November 9, 2007

Overview

Suicide bomb attack in northern Afghanistan kills more than 65 civilians, mostly children

More than 65 people, including six members of parliament, were killed and over a 100 wounded on Tuesday (November 6) in a suicide bomb attack in northern Afghanistan. Among the dead was Sayed Mustafa Kazimi, a former Afghan commerce minister and a powerful member of the Northern Alliance - a resistance movement that with the help of the US ousted the hardline Taliban regime. According to reports, the attack took place outside a sugar factory in the industrial part of the town of Baghlan in northern Baghlan province, as lawmakers from the lower house of parliament were visiting. Dozens of children who had gathered on both sides of the street to greet the visitors were also among the dead. Shukria Barakzai, a female lawmaker who was also wounded in the blast, said that 13 of the 18 of the 249-member lower house of the parliament who were visiting, were either dead or critically wounded. Afghan officials have so far confirmed the death of six lawmakers and 59 children. Zameri Bashary, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, blamed the attack on the "enemy of Afghanistan," a phrase commonly used to refer to Taliban militants. However, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, denied his organization's involvement in the latest attack. Afghanistan's north has largely escaped violence. However, recent months have seen some violence, often attributed to the Taliban. It is important to note that besides the Taliban conflict, a power struggle between various militias and warlords who once joined forces to fight against the Taliban, is also under way. There have also been reports that armed groups who had once given up weapons are now acquiring weapons, using the threat of the resurgent Taliban as an excuse. It appears that security across almost all parts of the country is worsening by the day.

More than 70 killed in separate security incidents in southern Afghanistan

More than 70 people, mostly militants, have been killed across restive parts of Afghanistan in separate security operations since last Friday (November 2). Seven policemen were reportedly killed in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province Thursday (November 8) in an ambush by Taliban insurgents. According to provincial Police Chief Abdul Mohammad, Taliban fighters ambushed a highway police patrol in Zabul's Shahjoy district, killing seven policemen and destroying a vehicle. Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying dozens of its fighters had carried out the ambush in Shahjoy. The attack came a day after Afghan and US-led coalition forces killed at least two Taliban fighters and detained several others in Zabul's Qalat district on Wednesday (November 7). Four Afghan policemen were killed last Sunday (November 4) when a bomb ripped through their vehicle in the southeastern province of Ghazni. A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the Afghan interior ministry, Afghan security forces in conjunction with foreign security troops had killed 25 Taliban insurgents in an operation in central Uruzgan province on Saturday (November 3). A US-led coalition statement said that its troops, in a joint operation with Afghan forces, had repelled an attack on Friday on a military base in Uruzgan, causing an unspecified number of enemy casualties. However, Jumagul Himat, the provincial police chief in Uruzgan, claimed that 35 Taliban fighters were killed in the gun battle. Two foreign soldiers, including one from the Netherlands, were killed in separate incidents in Uruzgan on Friday and Saturday. The coalition forces also claimed they had killed several Taliban insurgents in Musa Qala district in southern Helmand province on Saturday in a ground and air assault. Taliban insurgents have also reportedly overrun Khak-e-Sefid district in western Farah province.

Norway to boost its Afghan presence by 250 troops

Earlier this week (Tuesday, November 6), Norway said it will send 250 additional troops to Afghanistan to bolster its presence on the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) next year (2008). Norway Defense Minister Anne-Grethe Stroem-Erichsen said the new deployment will also include 150 Special Operations Forces that will be based in the Kabul region for a period of 18 months starting in March 2008. She said as part of the deployment, Norway will also send 100 infantry troops and two or three helicopters to reinforce its present contingent near northern Faryab province’s capital, Maymana. Norway said it also plans to increase its contributions to the training of Afghan military and police to 50 personnel in 2008. Norway currently has some 500 personnel in Afghanistan as part of ISAF. Norway said there were no fundamental restrictions regarding where to deploy Norwegian forces within ISAF’s area of operations.

Movement

2007: UNHCR temporarily suspends Afghan voluntary repatriation campaign in Pakistan until March 2008 due to seasonal slowdown. (IRIN, Nov. 2). Pakistan has reportedly extended the deadline to close Jalozai camp until March 2008. (IRIN, Sep. 4). The UNHCR has asked Pakistan to temporarily suspend closure of Jalozai refugee camp in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that was originally scheduled to be closed on August 31. UNHCR said due to the fast approaching Muslim holy month of Ramadan and winter season, conditions were not conducive for the return of some 100,000 camp residents. UNHCR said any forceful return of these refugees could lead to secondary displacement.

Pakistan to close all Afghan refugee camps by December 2009 and to repatriate all refugees living in the country. UNHCR says it has repatriated over 306,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan so far this year under its voluntary repatriation campaign. (UNHCR, Aug. 10)

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.

