led command announced the capture of two Taliban commanders it said were helping Lashkar-e-Taiba (LASH-kar-e-TOY-bah) members slip into Afghanistan. In reporting the second arrest, a NATO statement referred to a "recent influx" of Lashkar-e-Taiba members into the eastern province of Nangarhar.
The mixture of insurgent groups adds to the complexity of the war in the east, often fought in terrain much more rugged and challenging than in the north or south.
In eastern Afghanistan last year, the U.S. Army pulled out of two outposts in the mountains of Nuristan province after insurgents nearly overran the bases in two battles that claimed a total of 17 American lives. Insurgents operating from bases in the eastern part of Nuristan are believed to have killed the 10 members of a medical team, including six Americans, gunned down last week in a northern province.
Longtime smuggling routes through the east link militant sanctuaries in Pakistan with northern provinces such as Kunduz and Baghlan, where insurgent attacks are increasing. Al-Qaida's links to a Taliban faction led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin are believed stronger than with Taliban groups in the south.
The Haqqani group was believed to have played a major role in the Dec. 30 suicide bombing at a CIA base in the eastern province of Khost that killed seven agency employees.
A NATO official said that if al-Qaida is in Afghanistan, it's probably in Kunar, the eastern Afghan province along the Pakistani border where Osama bin Laden maintained bases in the 1990s. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to release the information to the media.
Gen. Mohammed Afzal, the Afghan army's commander in the east, said the insurgents were focusing their eastern operations in the provinces of Kunar and Nuristan — which also borders Pakistan — and the area south of Jalalabad, the region's main commercial center.
"The enemy changed their tactics this year, and al-Qaida has started to become even stronger this year," he said.
He cited greater use of suicide attacks and roadside bombs — many against NATO supply convoys coming in from Pakistan. Such tactics had not been used as frequently in the mountainous east as in the south.
"The government is there by day, but by night it is the Taliban who are in control," said Malik Naseer, who is running for parliament in next month's election from a district of Nangarhar. "Residents say there are some foreigners among them."
The NATO official said the Taliban were accelerating a campaign of intimidation in Nangarhar, including letters left in front of homes warning residents against dealing with foreigners and government officials or listening to music.
The role of Lashkar-e-Taiba is especially disturbing because of the group's extensive network throughout South Asia and its purported links to Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI.
The Pakistani agency helped organize Lashkar-e-Taiba, or Army of the Pure, two decades ago to launch attacks in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the disputed mountain region that lies at the heart of the rivalry between the two nuclear-armed nations.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the U.S. military refers to as LeT, is believed to have played a role in the Feb. 26, 2010 car bombing and suicide attack on two guesthouses in Kabul frequented by Indians, and in the October 2008 car bombing at the gates of the Indian Embassy that killed more than 60 people.
Pakistan says it broke ties with the group after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States. Nevertheless, it is widely believed that some factions within Lashkar are still close to the Pakistani military, which has not pursued the organization as vigorously as it has other Islamic militant groups that have staged attacks inside Pakistan.
"I've watched them since 2008 ... move to the West, become more active in other countries and more active throughout the region and more engaged with other terrorist groups," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, told Pakistani reporters in Islamabad last month. "So there is an increased level of concern with respect to where LeT is and where it appears to be headed."
Christine Fair, assistant professor at Georgetown University's Center for Peace and Security Studies, says Lashkar-e-Taiba has been attacking coalition soldiers in Afghanistan since 2004. Fair said she has tracked Lashkar-e-Taiba operations in several eastern Afghan provinces, including Kunar, Baghlan, Nangarhar, Logar and Nuristan.
The NATO official speculated that Lashkar-e-Taiba is using Afghanistan to "get up their jihadi street credentials" among the militants' support base.
By KATHY GANNON (AP) – 13 hours ago
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — As the spotlight of the Afghan war focuses on the south, insurgent activity is increasing in parts of the east, with Arab and other foreign fighters linked to al-Qaida infiltrating across the rugged mountains with the help of Pakistani militants, Afghan and U.S. officials say.
Security in eastern Afghanistan is critical because the region includes the capital, Kabul, which the insurgents have sought to surround and isolate from the rest of the country. The east also borders Pakistan, where al-Qaida's leaders fled after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion drove the Taliban from power.
