Iran Urges More US Efforts in Fighting Drugs

VIENNA - Iran’s Ali Asghar Soltanieh, who is chairing the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) meeting in Vienna, has called on the US and Europe to step up efforts to tackle drug trafficking in the region. Soltanieh said on Monday a “collective sense of duty” was needed from all countries to fight drug trafficking which he described as “one weapon of mass destruction” and “a threat destroying the foundation of families.” “Those countries which have been directly or indirectly affected by this (problem), including European, the United States or other countries, they have to exercise and show maximum cooperation and feel the shared responsibility,” said Soltanieh, who is Iran’s envoy to UN organizations. US envoy to the CND Glyn Davies said he had met with Soltanieh on Friday, and added that Washington was prepared to work with Iran on tackling global drug flows. “We are very happy to work with the chair even if he is from a country which we have differences with.” Soltanieh confirmed the meeting with Davies but said he met the US envoy only as CND chairman, adding that the meeting did not constitute a bilateral meeting. He added that he did not expect the delegation sent from Tehran would meet with US officials during the week-long summit. Soltanieh said Iran’s cooperation with Afghanistan and Pakistan in fighting drug trafficking had been successful and that it could be the base for wider cooperation. Afghan-grown poppies fuel a $65 billion heroin and opium market that supplies millions of addicts. (Press TV)

KABUL - Three-day workshop on National Budget Execution and Programme Implementation Oversight finished in Kabul on Tuesday. Forty members of the Governor’s offices, Provincial Councils and Provincial Development Councils from Balkh, Bamyan, Herat, Kabul, Kunduz, Kandahar, Nangarhar and Paktia participated actively. Purpose of the workshop is to prepare newly elected provincial representatives to take an active role in upcoming discussions on the National Budget for 1389. On the third day of the workshop comprehensive information on budgeting process and role of the Parliament in budgeting was discussed with provincial representatives. At the end of the workshop Draft Budget for 1389 was presented to provincial representatives into details.   After this extensive preparation, the first working session between provincial representatives and members of Economic and Budget and Finance Committee of the Mishrano Jirga (Upper House) will take place on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. Session will be chaired by H.E. Fazel Hadi Muslimyar, First Deputy Speaker of Mishranu Jirga. Second working session will take place on Thursday. Provincial representatives will discuss the Draft Budget for 1389 with Economic Committee and Budget and Finance Committee of Wolesi Jirga (Lower House). H.E Aziz Ahmad Nadem, Chairman of the Economic Committee will chair the session.   This newly introduced practice enables provincial representatives to communicate directly to the Parliament and express their local needs and concerns regarding the 1389 Budget. Additionally, members of the Parliament will get a realistic picture on the situation within the provinces being able to represent their constituents more effectively.    National Assembly is committed to strengthen links between Kabul and provinces. Hence, this workshop and consultations are just the first step towards establishing permanent consultative mechanisms which will improve communication among different levels of elected bodies contributing to more efficient representation of the Afghanistan’s population. (PR)

KABUL - The 598 new Afghan recruits who began training on February 8, 2010 at Gazi Training Center have been sworn in. The recruits who have completed four weeks of basic training and will undergo another four weeks of training before they graduate on April 1st . The Afghan recruits received training from 27 Turkish Armed Forces personnel and 36 Afghan Officers. The Gazi Training Center was established on February 2nd 2010 in Kabul so as to support the training of the Afghan National Army with the contributions of the Turkish Armed Forces, ISAF, Afghan National Army Training and Doctrine Command Post, NATO, NTM-A, CSTCA, Kabul Military Training Center, and the Regional Command Capital. (PR/RC-C)

FAIZABAD - Security forces have discovered a huge weapon cache in Faizabad, the capital of peaceful Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan, spokesman for the provincial administration Abdul Marouf Rasikh said Tuesday. “Containing 296 mortar rounds, 108 mortar fuses, 23 artillery shells, nine boxes of heavy machine gun magazines and 12 fuses of 28 mm shells, the weapon cache was discovered on Monday in Yaftal village outside the provincial capital Faizabad,” Rasikh told Xinhua. No one has been arrested so far in this case, Rasiksh added. Taliban militants, whose regime was toppled by a U.S. led military campaign in late 2001, have been attempting to infiltrate from their traditional hotbed in the southern region to the peaceful northern provinces of Afghanistan. (Xinhua)

CHAGHCHARAN - The process of distributing food items weighting as many ‎as 1,000 tons among 5,000 families was started in the remote province of Ghor on ‎Tuesday. ‎ The foods were provided by the World Vision NGO, which is providing assistance to ‎children, mothers as well as farmers in the province over the past five years. ‎ Regional head of the NGO in the province Naiz told Pajhwok Afghan News 335 tons ‎of flour, cooking oil, rice and pulses were distributed among the affected families in ‎the province on Tuesday. He said the assistance was provided to 1,400 families on the ‎first day of the aid distribution programme. ‎ The official said each family was given 48 kilograms of flour, 104 kilograms of rice, ‎‎80 kilograms of pulses and 17 kilograms of cooking oil. He said the assistance would ‎be distributed to 5,000 families across the province. ‎ Those who got the assistance expressed happiness over the relief. A 50-year-old ‎widow Gul Shah was among them. The mother of four, Shah said they were happy to ‎get the assistance as all food items had finished with them and she could not afford to ‎purchase more. ‎ However, another widow Gul Afshan complained that injustice was being done in ‎distribution of the assistance. She said her name was not included in the list of those ‎who had to get the assistance. ‎ In charge of the emergency situation committee Ahmadullah Dadfar said the ‎assistance was judiciously distributed to all families whose names were provided by ‎the members of the provincial council. ‎(Pajhwok)

