February 23 2007

 

 

 

Overview

 

President Karzai urges countries not to withdraw troops

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is urging NATO countries not to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Speaking to reporters in the Afghan capital Kabul today (Friday, February 23), Karzai said, "My message to the countries helping Afghanistan, to Canada, to Italy, is that the Afghan people, the Canadian people and the Italian people are in the same fight, a fight for the security of our lives today and tomorrow." The comments follow the resignation of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in Italy after losing a key vote on his foreign policy and the publication of a Canadian Senate report recommending the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan in the absence of more ground troop commitments by other NATO nations.

 

At least 12 killed and several wounded in separate incidents across Afghanistan

More than a dozen people were killed and several others wounded in separate incidents across Afghanistan over the weekend. Three Afghan policemen were killed and another three wounded in western Farah province when their vehicle was struck by a roadside blast on Sunday (February 18). The policemen were returning from a day-long poppy eradication field trip. Also in Ghor province, a clash between police conducting poppy eradication and farmers, left one civilian dead and two wounded the same day. At least eight US servicemen were killed and fourteen wounded when their Chinook CH-47 helicopter crashed in southeastern Zabul province due to mechanical engine failure. NATO soldiers mistakenly shot two civilians dead on Saturday (February 17) in southern Kandahar province when they failed to heed a NATO warning as they approached a NATO convoy some seven miles (11 km) west of Kandahar city. Three NATO soldiers were wounded when a suicide bomber disguised as a health worker blew himself up at the opening ceremony of a hospital in the eastern province of Khost on Tuesday (February 20). The incidents underscore the persistent insecurity across the country as NATO struggles to find more troops to beef up its presence on the ground.

 

NATO nations pledge more troops for Afghanistan

Following a request by NATO leaders for additional troop deployments in anticipation of a spring offensive by Taliban insurgents, a number of NATO nations have expressed intention to send more troops to Afghanistan. The latest pledge comes from Britain, which is expected to add as many as 1,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, bringing its ground presence in the country to around 6,600-strong. Australia and Denmark also expressed their intentions to contribute nearly 500 troops each to their existing contingents in Afghanistan. Norway also announced that it will deploy an additional 150 troops to Afghanistan, while Lithuania is also expected to contribute a smaller contingent.

 

NATO chief in Afghan capital Kabul to hold security and reconstruction talks

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is in the Afghan capital Kabul to hold talks with the Afghan government and alliance officials on security and reconstruction efforts in the war-shattered country. Scheffer, who arrived in Afghanistan on Wednesday (February 21), held talks with US General Dan McNeill, the commander of the 37-nation NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). He also met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday (February 22). According to NATO spokesman Nicholas Lunt, Scheffer will also meet some non-governmental organizations and visit some outlying areas during his three-day visit.

 

UN says continued unrest in Afghanistan's south is hampering relief efforts

United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Margareta Wahlstrom is saying that continued unrest and security concerns in southern Afghanistan are severely hampering relief efforts to aid the local population. Wahlstrom, who is on a five-day visit to Afghanistan, told reporters on Wednesday (February 21) in the Afghan capital Kabul that reaching out to affected communities in the south was already very hard and access to correct information to establish a baseline to help people was very difficult. She added that she was not sure how a possible spring offensive by the ousted Taliban will affect the situation. Wahlstrom said there was a need to sustain progress and ensure that assistance reaches all parts of the country. She added, "Our concern for the south and other areas that are difficult to access is really to ensure that this lack of access does not undermine progress and the relative stability we have in the rest of the country.”

Movement

 

4.2 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan, and 500,000 IDPs returned home since early 2002. Close to 3 million of the refugees returned from Pakistan. 2.6 million Afghans remain in Pakistan, including one million in 74 long-term camps. About 1.5 million Afghans returned from Iran; Taking into account unassisted returns, perhaps 600,000 to 700,000 Afghans remain in Iran—up to 30,000 are in seven camps.

 

UN-assisted voluntary Afghan refugee repatriation campaign is scheduled to resume on March 1 following seasonal suspension during severe winter months.

 

2006 UNHCR expects to assist 550,000 returnees—400,000 from Pakistan and 150,000 from Iran. However, so far this year only some 60,000 Afghan refugees have repatriated from Pakistan. Unassisted returns are a factor from Pakistan and have been a major contributor to returns from Iran. The tripartite arrangement among UNHCR-Afghanistan-Pakistan is good through 2006; The UNHCR-Afghanistan-Iran Joint Program has been extended into 2007. Repatriation from Pakistan, halted for the winter, recommenced on March 1. UNHCR assisted nearly 9,000 refugees in returning from Pakistan and over 500 from Iran during March. In April 2006, Pakistan will close two long-term camps in NWFP, and two in Baluchistan Province with 250,000 long-term residents. Refugees in Baluchistan can either return to Afghanistan or relocate to Mohammad Kheil camp near Quetta. Refugees in NWFP are moving to Afghanistan or one of ten camps in NWFP—refugees are pushing for a one-year delay.

 

2005 plans called for 400,000 Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan and 200,000 from Iran, down from an earlier 350,000 estimated from Iran. 453,000 returned from Pakistan. 67,000 from Iran were assisted and over 210,000 returned on their own to Iran for a total of nearly 280,000, and a combined Pakistan and Iran total of 733,000—close to the original projection.

