KABUL, Jul 24 (IPS) - Dozens of civilians were killed over the weekend in Afghanistan, the latest in the trend of spiraling violence that has engulfed the embattled nation. The civilian casualties, Taliban attacks and troop casualty numbers are putting increasing strain on the Western-led coalition, leading some to speculate that the war is unwinnable.
On Sunday, international forces killed four Afghan police officers and five civilians during a fire-fight in the western province of Farah. In a separate incident that same night, coalition-fired mortar rounds killed at least four civilians in the eastern Paktika province. On Monday, in Laghman province, also in the east, Taliban fighters fired a missile into a fuel truck, killing six civilians.
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KABUL, Apr 28 (IPS) - Violence levels have increased in Afghanistan in the first quarter of 2008, compared to the first part of 2007, a series of newly-released studies indicate.
On Sunday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai escaped an assassination bid while attending a military parade in Kabul. A member of parliament and a 10-year-old child were among the dead. A spokesman for the Taliban said the fighters wanted to show they can infiltrate such high security events.
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KABUL, Apr 25 (IPS) - In the teeming, dense flour bazaars of Kabul, it’s hard not to miss the anger.
“Something has to change… my life is horrible,” says Zahir, an Afghan trash collector. Zahir is buying flour for his family of 11, a simple act that has become increasingly difficult for Afghan residents in recent months. “We cannot eat more because the cost has become so high.”
“My small son cries everyday for some bread,” he continues. “Look at the people around me,” he says, waving his arm around a group of disheveled labourers. “They can’t afford to eat every day now.”
Afghans across the country are expressing frustration at the sharp rise in food prices, mirroring trends elsewhere around the globe. Observers worry that the continuing food insecurity will force millions to go hungry and spark widespread instability.
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Terrorism and Security Update
Earlier this week, Pakistani authorities freed a leading pro-Taliban militant who reportedly raised an army of thousands to oppose the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Observers say Maulana Sufi Muhammad’s release from prison heralds a new era of negotiation between militant groups and the new government in Islamabad.
Following the release, a ruling party official in the new Pakistani government said that envoys were engaged in talks with the Mahsud tribe in South Waziristan, in an apparent bid to secure a peace deal, reports the Associated Press.
The tribe includes Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan’s top Taliban leader who is accused of ties to al-Qaida.
Mehsud is wanted for a string of suicide attacks in Pakistan. The previous government has accused him of [former Prime Minister Benazir] Bhutto’s assassination in December. Mehsud has reportedly denied involvement and Bhutto’s party has not repeated the assertion
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A draft proposal put forth last week would ban loud music, women and men mingling in public, billiards and more.
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - – Shafi Samandari thought the days of the Taliban would never come back. “I love listening to music and going to wedding parties,” the Kabul resident says. “After the Taliban was toppled, I was sure that we could start living normally again.”
The Taliban may not be returning anytime soon, but if some Afghan lawmakers have their way, Taliban-era laws will once again reign over the country. Last week, a group of members of parliament (MPs) put forth draft legislation that would ban T-shirts, loud music, women and men mingling in public, billiards, video games, playing with pigeons, and more – all regulations from the notorious Taliban era.
The move is the most recent attempt by religious conservatives to restrict “un-Islamic influences.” Many observers say it’s the latest sign of growing Talibanization in Afghanistan.
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KABUL, Mar 28 (IPS) - The Shahr-e-now park in the centre of Kabul has seen better days. “It used to be really beautiful,” Kabul resident Torialay says, “back during the early-90s. But after the Mujahiddin war (a civil war between warlords and commanders in the mid-90s that destroyed much of the city) it has never been restored.”
“Look at this place,” he says, waving his hand over a dusty lot filled with begging children and unemployed men. “The government and the Americans haven’t done anything for us. And they haven’t built roads or provided jobs. They’ve had six years to do it, but they haven’t.”
A growing number of Afghans are expressing dissatisfaction with the Karzai government and foreign presence in their country. With widespread corruption in government circles and a slow pace of reconstruction, support for ruling and foreign institutions are at an all-time low, experts say.
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KABUL, Mar 26 (IPS) - Jumakhan Said Muhammad was working on his land when he first heard the planes. “I looked up,” the farmer from Musa Qala, in the southern Helmand province, says. “Suddenly a plane flew by and I saw smoke rising from my house, which was down the road.”
Muhammad ran towards his home, where dozens of villagers were shouting his name as they surrounded his house. “The house was split in half by the bomb,” he recalls. “The walls were collapsed and crumbled. Blood was pouring from my nephew (seven-years-old) like it was water. He had shrapnel in his brain and stomach. I then saw my sister’s headscarf peeking out from underneath the rubble and so we raced desperately to save her. When we pulled her out from the wreckage I saw her body — she was cut completely in half. I started to scream.”
Muhammad’s sister and nephew are among a steady flow of civilian casualties caused by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) bombardment, residents say. When such casualties started to rise last year — bombers destroyed Muhammad’s house in November — coalition forces pledged to change their tactics and ensure that civilians were not caught in such attacks.
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Residents of the western city of Herat say ‘Enough’ to the rise of criminal activity
Kabul, Afghanistan - When a criminal gang abducted a prominent doctor’s 12-year-old son last week off the streets of Herat, residents of the western Afghan city decided they had had enough.
Doctors, nurses, and other health providers walked out on their jobs to protest what they say are the government’s half-hearted attempts to address a growing security problem. Shopkeepers, judges, and the city’s main trade union soon joined them, prompting the closure of close to 250 factories.
The strike, which ended earlier this week, highlights widespread dissatisfaction with government efforts to provide security and illustrates the extent to which criminal gangs – not the Taliban – are seen as the biggest security threat in Afghanistan’s major cities.
“We are scared to go outside because we never know when it will be for the last time,” says Herat resident Ahmad Qurishi. Read the rest of this entry »
Female contestant Lima Sahar caused a nationwide debate about women’s roles before being voted off last week
Kabul, Afghanistan - As millions prepare to cast their ballots Friday in this country’s version of “American Idol,” known here as “Afghan Star,” Fatima Hashemi is still lamenting the loss of her favorite contestant.
“I voted for Lima because she is a woman,” she says, referring to Lima Sahar, who was eliminated last week but made headlines by lasting longer than any other female contestant in the program’s three-year history. “I tried to convince my friends to vote, too.”
The wildly popular show has sparked discussions nationwide about gender and ethnic identity, which observers say mirror debates that mark Afghan society in the post-Taliban era. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhammad Sediq Afghan’s hunger strike has inspired dozens of others to join his nonviolent efforts
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Hundreds of demonstrators marched the streets of Kabul Sunday, calling for the eviction of Danish and Dutch troops, while in the western city of Herat, thousands assembled and burned the nations’ flags.
Yet even as angry protests sweep the country in response to the republication of cartoon images of the prophet Muhammad, in one park in Kabul, protesters are taking a different approach – one they say better reflects their religion of peace.
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