Global News Post: Afghanistan

Rival Afghan Candidates Already Claiming Victory

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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">By Sharon Behn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Afghanistan’s April 5 presidential ballot has been
widely hailed as a triumph for the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>With votes still being counted, hopes for a smooth end to the election
are beginning to fade as candidates appear to maneuver for a political fight to
the finish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Technocrat Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank
official, told media he is certain he received a majority of the votes, given
the turnout in areas where he gathered a lot of support.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">His chief competitor, former foreign minister
Abdullah Abdullah, has said he is sure that 60 percent of the voters had cast
their ballots for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To win the election, a candidate needs 50 percent
plus one vote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>If no one reaches that
threshold, there will be a run-off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Omar Samad, an Afghan expert at the New America
Foundation in Washington, D.C., says it is likely that the front-runners will
fight to the finish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“They have indicated they will go all the way
because both of them are in favor of a stronger mandate by going to the end of
the second round,”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Samad adds that the other six candidates could
soon start negotiating throwing their support behind one of the two assumed
leading candidates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Results <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Partial results could be announced as early as the
end of this week. The final tally is not expected until mid-May.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani, the head of the
Independent Election Commission, called on the candidates to wait for the
official announcement of the vote results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He says his request to all the candidates and
people of Afghanistan is to avoid predictions, or publishing numbers, so as to
not confuse people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Let the Independent Election
Commission announce the results as scheduled, he says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">According to the National Democratic Institute, a
full accounting of all ballots will be particularly important in this
hotly-contested election, where the margin of victory is expected to be slim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jandad Spinghar, executive director of the Free
and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA), says so far the effective
security efforts and higher-than-expected voter turnout has lent huge
credibility to the election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He says all the ballots must be counted and
complaints of fraud or vote-rigging must be resolved before a final count can
be released.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Then we can say that we will have complete
legitimate election and the result will be acceptable," said Spinghar.
"If there will be second round, so we can expect that before second round
there will be a kind of negotiation between two candidates.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Fraud <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">According to FEFA, its election monitors observed
2,600 cases of fraud and misconduct.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Afghanistan’s senior electoral officer, Ziaulhaq Amarkhail,
has said every documented election complaint would be investigated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He says Afghans are holding elections under
conditions of war and insecurity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>But if
there is any credible evidence showing that someone interfered with the
documents in favor of or against any candidate, he says the Independent
Election Commission wants to assure the nation that it takes all such
complaints seriously and is ready to deal with such situations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Analyst Samad says the election’s overall
credibility will depend heavily on how the election and complaints commissions
perform their jobs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Asian Networks for Free Elections Foundation
warned in a statement Wednesday that candidates' “premature and unfounded
declarations of victory can create an unrealistic expectation among
supporters.”---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Rival Afghan Candidates Already Claiming Victory

By Sharon Behn Afghanistan’s April 5 presidential ballot has been widely hailed as a triumph for the people. With votes still bei...

16 Taliban Militants Killed

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<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Kabul</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (BNA): The Afghan security forces carried
out 9 combined operations in the provinces of the country. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Interior
ministry spokesman said to BNA, these operations conducted in the vicinities of
Kabul, Kandahar, Zabul, Maidan-Wardak, Logar, Ghazni, Pakktia, Farah and
Helmand provinces in which 16 members of Taliban rebels were killed and 26
others of them were detained. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In
these operations, quantity of light and heavy arms consists of a PK machine
gun, 6 different types of arms, 4 warheads, 35 mines, 1300 kg of explosive
devices and 3 motorbikes of enemies were seized by national police forces. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It
should be said the national police personnel discovered and neutralized 7
warheads which were placed by Taliban for terrorist and destructive actions in
the outskirts of Qosh Tepa district of Badakhshan province.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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16 Taliban Militants Killed

Kabul (BNA): The Afghan security forces carried out 9 combined operations in the provinces of the country. Interior ministry spokesm...

France Ends Afghanistan Combat Mission

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<st1:country-region w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">France</span></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> has ended its combat mission in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region>, pulling its last troops from a
province northeast of the capital, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Kabul</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Tuesday's
withdrawal of 500 combat troops from Kapisa province is part of President
Francois Hollande's pledge to accelerate the country's exit from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>.  Remaining international combat troops are to
leave the country by the end of 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">France</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> had been the fifth-largest contributor to
the NATO-led coalition.  It is keeping
1,500 troops in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>
to help send equipment back home and to train Afghan forces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Eighty-eight
French troops have died in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region>
since <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place>
joined the fighting in late 2001. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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France Ends Afghanistan Combat Mission

France has ended its combat mission in Afghanistan , pulling its last troops from a province northeast of the capital, Kabul . T...

