CIVIL - MILITARY FUSION CEN TRE

Afghanistan Review Week 37 13 September 2011 Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises

INSIDE THIS ISSUE This document provides a weekly overview of developments in from 06—12 September 2011, with hyper-links to source material highlighted in blue and underlined in the text. For more information Economic Development on the topics below or other issues pertaining to events in Afghanistan, feel free to contact the members of Governance & Rule of Law Humanitarian Affairs the Afghanistan Team, or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org. Infrastructure Security & Force Protection Socio-Cultural Development Economic Development Steven A. Zyck ► [email protected]

DISCLAIMER he Afghan Investment Support Agency nation of several expenses, including the fol- (AISA) announced that a foreign com- lowing: “base salary, danger pay, overtime The Civil-Military Fusion Centre T pany will invest USD 100 million in and Sunday pay, maintenance pay for families (CFC) is an information and what would be the largest food processing located elsewhere, travel, training, and even a knowledge management facility in the country, says Tolo News. Cover- „field life support kit‟ of satellite phone and organisation focused on improving ing 5,000 acres of land, the processing plant protective equipment, as well a variety of oth- civil-military interaction, facilitating would employ several thousand Afghans and er costs.” notes, howev- information sharing and enhancing help Afghan agricultural products reach inter- er, that each US soldier in Afghanistan costs situational awareness through the national markets. The venture is being an average of USD 694,000 per year. CimicWeb portal and our weekly launched by a joint Saudi Arabian-American and monthly publications. company, ANHAM. ANHAM operates in The Washington Post reports that, with many South and Central Asia, the Middle East and American politicians looking to cut federal CFC products are based upon and North Africa and currently has a contract to government spending, civilian staff members link to open-source information supply food for foreign troops in Afghanistan. and programmes in Afghanistan may be ad- from a wide variety of organisations, The company‟s website notes that last year it versely affected. This same point is made research centres and media sources. was awarded a US government contract worth within the SIGAR-DoS audit report, which However, the CFC does not endorse up to USD 6.47 billion to support American notes the following: and cannot necessarily guarantee military logistics in Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan. the accuracy or objectivity of these “The current emphasis on reducing the sources. CFC publications are A recent audit report from the US Special In- federal deficit increases the likelihood independently produced by spector General for Afghanistan Reconstruc- that spending, including the budgets of Knowledge Managers and do not tion (SIGAR) and the inspector general from agencies involved in the uplift [i.e., the reflect NATO or ISAF policies or the US Department of State (DoS) was re- post-2009 increase in civilian advisers to positions of any other organisation. leased on 08 September, according to The Afghanistan], will be reduced in coming The CFC is part of NATO Allied Washington Post. The audit found that, since years. An overall budget reduction could Command Operations. 2009, nearly USD 1.7 billion have been spent negatively affect the U.S. government’s on deploying additional civilian aid experts ability to implement its strategy in Af- and advisers to Afghanistan. While most of ghanistan.” this money funded DoS personnel, substantial portions also went to US government civilians One year ago, then US Secretary of Defense employed by the United States Agency for Robert Gates made a similar comment to the International Development (USAID), the US US Congress, warning that cuts in aid to Af- Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US ghanistan would undermine the US strategy in Department of Justice (DoJ) and other federal that country, reported the Associated Press. CONTACT THE CFC agencies. The SIGAR-DoS audit report indi- cates that it costs the US government between Money traders in have told Radio Free For further information, contact: USD 410,000 and USD 570,000 per year to /Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that they be- Afghanistan Team Leader employ a civilian employee in Afghanistan; lieve large volumes of counterfeit currency Steven A. Zyck there are approximately 1,040 US civilian have entered into circulation in Afghanistan. [email protected] government staff members in Afghanistan. A The Afghan money traders suspect that the

separate article on this topic from CNN indi- money originates in Iran and/or Pakistan, and The Afghanistan Team cates that the total cost for US government some believe that the forged bills are intended [email protected] civilian employees in Afghanistan is a combi- to destabilise the Afghan economy. The head of Afghanistan‟s Money Exchange Dealers‟ Association told and security forces to do more in the border areas to prevent RFE/RL that he and his colleagues are “urging the government [the fake money‟s] entry into the country.”

