Radio Sahar: Disarmament in Herat’s Obe District

Weapons handed in voluntarily in district in western Afghanistan

Text of report by Afghan female-orientated community Radio Sahar on 2 October

[Presenter] Obe District [of Herat Province] has been announced part of the peace region. According to disarmament officials, the district has been included to other peace areas after a number of district residents pledged to hand over their weapons and ammunition. Hami Azad is reporting:

[Correspondent] In an exclusive interview with Radio Sahar, Gen Sayedi, the DIAG [Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups] operations manager, has criticized government departments for not collaborating with the disarmament commission. The official says certain government departments have failed to cooperate with the commission.

[Gen Sayedi] I strongly criticize government departments because they collect weapons but do not hand them over to DIAG on time. They keep the weapons for some time and then they either submit them or continue keeping the confiscated weapons.

[Correspondent] The official is criticizing government departments at a time when security incidents have been on the rise in Herat Province and security officials blame the presence of weapons among illegal armed groups for causing this predicament.

At the same time, Mr Sayedi says that Obe District has joined the peace region after 84 machineguns of various types were collected. An amount of 200,000 US dollars has been allocated for construction projects in this district.

Obe is the third district joining the peace regions in Herat Province so far. According to the disarmament operations manager, the commission is planning to include Robat Sangi, Zendajan and Adraskan districts to the peace regions.

In addition, it is reported that security officials have handed over 50 machineguns of different types and 2 tonnes of ammunition to DIAG in Ghowr Province. The provincial security officials say they have collected the weapons and arms from the illegal armed groups in the past few months.

[Description of Source: Herat Radio Sahar in Dari -- local independent radio station in Herat run mainly by women.  OSC IAP20071002950057 Herat Radio Sahar in Dari 1230 GMT 02 Oct 07]

Herat Radio Sahar: “South Asia Free Media Association” elects head, secretary in western Afghanistan

October 1, 2007

The South Asia Free Media Association [SAFMA] held an election at the Fakri-Saljuqi Hall of the Herat Public Library today. More than 70 journalists working in western Afghanistan took part in this direct and secret ballot to elect their head [in this region].

Fawad Ahmadi [an Afghan reporter working for Ariana TV] was elected head of the association in western Afghanistan by obtaining 42 votes. In addition, Ashrafoddin Stanakzai, was elected as his secretary by getting 23 votes.

According to the officials, the South Asia Free Media Association is comprised of representatives of a number of Asian countries and their aim is to defend journalists.

Nematollah Sarwari, head of the Herat Information and Culture Department, described membership in this association as a giant step for improving freedom of expression. He also called on the association to expand its activities [in western Afghan provinces].

Furthermore, an election was held by the Journalists’ Association of Western Afghanistan in Herat Province some time back.

Several incidents organized against journalists in western Afghanistan have made them establish different associations to defend their rights.

The Association of Journalists of Herat Council of Professionals, the Herat Association of Journalists and the House of Journalists are the other associations founded in Herat Province over the past few years. These associations say their main objective is to support journalists.

[Description of Source: Herat Radio Sahar in Dari -- local independent radio station in Herat run mainly by women.  OSC IAP20071001950153 Herat Radio Sahar in Dari 1230 GMT 01 Oct 07]

Asian Development Bank approves new funding to complete Ring Road

October 2, 2007 (from http://www.infrasite.nl) 

Manila, Philippines – Work will soon start on building the last remaining section of Afghanistan’s “Ring Road” highway, which loops the country and connects its cities, after the Asian Development Bank approved a new $176 million grant.

Completion of the road network is essential for Afghanistan’s desperately needed economic growth.

The international community has already spent about $2 billion rebuilding roads and the only section of the 3000-kilometer Ring Road’s construction remaining to be funded is a 193 kilometer stretch between the western towns of Bala Murghab and Amalick. While ADB’s grant will finance a 143 kilometer section from Bala Murghab to Leman, the Islamic Development Bank and the Saudi Fund will co-finance the remaining 50 kilometer section from Leman to Amalick.

“The Ring Road is the backbone of Afghanistan’s transport network and its completion will be a major milestone in the international nation-building effort,” said Mr. Juan Miranda, Director General of ADB’s Central and West Asia Department, on a three-day visit to Kabul.

The new all-weather road will link northern Afghanistan with the country’s western region. It will cut travel times between the country’s northeast and southwest by three to five hours. This will lead to significantly lower transport costs, not only domestically but also between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea.

Afghanistan lies at a crossroads of ancient trade routes between Europe and eastern and southern Asia. Strands of the so-called Silk Road pass through the country.

Completion of the Ring Road will allow travelers from the capital, Kabul, wishing to reach the western city of Herat, near the Iranian border, to travel via a northern route, rather than through the southern city of Kandahar.

Local communities near the new road will be encouraged to participate in its construction and maintenance to ensure they immediately benefit from the project.

In addition to ADB’s $176 million grant, Afghanistan’s Government is contributing $4 million toward the construction. Part of the total will also be used for the ongoing refurbishment of another part of the Ring Road, between the northwestern towns of Andkhoy and Qaisar, while some of the funds will be used for general road maintenance elsewhere.