Four Men Charged in US Terror Plot

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3IZx2uG93uAAfcaXVCZMHWXHCOiLoAgU4EGUXumWOtRvIA7eVSXXzFtcsqYaVVZQjW5KQMlTcliwIldr-DhbixwH3FuvGd3kmiANeRro8SgoEEcsP4sQMKwF4LgzYTQqh_bwY0SGysw/s1600/161522356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3IZx2uG93uAAfcaXVCZMHWXHCOiLoAgU4EGUXumWOtRvIA7eVSXXzFtcsqYaVVZQjW5KQMlTcliwIldr-DhbixwH3FuvGd3kmiANeRro8SgoEEcsP4sQMKwF4LgzYTQqh_bwY0SGysw/s320/161522356.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt;">Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #838383; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt;">© flickr.com/ popculturegeek.com</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">CALIFORNIA
(RIA Novosti) - Four men from the western US state of California, including one
who served in the Air Force, have been charged in a terror plot the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says was designed to bomb US government
facilities overseas and kill Americans.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A
federal complaint unsealed late Monday charges that the four men planned to
join al-Qaida and the Taliban in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>, and then engage in
“violent jihad,” according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
complaint says the plot began with 34-year-old Sohiel Omar Kabir, a naturalized
<st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> citizen who was born in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region> and
served in the Air Force in 2000 and 2001, according to The Associated Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Authorities
claim he introduced two of the suspects, 23-year-old Ralph Deleon and
21-year-old Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales, to radical Islamist doctrine
after they converted to Islam in 2010, and they later recruited a fourth
suspect, 21-year-old Arifeen David Gojali.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
three recruits allegedly discussed their plans for jihad in online discussions
and Skype calls with Kabir in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region>,
and on at least two occasions went to shooting ranges in <st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state>
where one of the men reportedly told a confidential source he wanted to use C-4
explosives in a truck to blow up a <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> military base.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
FBI says the three men and the confidential source bought tickets and planned
to depart on the first leg of their journey on Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">They
remain in custody in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state></st1:place>.
Kabir is being held in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
They each face up to 15 years in federal prison.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Four Men Charged in US Terror Plot

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) © flickr.com/ popculturegeek.com CALIFORNIA (RIA Novosti) - Four men from the western US ...

Karzai Accuses US of Violating Detainee Pact

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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Afghan
President Hamid Karzai is accusing the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place> of violating an
agreement to transfer more than 3,000 prisoners at a controversial military
prison to the Afghan government.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In
September, the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> formally
handed over control of Bagram prison north of <st1:city w:st="on">Kabul</st1:city>
to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
At the time, Karzai hailed the transfer as a victory for his country's
sovereignty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But
during a meeting late Sunday in <st1:city w:st="on">Kabul</st1:city>, the
Afghan leader said he heard reports by the attorney general and military police
commander that "even prisoners who were presumed innocent by the court are
still being held" and that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
forces continue to imprison people "against the provisions of the MoU
already signed."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
president's spokesman, Aimal Faizi, told reporters on Monday that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> forces are
holding more than 70 prisoners at Bagram "despite court orders for their
release."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Karzai
called the "status quo a serious breach of the Memorandum of Understanding
signed between <st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region>
and the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>."  In a statement issued by his office, Karzai
assigned the defense minister, attorney general, and commander of Bagram prison
"to take all required and urgent measures to ensure a full Afghanization
of the prison affairs and a complete transfer of its authority."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">There
was no immediate official comment from the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">U.S.</span></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> and Afghan officials last week began talks
on a bilateral security agreement that will determine how many American
military personnel will remain in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region> after international
combat forces leave the country by the end of 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
negotiations, which are expected to take several months, are also expected to
focus on the sensitive issue of whether <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> troops can be prosecuted under
Afghan law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">President
Karzai has long said that any remaining American military personnel should be
prosecuted in local courts.  <st1:state w:st="on">Washington</st1:state> has stressed that any crimes committed should
be tried in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United
  States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Failure
to strike a similar deal on immunity for <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
troops in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region></st1:place>
was a factor in ending the military presence in that country. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>

Karzai Accuses US of Violating Detainee Pact

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is accusing the United States of violating an agreement to transfer more than 3,000 prisoners at a controv...

India: Cabinet Likely to Approve Schemes for Afghanistan

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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">NEW
DELHI (NNN-Bernama) -- Indian Union Cabinet is likely to approve on Thursday
India's small-scale aid projects under its Small Development Projects (SDP) in
Afghanistan ahead of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit here next week,
Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Sectors
that will be involved in the projects including agriculture, rural development,
education and health. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According
to sources, the External Affairs Ministry-steered proposal on the third phase
of the projects (SDP-III) is expected to be raised for discussion at a Cabinet
meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">While
95 per cent of the SDPs are in response to requests from provincial or local
authorities, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>
has also extended support to some interesting NGO-supported schemes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Karzai,
who will be in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>
from Nov 9-12, will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on regional
security situation and safety of Indian nationals and Indian projects on Nov 12
here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Having
committed a US$2.3 billion aid programme, <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>
is one of the largest donors to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region></st1:place>
investing in the economy, humanitarian aid, education, development,
construction and electrical projects. --NNN- BERNAMA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

India: Cabinet Likely to Approve Schemes for Afghanistan

NEW DELHI (NNN-Bernama) -- Indian Union Cabinet is likely to approve on Thursday India's small-scale aid projects under its Small...