Gen. Mohammed Zaman Mahmoodzai, head of Afghanistan's border security force, told The Associated Press that infiltration by al-Qaida-linked militants has been increasing in his area since March.
"One out of three are Arabs," he said, coming mostly from Pakistan's Bajaur and Mohmand tribal areas where the Pakistan military is battling Pakistani Taliban insurgents.
The advent of spring makes it easier to move through mountain passes into Afghanistan, though Mahmoodzai believes the influx of Arabs has been greater than can be explained by seasonal trends.
A NATO official said he thought Mahmooodzai's estimate of Arab infiltration was high but acknowledged that activity by foreign fighters was running "a little more than average" in the east. He said most of them were believed to be Pakistanis, Chechens and Tajiks although it was difficult to determine their origins.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is sensitive.
In some cases, militants enter the country through legal crossing points such as Torkham, 35 miles east of Jalalabad. Mahmoodzai said the infiltrators carry fake passports and visas provided by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based group that India blames for the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai that left 166 people dead.
"We know it is Lashkar-e-Taiba because we have sources inside the Afghan Taliban," Mahmoodzai said. "They said the Arabs are coming here through Lashkar-e-Taiba."
Last month, the NATO-led command announced the capture of two Taliban commanders it said were helping Lashkar-e-Taiba (LASH-kar-e-TOY-bah) members slip into Afghanistan. In reporting the second arrest, a NATO statement referred to a "recent influx" of Lashkar-e-Taiba members into the eastern province of Nangarhar.
The mixture of insurgent groups adds to the complexity of the war in the east, often fought in terrain much more rugged and challenging than in the north or south.
In eastern Afghanistan last year, the U.S. Army pulled out of two outposts in the mountains of Nuristan province after insurgents nearly overran the bases in two battles that claimed a total of 17 American lives. Insurgents operating from bases in the eastern part of Nuristan are believed to have killed the 10 members of a medical team, including six Americans, gunned down last week in a northern province.
Longtime smuggling routes through the east link militant sanctuaries in Pakistan with northern provinces such as Kunduz and Baghlan, where insurgent attacks are increasing. Al-Qaida's links to a Taliban faction led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin are believed stronger than with Taliban groups in the south.
The Haqqani group was believed to have played a major role in the Dec. 30 suicide bombing at a CIA base in the eastern province of Khost that killed seven agency employees.
A NATO official said that if al-Qaida is in Afghanistan, it's probably in Kunar, the eastern Afghan province along the Pakistani border where Osama bin Laden maintained bases in the 1990s. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to release the information to the media.
Gen. Mohammed Afzal, the Afghan army's commander in the east, said the insurgents were focusing their eastern operations in the provinces of Kunar and Nuristan — which also borders Pakistan — and the area south of Jalalabad, the region's main commercial center.
"The enemy changed their tactics this year, and al-Qaida has started to become even stronger this year," he said.
He cited greater use of suicide attacks and roadside bombs — many against NATO supply convoys coming in from Pakistan. Such tactics had not been used as frequently in the mountainous east as in the south.
"The government is there by day, but by night it is the Taliban who are in control," said Malik Naseer, who is running for parliament in next month's election from a district of Nangarhar. "Residents say there are some foreigners among them."
The NATO official said the Taliban were accelerating a campaign of intimidation in Nangarhar, including letters left in front of homes warning residents against dealing with foreigners and government officials or listening to music.
The role of Lashkar-e-Taiba is especially disturbing because of the group's extensive network throughout South Asia and its purported links to Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI.
The Pakistani agency helped organize Lashkar-e-Taiba, or Army of the Pure, two decades ago to launch attacks in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the disputed mountain region that lies at the heart of the rivalry between the two nuclear-armed nations.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the U.S. military refers to as LeT, is believed to have played a role in the Feb. 26, 2010 car bombing and suicide attack on two guesthouses in Kabul frequented by Indians, and in the October 2008 car bombing at the gates of the Indian Embassy that killed more than 60 people.
