March 23, 2007

Overview

Kidnapped Italian journalist freed in Afghanistan

Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, 52, who was kidnapped by Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan earlier this month (March 5), was released by his captors on Monday (March 19) following the release of five Taliban militants by the Afghan government. The US and the UK have criticized the deal saying that it sent the wrong signal to prospective kidnappers. The US has reportedly registered its formal complaint with Italy over the issue. The spokeswoman said, "It is US policy to use every appropriate resource to gain the safe return of hostages, but to make no concessions to individuals of groups holding those hostages," and added that the US "did not approve of concessions to terrorists." Mastrogiacomo, who worked for the Italian newspaper la Repubblica, was kidnapped along with two Afghans earlier this month shortly after he entered Helmand province. The Taliban killed his Afghan driver. The Afghan interpreter who was abducted with Mastrogiacomo continues to be in Taliban custody. On Wednesday (March 21), several journalist groups called for the release of the translator, Adjmal Naqshbandi.

UN urges Pakistan to do more for security along the Pak-Afghan border

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging Pakistan to do more to stop militant incursions from Pakistan into Afghanistan. Addressing the UN Security Council on Tuesday (March 20), Ban said suicide bombers and Taliban fighters were crossing into Afghanistan from Pakistan, adding that according to Afghan and international security sources, the financing and training of these attacks were located outside Afghanistan. He said recent steps taken by Pakistan were encouraging, but added that more determined actions were still needed. He said coordinated efforts between Afghanistan and Pakistan were pivotal to curb cross-border incursions.

Up to 69 Taliban militants killed in clashes in southern Afghanistan

As many as 69 Taliban insurgents were killed in separate clashes with Afghan and NATO-led security forces in southern Helmand province since Wednesday (March 21), according to Afghan defense ministry sources. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the defense ministry, said 49 bodies were recovered at the battle ground in the Gereshk district and the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. He said at least seven Afghan policemen were also killed in clashes with the militants. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was providing close air and medical support. The fighting is expected to further intensify as Afghan and NATO-led forces make a deeper push into the country's restive south and east to flush out Taliban militants and drug traffickers in the latest offensive, dubbed "Operation Achilles."

Death toll climbs to over 50 in southern Afghanistan as torrential rains continue

Flash floods and avalanches triggered by continuing torrential rains in Afghanistan's south and southwest has claimed more lives, and caused widespread damage to homes and roads. According to the United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN), the death toll from recent flooding and avalanches has now climbed to over 50. Floods have destroyed or damaged more than 500 houses in Helmand, Uruzgan, Badghis and Ghor provinces. An avalanche in the Murgab area in central Ghor reportedly killed at least 16 people, and injured some 25. On Monday (March 19), floods killed 30 people in neighboring Uruzgan province. Flash floods and rains have also killed at least 12 people, including women and children, in Helmand and Badghis. According to provincial officials, floods have damaged as many as 200 homes in Ingeel district in western Herat province. A Joint Disaster Preparedness Committee (JDPC) comprised of Afghan government entities, UN agencies, international relief organizations and US-led coalition forces, has sent rapid assessment teams to the affected areas. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has sent helicopters to deliver relief aid and to evacuate residents from flood-affected Deh Rawud (also spelled Dehrawud) district in Uruzgan province. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) says it is ready to deliver food items to affected communities. Rikki Maliklali, WFP's second-in-charge in Afghanistan, said that he had 350,000 metric tons of food items at five warehouses across the country, which he said was sufficient for the present level of needs.

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 in Pakistan resumed on Thursday (March 1) with a first group of 25 refugees leaving for Afghanistan.

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

Location	Central Region
Coordination
Population	An avalanche in the Murgab area in central Ghor killed at least 16 people. On Monday (March 19) floods killed 30 people in Uruzgan province.
IDP Movement
Food
Health	Typhoid fever has claimed five lives and infected some 200 others over the past 10 days in the Charsada district of the country's central Ghor province. (Feb. 15, People’s Daily Online)
NFIs -Shelter	IOM, UNICEF, UNOCHA, & OXFAM
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Security	New Zealand PRT in Bamiyan
Comments

East Central Region

Location	East Central Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population
IDP Movement	UN; Government encouraging refugees to return to home provinces to limit burden on Kabul—government land distribution program only in province of origin;
Food	ISAF troops carried out a two-day food donation near the village of Gulbagh in Chahar Asiab district, (Feb. 11, NATO) Florida state guards deliver 2,000 blankets, 1,000 soccer balls and basic school supplies for hundreds of orphaned children in Kabul. (USG, Nov. 30). IRC, Action Contra la Faim; WFP;
Health	Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Liu Jian on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the US$15.69 million China-funded new main Jamhuriat Hospital building in Afghan capital Kabul. (Xinhua, Nov. 2) UNICEF, CARITAS, MSF, IFRC, IRC, ICRC;
Non-Food Items - Shelter	UNHCR, ACTED, MSF, IRC, ICRC, IOM;
Security	An accidental explosion at a gunpowder shop in central Kabul on Wednesday (March 14) killed 13 people and wounded dozens of others. The explosion also destroyed or damaged some 100 of the 400 shops in the marketplace. (BBC, ABC, Mar. 14)
Water & Sanitation	ICRC;
Comments