With the new grant, ADB will have contributed about $600 million to reconstructing roads in Afghanistan.

“The amount of traffic using the new routes is already much higher than expected, highlighting their urgent need,” Mr. Miranda said.

Progress has also been made in connecting Afghanistan with its neighbors. A month ago, a new bridge across the Pyanj River in northern Afghanistan provided the first road link with neighboring Tajikistan.

Since resuming operations in Afghanistan in 2001, ADB has approved more than $1 billion in assistance, focusing not only on roads but also on building and rehabilitating power transmission lines, irrigation infrastructure, and on governance and capacity building.

Rijeka Novi List: Commentary Says Croatian Politicians Ignore War in Afghanistan, Danger to Troops

Sept. 26, 2007

[Commentary by Denis Romac in the column "Just in Case": "Who Will Declare That We Are at War"]

When the rebels captured them, there were two of them, dressed as civilians riding in a Japanese-made SUV together with an interpreter and a driver, both Afghans, who were released shortly afterwards. That happened last Sunday [ 22 September] in the vicinity of Herat, a town in western Afghanistan. The names of the persons who were kidnapped have never been released, although it is known that they are highly trained agents of Italian SISMI [Intelligence and Military Security Service; now renamed Italian Agency for External Security and Intelligence].

Right after they were captured — this was the first case of kidnapping of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan, although civilians are very frequently kidnapped in that country because of high ransoms — Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi launched a diplomatic action for the release and rescue of his soldiers. Italian diplomats took advantage of the ongoing session of the UN General Assembly in New York to request mediation in the release of the Italians. They asked Afghan mediator Hamid Karzai, as well as Iranian leaders in Teheran, for help but international forces in Afghanistan suddenly launched an operation for the release of the kidnapped Italians the day before yesterday. Result: the SISMI agents were released but they were seriously wounded during the action and one of them is currently fighting for his life, while nine Taliban kidnappers were killed.

War Zone in All of Afghanistan

The details of the kidnapping and release have still not been revealed, nor is it known whether the Italians were seriously injured by Taliban or allied bullets, like a year ago in Baghdad, when the Americans killed a SIMSI Commander Nicola Calipari, who was in charge of the operation for the rescue of abducted Il Manifesto reporter Giuliana Sgrena.

Italian soldiers were abducted this time, even though that could have happened to the members of any of the 38 contingent participating in NATO’s ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] mission in Afghanistan. In other words, it could have happened not only to Italian or US, but also to Slovene or even Croatian ISAF members. Indeed, there are far more Italian than Croatian soldiers in Afghanistan: as many as 2,290 Italians and only some 200 Croatian soldiers, even though the number of Croatian ISAF members will soon rise to as many as 300.

The latest reports from Afghanistan seem to be materializing the darkest forebodings of the period of about a year ago, the beginning of a major operation, in the framework of which the Americans initiated the most extensive operation for the destruction of rebel forces ever, in which no occupying force has yet been successful, not even the US force six years ago or the British force a hundred years ago.

All of Afghanistan has become a war zone, a war inferno, and it is no longer just its southern or eastern parts, toward the border with Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden is allegedly hiding, that are dangerous. Herat — an area where the Croatian soldiers are stationed and where they came under a serious attack by the Taliban — is under Italian command today. It was a peaceful zone only a year ago. Two Spanish soldiers were killed and another two wounded on the same day the special units were rescuing the Italians in the vicinity of Herat.

There has been a spate of violence in the country and even the Americans admit there is no difference between the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, apart from the fact that the bloodshed in Iraq receives widespread media coverage while the war in Afghanistan does not. This is probably due to the fact that there are far more Americans in Iraq than in Afghanistan but this could not be an excuse for the Croatian public that has been treating the conflicts in Afghanistan as something that is happening to somebody else far away from here.

Most Dangerous Job

Croatian soldiers were sent to fight in that war but Croatian politicians who sent them there do not seem to want to face up to the fact that there is war in Afghanistan. At the beginning of the mission several years ago, Croatian soldiers were hoping they would be building roads and rebuilding schools, which was supposed to win over the local population in the framework of the ISAF mission. However, the US offensive against the Taliban has made those plans obsolete and the Americans now exert enormous pressure on all national contingents, including the Croatian contingent, to abolish all restrictions and help the American in direct fighting with the Taliban. That has radically changed the character of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan but it has also changed the lives of Croatian soldiers there, as they suddenly found themselves in the dangerous southern region, as well as in high-risk operations of patrol and convoy escorts targeted by the Taliban. They also clash with the local opium dealers, which is considered the most dangerous job in that rugged country that is said to be among the most dangerous countries in the world.

Croatian soldiers are more and more often caught in artillery barrage and around planted bombs that go off in their vicinity, but that does not make the public more aware of the cruel war in which Croatian soldiers also take part. The case of kidnapping of the two SISMI agents has reopened the discussion on the withdrawal of the Italians from Afghanistan, while such discussions are already under way in Germany, as well as in other countries whose soldiers fight in Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Rijeka Novi List (Internet Version-WWW) in Croatian -- independent, privately owned daily. OSC EUP20070926040002 Rijeka Novi List (Internet Version-WWW) in Croatian 26 Sep 07]