Western Media Continue Psychological War against Afghanistan

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHW5ecyh_3WSPo0UCNHML2cZA3rEjCiTaCY7BpexAiBQRY6W-B0JHm5SWZ1H_X-GeyvLpxRMuMGkB0KvcoW9YoQMpfLH-JAI0qLhC7Gn8MW9vgg7X4mjuLBCBfES32kLXBJAOfX8nVK7k/s1600/105a738216e72b9c1d60ce8a13837d26_XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHW5ecyh_3WSPo0UCNHML2cZA3rEjCiTaCY7BpexAiBQRY6W-B0JHm5SWZ1H_X-GeyvLpxRMuMGkB0KvcoW9YoQMpfLH-JAI0qLhC7Gn8MW9vgg7X4mjuLBCBfES32kLXBJAOfX8nVK7k/s320/105a738216e72b9c1d60ce8a13837d26_XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Photo
© BNA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Kabul</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (BNA): Some western media continue
psychological war and propagation against Afghan capability in order to hidden
their failures in fulfilling commitments made for eradication of terrorism at
the beginning of war against that evil phenomenon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">BNA
political analyst writes in that regard:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">One
of the key incentives of international forces in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region></st1:place> existence is to fight
against terrorism in the region until the complete eradication of all terrorist
elements and their hideouts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">For
this reason the coalition forces previously called the victory of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region></st1:place>
in war against terrorism the victory of its allies and the failure of Afghan
forces in this war the failure of coalition forces again and again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But
now, some media of the countries which fight beside Afghan forces have started
a Psychological war against <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s
capability in war against terrorism. For instance, recently, some western media
have released reports that cultivate the seed of mistrust among the people
about the future of the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">As,
a B,B,C correspondent in huge gathering of politicians, correspondents and
layers in America said that  after 11
years,  we were hateful for Taliban and
currently they express their more anger and hatred against us than ever. Taliban
and Al-Qaeda not only eliminated, but have returned in to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
Also, the British defense ministry claimed that the war has not ended in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>. In
a new incident, the Inspection Department of US in its report has said that
after the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 2014,  Afghanistan would have no the capability to
preserve military instruments and installations. These kinds of statements
indicate that the west launching such psychological war wants to distort the
realities in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region></st1:place>;
it is required to search for the incentives for this Psychological war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
west had and has great commitments on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region></st1:place>; one of its major
commitments was the establishment of a strong and professional army in the
country. So far, it has not worked sufficiently to fill this commitment. For
instance, the Afghan army has not equipped with air fighters, armored vehicles
and artillery as they were committed in spite of repeated demand of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Fortunately,
the Afghan police, army and security forces in general, in spite of all these
shortages have succeed ensure security in 70 % on the territory and protect and
preserve people and national institutions in those regions. According to a
western official, Afghan security forces have received 100% military trainings
and carry out independently all nightly operations against the enemy’s targets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">These
are the Afghan security forces which are preparing to ensure the security and
peaceful holding of presidential elections. With capabilities mentioned above
one can assert that the Afghan forces have the capability and courage to defend
their soil against terrorists and insurgents and some media in the west
exerting false and baseless fabrications try to mistrust the Afghan people to
the future and in a way support the enemies of our country. But they should
know that although, the Afghan people are discontent with the activities of
their allies in war against terrorism, but decisively decided to never return
to the dark period of the past. Now what further strengthens the Afghan
government is our allies focus their attention on war against terrorism and
draw a military strategy focus on eradication of the sanctuaries of terrorists
located on the other side of Afghan territory and honor the achievements of our
people which are the results of the blood of the Afghan and foreign troops who
lost their lives in war against terrorism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Western Media Continue Psychological War against Afghanistan

Photo © BNA Kabul (BNA): Some western media continue psychological war and propagation against Afghan capability in order to h...

At Least 30 Dead in Afghan Suicide Blast

At Least 30 Dead in Afghan Suicide Blast

Photo © BNA MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) --- Dozens of civilians and security men are feared dead after a suicide bomber attacked a mosq...