Governance & Rule of Law Stefanie Nijssen ► [email protected]

he Afghan government has strongly rejected allegations NATO contingent to the Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI). of torture and abuse, reports the Associated Press (AP). The article maintains that, under French supervision, the ALP T The allegations emerged from a leaked report by the received sufficient ammunition, salaries and arms. Now that United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). the ALP is under government control, a former ALP member NATO temporarily suspended transferring detainees to a num- told IWPR that operations have become disorganised and that ber of Afghan jails in light of the accusations, highlighted the the ALP is facing a decrease in pay. BBC. The UNAMA report reportedly detailed the use of elec- tric shocks, threats of sexual assault and other means of physi- The , once condemning the use of the internet as being cal torture. At least six detention centres run by Afghanistan‟s “un-Islamic”, has developed its public relations skills, employ- intelligence agency, the National Directorate for Security ing such tools as email, websites and social media, reports (NDS), and three jails operated by the Ministry of Justice Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). According to the (MoJ) were implicated. Although Afghan government officials article, the Taliban has a website editor, an official media com- complained that the UN had not given them a copy of the re- mittee and a professional video production studio. Although port, a UN spokesman said that they had presented the report‟s insurgents may not be able to use these tools to communicate key findings to Afghan authorities and that the findings do not directly with one another, websites can be used to communi- represent an institutional or government policy of mistreat- cate with sister groups in other countries, according to the ment. RFE/RL article. Despite these adaptations, the Taliban leader- ship remains a mystery, Umar Daudzai, the Afghan special In related news, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a envoy to Pakistan, stated. Daudzai emphasised the military report charging the Afghan Local Police (ALP) with gross nature of the insurgency in saying that “the Taliban have no human rights violations including killings, rape, arbitrary de- political face [...] they don‟t have a political address.” tention, abduction, forcible land removal and illegal raids. A July 2011 report by the Civil-Military Fusion Centre (CFC) A flurry of discussion and progress concerning reconciliation indicated that the ALP is a local policing initiative comprised was also reported this past week. The Afghan High Peace of local fighters and supported by the Afghan government and Council (HPC) said that an early withdrawal of foreign troops some member of the international community; ALP members would be perilous for Afghanistan, according to Tolo News. are intended to supplement the Afghan National Security Forc- An article by Pajhwok Afghan News indicates that tribal elders es (ANSF). According to the AP, the HRW report recommends in Kandahar city have created a committee to assist with peace that the US and Afghan governments distance themselves from talks between insurgent fighters and the government. Mean- these militia groups and improve the training of the ANSF. while, Reuters reports that former members of the Northern HRW‟s Asia director asserted that “[p]oor governance, corrup- Alliance in Panjshir province are refusing to support the Af- tion, human rights abuses and impunity for government- ghan government‟s reconciliation efforts. UN Secretary- affiliated forces all are drivers of the insurgency and these is- General Ban Ki-moon said that the UN can help facilitate Af- sues need to be addressed if true stability is to come to Af- ghan peace talks, notes Agence France-Presse (AFP). ghanistan.” An Oxfam report released in May 2011 recorded similar abuses, including child sexual abuse, by the ALP. As work continues on the second phase of the security transi- tion, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, President Karzai‟s National Secu- According to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting rity Adviser, was in Washington last week to meet with US (IWPR), ALP efforts to maintain security in Kapisa province officials on matters relating to the strategic partnership agree- are faltering as many desert over worsening working condi- ment, according to the Times of India. President Obama said tions. In two districts of Kapisa alone, as many as 40 ALP on Thursday that the United States will not seek to establish a members deserted after command shifted from France‟s permanent military base in Afghanistan.

Humanitarian Affairs Linda Lavender ► [email protected]

euters reports that many Afghan refugees remaining in agreed to allow displaced Afghans to remain in Pakistan until Pakistan believe that returning to Afghanistan before the end of 2012. Uncertainty about the future creates anxiety R the departure of NATO troops would be unwise. Ac- for these refugees, says Reuters. Many wish to remain in Paki- cording to the article, the exit of the Soviets in the late 1980s is stan even in the face of mistreatment, states the article. believed to have precipitated the rise of the Taliban. As a re- sult, Afghan refugees in Pakistan wish to wait and see how Pajhwok Afghan News reports that a lack of potable water re- events unfold in a post-NATO Afghanistan. In 2009, Pakistan sulted in the death of nine children from diarrhoea and vomit-

Page 2 13 September 2011 ing in the Saghar district of Ghor province. According to Pajh- the settlement have thus far been unaddressed. wok, a team of health professionals has been dispatched to the region to assess the situation and to aid the district clinic in In other news, President Karzai announced on his biweekly controlling the spread of illness. The article added that health radio address that 13 new cases of polio have been confirmed officials recognised the lack of access to a clinic was a contrib- within Helmand, Kandahar and Farah provinces, notes Pajh- uting factor in the children‟s deaths. wok. The announcement comes just weeks after officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations In an effort to address the spread of preventable diseases, the Children‟s Fund (UNICEF) commended the Afghan govern- United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ment for its polio eradication efforts. In his address, Karzai is sponsoring a programme that involves female community indicated that these provinces have not been part of the anti- health workers teaching Afghan mothers how regular hand polio campaign efforts in recent months due to their insecurity. washing can help protect their children. The USAID story ex- Karzai urged tribal elders, religious leaders and parents in the plains that each year many children die from preventable dis- affected provinces to help eradicate polio by administering eases and at that least 25% of those deaths are from diarrhoea. polio drops to children under the age of five.