Pakistan says it broke ties with the group after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States. Nevertheless, it is widely believed that some factions within Lashkar are still close to the Pakistani military, which has not pursued the organization as vigorously as it has other Islamic militant groups that have staged attacks inside Pakistan.
"I've watched them since 2008 ... move to the West, become more active in other countries and more active throughout the region and more engaged with other terrorist groups," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, told Pakistani reporters in Islamabad last month. "So there is an increased level of concern with respect to where LeT is and where it appears to be headed."
Christine Fair, assistant professor at Georgetown University's Center for Peace and Security Studies, says Lashkar-e-Taiba has been attacking coalition soldiers in Afghanistan since 2004. Fair said she has tracked Lashkar-e-Taiba operations in several eastern Afghan provinces, including Kunar, Baghlan, Nangarhar, Logar and Nuristan.
The NATO official speculated that Lashkar-e-Taiba is using Afghanistan to "get up their jihadi street credentials" among the militants' support base.
"The plan was to kill 5,000 people"
By Emily Wax and Rama Lakshmi
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, November 29, 2008; 2:02 PM
MUMBAI, Nov. 29 -- Indian officials said Saturday that they had killed or captured 10 gunmen responsible for the three-day assault on India's financial and cultural capital. Nearly 200 people died in the attacks that began Wednesday.
The violence ended Saturday morning when government security forces, methodically searching the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel here, killed the last four gunmen. Officials said that around the city, nine gunmen had died and one was captured.
The commandos recovered 22 bodies at the Taj Mahal hotel Saturday. Clean-up operations at the hotel continued through the day.
"Many unexploded hand grenades were lying on the corridors, we want to diffuse them and only then wanted to declare the building safe," said J. K. Dutt, the chief of the National Security Guard, India's specialized commando troops. "We checked the rooms to see if there are any small bombs, near the air conditioners or any other corner."
Authorities said that the death toll had risen to 195 as more bodies were discovered and that 295 people were wounded, in the attacks on two luxury hotels, the Jewish center and several other sites in Mumbai. Among the dead were two Americans from Virginia; the American rabbi who ran the city's Chabad-Lubavitch center and his Israeli wife; and three of their visitors, including an American man, an Israeli woman and a man with U.S. and Israeli citizenship. In all, at least 16 non-Indians have been reported killed.
The government used 350 security forces and 400 police officers to capture or kill the gunmen, officials announced at a news conference Saturday. On the basis of preliminary inquiry, we know that there were a total of 10 terrorists. Nine have been eliminated, one is caught," said Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital. "They split into teams of two for action, and there were four at the Taj."
The National Security Guards are based in New Delhi and some Indian officials and residents in Mumbai questioned why it took those troops six hours to get to the attacks here.
M. L. Kumawat, special secretary of internal security, said at a press conference in New Delhi that it usually takes time for the commandos to reach the airport with all their equipment and board the plane. Upon landing in Mumbai after a two-hour flight, he said, "it took time to unload things and 45 minutes to reach the place of the incident in South Mumbai from the airport."
He added that the commandos had done a "splendid job."
Pakistani officials, responding to charges by Indian leaders that the attack was carried out by an organization with ties to Pakistan, initially said Friday that a senior intelligence officer would travel to India, in an apparent attempt to ease tensions between the two nuclear-armed states. On Saturday, Pakistan said that official would not go but that it remained committed to fighting extremism. Some news reports and Pakistani officials said another, lower-level intelligence official would be going to India.
Indian officials said they believe that at least some of the gunmen reached Mumbai by sea. After an interrogation of one of the attackers, Indian intelligence officials said they suspected that a Pakistani Islamist group, Lashkar-i-Taiba, was responsible. An Indian intelligence document from 2006 obtained by The Washington Post said members of the group had been trained in maritime assault.
Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra, denied that there was any final statement to make about the nationality of the slain gunmen. But he said that the government was only certain that the one in their custody had confessed to being from Pakistan. He said Indian officials had no specific intelligence about an impending attack.
"The information that we get is always general, not specific. Mumbai is always on the target, it is a commercial city, it is an international city," he said. "It is a sensitive place, there is no denying that. But this kind of attack, not just on Mumbai but also on the nation, is something we did not anticipate."