Spain to Pull Forces Out Of Afghanistan from 2013; France by End 2012

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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:state w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">MADRID</span></st1:state><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (NNN-AOP) -- <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Spain</st1:country>
says its troops stationed in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country>
will start handing over security duties to Afghan forces next month as they
prepare to withdraw from the war-torn country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Spanish
troops are slated to turn over the security duties in northwestern <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">province</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Badghis</st1:placename></st1:place> to the 207th unit of the Afghan
army on Nov 1, 2012, Spanish daily El Pais reported on Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Between
January and February 2013, Spanish troops will leave the Bernard de Galvez base
in the town of <st1:city w:st="on">Ludina</st1:city> in Badghis province, and
between March and April, <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Spain</st1:place></st1:country>’s
forces will also abandon Rickets base in the Moqur district.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Spain</span></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">, which currently has over 1,500 soldiers in
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country>,
also plans to call back its advanced combat unit (COP) by the spring 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">United States</st1:country>, leading a
Western coalition, invaded <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country>
in 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains across <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country>,
despite the presence of thousands of US-led troopers in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">On
Oct 20, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced that <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">France</st1:country> would also pull out its combat troops
from <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country>
“a bit more quickly than anticipated” and will complete the withdrawal before
the end of December 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He
stated that some Frenchmen, responsible mostly for repatriating equipment and
the training of the Afghan army personnel, would remain in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country>,
“but there will be no more combat troops.” -- NNN-AOP<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Spain to Pull Forces Out Of Afghanistan from 2013; France by End 2012

MADRID (NNN-AOP) -- Spain says its troops stationed in Afghanistan will start handing over security duties to Afghan forces next...

Afghanistan: International agencies to train Afghan Journalists

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4M1NybDhp8-wS8DfE3oWqg4LWMA-WOkgAoATZooYASrMuRuJBZxZlncbwawFmaAuZfhHXhB2AdaFnVVLFrLkoCprW2cDiM-gDBGqiKx_xX1ZR6Hk0gFKfjKvq16Sz2nI9OePk5bCCaf0/s1600/5d1f0c309597094fa83786e1b3ac0681_XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4M1NybDhp8-wS8DfE3oWqg4LWMA-WOkgAoATZooYASrMuRuJBZxZlncbwawFmaAuZfhHXhB2AdaFnVVLFrLkoCprW2cDiM-gDBGqiKx_xX1ZR6Hk0gFKfjKvq16Sz2nI9OePk5bCCaf0/s320/5d1f0c309597094fa83786e1b3ac0681_XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Photo
© BNA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Kabul</span></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (BNA) --- Mubariz Rashidi the deputy to
information and culture ministry after attending the Asia-pacific annual
assembly held in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Seoul</st1:city></st1:place>
recently and returning home, said that several countries and international
agencies would provide training facilities to Afghan journalists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In
the assembly, beside participation of 60 nations the representatives of big
media outlets had also attended.  At the
sideline of the forum, Rashidi also met with his counterparts from <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:country> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">India</st1:country></st1:place> and exchanged views on
matters of mutual interests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He
also urged his Pakistani counterpart to void using vicious term in Pakistani
media on Afghan soldiers martyred, and the Pakistani dignitary promised to
cooperate <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country>
in this field.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It
was also decided in meeting with the deputy of the Asia-Pacific publication
department that the entity would train some of Afghan journalists.  Rashidi also met with the chief of the copy
right organization (ABLIO) and in it was agreed to train the modalities of
implementing copy right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
managing director of national radio and television, Zarin anzor and Abdul
Rahman Panjshiri also accompanied Rashidi in the journey to <st1:city w:st="on">Seoul</st1:city>
where he also met with <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Philippines</st1:country></st1:place>
delegation and exchanged views on bilateral relations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Afghanistan: International agencies to train Afghan Journalists

Photo © BNA Kabul (BNA) --- Mubariz Rashidi the deputy to information and culture ministry after attending the Asia-pacific annu...

3 NATO Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOOxfpKY66Vm0xikQqnobhPmGU3OCe0qFOqcZQMa3yPBPBVtYEANmxVMnRoOHexhM15k96bfSfGGnC0iDNpdmh6qqmPLypaN57PEdlz_0tOv6HGkU8f5ThTSeprHvgNQSSOy3ZjlQvvI/s1600/4dec72e80e44f16b9e5305bac9f35e6e_XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOOxfpKY66Vm0xikQqnobhPmGU3OCe0qFOqcZQMa3yPBPBVtYEANmxVMnRoOHexhM15k96bfSfGGnC0iDNpdmh6qqmPLypaN57PEdlz_0tOv6HGkU8f5ThTSeprHvgNQSSOy3ZjlQvvI/s320/4dec72e80e44f16b9e5305bac9f35e6e_XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Photo © BNA<o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kabul (BNA)--- Three NATO soldiers were killed by firing of Afghan military soldier in Afghanistan.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This event occurred in the military base of NATO in the south-east of Afghanistan, when an Afghan solider fired on NATO soldiers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NATO in a press statement said to BNA, the Afghan attacker with Afghan military uniform fired on NATO soldiers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The identity of the killed soldiers and exact areas of this event is not clear. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Meanwhile the America defense ministry confirmed killing of the three NATO soldiers by Afghan military solider in the south-east of Afghanistan but desisted their identities and exact areas of this event. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is the 11th NATO soldiers which were lost their lives in clash with rebels in Afghanistan during the last week.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

3 NATO Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan

Photo © BNA Kabul (BNA)--- Three NATO soldiers were killed by firing of Afghan military soldier in Afghanistan. This event occurred in ...