Iran deported some 85,000 unregistered refugees to Afghanistan during April 21 - May 14, 2007. Iranian officials say they plan to initially send back 500,000 of over a million illegal refugees in the country. Earlier this week, Iran said it has reached an agreement with the Afghan government to slow down the pace of expulsions for illegal Afghans living in the country.

Some 200,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan have returned to their homes under the UN-assisted voluntary Afghan refugee repatriation program since it resumed on March 1, 2007, following a seasonal winter suspension. Pakistani authorities say voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan that are without proof of registration (PoR) ended this week (April 15), and refugees remaining in the country without PoR are now considered illegal and subject to government action. Repatriation campaign for Afghan refugees with PoR

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 March 19 floods killed 30 people in Uruzgan

province.

IDP Movement

Food

A rapid food needs assessment by USAID’s Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) suggests that due to failed wheat crops, unfavorable weather and higher food prices, Ghor province would need in the short-term (December-April) some 14,231 metric tons of food assistance to feed its vulnerable population. (Reliefweb, Oct. 18)

The Bamyan Disaster Management Committee has asked for 22,000 tons of food items for vulnerable people in Waras and Punjab affected by recent floods and a cold wave. UNAMA says that some 50 percent of 20,000 tons of foodstuff are being rushed to affected areas. (Oct. 11, Frontier Post)

According to local officials, thousands of students attending 40 schools in Ghazni province have not received WFP food assistance for over a month due to insecurity. FAO on July 5 said that 6.5 million Afghans suffer from chronic food insecurity. (July 8, IRIN)

Health

UN agencies and the local provincial government raise funds to build a new maternity wing in the Bamiyan main hospital. The new facility is expected to provide essential healthcare for expectant mothers in central Bamiyan province and to reduce the risk of both maternal and child mortality. (UNAMA, July 17).

At least 20 children have died in several districts of central Daikundi and northern Balkh provinces over the past five weeks due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July 12)

Typhoid fever has claimed five lives and infected some 200 others in the Charsada district of central Ghor province. (Feb. 15, People’s Daily Online)

NFIs -Shelter

IOM, UNICEF, UNOCHA, & OXFAM

Water & Sanitation

UNICEF

Security

Afghan and US-led coalition forces killed 25 Taliban insurgents in a gun battle in Uruzgan province on Saturday (Nov-3). (ABC, TOI, Nov-4)

As many as 35 Taliban fighters were reportedly killed in a fire fight with Afghan and US-led coalition forces near a military base in Uruzgan province on Friday (Nov-2). (ABC, TOI, Nov-4)

NATO-led airstrikes killed 20 suspected militants and as many as 13 civilians in central Wardak province on October 22. (BBC, KT, Oct. 23)

Three civilians were killed and seven others were wounded in NATO-led airstrikes against Taliban insurgents in central Wardak province on October 14. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) called in airstrikes after one of its convoys was ambushed by insurgents in Jalrez district, east of the provincial capital, Maydan Shahr. Five insurgents were also reportedly killed in the airstrikes, while as many as 14 foreign troops were wounded in the ambush. (ABC, BBC, CNN, Oct. 14, 16)

The Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR) announced October 8 that its two workers that had been held hostage for nine days had been released. The two workers were abducted by unknown gunmen on September 30 in central Logar province, some 30 miles south of the Afghan capital, Kabul. (DACAAR, Oct. 8)

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) IRC, Action Contra la Faim; WFP;
Health	President Karzai helped inaugurate the new hospital of the National Department of Security on September 14. (GOA, Sep. 14) More than 10,000 people, mostly children, have been affected by diarrhea in flood-stricken provinces across the country, including Kabul. (IRIN, July 12) Kabul is home to the world’s worst outbreak of leishmaniasis, thought to have spread to hundreds of thousands of people. The sandflies that spread the parasites causing the disease are present in all Afghan cities, but more prominently in poor, crowded areas where they breed on waste land and in trash. (Reuters, May 7) UNICEF, CARITAS, MSF, IFRC, IRC, ICRC;
Non-Food Items - Shelter	UNHCR, ACTED, MSF, IRC, ICRC, IOM;
Security
Water & Sanitation	An agreement has been signed between the UNHCR and the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) to provide safe drinking water for Afghan returnees from Pakistan and Iran, as well as IDPs. (UNHCR, Sep. 24) ICRC;
Comments	The Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA) says it has completed demining the community of Karte Sakhi in Kabul. (UNAMA, Sep. 15) Floods triggered by spring rains continue to affect districts in Kunar, Laghman and Nangarhar provinces. Floods have killed 13 people in Kunar and another eight in Laghman. Nearly 3,000 people have been affected by the floods in these provinces. (OCHA, Apr. 5)

