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Afghanistan
Week 23 05 June 2012

Review

Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Economic Development Governance & Rule of Law Security & Force Protection Social & Strategic Infrastructure

This document provides a weekly overview of developments in Afghanistan from 29 May 04 June 2012, with hyper-links to source material highlighted in blue and underlined in the text. For more information on the topics below or other issues pertaining to events in Afghanistan, contact the members of the Afghanistan Team, or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org.

Economic Development

Steven A. Zyck steve.zyck@cimicweb.org

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he Meshrano Jirga, the upper house of the Afghan parliament, summoned the Afghan ministers of finance, commerce and industries, economy and agriculture, irrigation and livestock in order to learn more about their plans for maintaining and growing the countrys economy beyond 2014, according to Khaama Press. Minister of Finance Omar Zakhilwal indicated that the economy would face challenges beyond 2014 as foreign countries began phasing out their levels of development assistance to the country. He noted that foreign donors were planning a gradual reduction in aid between 2014 and 2025, which would be clarified following the upcoming Tokyo Conference in July. Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Mohammad Asif Rahimi, providing an example, said a USD 432 million water project would be unveiled in Tokyo. The Minister of Economy, Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, expressed disappointment that more had not been done to promote economic growth over the preceding decade. Azerbaijani newspaper Trend says that Afghan President Hamid Karzai met on 31 May with the special representative of the Russian president for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, in order to discuss strengthening economic ties between Afghanistan and Russia. President Karzai reportedly told Kabulov that Afghanistan wants to develop economic cooperation with Russia. There are projects in various fields in the country, and Russia could join these projects. Kabulov reportedly expressed Russias willingness to continue supporting energy and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan. Officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MoCI) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) held their fourth regular meeting to promote Afghan agricultural exports, says Wadsam. The meeting highlighted weaknesses in irrigation, mechanisation and cold storage which the participants say impede value-added agriculture. One MAIL official in Kabul, Hashmatullah Enayat, noted that strong levels of precipitation meant that this years harvest should be strong and that plans are in place to build additional cold storage facilities. For instance, Pajhwok Afghan News says that a group of traders pledged on 30 May to build several cold storage and agricultural processing facilities in Kabul. These facilities will reportedly enable Afghan farmers and traders to maximize their income from the countrys agricultural output. At The CFC has established a page dedicated to present, MAIL officials say that up to the July 2012 Tokyo Conference on Afghani40% of Afghan produce spoils while stan. At that page you will be able to read news awaiting export. pertaining to conference preparations and the According to the Agence France-Presse, on-going transition process in Afghanistan Afghanistans Deputy Attorney General, along with relevant research reports and previRahmatullah Nazari, announced that 35 ous international agreements on Afghanistan. people were being referred to a special This page builds upon the success of the CFCs tribunal for their role in the near-collapse page on the December 2011 Bonn Conference. of Kabul Bank, the countrys largest

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private financial institution, in 2010. While arrest warrants had been issued for the 35 individuals, who were not named, 14 of them are reportedly living outside of Afghanistan. The prosecution of many of those responsible for the Kabul Bank crisis comes two months after Noorullah Delawari, the governor of Afghanistans Central Bank, announced that the re-named New Kabul Bank would be sold off by the Afghan government. Delawari also suggested that part of the bank could be sold to a private firm and then run as a joint venture with the government retaining a stake. Investment site Seeking Alpha claims that a steady decline in the market price of copper could lead mining and metals companies to delay new ventures, perhaps including mining at Afghanistans Aynak copper deposit. Copper is reportedly selling for USD 7,645 per tonne, which is 26% lower than coppers 2011 peak price. In other mining news, Indian Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal will be leading a delegation to Afghanistan in order to establish a memorandum of understanding (MOU) giving two Indian companies, Coal India Ltd and Singareni Collieries, the right to explore Afghan coal deposits, says The Indian Express. The Indian government is increasingly focused upon investing in Afghanistans natural resources, as requested by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Indias ministries of commerce, mines, petroleum and steel have also signed MOUs with the relevant Afghan ministries, particularly the Ministry of Mines, in recent months. Demonstrating Indian engagement in Afghanistans natural resources, India Times reports that a consortium of Indian companies has sent a team to conduct due diligence at several copper and gold mines in Afghanistan. The Indian firms were shortlisted alongside competitors from the United Arab Emirates, Canada and Australia for the rights to the copper and gold deposits. The economy of neighbouring Pakistan grew by 3.7% during the 2011-12 fiscal year, which is better than the preceding years 3.0% growth rate but short of the projected 4.2%, says Pak Tribune. The lower-than-projected growth rate, according to the countrys finance minister, resulted from the global economic slowdown, floods and high oil prices. Meanwhile, inflation has declined markedly, though the consumer price index rose by 10.8% between July 2011 and May 2012. Pakistani Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh did cite increased trade with Afghanistan as one economic success story. The Daily Times reports that the total value of trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan has risen to USD 2.5 billion annually due, in part, to the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement. This figure is somewhat lower than the USD 3 billion figure cited by a report from the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) earlier this year.