"Their plan was to kill 5,000 people, we recovered two big bombs, other than guns," said R. R. Patil, Maharashtra's deputy chief minister. "They were using mobile phones, GPS and satellite phones. We have many clues from these."
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Singh has called a meeting of all political parties on Sunday to discuss a roadmap for tackling terror and evolved a consensus for further political and diplomatic action.
Explosions from fighting at the Taj Mahal hotel could be heard outside the hotel early Saturday morning, and flames and thick, inky-black smoke were seen pouring from the first floor. Following that final operation, the security forces came out of the hotel at midday to a cheering crowd who walked up to shake hands, express gratitude and shout patriotic slogans. Before they climbed the bus, a few turned to look back at the imposing stone building and clicked pictures with their cell phone cameras. Many spectators queued up to get their photographs taken with the troops.
One commando spoke to TV reporters from the window of the bus and said that the slain gunmen were moving between the second and the third floor and had laid explosives near doorways to prevent entry. He also said that two gunmen were inside a room full of explosives when the commandos finally blasted their way in. During the night long operation, eight live grenades were diffused, and the commandos recovered assault rifles, grenades and ammunition. Every crisis has its defining images. In Mumbai, it was the elegant Taj engulfed in flames. "It hurts my heart. It's like India itself is on fire," said Sanjay Jadhu, 43, a firefighter at the landmark hotel who was covered in soot.
Freed hostages said that many of those trapped did not come face to face with the gunmen but hid after hearing explosions and gunfire and receiving text messages and calls from loved ones telling them what was happening.
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, November 29, 2008; 2:02 PM
MUMBAI, Nov. 29 -- Indian officials said Saturday that they had killed or captured 10 gunmen responsible for the three-day assault on India's financial and cultural capital. Nearly 200 people died in the attacks that began Wednesday.
The violence ended Saturday morning when government security forces, methodically searching the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel here, killed the last four gunmen. Officials said that around the city, nine gunmen had died and one was captured.
The commandos recovered 22 bodies at the Taj Mahal hotel Saturday. Clean-up operations at the hotel continued through the day.
"Many unexploded hand grenades were lying on the corridors, we want to diffuse them and only then wanted to declare the building safe," said J. K. Dutt, the chief of the National Security Guard, India's specialized commando troops. "We checked the rooms to see if there are any small bombs, near the air conditioners or any other corner."
Authorities said that the death toll had risen to 195 as more bodies were discovered and that 295 people were wounded, in the attacks on two luxury hotels, the Jewish center and several other sites in Mumbai. Among the dead were two Americans from Virginia; the American rabbi who ran the city's Chabad-Lubavitch center and his Israeli wife; and three of their visitors, including an American man, an Israeli woman and a man with U.S. and Israeli citizenship. In all, at least 16 non-Indians have been reported killed.
The government used 350 security forces and 400 police officers to capture or kill the gunmen, officials announced at a news conference Saturday. On the basis of preliminary inquiry, we know that there were a total of 10 terrorists. Nine have been eliminated, one is caught," said Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital. "They split into teams of two for action, and there were four at the Taj."
The National Security Guards are based in New Delhi and some Indian officials and residents in Mumbai questioned why it took those troops six hours to get to the attacks here.
M. L. Kumawat, special secretary of internal security, said at a press conference in New Delhi that it usually takes time for the commandos to reach the airport with all their equipment and board the plane. Upon landing in Mumbai after a two-hour flight, he said, "it took time to unload things and 45 minutes to reach the place of the incident in South Mumbai from the airport."
He added that the commandos had done a "splendid job."
Pakistani officials, responding to charges by Indian leaders that the attack was carried out by an organization with ties to Pakistan, initially said Friday that a senior intelligence officer would travel to India, in an apparent attempt to ease tensions between the two nuclear-armed states. On Saturday, Pakistan said that official would not go but that it remained committed to fighting extremism. Some news reports and Pakistani officials said another, lower-level intelligence official would be going to India.
Indian officials said they believe that at least some of the gunmen reached Mumbai by sea. After an interrogation of one of the attackers, Indian intelligence officials said they suspected that a Pakistani Islamist group, Lashkar-i-Taiba, was responsible. An Indian intelligence document from 2006 obtained by The Washington Post said members of the group had been trained in maritime assault.
Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra, denied that there was any final statement to make about the nationality of the slain gunmen. But he said that the government was only certain that the one in their custody had confessed to being from Pakistan. He said Indian officials had no specific intelligence about an impending attack.
"The information that we get is always general, not specific. Mumbai is always on the target, it is a commercial city, it is an international city," he said. "It is a sensitive place, there is no denying that. But this kind of attack, not just on Mumbai but also on the nation, is something we did not anticipate."
"Their plan was to kill 5,000 people, we recovered two big bombs, other than guns," said R. R. Patil, Maharashtra's deputy chief minister. "They were using mobile phones, GPS and satellite phones. We have many clues from these."
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Singh has called a meeting of all political parties on Sunday to discuss a roadmap for tackling terror and evolved a consensus for further political and diplomatic action.
Explosions from fighting at the Taj Mahal hotel could be heard outside the hotel early Saturday morning, and flames and thick, inky-black smoke were seen pouring from the first floor. Following that final operation, the security forces came out of the hotel at midday to a cheering crowd who walked up to shake hands, express gratitude and shout patriotic slogans. Before they climbed the bus, a few turned to look back at the imposing stone building and clicked pictures with their cell phone cameras. Many spectators queued up to get their photographs taken with the troops.
One commando spoke to TV reporters from the window of the bus and said that the slain gunmen were moving between the second and the third floor and had laid explosives near doorways to prevent entry. He also said that two gunmen were inside a room full of explosives when the commandos finally blasted their way in. During the night long operation, eight live grenades were diffused, and the commandos recovered assault rifles, grenades and ammunition. Every crisis has its defining images. In Mumbai, it was the elegant Taj engulfed in flames. "It hurts my heart. It's like India itself is on fire," said Sanjay Jadhu, 43, a firefighter at the landmark hotel who was covered in soot.
Freed hostages said that many of those trapped did not come face to face with the gunmen but hid after hearing explosions and gunfire and receiving text messages and calls from loved ones telling them what was happening.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
e-Ariana's picks for August 3-4
See e-Ariana website for reports
TV Host Targets Afghan Women's Shelters
The Wall Street Journal (08/04/2010)
Afghanistan's nation building
The Washington Post, Editorial (08/04/2010)
Dozens of Afghan refugees missing, thousands displaced
IRIN (08/04/2010)
Living with the Taliban on the Afghan frontline
Channel 4, UK (08/04/2010)
Karzai seeks oversight of anti-corruption unit
The Associated Press (08/04/2010)
'Utilising foreign aid a big challenge for Afghan institutions'
Pajhwok (08/04/2010)
Afghan Checkpoints Key in Battle for Kandahar
CBS News (08/04/2010)
Time to Start Demanding Answers From Pakistan
CBS News (08/04/2010)
Petraeus focuses on civilians in Afghan directive
BBC (08/04/2010)
Wars, lies and lyrics
Imperium (08/04/2010)
The New Afghanistan Policy: Murder Inc.