In Baghlan province, nearly 1000 residents abandoned their Bakhtar News Agency reports that the World Food Programme settlements outside of the provincial capital in order to seek (WFP) donated food items to more than 3,000 needy families out potable water supplies, reports Pajhwok. The residents of in Ghazni province. A representative from the Afghanistan the settlements are Afghan refugees who are have recently National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) told returned from Pakistan and Iran. According to the article, the Bakhtar that more than 170 tonnes of food items, including United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and wheat, ghee, pulses and salt, were distributed over a three-day the Afghan government provided land for the returning Af- period to families impacted by recent floods. A local aid or- ghans; however, promises of electricity and running water for ganisation distributed the food.

Infrastructure Rainer Gonzalez ► [email protected]

here have been two developments related to Afghani- that the Iranian government is concerned about the low level of stan‟s transboundary water resources this past week. water flowing out of Afghanistan and into Iran‟s Hamoon T First, the construction of additional dams along the Lake. The director of the local water agency in the Iranian Kabul River will begin shortly, reports Pajhwok Afghan News. province of Sistan and Baluchinstan, Hameed Qazweeni, Afghanistan will finance the construction of the dams with claims that Afghanistan is failing to provide the 820 million international aid, particularly with funds and technical assis- cubic metres of water per year which it is obliged to provide to tance contributed by India. The construction of the dams is Hamoon Lake under a bilateral treaty, reports Daily Outlook reportedly contentious given that they could negatively impact Afghanistan. Iran has serious concerns about the future con- Pakistan‟s access to water from the Kabul River, according to struction of the Kamal Khan Dam in Afghanistan, which will the Business Recorder, a Pakistani newspaper. Initially, the further reduce the amount of water flowing from Afghanistan Afghan government stated that it would build 12 dams along into Iran. (For more information on regional water manage- the Kabul River, says The News, another Pakistani news ment issues, see the CFC report “Afghanistan‟s Transboundary source; however, Pajhwok now indicates that this number has Water Resources: Regional Dimensions”.) been increased to 22. The construction and the design of the dams, which will have a total capacity of 5.8 billion cubic me- Afghanistan‟s Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) an- tres of water, will be undertaken by an Indian government nounced that the World Bank will donate USD 97 million to agency, Water Resources, Power and Infrastructure Develop- fund a portion of several irrigation projects across the country, ment (WAPCOS). reports Tolo News. The projects have a total cost of USD 148 million and will take six years to complete, according to Second, the disputes over the Helmand River between Afghan- Khaama Press. The USD 97 million grant will finance the istan and Iran continue, according to Daily Outlook Afghani- following: the rehabilitation and expansion of canal networks stan. The Afghan Consulate in Mashad, in Iran, sent a message and dams, the construction of new small dams, the installation to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) which noted of hydro-meteorological stations and the establishment of a

RECOMMEND REPORT TOPICS TO THE CFC: AFGHANISTAN IN TRANSITION

With the transition in Afghanistan underway, it will be increasingly important to better understand the civilian and military ele- ments of this process. Accordingly, beginning September 2011, the CFC is proud to announce a new supplemental series on “Afghanistan in Transition” which will include at least 20 thematic reports on a range of topics and sectors.

If you have recommendations for report topics to be included in the “Afghanistan in Transition” series, please send them to [email protected] as soon as possible. We greatly appreciate our readers‟ input.

Page 3 13 September 2011 capacity building office at the ministry premises. This an- paving of streets and the construction of a community nouncement follows the recent donation by the World Bank of centre. The projects have been funded through the Nation- USD 100 million for the emergency renovation of dams. al Solidarity Programme (NSP). d) According to the MRRD, five development projects have In addition, a number of individual infrastructure develop- been delivered in Kunduz province. These projects in- ments were reported by the media during the course of the last clude the gravelling of 4.3 km of roads, the construction week (see the map, below): of six culverts, the digging of 13 water wells and the con- struction of a community development centre. The pro- a) Nine development projects have been executed in the jects have also been funded through the NSP. northern province of Jowzjan, reports Pajhwok. The schemes, which cost around USD 1 million, have been implemented during the last four months. The projects include the gravelling of 25 km of roads, the construction a d of 20 wells, the establishment of three bakeries and the

launch of a gabion-weaving project that has provided b work opportunities for 100 women. c b) According to the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), seven development projects have been handed over in Laghman province at a cost of USD 600,000. The projects comprise five retaining walls, one 200 metre bridge and a 600 metre gabion wall. These ini- tiatives have been funded through the National Area- Based Development Project (NABDP). c) Twelve utility schemes have been handed over in Lagh- man, reports the MRRD. These projects include the dig- ging of safe drinking water wells and retaining walls, the Source: Modified from Perry-Castaneda Library Map

