October 27, 2006

 

Overview

 

Afghan President Karzai in contact with pro-Taliban leaders in Pakistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is reportedly in contact with key pro-Taliban leaders in neighboring Pakistan to seek their assistance in stemming the growing insurgency in his country.  According to Reuters, Karzai has been in touch with Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, leader of the opposition alliance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), and Pashtun nationalist leader Asfandayar Wali Khan, and has been urging them to help restore peace in Afghanistan’s restive south.  Speaking to Reuters today (Friday, October 27), Rehman confirmed that he had received a letter from Karzai asking him to use his influence in dealing with the situation in the eastern and southeastern parts of Afghanistan.  Rehman said he will respond to Karzai’s request following consultations with the leadership of his party, Jamiat-e-Ulemai-e-Islam.  Asfandayar Wali Khan, who heads Awami National Party (ANP), said Karzai has also been in touch with him in writing and via telephone, adding that he is ready to play any role in making the tribal consultation “jirgas” successful.  Pakistan has already started calling jirgas in semi-autonomous tribal areas to counter Taliban influence. The idea of convening tribal jirgas was floated during a meeting between US President George Bush, Afghan President Karzai and Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf at the White House last month

 

Roadside bomb kills 14 civilians in southern Afghanistan

At least 14 people were killed and three others wounded in Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan province today (Friday, October 27), when a roadside bomb ripped through a pickup truck. According to Capt. Andre Salloun, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, the anti-tank mine explosion took place some five miles (8km) west of the provincial capital of Tarin Kot. However, it remains unclear if the mine was an old one or newly planted by insurgents. The victims were from a small village and were reportedly traveling to Tirin Kot to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

 

NATO raids kill dozens of civilians in Afghanistan's restive south

At least sixty civilians were reportedly killed in three separate military operations by NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces in Afghanistan’s restive south on Tuesday (October 24). According to the ISAF, the first incident took place Tuesday morning when some 30-40 Taliban insurgents attacked an Afghan National Army and ISAF patrol in Panjwayi district in southern Kandahar province, which left 12 insurgents dead. The second incident took place around 19:00 local time when ISAF troops fired at a suspected vehicle, killing at least 10 insurgents. The third incident reportedly took place in Sperwan Ghar, around 22:30 local time, when NATO planes reportedly bombed a group of insurgents on the move. On Wednesday (October 25), NATO claimed to have killed as many as 48 suspected Taliban insurgents. However, as reports of the civilian deaths emerged, NATO also acknowledged that it had received “credible reports” of civilian casualties, including women and children, although it could not confirm the numbers. According to some provincial officials, as many as 85 civilians were killed and some 25 houses destroyed as result of the NATO raids, which lasted some 4-5 hours. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called for a speedy and thorough investigation into the civilian deaths, adding that any civilian casualties were unacceptable.

 

NATO and Afghan troops seize major drug haul in Afghanistan

NATO-led troops, in coordination with Afghan police, seized a large quantity of drugs in two separate drug busts in the country’s south and west. According to reports, more than nine tons of marijuana were seized from a truck at a checkpoint near Qalat in southern Zabul province on a road that links Kandahar to the capital, Kabul. According to an unnamed NATO official, four individuals riding in the truck have been detained. In another drug bust in western Farah province, US-led coalition forces, in conjunction with the Afghan National Army, seized more than 121 pounds (50 kilograms) of opium from a car that failed to make a routine stop at a checkpoint. Authorities were able to alert the next checkpoint, where the car was finally forced to stop. Two occupants of the car were also detained. Seized drugs only represent a fraction of the 6,100 tons of record opium production across the country during the current year. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), some 2.9 million people representing more than 12 percent of the total Afghan population were involved in poppy cultivation. UNODC estimates revenues from this year’s poppy harvest will hit over US$3 billion.

 

 

 

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	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 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	Factional fighting in Herat leaves at least 30 dead.
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