October 13, 2006

 

Overview

 

NATO commander in Afghanistan meets Pakistan's President to increase cooperation on terrorism

The commander of the 26-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) force in Afghanistan, which is currently leading the charge of the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the country, visited Pakistan to hold talks with Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf on increasing cooperation in the war against terrorism. British General David B. Richards met with President Musharraf on Tuesday (October 10) in Rawalpindi city and held talks on strengthening cooperation. There had been speculation in the media before Richards' arrival that he would confront President Musharraf, and deliver evidence that Pakistani intelligence was helping insurgents in Afghanistan. Speaking to Pakistan’s Geo News channel before his meeting with Musharraf, Richards denied that was the reason for his trip. Richards said he was in Pakistan to seek more help adding, “We all want to do more because we still have a problem. Lots of other people can do more as well—the people I’m working with in Afghanistan and the international community.” Richards said as part of enhanced cooperation, the Pakistani military would soon be joining NATO’s headquarters in Kabul. Richards has said that unless there is marked improvement in people’s lives over the next six months, more people are likely to support the Taliban. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council plans to send a mission to Afghanistan next month to assess the volatile security situation and to assure the people of Afghanistan of the world body's commitment. Japan’s UN envoy and Security Council president, Kenzo Oshima, made the announcement on Monday (October 9).

 

Dozens dead in separate security incidents across Afghanistan since Saturday

Dozens of people, including two German journalists, were killed in separate incidents of violence across Afghanistan since Saturday (October 7). In the latest violence, at least nine people, including eight civilians and a NATO soldier, were killed in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province today (Friday, October 13) in a suicide bomb attack aimed at a NATO convoy. Sixteen people were wounded in separate attacks in the southeastern province of Khost on Thursday (October 12). Afghan and NATO-led security forces claim to have killed as many as 25 Taliban insurgents in clashes in southern Uruzgan province on Wednesday (October 11). On Tuesday (October 10), at least 11 people were wounded when a bomb attached to a bicycle exploded next to a police bus in the Afghan capital Kabul. On Monday (October 9), three top district officials were among five killed when their vehicle hit a landmine in the Khogiani district in eastern Nangarhar province. Three other people were also wounded in the incident. According to Pajhwok Afghan News, Dr. Hanif, a purported Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack. On Sunday (October 8), Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops reportedly killed 52 Taliban insurgents in a security operation in southern Uruzgan province. Security forces also killed 16 insurgents in neighboring Helmand province on Sunday and five suspected Taliban insurgents in Kandahar province after they ambushed a construction worker. A male and a female reporter working for Germany’s state-owned Deutsch Welle news were gunned down on the outskirts of a small village in northern Baghlan province on the fifth anniversary of the US-led war on terror in Afghanistan on Saturday (October 7). The incidents underscore the persistent insecurity across the country. Meanwhile, NATO is saying that militant attacks have dropped by 50 percent over the past two weeks. It remains unclear if the drop is due to increased security measures and the crackdown against militants.

 

Red Cross meets 14 "high-value detainees” as British official calls Guantanamo Bay detentions "unacceptable"

A twelve-member delegation from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is on a scheduled visit to the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, met yesterday (Thursday, October 12) with 14 “high-value” terror suspects that were recently transferred to the facility from secret US detention facilities elsewhere. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged terrorist mastermind of the September 11 attacks in the US in 2001, is among those recently transferred. Since 2002, ICRC has been visiting detainees at Guantanamo Bay every six weeks. During the visit, detainees will be allowed to send messages through the ICRC to their families. These messages are subject to censorship by US authorities. Separately, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett is calling the detentions of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay “unacceptable” and “counterproductive.” At the launch of Britain’s annual report on human rights around the world, Beckett said the detention of hundreds of suspects was “unacceptable in terms of human rights” and “ineffective in terms of counterterrorism.” The report calls for the closure of Guantanamo Bay.

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.

 

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.

 

In 2006, UNHCR/IOM will assist with IDP returns and initial integration and then terminate the program. The recognized IDP population is about 150,000 with 120,000 in the south, including 45,000 in the Zhare Dasht camp near Kandahar, 15,000 in the west, mostly in Herat’s Maslakh camp, and 12,000 elsewhere.

 

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	Some 2,500 families displaced in Panjwayi and Zhari districts in Kandahar due to ongoing Operation Medusa against militants. (IRIN, Sep. 6). Considering alternatives, tens of thousands want to settle permanently in bleak Zhare Dasht area; UNHCR/IOM relocated several thousand in 2005;
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 sent 16.5 tons of food assistance for some 1,500 flood-affected people in Obeh district in Herat province. (IRIN, May 9) FEWS projects possible winter wheat crop failure in south and southwest due to insufficient water; IRC, CARITAS, UNICEF, World Vision, IOM, Action Contre la Faim; WFP;
Health	Bulgaria to send two medical experts to join eight Bulgarian medics at a Spanish field hospital in Herat as part of ISAF support. (GORB, Sep. 21) MSF, MDM, Order of Malta, CHA, IbniSina, HRS; ICRC; UNICEF;
Non-Food Items (NFIs) – Shelter	UNHCR, Iranian Red Crescent, UNICEF, IOM, Ockenden Int’l, MSF, IMC;
Security	Three Italian soldiers on NATO-led force and their Afghan interpreter were wounded in Herat on Wednesday when their vehicle was blown up. (AP, BBC, Sep. 27)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Herat has land prepared for settlement of 50,000;

 

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	UNHCR-assisted returns resumed on March 1. All FATA camps have been closed. 445,000 Afghans returned home from Pakistan in 2005—two thirds were long-term refugees; Pakistan to close Giordi Jungle and Pir Alizai camps in Baloshistan, and Kacha Gari camp in NWFP by the end of July, 2006. (UNNC, June 2). The 250,000 residents will either return to Afghanistan or be relocated to Mohammad Kheil camp, near Quetta in Baluchistan, or ten camps in NWFP.
Food	WFP, CRS, ARC
Health	UNICEF, MSF
Non-Food Items (NFIs) - Shelter	CRS
Security	Pakistani security force of 70,000 to 80,000 reports having border areas secured; Significant clashes between Pakistani government forces and others in border province areas; “Finger-pointing” between Afghan and Pakistan leaders over curbing Taliban and Al-Qaeda along shared border areas
Water & Sanitation	IFRC, MDM
Comments