Six NATO Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Photo © BNA</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Kabul (BNA): Six NATO soldiers were killed in Afghanistan yesterday.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The identities of these soldiers had not cleared but they were killed in a mine blast in the east of the country. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">NATO in a press statement to BNA confirmed the killing of these soldiers, but said nothing about the exact area of the incident.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It is the bloodiest incident for NATO militants up to now.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With killing of these soldiers the casualties of NATO troops during the current year reaches to 303 soldiers in Afghanistan.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div></div>

Six NATO Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan

Photo © BNA Kabul (BNA): Six NATO soldiers were killed in Afghanistan yesterday. The identities of these soldiers had not cleared but ...

UN Mission Strongly Condemns Attacks on Afghan Civilians

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">UN News –The United Nations has strongly condemned yesterday’s attacks in four Afghan provinces which killed 40 civilians, including 10 children, and injured at least 67 others, and called for those responsible to be held accountable.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">According to media reports, the attacks include two Taliban suicide bombings and a NATO airstrike that Afghan officials say killed 18 civilians. The deadliest attack reportedly took place in the southern province of Kandahar, where a double suicide bombing killed more than 22 people and wounded at least 50 others.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Since the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began monitoring incidents of civilian casualties in the present armed conflict, the indiscriminate use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide attacks by anti-government elements have by far caused the greatest number of civilian casualties.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Yesterday’s attacks in Kandahar, Faryab and Paktika underlined the disproportionate impact that these internationally condemned tactics have on civilians, particularly on women and children,” the mission said in a statement.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">UNAMA has also repeatedly expressed concern that aerial operations have resulted in more civilian deaths and injuries than any other tactic used by pro-government forces since the present armed conflict began. “Unfortunately, the incident in Logar on 6 June reinforces this trend.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“UNAMA reiterates its condemnation of the use of improvised explosive devices and suicide attacks and the indiscriminate and disproportionate toll that they exact on Afghan women, children and men,” said the mission, which called for those responsible to be held accountable.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It also called on all parties to the conflict to increase their efforts to protect civilians, and to comply fully with their legally binding international responsibility to minimize civilian loss of life and injury.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

UN Mission Strongly Condemns Attacks on Afghan Civilians

UN News –The United Nations has strongly condemned yesterday’s attacks in four Afghan provinces which killed 40 civilians, including 10 chi...

India, US Deliberate on Afghanistan Ahead of NATO Summit

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NEW DELHI, India (NNN-Bernama) -- Ahead of the crucial NATO meet on Afghanistan next week in Chicago, India and the US on Thursday, discussed the security situation in the war-torn country, including safe terror havens in the region and the Haqqani network (an insurgent group fighting against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan), the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A US inter-agency team consisting of representatives of the Departments of Defense, State and National Security Council, led by Peter Lavoy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Asia and Pacific Security Affairs, held discussions with Indian officials from ministries of Defence and External affairs, government sources said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The discussions between the two sides included the security situation in Afghanistan, economic assistance and reconstruction programmes, they said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Even though India is not part of the Chicago meet, it is the US attempt to keep it in the loop on developments there, they added. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Other focus areas during the deliberations included issues of safe havens, the Haqqani network as well as the forthcoming NATO summit in Chicago, the sources said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 234.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The NATO summit to be held from May 20-21 will focus on the crucial issue of exit of combat forces from Afghanistan by 2014. -- NNN-BERNAMA <o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

India, US Deliberate on Afghanistan Ahead of NATO Summit

NEW DELHI, India (NNN-Bernama) -- Ahead of the crucial NATO meet on Afghanistan next week in Chicago, India and the US on Thursday, discus...

Men Wearing Afghan Police Uniforms Kill 2 NATO Troops

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NATO says two men wearing Afghan police uniforms have turned their weapons on coalition troops in southern Helmand province, leaving two service members dead.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A NATO statement said the incident took place Saturday. It said one of the shooters was killed when coalition forces returned fire, while the second managed to escape and was being pursued.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NATO did not release the nationalities of the victims, but the French news agency cited Afghan sources as saying the service members were British soldiers based in Helmand.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The incident is under investigation and comes a day after an attacker wearing an Afghan army uniform shot and killed a U.S. service member in eastern Kunar province. Saturday's shooting brings the number of incidents — in which Afghan soldiers or insurgents disguised as soldiers fired on coalition forces — to 16 this year alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Separately, four more coalition troops were killed Saturday in three separate incidents in southern Afghanistan. NATO said two soldiers died in an insurgent attack, another was killed in a bomb blast and the last one died as a result of a non-battle injury. The nationalities of the victims were not released.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And in northwestern Badghis province, four Afghan policemen died when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">U.S. officials have said that many of the so-called “insider attacks” are motivated by personal disputes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The incidents have raised concerns about security in Afghanistan at a time when international combat troops are preparing to withdraw from the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">International forces are set to transfer full security responsibility to Afghan forces by a 2014 deadline.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On Friday, the United Nations' special representative to Afghanistan, Jan Kubis, said that civilian casualties have gone down by 20 percent in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period in 2011. Kubis would not give exact figures, but said the majority of civilian deaths are caused by insurgent attacks, including suicide bombings. ----VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Men Wearing Afghan Police Uniforms Kill 2 NATO Troops