Governance & Rule of Law

Stefanie Nijssen stefanie.nijssen@cimicweb.org

ccording to The New York Times, 18-year-old rape victim Lal Bibi has spoken out publicly against her rapists, who include local militiamen and members of the Afghan Local Police (ALP). Lal Bibi says she was raped because her cousin insulted a family linked to a local militia commander. The commander allegedly had his men abduct her in retribution. Lal Bibi said she was chained to a wall, sexually assaulted and beaten for five days. Lal Bibis relatives brought her to Kunduz Hospital and filed a complaint with the governor. According to the article, her plight is a test of the governments willingness to challenge the impunity of the many armed groups operating in the country. It has also brought attention to reports of abuses perpetrated by the ALP. US military officials said that as far as they could determine, members of the ALP were not involved in this case. However, a number of the local authorities, including the governor and the ALP director for the province, said the men who had abducted her and beat her were ALP members. Provincial military prosecutor General Mohammed Sharif Safi said that the attackers were among the first 300 ALP members trained by US Special Forces and stated that [i]t is not the first time that they have committed such a horrible crime. So far, two people have been arrested in the case, including Khudai Dad, who is accused of raping Lal Bibi, and his brother, Sakhi Dad, who is an ALP member, according to officials. Not yet detained, however, is the chief suspect in Lal Bibis abduction, Commander Muhammad Ishaq Nezaami, who disappeared shortly after the young woman was taken. The Indian government has shown concern about NATOs plan to withdraw most of its forces from Afghanistan by 2014, states New York Daily News. Nirupama Rao, Indias ambassador to the United States, had the following to say: We understand that after 10 long years of war there is a manifest and genuine desire to seek an end to conflict. But equally, we must ensure that the enormous sacrifices and efforts of the past decade have not been in vain. Yashwant Sinha, an Indian legislator, stated that he believes Pakistan may attempt to support armed groups in Afghanistan after 2014 and use the country as a proxy. NATO has to stay the course in Afghanistan until we are absolutely confident that the Afghan army and the armed forces of Afghanistan are in a position to meet the Taliban threat, he said. The article indicates that some in the US government are concerned that Indias engagement in Afghanistan could be exacerbating the situation and impelling Pakistan to treat Afghanistan as a potential threat.

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The Meshrano Jirga, the upper house of the Afghan parliament, approved the long term Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) with the United States, reports Tolo News. Seventy-six senators voted in favour of the SPA. Signing this agreement prevents the intervention of neighboring countries, and we support its approval, Senator Gulalai Akbar said. Thirteen senators opposed the agreement, with some calling the vote approving the SPA an act of treason.

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The process of transferring the control of Bagram prison to the Afghan government will be completed by the end of August 2012, according to officials cited by Ariana News. Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Generak Zahir Azimi said 1,507 of 3,101 inmates jailed in Bagram had been transferred to Afghan-controlled prisons. During the past three months, 157 prisoners accused of associating with the Taliban and al Qaeda had been proven innocent and released from the jail. Local authorities in Nimroz province tell Khaama Press that the bodies of three Afghans who were hanged in Iran have been handed over to their families. Officials said the three individuals were hanged after being found guilty of drug smuggling. In the meantime there have been growing concerns regarding the trial of the Afghan prisoners in Iran. Rights observers have said that Afghan prisoners have limited access to judges and that the details of cases against Afghan prisoners are opaque. A number of Afghans, including businessmen and medical patients, state that that they have experienced heightened difficulties when going to the Iranian Consulate in Kandahar to obtain visas, an official at the governors office told Pajhwok Afghan News. Governor Tooryalai Weesa has asked the Iranian Consulate General in Kandahar province to relax the visa process for Afghans intending to visit Iran for trade, medical treatment and other purposes. Iranian Consul General Ali Asghar reportedly told the governor that the consulate issued 1,500 visas to Afghans each month out of the approximately 3,000 who apply. One of the two nominees for the High Council of the Supreme Court won a vote of confidence from the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the Afghan parliament, according to Pajhwok. The tenure of Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi came to an end in 2010, and he has since been serving as acting chief justice pending the approval of a successor. Similarly, the term of Amin Ali Behsudi and Maulvi Mohammad Qasim expired the same year. President Karzai nominated former Minister of Justice Mohammad Sarwar Danish and Supreme Court Director-General Abdul Malik Kamavi for the open positions. During Saturdays session, the Wolesi Jirga endorsed the nomination of Kamavi but refused to give Danish a vote of confidence. Tolo News reports that the European Union has blocked the release of USD 37 million to a UN-run fund, the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA), that finances the Afghan National Police (ANP). The funding was withheld following reports of fraud within LOTFA, which is administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). UNDP denies the allegations.