Truthout (08/04/2010)
In Marjah, a cautionary tale
Global Post (08/04/2010)
Divide Afghanistan at your peril
The Financial Times (08/03/2010)
Biden, on the Afghanistan Debate, in His Own Words
The Atlantic (08/03/2010)
Iranian embassy files complaint against Kabuli
Pajhwok (08/03/2010)
Marja Residents Fear Taleban Resurgence
IWPR (08/02/2010)
Neocons are hypocrites on WikiLeaks
The Guardian (08/03/2010)
New Rules Stress GIs' Limits in Afghan Fighting
The New York Times (08/03/2010)
Top Democrats Pressure White House on Afghan War as WikiLeaks Reveals Bloody Realities
Truthout (08/03/2010)
Chasing Business Opportunities
The New York Times (08/03/2010)
WH: Obama Disagrees With Pakistani Leader's Warning That Afghan War Is Lost
FoxNews (08/03/2010)
Pakistan's president says international community is losing the war in Afghanistan
The Associated Press (08/03/2010)
Some media outlets betraying nation: Karzai
Pajhwok (08/03/2010)
Clerics, elders compelled to join Taliban, Senate told
Pajhwok (08/03/2010)
Afghan bank guards beheaded in robbery
Reuters (08/03/2010)
Afghan court hands down breakthrough drugs jail term
Reuters (08/03/2010)
Planned Afghanistan drawdown a sensitive issue
CNN (08/03/2010)
India, Iran inching closer on Afghanistan
Hindustan Times (08/03/2010)
The Great Game: Afghanistan
The Guardian (08/03/2010)
Momentum becomes substitute for logic in Afghan war
The Washington Post (08/03/2010)
TV Host Targets Afghan Women's Shelters
The Wall Street Journal (08/04/2010)
Afghanistan's nation building
The Washington Post, Editorial (08/04/2010)
Dozens of Afghan refugees missing, thousands displaced
IRIN (08/04/2010)
Living with the Taliban on the Afghan frontline
Channel 4, UK (08/04/2010)
Karzai seeks oversight of anti-corruption unit
The Associated Press (08/04/2010)
'Utilising foreign aid a big challenge for Afghan institutions'
Pajhwok (08/04/2010)
Afghan Checkpoints Key in Battle for Kandahar
CBS News (08/04/2010)
Time to Start Demanding Answers From Pakistan
CBS News (08/04/2010)
Petraeus focuses on civilians in Afghan directive
BBC (08/04/2010)
Wars, lies and lyrics
Imperium (08/04/2010)
The New Afghanistan Policy: Murder Inc.
Truthout (08/04/2010)
In Marjah, a cautionary tale
Global Post (08/04/2010)
Divide Afghanistan at your peril
The Financial Times (08/03/2010)
Biden, on the Afghanistan Debate, in His Own Words
The Atlantic (08/03/2010)
Iranian embassy files complaint against Kabuli
Pajhwok (08/03/2010)
Marja Residents Fear Taleban Resurgence
IWPR (08/02/2010)
Neocons are hypocrites on WikiLeaks
The Guardian (08/03/2010)
New Rules Stress GIs' Limits in Afghan Fighting
The New York Times (08/03/2010)
Top Democrats Pressure White House on Afghan War as WikiLeaks Reveals Bloody Realities
Truthout (08/03/2010)
Chasing Business Opportunities
The New York Times (08/03/2010)
WH: Obama Disagrees With Pakistani Leader's Warning That Afghan War Is Lost
FoxNews (08/03/2010)
Pakistan's president says international community is losing the war in Afghanistan
The Associated Press (08/03/2010)
Some media outlets betraying nation: Karzai
Pajhwok (08/03/2010)
Clerics, elders compelled to join Taliban, Senate told
Pajhwok (08/03/2010)
Afghan bank guards beheaded in robbery
Reuters (08/03/2010)
Afghan court hands down breakthrough drugs jail term
Reuters (08/03/2010)
Planned Afghanistan drawdown a sensitive issue
CNN (08/03/2010)
India, Iran inching closer on Afghanistan
Hindustan Times (08/03/2010)
The Great Game: Afghanistan
The Guardian (08/03/2010)
Momentum becomes substitute for logic in Afghan war
The Washington Post (08/03/2010)
Afghanistan's Islamists try to shut down women's shelters in Afghanistan
August 8, 2010
TV Show Host Targets Afghan Women's Shelters
by Maria Al-Habib, The Wall Street Journal
Momina lives in one of Afghanistan's women's shelters, which have come under fire from conservatives such as TV host Nasto Nadiri. (Kate Brooks reporting for The Wall Street Journal)
KABUL — The televised images shown earlier this year on one of Afghanistan's most popular television shows were stark: several women wailed in a bare room while the host implied that international aid workers had forced them into prostitution.
Acting on a tip from viewers, the show, "Sarzamin-E-Man," or "My Homeland," devoted a multipart series to investigating the place, which the host, 27-year-old Nasto Nadiri, said was an unauthorized women's shelter masquerading as an orphanage.
Mr. Nadiri's report didn't say for sure what was going on at the orphanage, or what the women were doing there. But the show has helped to spark a popular backlash against all shelters, including those registered with the government.