NATO says two men wearing Afghan police uniforms have turned their weapons on coalition troops in southern Helmand province, leaving two ...

Briefing: The right way forward for Afghan refugees?

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUXwj9dlGRfdKA7p9JqShqdIVMi9epm655nwMMT_EquoZxdMrg3ZkcwN_nPwrp4W7m2TnobGaXGEZ4OYXA_hEnATThWgZ2UnKLn3x_goV0Ap4ggHbzpQqCfwa0R_PHcrQARSjYe22zis/s1600/201202230712400032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUXwj9dlGRfdKA7p9JqShqdIVMi9epm655nwMMT_EquoZxdMrg3ZkcwN_nPwrp4W7m2TnobGaXGEZ4OYXA_hEnATThWgZ2UnKLn3x_goV0Ap4ggHbzpQqCfwa0R_PHcrQARSjYe22zis/s1600/201202230712400032.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Photo: <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/photo/"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Heba Aly/IRIN</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Afghan returnees from Pakistan line up for assistance<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
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</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">DUBAI (IRIN) - As a meeting of representatives of the Afghan, Iranian and Pakistani governments and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) opened to discuss a new strategy for dealing with the most protracted refugee crisis in the world, NGOs working in Afghanistan raised a number of questions about the new approach.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The so-called Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees, to support Voluntary Repatriation, Sustainable Reintegration ad Assistance to Host Countries is an agreement between the three governments on a way forward for the 2.7 million Afghans registered as refugees in Iran and Pakistan; the estimated 2.4-3.4 million unregistered Afghans living in the two countries; and the nearly 6 million Afghans – one quarter of its population – who have returned from exile to very difficult circumstances. (See IRIN’s recent In-Depth look at the realities on the ground). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The two-day meeting in Geneva, which started on 2 May, invited international stakeholders – donors, diplomats, international organizations, aid agencies and others – to endorse the new approach, at a cost of nearly US$2 billion, which seeks to improve conditions in communities of origin in Afghanistan to encourage returns while supporting communities which host Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan, and providing Afghans in exile with skills training to help them upon their return to Afghanistan. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One key component of the plan’s implementation is to improve up to 48 areas of high return in Afghanistan by creating “model villages” through coordinated community-based development: building schools, clinics, water canals, providing access to land and shelter, and creating livelihood opportunities. The goal is to improve the quality of life of returnees to the levels enjoyed by their local counterparts and to create an environment in which refugees are more willing to return to their areas of origin. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But there are some concerns about how the strategy is to be implemented. Below are some of the key points up for discussion and clarification: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Is it the right time to encourage returns to Afghanistan? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Pakistan and Iran have hosted Afghan refugees for decades and have complained that they cannot continue to shoulder the burden of a massive refugee crisis indefinitely. But is now the right time to encourage refugees to return to Afghanistan? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Deteriorating security conditions mean reintegration efforts over the past 10 years have failed to provide tangible dividends for returning refugees,” says a discussion paper drafted by NGOs in Afghanistan. “Repatriation may not be the panacea many initially hoped for.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ongoing insecurity has internally displaced nearly half a million Afghans. Some displaced people say they would not return to their areas of origin, even if security conditions improved, because of a lack of government services and employment opportunities. Many refugees who have returned have migrated to the cities, or returned to Pakistan or Iran when they could not find work. And in the midst of all this, international security forces are drawing down their troop presence in a transition period that could well trigger a return to all-out civil war. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The International Crisis Group says under such conditions, a big influx of returning refugees could be de-stabilizing. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The strategy itself says “conditions in Afghanistan are too severe to support continued large-scale repatriation” and yet it refers on several occasions to voluntary repatriation as the preferred solution. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“We are in an important period of transition in Afghanistan that is characterized by uncertainty,” Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told the conference on 2 May. “Afghan refugees have shown that they vote with their feet when conditions for return are conducive … We have a collective responsibility to support and facilitate their legitimate aspirations.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But UNHCR says the strategy is not aimed at trucking in masses of people. Its estimate for the number of returns in 2012 is about 120,000, up from last year’s 68,000, but far below the numbers during the first half of the last decade. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">According to the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), a coordination of national and international NGOs, most Afghan refugees are in a ‘wait and see’ mode during the transition period. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Is there enough baseline data? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The solutions strategy says the government of Iran and UNHCR will profile the refugee population in order to allow the establishment of model villages in Afghanistan to which they can return. But NGOs say this research should have been done before embarking on an “expensive hypothesis”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">They say more data and community consultation is needed to assess whether refugees really want to return; whether they want to go back to their areas of origin; and what they would need in order to fully re-integrate – such that solutions are crafted from the perspective of the user, not the designer, as Wael Ibrahim, head of ACBAR, put it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Suzanne Murray Jones, senior UNHCR advisor working on the Solutions Strategy, acknowledges that “in an ideal world, this should have been done before, but we saw the political will of the three governments for discussing this now. It’s a matter of striking while the iron is hot. They were ready to engage, so we acted as a catalyst.” She said refugees are required by law to return to their areas of origin, which are all known in detailed refugee profiling done in both Pakistan and Iran. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“This is not the be-all and end-all. We are just saying a new paradigm is necessary. [Refugee re-integration] hasn’t been working for the last 10 years. We need to re-evaluate and improve the approach…If this works in the next 2-3 years, replicate it in other areas.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But some aid workers say this is an example of policy-making in reverse order. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Most remaining refugees are urbanized and/or born in exile. Why is the strategy focused on areas of origin? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Some 125,000 Afghans are born in Pakistan and Iran every year. In Iran, 97 percent of Afghan refugees live in urban areas. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Deteriorating security conditions mean reintegration efforts over the past 10 years have failed to provide tangible dividends for returning refugees. Repatriation may not be the panacea many initially hoped for.“The strategy is premised around the idea that Afghan refugees should return to place of origin,” said Dan Tyler, protection and advocacy adviser with the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Afghan capital, Kabul. “But all the evidence shows that when you try to return people who have been exiled for generations to their place of origin, it is very difficult to re-integrate.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The profile of the Afghan refugee caseloads in Pakistan and Iran today is different than that of the many who returned between 2002 and 2005. Those who chose not to return then, even when Afghanistan was safer, may have less institutional, family and social ties to Afghanistan, and may not have land or housing. “ For many, returning to rural places of origin, whether or not there are livelihood opportunities, is not really relevant,” Tyler told IRIN. For some, “they’ve never lived in these areas.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“We’re not talking about people who are going to return. We’re talking about people who have already returned,” said Murray Jones. “We are trying to assist those who have already returned, to assist villages whose coping mechanisms have already been stretched to the nth degree.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Besides she told IRIN, the government does not allow UNHCR to assist displaced Afghans living in urban settlements, apart from temporary shelter and some household items, because “the government does not want them there.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But Tyler says more effort should be invested in adequate urban planning. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Urban migration is a major coping response for a population...It’s not something you try and prevent. It’s something you can try and respond to.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Will return really be voluntary? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">NGOs also fear the strategy could give the government of Iran and Pakistan “a green light to... aggressively pursue repatriation efforts,” the draft paper says. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Pakistani government has noted that it will not extend residency cards for Afghan refugees, which expire at the end of 2012. Both Iran and Pakistan have previously deported undocumented Afghans. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Is it a coincidence that this is happening right before the conference?” asked ACBAR’s Ibrahim. “Are they building the case that they can no longer afford them?” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But according to Murray Jones, Pakistan has said it was never going to extend the residency cards past 2012. She said she hoped the conference will help bolster the political support need to maintain asylum space there. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Is this strategy politicized? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">"The ability for refugees to return in safety and dignity and become productive citizens in their communities upon return is also integral to the stability and progress of Afghanistan," Guterres said at the start of the conference, according to Reuters. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The joint strategy similarly notes that improving the quality of life of returnees is critical for the “stability and security” of Afghanistan – language that makes some people uncomfortable. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“The timing of the strategy plays into the transition rhetoric,” Tyler said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">International forces have argued during the transition process that the Afghan government is increasingly in a position to take care of itself. Pakistan and Iran can now argue that this should extend to refugees as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“The reason there’s been a lot of reaction on this are some of the wider political conditions around the timing of the strategy and the possible messages that it sends,” Tyler said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Murray Jones says the goal is to work with both countries to preserve a space for refugees. “God forbid things explode in 2014/15, we don’t want those borders closed, which they could very well be.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Why not put more effort into alternative solutions in Pakistan and Iran? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YZGGrRtfCQZ3CqybQfdqnrTsTfehmaVO2I8Z60bHb9NG5D9HO8Nmuq-5_xtPzG6Z9L2tfWVQtl5QKzRi2my177rv33hSXL88uj_VyfHqBrAK6Kcl2Ew7h9PRvmrjsQBb7KTQ2DR7wv0/s1600/201205021310340965.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YZGGrRtfCQZ3CqybQfdqnrTsTfehmaVO2I8Z60bHb9NG5D9HO8Nmuq-5_xtPzG6Z9L2tfWVQtl5QKzRi2my177rv33hSXL88uj_VyfHqBrAK6Kcl2Ew7h9PRvmrjsQBb7KTQ2DR7wv0/s1600/201205021310340965.