Eastern Region

Location	Eastern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, International Islamic Relief Organization;
Population
IDP Movement	UNHCR
Food	IRC; NATO-led ISAF PRT transports water pipes for a nearly 7-mile-long planned water supply project in Baghlan province. (NATO, Aug. 23)t
Health	Provincial officials in southern Khost, Kandahar and eastern Nangarhar provinces have confirmed hundreds of diarrhea cases due to water contamination from recent floods. (IRIN, July 11) 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)
Non-Food Items - Shelter	CWS, UNICEF
Security	US-led coalition troops killed two women and a child in Bati Kot district in eastern Nangarhar province on Wednesday (October 31) when they returned fire after being shot at from a compound. (BBC, ABC, Nov.1) Security forces killed a Taliban militant in a security sweep in Kunar Khas district in Kunar province. (ABC, AP, Nov. 1)
Water & Sanitation	CARITAS; ICRC, UNICEF
Comments

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	Taliban insurgents ambushed and killed two Afghan policemen and abducted a police commander in Nuristan province. (BBC, Oct. 7) Twelve people, including five government employees and seven policemen, were killed on Sunday (September 23) when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their vehicle as it traveled through northeastern Badakhshan province. (CNN, Sep. 24)
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; At least 20 children have died in several districts of northern Balkh and central Daikundi provinces over the past five weeks due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July 12)
NFIs –Shelter	IOM, ACTED, Mercy Corps
Security	More than 65 people, including six members of Afghanistan’s lower house of the parliament and 59 schoolchildren, were killed and more than 100 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack near a sugar factory in northern Baghlan province on Tuesday (Nov-6). (ABC, BBC, Reuters, Nov-6-8) Four people, including a district police chief, his brother and two other policemen, were killed in a roadside bomb blast in northern Baghlan province late Monday (September 24). (The News, Sep. 25)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF, ICRC, DACAAR
Comments	ISAF PRT helps flood-affected families in Khamyab and Qarqin districts in Jowzjan province at the request of provincial authorities. (Frontier Post, Aug. 12)

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	UNOCHA reports that over 2,500 families have left their homes in different districts of Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces over the past two months, according to provincial officials. Many of the displaced say they are leaving because of forced recruitment attempts by the Taliban and air strikes by international forces. Many have sought shelter in Kandahar city. (UNOCHA, Sep. 27) 880 families affected by conflict in Chora district in Uruzgan province have been settled in Tirin Kot and Dehrawud districts with the help of UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP and UNICEF. (Reliefweb, July 30) About 2,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled their homes in several parts of Helmand province due to heavy fighting between Taliban insurgents and NATO-led forces. (IRIN, July 9)
Food	The World Food Program (WFP) delivered 500 metric tons of food to the provincial capital Lashkargah, in southern Helmand province for some 4,500 families affected by fighting in Musa Qala, Sangin, Kajakiand Nawzad districts. (Reliefweb, Sep. 3) WFP also distributed 300 tons of food to some 37,000 beneficiaries in Kandahar and Helmand under food-for-work and literacy programs. (Reliefweb, Sep. 3) UNICEF; Mercy Corps; CARITAS; WFP;
Health	The Australian Reconstruction Task Force (RTF), part of the Dutch-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Regional Command South, has completed the redevelopment of the Tarin Kowt Hospital and the construction of the Yaklengah Comprehensive Health Clinic. (NATO, Sep. 17) The Afghan Ministry of Public Health and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) signed a memorandum of understanding under which the ICRC will significantly increase its support for the 390-bed regional referral Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar for the next two years. The hospital formerly run by Italian NGO Emergency provides essential care for thousands of patients, including men, women and children wounded in hostilities in the neighboring provinces of Zabul, Helmand and Uruzgan. (ICRC, July 26) Members of the NATO-led ISAF medical team with the support of the Afghan National Police deployed recently to Arghestan district, Kandahar province, to provide temporary medical assistance to the local populace. Working alongside with ANP in Khughani village, the medical mission treated 575 local Afghans and 30 policemen. (NATO, July 23)
NFIs - Shelter	UNHCR, Mercy Corps;
Security	*Four Afghan policemen were killed in a roadside bomb attack Sunday (Nov-4) in Ghazni province. (ABC, TOI, Nov-4)* *Taliban insurgents killed seven Afghan policemen in an ambush in Shahjoy district in Zabul province Thursday (Nov-8). (The News, Nov-8)* *Afghan and US-led coalition forces killed at least two Taliban fighters and detained several others in Qalat district in Zabul province on Wednesday (Nov-7). (The News, Nov-8)*
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Some 2,500 families (roughly 13,000 people) who fled ongoing violence in Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar are staying around Kandahar city in urgent need of temporary shelter. (IRIN, Oct. 3) UNICEF estimates some 262 of the 740 schools in the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul are currently unable to provide education. (UNNS, July 30)