Eastern Region

Location	Eastern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, International Islamic Relief Organization;
Population
IDP Movement	UNHCR
Food	IRC;
Health	FAO confirmed cases of the H5N1 type of bird flu in poultry in the eastern city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province and in Sawki district in Kunar province. (FAO, Feb. 26) Jalalabad PRT distributed hygiene kits, first-aid kits, tarps, school kits, and student kits to the Char Bagh Girls Middle School in Sirjkh Rod District, in Nangarhar province. (NATO, Feb. 11)
Non-Food Items - Shelter	CWS, UNICEF
Security	At least eight civilians were killed as result of shooting by US troops, following a suicide attack on a US convoy on the Jalalabad highway in eastern Nangarhar province on Sunday, March 4. (BBC, AP, Mar. 5) At least six civilians, including children and women, were killed as a result of a US-led airstrike aimed at Taliban militants in Kapisa province on Monday, March 5. (AP, BBC, Mar. 6) U.S.-led troops killed one suspected militant and detained six others in a string of raids near Jalalabad in Nangarhar province the U.S. military said Friday (February 16); Afghan troops killed a man and detained four other suspected militants during a raid in Paktika province on Wednesday (February 14). (Reuters)
Water & Sanitation	CARITAS; ICRC, UNICEF
Comments	Nuristan PRT in Kala Gush dedicated the newly completed Nurgram Ministry of Justice building, conducted medical outreach in Dareng village and inspected the ongoing construction of a school in Kowtalay village. (Feb. 9, NATO)

Northeastern Region

Location	Northeastern Region
Coordination
Population	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast
Movement IDPs
Food
Health	WHO, Merlin, UNICEF, MSF; ICRC
Non-Food Items (NFIs) -Shelter	UNICEF, ACTED, Refugees Int’l, Mercy Corps
Security	NATO/German PRT in Faizabad;
Water & Sanitation
Comments

Northern Region

Location	Northern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, IOM
Population	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast; 60,000 IDPs from North elsewhere in country;
Movement IDPs	IOM
Food
Health	MSF, ICRC, UNICEF;
NFIs –Shelter	IOM, ACTED, Mercy Corps
Security	A German aid worker working for Bonn-based Agro Action was gunned down by armed bandits in Sayyad district in northwestern Sar-e-Pol (also spelled Saripul) province. (BBC, Mar. 9)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF, ICRC, DACAAR
Comments

Southern Region

Location	Southern Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population	IFRC says that flash floods and avalanches in early March have affected 2,200 families in Helmand/Sangreen Grishk, Musa Qala, and Nowzad districts; and 400 families in Uruzgan/Dehraud district. (IFRC, March 23).
Movement of IDPs
Food	UNICEF; Mercy Corps; CARITAS; WFP; According to the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) of some 1,500 families displaced by fighting near Musa Qala, only some 300 had received assistance from UNICEF. The WFP and ARCS. (UNOCHA, Feb. 21) MRRD, in conjunction with the WFP, plans to distribute 5,820 metric tons of food during 2007 to 50,820 food insecure families (304,920 individuals) under a food-for-work scheme. (GOA, Feb.22)
Health	Persistent insecurity in southern Afghanistan continues to hamper polio vaccination campaigns in Uruzgan and other provinces in the south. (UNOCHA, Mar. 15) Afghan authorities ordered the slaughter of poultry in the area after two cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu was discovered in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. (VOA, Feb. 21)
NFIs - Shelter	UNHCR, Mercy Corps;
Security	As many as 69 Taliban insurgents were killed in separate clashes with Afghan and NATO-led security forces in southern Helmand province this week. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the defense ministry said 49 bodies were recovered at the battle ground in the Gereshk district and the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. He said at least seven Afghan policemen were also killed in clashes with the militants. (BBC, Reuters, Mar. 22) Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who was kidnapped by Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan earlier this month (March 5), was released by his captors on Monday (March 19) following the release of five Taliban militants by the Afghan government. The Taliban reportedly killed his Afghan driver. The Afghan interpreter who was abducted with Mastrogiacomo continues to be in Taliban custody. (BBC, Reuters, Mar. 19, Mar 21) Five policemen were reportedly killed on Thursday night (March 15) in Gereshk district in southern Helmand province as result of alleged shooting by US-led coalition troops. (BBC, ABC, Mar. 16) US-led coalition airstrike aimed at Taliban militants in Gereshk district last Saturday (March 10) killed five civilians. (BBC, CNN, Mar. 12) Eight Afghan security troops and five Taliban militants were killed in a clash in southern Kandahar province on Sunday (March 12). (BBC, ABC, Mar. 12)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments

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	According to the IFRC, flash floods and avalanches in early March have affected some 200 families in Herat city; 918 families in Gulran district; 35 families in Cheshte Sharif district; 150 families in Shindand district, 6,500 families in Badghis/Jawand and Murghab districts, and 20 families in Gour district. (IFRC, March 23) 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	At least 10 policemen were in a roadside bomb aimed at a police convoy in Bakwa district in western Farah province on Tuesday (March 13), which also killed the newly-appointed district police chief. (ABC, HT, Mar. 13)
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
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)