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/photo/"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Heba Aly/IRIN</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Many returnees fail to re-integrate, UNHCR says </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">UNHCR admits the strategy doesn’t address in any detail alternative durable solutions, like legalized migration and naturalization. But UNHCR felt that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” as Murray Jones put it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“It’s certainly not a complete strategy. But it’s the best that we could get from the three governments that are actually sitting around the same table [for the first time]…This is a consensus. Whilst we would have liked to have [included economic migration], we would rather have this basis of consensus between three governments as a starting line and see if we can build on that moving forward.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A 2010 Pakistani government strategy for dealing with Afghan refugees did refer to regularizing the legal stay of Afghans in Pakistan as one long-term solution. Pakistan has since backed off from that position, but observers say Iran and Pakistan both recognize they need laborers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Is this the best way to spend a lot of money in such tight financial times? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The overall strategy – including projects in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan – is expected to cost around $2 billion, with $863 million needed for the Afghan component. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The proposed strategy spends “disproportionately large amounts of resources through an alternative off-budget mechanism outside of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund to a statistically small sample of the population,” the ACBAR paper said, making “the sustainability of any intervention questionable.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But Murray Jones said the $863 million reflects the needs of 3.7 million returnees in 19 provinces, as calculated by the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations, in consultation with other ministries and UN agencies. It was simply a “number-crunching exercise just to have a handle on the enormity of it.” She said the majority of that money would be spent through development programmes, primarily the National Priority Programmes (NPPs). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">UNHCR’s project, in conjunction with UNDP to improve 48 model villages, reaching some 600,000 people, will cost $180 million, she said, and come from UNHCR and UNDP funds already available. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“$180 million for 48 sites. That’s $3.75 million a site. One site on average is 12,000 people. That’s a lot of money for a humanitarian like me. But colleagues at UNDP say that’s peanuts for doing development work. We are trying to bridge the gap.” She said she hopes money spent in this coordinated approach will be more cost-effective. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">An earlier proposal to create a new Multi-Donor Trust Fund was ditched when found to be unpopular, Murray Jones said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Why not work through already existing government programmes? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Government programmes like the National Solidarity Programme (NSP), the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS), and the NPPs, already provide a framework through which to develop the country, critics argue. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Endorsing a new strategy ahead of the national strategy is counter-productive and dangerous: it risks creating severe inconsistencies,” the NGO paper said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">UNHCR Representative in Afghanistan, Peter Nicolaus, said in December that UNHCR’s approach to refugee re-integration was “the biggest mistake UNHCR ever made…We thought if we gave humanitarian assistance then macro-development would kick in." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">UNHCR says it has realized that existing systems have not worked. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For Ibrahim, that’s all the reason to work harder to make it work, “rather than create an alternative system. It’s not sustainable and expensive.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But UNHCR says it has identified 13 NPPs that are relevant to returnees and Vice-President Mohammad Qasim Fahim is working with ministries to prioritize returnees within those programmes. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Murray Jones says returnees still need special attention, in additional to national programmes that may include them. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“If you mainstream a group too much, they become invisible. Twenty-five percent of the country of Afghanistan is returnees. They shouldn’t be invisible.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Observers say the pace of action in government is slow, and made worse by corruption and nepotism. So UNHCR and UNDP – in coordination with partners – will go ahead and build schools and clinics, in coordination with the relevant ministries, who will supply the necessary teachers and doctors. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Are returnees really the most vulnerable people in Afghanistan? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">While refugees may return to Afghanistan with new skills learned abroad, they return to environments where those skills cannot be used, and a recent UNHCR survey found that 60 percent of returnees lived in worse conditions than their local counterparts. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But with internal displacement rising exponentially in 2011 and expected to worsen further in 2012, some wonder whether returnees should really be the central focus. While some are relieved at the search for longer-term solutions for returnees, other worry that continued humanitarian crises may be overlooked. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There are no statistics in Afghanistan assessing comparative vulnerability, and with many returnees becoming IDPs, it is hard to track anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">While UNHCR has been pushing the Solutions Strategy, it has also continued work on IDPs, with what it calls a landmark agreement by the government in March to draft an IDP policy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But given one-quarter of the population has returned from exile, it is an important segment of the population to prioritize, Murray Jones maintained. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“These people should not be forgotten.” <o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Briefing: The right way forward for Afghan refugees?

Photo: Heba Aly/IRIN Afghan returnees from Pakistan line up for assistance DUBAI (IRIN) - As a meeting of representatives of the Afgha...