Mr. Nadiri, who is running for Parliament in September, says he wants a clampdown on women's shelters in Afghanistan. The TV host wields considerable power in shaping the national debate here, and has been using it to rail against women's rights and foreign aid organizations.
The shelters are "not acceptable for our people, who have fought 30 years to put the word 'Islam' in front of Afghanistan," he says, referring to the country's full name, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. "We live in an Islamic country. ... But some NGOs come and want to make another way for our country."
The emergence of a free media is one of the few successes in the nine years since the U.S. overthrew Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban regime, which banned television. The Ministry of Culture and Information says there are 26 TV stations based in Kabul and nine more in outlying provinces. Noorin TV, which broadcasts Mr. Nadiri's hourlong show six nights a week, is among the most popular broadcasters here.
But that media freedom has also been used to stir up xenophobic and fundamentalist sentiments that seek to roll back some of the social liberties that more moderate parts of Afghanistan have enjoyed since 2001.
The government closed another station, Emroaz TV, last week, claiming it stoked sectarian tension by accusing Afghan Shiite politicians of working for Iran. But critics say this is a rare exception.
In a sign of the influence of Mr. Nadiri's show, the government expelled two aid groups from Afghanistan earlier this year, after the host broadcast footage purportedly showing them converting Afghans to Christianity, a crime punishable by death under Afghan law.
The two groups, the Norwegian Church Aid and the Church World Service of the U.S., denied allegations of proselytizing and challenged Noorin TV to provide evidence linking them to the videos, which showed Afghans in a dim room praying frantically while others were baptized.
In Afghanistan's deeply conservative society, foreign aid groups are often looked at with suspicion, especially if they champion women's rights. Greater still is the scrutiny on women these shelters serve.
Many women in Afghanistan are thrown into the country's female prisons for broadly interpreted "moral crimes," which can include adultery or running away from one's family to avoid a forced marriage. Some aid workers say Afghanistan's police force often put women in prison when shelters are a more suitable place for them. Women in these shelters often face death threats for disgracing their families' honor by running away.
Momina has lived in shelters since escaping three years ago with three children—a 10-year-old boy and two girls, aged 3 and 6—from a husband she says was violent and heroin-addicted. Living in a cramped room in a registered Kabul shelter with seven other women and their children, Momina, 34, learned to read, write and sew. She earns $10 a month as a seamstress in one of Kabul's bazaars, a meager income in Afghanistan, but manageable within the shelter.
"Now, when I read street signs I feel proud of myself. I feel in charge," says Momina, who like many Afghans has just one name. "I'm trying my best to improve my tailoring and embroidery so when I have to leave the shelter I can find a job."
Mr. Nadiri says he hasn't visited any of the 17 shelters officially registered with the government, which serve 1,430 women. But he says he received hundreds of inquiries from Afghans "suspicious that most of the women are misused sexually" at the shelters. He says he plans to air another multipart series on Afghanistan's shelters.
Aid groups still working in Afghanistan say they fear Mr. Nadiri's focus on women's shelters will sway President Hamid Karzai's government, which is increasingly eager to bolster its Islamic credentials in an effort to blunt the Taliban influence.
"The main problem is the public image from the TV, which makes Afghans think these NGOs are doing un-Islamic things," said Sayed Abdullah Ahmadi, the program director for the Cooperation Center for Afghanistan, which runs two shelters.
A government commission is investigating the shelters, which are often operated by local and foreign nongovernmental organizations, to monitor their quality—and to look into accusations of prostitution and harboring female criminals and drug users.
Mr. Karzai created the commission late last fall, before the TV feature on the shelters aired.
But the head of the commission, Nematullah Shahrani, says Mr. Nadiri's show has made an impact on the investigation. "So many people have complained about the shelters, saying they're brothels and preaching Christianity. This is why the Afghan government decided to open the commission," said Mr. Shahrani, who is also Mr. Karzai's religious-affairs adviser.
The commission's recommendations will be issued "soon," he added. The report will decide which shelters should close and may increase funding to those allowed to stay open, he said.
"Many people in government oppose the shelters," says Shinkai Karokhail, a female lawmaker. The only reason the government is letting them stay open for now, she adds, is the pressure from the international community.
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