Security & Force Protection

Mark Checchia mark.checchia@cimicweb.org

ivilian casualties dropped significantly in the first four months of 2012, and fewer of these casualties were caused by International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) than during the same time period a year earlier, according to The New York Times. Jan Kubis, the United Nations Special Representative to Afghanistan and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said that 579 civilian deaths and 1,216 civilian injuries were recorded between January and April 2012, a decrease of 21% compared to the first four months of 2011. The UN report said government and international forces were responsible for 9% of the casualties while 79% were attributable to anti-government forces, including the Taliban. The remaining 12% were unattributed. Last year, 14% of the casualties were attributed to pro-government forces such as ISAF and the ANSF. The percentage caused by insurgents remained almost unchanged. The figures show the first reduction in civilian casualties since 2007, when the United Nations began monitoring them. Human rights officials were reserved regarding the likelihood that the reduced number of casualties would be sustained. They noted that the overall level of violence and civilian casualties was moderated earlier this year given the unusually harsh winter conditions. Australia has announced it will take responsibility for security in Afghanistans Uruzgan province as the number of US forces is reduced, The Courier-Mail reports. Chief of Australias Defence Forces, General David Hurley, said the change-over was approved by the Australian government at the end of May, and Australia will take up its new role in Uruzgan in late 2012. ISAF Commander General John Allen said [o]ur gratitude goes out to the government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Australian people, who have sacrificed so much in this conflict; he also described Australia as one of ISAFs closest allies. Australia will be in charge of the handover of security to Afghan forces and withdrawal of Australian troops and materiel. Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced in May 2012 that all of Uruzgan would be handed over to the ANSF in the upcoming third phase of transition. Four aid workers who had been kidnapped in Badakhshan province in late May were freed on 02 June in a raid by special operations forces, The Guardian reports. Five of the kidnappers, who had demanded money for the workers release, were killed. The aid workers one British, one Kenyan and two Afghans had been traveling by donkey to visit a remote clinic in north-eastern Afghanistan when they were abducted. The police in Badakhshan said the kidnappers were criminals who were taking advantage of the loose government control in the area. A suicide car bomb and a separate blast in Afghanistan killed at least seven policemen on 31 May, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. Officials said a suicide bomber drove his car into an Afghan police checkpoint in Kandahar province, near the police headquarters in Arghistan district. At least five officers were killed, and six others were injured. In the second incident, an explosion at a police checkpoint in Nangarhar province killed at least two policemen. A spokesman for the provincial governor confirmed the incident but said the cause of the explosion was still under investigation.

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A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden truck into an ISAF base in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan, says BBC News. ISAF verified that insurgents had attacked a base in the East but gave no further details, and both the Taliban and a government official confirmed the attack. A local official told AFP that seven Afghan construction workers were killed and that another 13 people were injured. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said a group of Taliban had assaulted the base after the truck bomb detonated. Afghan and coalition security forces conducted an operation to detain an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) facilitator in Argo district of Badakhshan on 03 June, according to an ISAF statement. The statement said [d]uring the operation, the security force was attacked by two groups of insurgents. The security force returned fire and requested a precision airstrike. After the airstrike, the Afghan and coalition security force [] determined no civilians had been harmed and multiple insurgents had been killed. Pak Tribune quotes a provincial spokesman who said [t]he security forces stormed a Taliban hideout in Akhal village of Argo district early Sunday morning killing eight rebels including their commander Mawlawi Saifudin on the spot. The US military is considering a plan which would involve the use of a massive amount of unattended sensors in Afghanistan to monitor and report on movement in particular areas, reports Popular Science. The unattended ground sensors, or UGS, could last as many as 20 years on rechargeable solar batteries and could monitor areas frequently affected by insurgent activity as well as known smuggling routes. Using several sensor systems, like seismic (vibration), acoustic (sound) or radar, the UGS can bring attention to high levels of activity in an area. If activity was detected in a key area, more specific surveillance could then be ordered. The devices are small and can be buried, hidden or disguised (e.g., as rocks). Even if the sensors are discovered and neutralised, or if they malfunction, the number deployed would ensure that some remain in place to monitor conditions. Some of the sensors are being used in smaller applications around base camps in Afghanistan. However, their wider deployment is reportedly still being examined.