SHIBERGHAN - Four irrigation schemes have been executed under the Work-for-Food programme in northern Jawzjan province, officials said on Tuesday. Rural Rehabilitation and Development Director Eng. Mohammad Yousuf Awraz told Pajhwok Afghan News the schemes were implemented in Khum Aab, Mangjak, Qarqeen and Qush Teapa districts of the province. The projects included digging of a 200 meters canal and construction of 200 water reservoirs, said Awraz. He added 630 tonnes of foods worth more than 13 millions Afghanis were distributed to more than 11,000 people who worked on the projects for two months. Each worker received 100 kilogram’s of wheat, 8 liters of ghee and other edibles, the official said. A dweller of Mangjak district expressed his pleasure over the digging of 87 kilometers water channels in their village. He said before they had to face problems due to insufficient water for their crops. A spokesman for the WFP programme, Abdul Jameel, said they provided work opportunities to more than 50,000 people through the programme since the beginning of 1388 solar year. (Pajhwok)

PUL-I-KHUMRI - Taliban on Tuesday rejected the claims of Baghlan governor about clashes between the Taliban and Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) fighters, saying they fought Afghan and international troops. Governor Muhammad Akbar Barakzai on Monday told a press conference said the clashes between HIA and Taliban insurgents lasted two days. On Sunday officials said up to 60 people -- 35 supporters of HIA and 25 Taliban -- were killed in the bloody clashes that erupted Saturday and continued Sunday morning in the Qaiserkhel area of the Baghlan-i-Markazi district. However, Zabihullah Mujahid, the mouthpiece of Taliban movement, said the fighters clashed with Afghan and foreign soldiers. Confirming the deaths of five fighters, Mujahid claimed seven Afghan soldiers had been killed in the fighting. Barakzai informed 120 HIA fighters had joined the government after the gun-battles. An HIA commander Norulhaq who joined the government said the Taliban were trying to convince them to join their movement. "We fought Taliban, but failed to beat them as other fighters, including some foreigners, coming from Kunduz joined the rivals' ranks which forced the HIA fighters to surrender to the government," he said. The area people had also confirmed the clashes between Taliban and HIA fighters in the two districts. This was for the first time that the Taliban and HIA fighters fought each others since the fall of Taliban regime in the 2001 US invasion. (Pajhwok)

KHOST CITY - Four NATO soldiers and five policemen were injured in Monday's suicide attack and subsequent firefight in southeastern Khost province, officials said on Tuesday. Two suicide bombers entered a building between the Tribal Affairs Directorate and the Second Police District in the provincial capital. Later a police officer said only one suicide bomber had sneaked into the building. "We saw a burqa-clad man steal into the empty building; we thought a woman had entered the building to answer the call of nature," the policeman told Pajhwok Afghan News. As the attacker reached the second floor, he started firing and hurling grenades at the district police headquarters and NATO soldiers. Four foreign soldiers and five policemen were wounded, the source said. Deputy police chief, Col. Yaqub and commander of Afghan National Army (ANA) Gen. Israr confirmed the incident, saying some policemen were wounded in the clash. No civilians were among the casualties, they explained. Taliban commander, Salahuddin Ayubi, said five fighters conducted the attack, with one of them blowing himself up and the rest returning safely to their hideout. He claimed several Afghan and foreign soldiers were killed in the assault. (Pajhwok)

KANDAHAR CITY - A roadside blast killed three border police while 15 Taliban fighters perished in a NATO air strike in southern Kandahar province, a day after US defense secretary Robert Gates visited troops from his country, officials said on Wednesday. Commander of 4th brigade of border police, Gen. Abdul Razzaq told Pajhwok Afghan News a police vehicle struck a roadside bomb near Lway Karez area of Spin Boldak district at 12pm. The blast killed three cops and a civilian and wounded another policeman. Police have reached the site of the blast for investigation, but no arrest could be made so far, Razzaq said. Separately, 15 Taliban insurgents were killed when a NATO air strike targeted their hideouts in Myanshin district of the province. Provincial governor's office in a statement said the air strike was carried out Sunday night in light of intelligence reports. No civilians were hurt in the strike, the statement added. (Pajhwok)