 

2004 plans were for one million to return. Actual returnees were around 850,000, with 385,000 from Pakistan and 460,000 from Iran, including 80,000 spontaneous returns. Pakistan closed camps in South Waziristan and all new camps, with remaining new refugees going to Mohamed Kheil camp in Baluchistan Province.

Emphasis in 2003 was on repatriation from old camps and cities in Pakistan to rural areas in Afghanistan. 70% of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30% from camps. Over a third returned to Kabul, another 10% went to other central provinces, and just over 20% returned to each of the north and east. The Southern region received 6% and the Western region 4%. The 2003 peak months were June and July.

 

In 2002 over 2.3 million Afghan refugees returned with 2 million assisted by UNHCR. UNHCR repatriated 1.53 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan, including 125,000 from Baluchistan and 1.4 million from the North West Frontier Province. 82% were from urban areas; only 3% were from new camps. 265,000 refugees were assisted in returning from Iran; and 10,000 refugees from the central Asian republics.

 

 

Afghanistan Relief Efforts: United Nations Coordination Regions

 

 

 

 

 

Central Region

 

 

East Central Region

 

 

Eastern Region

 

 

Northeastern Region

 

 

Northern Region

 

 

Southern Region

 

 

Southern Region IDP camps

 

Location	Zhare Dasht - South of Kandahar – 6 camps
Type	IDP Camp
Coordination	UNHCR
Camp Capacity	30,000; expandable to 60,000
Population	125,000 IDPs in south; 48,500 at Zhare Dasht
Movement IDP	An estimated
Food	WFP
Health	UNICEF, MSF;
NFIs - Shelter
Security
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Support for Spin Boldak camps terminated in 2004.

Western Region

 

Location	Western Region
Coordination	UNHCR; ICMC
Population	12,000 IDPs, mostly in Maslakh camp
Movement IDPs	IOM
Food	WFP has sent 127 tons of food assistance for some 3,515 flood-affected families in Badghis province. (OCHA, Nov. 23) IRC, CARITAS, UNICEF, World Vision, IOM, Action Contre la Faim; WFP;
Health
Non-Food Items (NFIs) – Shelter	UNHCR sent 50 tents, 1,000 blankets, 500 plastic sheets, 20 jerry cans and 500 lanterns for flood victims in Badghis. (OCHA, Nov. 23) UNHCR, Iranian Red Crescent, UNICEF, IOM, Ockenden Int’l, MSF, IMC;
Security	One Spanish female soldier was killed and two other soldiers wounded when their vehicle ran over a powerful landmine in the town of Shindad in western Herat province. (BBC, Feb. 21)   Three Afghan policemen were killed and another three wounded in a roadside bomb blast in western Farah province as they were returning from a poppy eradication campaign. (BBC, Feb. 18).   One civilian was killed and four others wounded when policemen clashed with angry farmers during a poppy eradication campaign in Ghor province. (BBC, Feb. 18)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments

 

 

Refugee Camps in Pakistan

 

 

Location	Long-term camps in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Baluchistan Province, and by capital, Islamabad; Mohamed Kheil 1 & 2 camps (85 km southwest of Quetta)
Type	Refugee Camps
Coordination	UNHCR.
Camp Capacity	About one million mostly long term Afghans in 74 camps—down from about 200 camps.
Population	Estimated 2.6 million Afghan refugees remain in Pakistan; 63 camps in NWFP, 10 in Baluchistan; and one million elsewhere; Many occupants are long-term residents or were born in Pakistan;
Refugee Movement
Food	WFP, CRS, ARC
Health	UNICEF, MSF
Non-Food Items (NFIs) - Shelter	CRS
Security	“Finger-pointing” between Afghan and Pakistan leaders over curbing Taliban and Al-Qaeda along shared border areas
Water & Sanitation	IFRC, MDM
Comments	The Pakistan government has identified existing camps in Dhir and Chitral in the northern part of the country as relocation sites for Afghans who can not return to Afghanistan following recent camp closures in NWFP and Balochistan. (UNHCR, Feb. 21)   2,161,984 Afghans were registered between October 2006 and yesterday. Of the total, 1,368,316 were registered in North West Frontier Province; 454,726 in Balochistan; 240,698 in Punjab and Islamabad; 92,189 in Sindh; and 6,055 in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir (PcK). More than 2.87 million Afghans have returned home from Pakistan since 2002, including over 133,000 in 2006. (Feb. 16, Reuters)   As of February 2, 2007, over two million Afghan refugees in Pakistan have registered in a US$6-million refugee registration campaign jointly carried out by the UNHCR and Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). (UNHCR, Feb. 2)   Pakistan will close four Afghan refugee camps in its border areas, Girdi Jungle and Jungle Pir Alizai in southwestern Balochistan province, and Katchagari and Jalozai in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), by August this year. The camps house about 230,000 people. Katchagari and Jungle Pir Alizai will be closed by June 15, while Jalozi and Girdi Jungle will be closed by August 31. (BBC, UNHCR, Feb-09)