Social & Strategic Infrastructure

Rainer Gonzalez rainer.gonzalez@cimicweb.org

Humanitarian Update The Humanitarian Response Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster has released a report on the Afghanistan Humanitarian WASH Response from January to April 2012. The reports includes a number of maps and charts (see below) reflective of WASH-related data on topics such as potable water supply, the number of hygiene and sanitation beneficiaries and the humanitarian funding received. The report says that 27% of the WASH funds requested for 2012 in Afghanistan has been received.

angladesh has expressed interest in participating in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline project, reports the The Business Standard. The Bangladeshi government, which is suffering from severe energy shortages, has requested the Asian Development Bank to include Bangladesh in the regional project. Bangladesh had previously sought natural gas from Myanmar, but the initiative stalled. An official from Bangladeshs Ministry of Energy said we need gas from sources outside the country as our own reserve is apparently dwindling despite initiatives to explore hydrocarbon in the offshore blocks of Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is estimated to produce 2,180 million cubic feet per day (mmfcd) of natural gas, but the demand, which is expected to grow, exceeds 2,500 mmfcd. According to The Business Standard, some experts believe that linking Bangladesh with the TAPI project, which would require an extra 700 km of pipeline, is feasible. As many as six million Afghan children are facing poverty and other forms of vulnerability, Tolo News reports. A spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD), Ali Eftekhari, said the following: The situation of children in the country is not satisfactory, currently there are 6 million vulnerable kids in the country, we have sheltered and covered two million up to now. Most of these kids are without any shelter due to family violence, Eftekhari said. Human rights organisations have criticised the Afghan government for not doing enough to help vulnerable children and prevent child labour.

The World Bank released a report entitled Understanding Gender in Agricultural Value Chains: The Cases of Grapes/Raisins, AlThe United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanimonds and Saffron in Afghanistan. The study focuses on contarian Affairs (OCHA) released Incident Report No. 7 on the straints and opportunities that affect womens ability to take signiffloods that occurred on 17 May 2012 in Sar-e Pul province. icant control over key agricultural value chains. According to the The World Food Programme (WFP) has provided assistance report, women are generally concentrated at the lower levels of the to 1,850 families. According to the WFP, residents from the grape/raisins, almond and saffron value chains, where they perprovince have lost 540 head of livestock and 2,100 jeribs form labour intensive duties such as irrigation, weeding, harvesting (420 hectares) of irrigated land due to the flash floods. and processing, yet men carry out the more managerial duties, facilitating the access to livelihoods by linking households with markets. Rural women involved in harvesting and post-harvesting activ05 June 2012 Page 4

Source: Humanitarian Response WASH Cluster

ities are usually unpaid, given that their work is considered to be part of their household chores. In cases where women are hired to undertake labourintensive work, they receive approximately AFN 200-300 (USD 4.13-6.20) per day. Likewise, women performing processing duties in urban or peri-urban areas are paid AFN 100-200 (USD 2.07-4.13) per day. In order to improve opportunities for women, the report outlines the following recommendations: (i) develop value-chain action plans that would enhance womens participation; (ii) support the mobilisation of womens producer groups and their association with male groups at the cluster or district levels; (iii) improve rural outreach among women involved in certain crops by developing a pool of women paraprofessionals to support them; (iv) develop a certified training programme for women extension service providers; (v) improve rural road infrastructure to enable access by women service providers; (vi) provide value-chain innovation grants for women; and (vii) use information technology to enhance womens involvement in value chains.

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Civil society organisations staged a protest in Nangarhar province in order to press the government to start stalled infrastructure projects, reports Pajhwok Afghan News. Protesters threatened to close all roads going to Kabul if the government did not take steps to resume work on the Naghlo power station, the second lane of the Kabul-Jalalabad highway and the Behsud bridge within three days. According to Pajhwok, the provincial government blamed the delays in the project on the central government, claiming that Nangarhar had received insufficient funds.

Recent Readings & Resources Afghanistan Market Price Bulletin, May 2012, World Food Programme, 31 May 2012. Understanding Gender in Agricultural Value Chains: The Case of Grapes/Raisins, Almonds and Saffron in Afghanistan, World Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, May 2012. Dealing with legacies of violence: transitional justice and governance transitions, Overseas Development Institute, May 2012, by Pilar Domingo.

Afghanistan Events Agricultural Development for Afghanistan Pre-Deployment Training. The United States Department of Agriculture (www.usda.gov) and a consortium of American universities deliver this training. The curriculum will meet the needs of all deploying United States Government personnel in support of the USG Agriculture Strategy in Afghanistan. The training is for United States Government personnel and will take place in Fresno, California on 18-23 June. Participants will be enrolled on a first come first serve basis. Contact Ryan Brewster, US Department of Agriculture, at ryan.brewster@fas.usda.gov for further information.

If you are a CFC account-holder and would like your event notice or publication to appear here, please send all relevant details to Afghanistan@cimicweb.org. The CFC is not obliged to print information regarding publications or events it receives, and the CFC retains the right to revise notices for clarity and appropriateness. Any notices submitted for publication in the Afghanistan Review newsletter should be relevant to Afghanistan and to the CFCs mission as a knowledge management and information sharing institution.

ENGAGE WITH US 05 June 2012

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