OTTAWA - Canada should maintain a presence in Afghanistan even after its troops leave next year, a new report says. But the priority needs to become building up Afghanistan's civil society, investing in education and upgrading the country's shockingly low literacy rate, according to the survey by the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee. The report draws on extensive interviews with Afghan Canadians and Afghans, ranging from war lords to women's rights activists. Canada should not be shy about using its influence to pressure the Afghan government toward democracy, according to Terry Glavin, lead author of the report, being released Tuesday in Ottawa. "What people told us was not to be (afraid) of treading on Afghan sovereignty," Glavin said. "We must tell the president that rule of law is important." A blue-ribbon panel is to discuss the committee's findings Tuesday. Members include retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie; Nipa Banerjee, former head of the Canadian International Development Agency in Afghanistan; Afghan ambassador Jawed Ludin and Douglas Bland, chair of defense management studies at Queen's University. "When we debate the army leaving Afghanistan, we forget that the root cause of the conflict is lack of development, aid and education," said Banerjee, who led the CIDA mission in Kabul 2003 to 2006. "In the (UN) human development index, Afghanistan is going down. But security and development go together, which is why Afghans feel so helpless." After 2011, he said, Canada should loosen its ties with Kandahar, where the troops are based. MacKenzie said resettling development away from turbulent southern Afghanistan would be possible but moving Canadian Forces would be difficult and costly. After 2011, he said, Canada should focus on training, mentoring Afghan troops and maintaining reconstruction teams. (Agencies)

M Arif Shafi Our correspondentin Peshawar
PESHAWAR: At least four persons including a woman were killed and 16 other injured in a car bomb in Tehkal area, near KFC Restaurant at University Road here on Saturday.   Sources said that a powerful blast took place in a parked car at United plaza in Tehkal area. Soon after blast the shops caught fire and several persons were trapped in nearby shops and offices.The fire brigade and other relief agencies reached soon after the incident and started operation. The injured were rushed to the Lady Reading and Khyber Teaching Hospitals. Police cordon off the area and closed University road for all kind of traffic, which was opened after some time. . After two hours of relief operation the fire was extinguished and all the trapped persons were vacated safely. A shopkeeper and eye witnessed told this correspondent that the car used in the blast was parked there for a long time, which blew up, while he had also heard some minor blast afterwards. The area where the incident took place is a commercial place where most of the residents and traders are Afghan refugees.

Afghanistan's civilian death toll has risen alongside that of U.S. and international forces this summer. A U.N. report issued Saturday said August was the deadliest month of the year for civilians as the Taliban stepped up a campaign of violence to discourage voting in the Aug. 20 election. A total of 1,500 civilians died in Afghanistan from January through August, up from 1,145 for the same period of 2008, the U.N. report said. On Sunday, Taliban militants ambushed a group of truck drivers in eastern Kunar province, killing six of the drivers and burning their vehicles, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. A seventh truck driver was kidnapped. Also Sunday, a private van hit a roadside bomb in northern Faryab province, the ministry said in a separate statement. Six of those inside were killed and another seven injured, the statement said. The planted bombs have become a major cause of deaths and injuries for both international troops and Afghan civilians. Some are remotely detonated, but many are simply placed on roads and triggered by a vehicle riding over the explosive. The U.N. report said about three-quarters of the civilian deaths recorded this year were the work of militants. Coalition forces were responsible for the remaining deaths, most the result of airstrikes. (AP)

KUNDUZ CITY - The government on Monday extended cash assistance to family members of victims of a September 4 air strike that killed scores of civilians in northern Kunduz province last month. The much-condemned NATO raid took place in Chardara district, where people were emptying fuel into jerry canes from two oil tankers hijacked by Taliban insurgents. Residents and civil society organizations said all the victims were ordinary civilians. Around 30 families were given cash assistance at a ceremony held in Kunduz City, the provincial capital. Relatives of each victim received 100,000 Afghanis while every injured person was provided 80,000 Afghanis, a spokesman for the governor, Muhammadullah Saeedi, told Pajhwok Afghan News. Asadullah, whose brother perished in the bombing, thanked the government for the recompense. "I lost my brother who carried two jerry canes to fetch fuel from the tankers," the resident of Isakhel village recalled. A team of investigators from the Interior Ministry, led by crime branch chief Mirza Muhammad Yarmand, said around 120 people including civilians were killed and nine others wounded in the deadly strike. However, residents of the district claimed the bombing killed more than 150 people and wounded around 200 others. The Taliban, who released a list of 79 civilian fatalities, insisted no fighter was killed or injured. The raid triggered a hot political debate over German military presence in Afghanistan, with Chancellor Angela Merkel's government trying to keep the unpopular mission out of the campaign for the polls held on Sunday. Reaction to the airstrike was mixed; French, Italian, and Swedish foreign ministers criticized the incident. But German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung emphasized the danger posed by the stolen tankers. ISAF Commander General Stanley McChrystal made a statement on Afghan television and visited the site of the bombing the following day. A NATO team charged with investigating the strike also visited the scene. (Pajhwok)

KABUL - The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Monday claimed detaining several suspected militants during a search operation in the central Maidan Wardak province. The suspects were arrested from a compound used by a Taliban element responsible for supplying a large quantity of weapons to subordinate rebel commanders in the area, the force said. Afghan and ISAF personnel conducted the search in the Chaki Wardak district without incident. “No shots were fired and no civilians were harmed during the operation.” (Pajhwok)