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
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 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	IRC, CARITAS, UNICEF, World Vision, IOM, Action Contre la Faim; WFP; Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR) is providing safe drinking water to the drought-affected western Afghan provinces of Farah and Herat. Some 7,000 families, or 42,000 individuals, will be provided safe water and hygiene training. (DACAAR, Aug. 22) WFP said July 11 that it has resumed some food deliveries along the southern ring road, allowing it to deliver food to the western region. Normal operations moving 1,500 to 1,200 tons of food each week are planned. In late May, WFP suspended some of its deliveries to parts of southern, eastern and western Afghanistan due to insecurity. (WFP, July 11)
Health	Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), with the help of US-led coalition forces, carried out a Medical Civic Action Program (MEDCAP) in Shewan, western Farah province on August 30 and treated more than 811 people, including 576 women and children. (USG, Sep. 2)
Non-Food Items (NFIs) – Shelter	UNHCR, Iranian Red Crescent, UNICEF, IOM, Ockenden Int’l, MSF, IMC
Security	*Taliban insurgents have reportedly overrun Khak-e-Sefid district in Farah province. Earlier they overran Gulistan and Bakwa districts. (ABC, TOI, Nov-4)* Afghan and NATO-led security forces killed more than 20 Taliban insurgents in the Gulistan district of western Farah province on Tuesday (October 30). (MSNBC, KT, CNN, Oct. 30)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	The US Provincial Reconstruction Team in Farah launched a US$1.7 million bridge project that will benefit more than 10,000 residents of Tojg and thousands of others in neighboring districts during the flooding season. (Reliefweb, Oct. 24)

Refugee Camps in Pakistan

Location	Long-term camps in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), NWFP, Baluchistan Province, and by capital, Islamabad; Mohamed Kheil 1 & 2 camps (85 km southwest of Quetta)
Type	Refugee Camps
Coordination	Afghanistan, Pakistan and UNHCR on August 2 extended the tripartite agreement governing the voluntary repatriation of registered Afghans from Pakistan through December 2009. The agreement provides a legal and operational framework for the process. To date, more than 3 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan under the voluntary repatriation program since 2002. This year, more than 300,000 Afghans have returned. (UNHCR, GOP, August 2) The Kacha Garhi Afghan refugee camp was officially closed on July 26. Kacha Garhi, set up in 1980 and located in Hayatabad in NWFP, had 64,000 registered Afghans. The closure followed two years of negotiations, as many refugees initially did not want to repatriate. By the camp's closure, some 37,000 refugees had been repatriated by the UNHCR. Most refugees were originally from Afghanistan's eastern and central provinces of Nangarhar, Laghman, Kabul, and Logar. (UNHCR, July 27)
Camp Capacity	About one million mostly long term Afghans in 74 camps—down from about 200 camps.
Population	2.05 million registered Afghans remaining in Pakistan; 63 camps in NWFP, 12 in Baluchistan; and one million elsewhere; Many occupants are long-term residents or were born in Pakistan; (UNHCR, August 2) Jungle Pir Alizai (Balochistan): 36,000, originally scheduled to close June 15 Kacha Gari (NWFP): original population of 64,811, officially closed July 26 – 37,000 repatriated. (UNHCR, July 27) Jalozai (NWFP): 109,934, originally scheduled to close August 31. UNHCR on August 22 requested Pakistan to temporarily suspend the camp’s closure due to insufficient time for some 100,000 people to move and settle into new places in the face of the fast approaching Ramadan and winter season. (UNHCR, Aug. 22). Pakistan has extended the camp closure deadline until March 2008. (IRIN, Sep. 4) Girdi Jungle (Balochistan): 17,844, scheduled to close August 31 (IRIN, June 14)
Refugee Movement	Pakistan wants some 2 million Afghan refugees to return home by 2009. (AP, June 14) UNHCR temporarily suspends Afghan voluntary repatriation campaign in Pakistan until March 2008 due to seasonal slowdown. (IRIN, Nov. 2).
Food	UNHCR in coordination with local and international organizations is helping some 4,000 Afghans in five flood-affected Afghan refugee camps in Balochistan province. The assistance mainly included non-food items such as tents and tarpaulins. (IRIN, July 26). WFP, CRS, ARC
Health	UNICEF, MSF
Non-Food Items (NFIs) - Shelter	CRS
Security	At least three Pakistani villagers and an Afghan refugee were killed when hundreds of villagers and refugees living in and near the Jungle Pir Alizai camp in Balochistan province clashed with police sent to demolish their homes. (AP, June 14)
Water & Sanitation	IFRC, MDM
Comments