Security & Force Protection Mark Checchia ► [email protected]

he New York Times reports that a truck bomb struck a ISAF has acknowledged that an Afghan journalist working for NATO outpost South of Kabul late on 10 September, the BBC was accidentally killed in a 28 July insurgent attack T killing at least five people and wounding dozens more. by a US soldier who mistook him for a suicide bomber, reports Among the wounded were 77 troops affiliated with NATO‟s The Washington Post. In a statement on 08 September, ISAF International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). NATO and said the reporter was killed in a “case of mistaken identity” Afghan officials reported an eight-year-old girl more than a during a rebel attack on a government building in Uruzgan. half-mile away was killed by shrapnel. The number of troops ISAF expressed condolences to his family. injured by the blast is believed to be one of the highest for international forces, from a single incident, in the decade-long The Wall Street Journal reported that a survey of 1,000 15-to- war. The attack was in the same district of Wardak province 30-year-old men in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, the where, on 06 August, insurgents shot down an American Chi- most conflict-affected areas in Afghanistan, found that 92% of nook helicopter, killing all 30 Americans and eight Afghans on respondents were unaware of the events of 9/11. Instead of board. No coalition troops died in the truck bombing on 10 information about 9/11, young Afghans are receiving “Al September, and none of the injuries to NATO soldiers were Qaeda and Taliban propaganda claiming that we are here to considered life-threatening, NATO said in a statement. ISAF destroy Islam,” said Norine MacDonald, president of the Inter- indicated that many of the wounded soldiers were expected to national Council on Security and Development (ICOS), which return to duty shortly. conducted the survey.

An American civilian working with the US Army Corps of Poppy cultivation has been eradicated from more than half of Engineers (USACE) was kidnapped from an Afghan power Afghanistan‟s 34 provinces, according to an article by Reuters. plant and strangled, National Public Radio (NPR) reports. Of- Afghanistan‟s Minister of Counter-Narcotics, Zarar Ahmad ficials and family members said it was not known who killed Moqbel Osmani, made this statement in Kabul at a conference James “Will” Coker or under what circumstances he was ab- of drug enforcement officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ta- ducted. Coker is only the third civilian working with the US jikistan and Russia. According to Reuters, Osmani said that, Department of Defense (DoD) killed in 10 years of war in Af- despite progress, poppy cultivation remains high in those parts ghanistan, said a DoD spokeswoman. A foreign official in of the country where the Taliban insurgency is strongest. Tali- Kabul told NPR that the man was kidnapped from a power ban-led militants are believed to derive USD 100 million to plant on the outskirts of Kabul where he was working; his USD 400 million a year from opium production and drug traf- body was found on 05 September. ficking. Reuters states that Afghanistan is estimated to supply

Page 4 13 September 2011 nearly 80% of the world‟s opium. of Panjshir”, was the widely admired head of the Northern Alliance. Massoud spent more than a quarter century fighting The Christian Science Monitor notes that 09 September th one war after another, first against the Red Army, then against marked the 10 anniversary of Ahmed Shah Massoud‟s assas- rival warlords and finally against the Taliban. sination by al Qaeda. Massoud, who was known as the “Lion

The CFC is pleased to welcome John Caldwell, the new Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Knowledge Manager, who will be contributing information to the Security and Force Protection section of the “Afghanistan Review”. He may be reached at [email protected].

Socio-Cultural Development Linda Lavender ► [email protected]

he United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan The Afghan government has launched an awareness campaign (UNAMA) announced that a Peace Day football tour- addressing the rising trend of self-immolation among women, T nament is underway in Bamian province. The tourna- reports BBC News. A high percentage of women who set ment, organised by the Bamian Olympic Sub-Directorate, the themselves on fire are victims of domestic abuse or, in some Bamian Football Federation and the Youth Information and instances, have reportedly been forced into arranged marriages Contact Centre (YICC), seeks to elevate the role sports can at an early age, says BBC News. In 2010, 22,000 burn cases play in Afghanistan‟s peace efforts. The three-week-long tour- were recorded in hospitals and treatment centres across Af- nament has 24 teams competing from the region. The champi- ghanistan. According to the article, there is little evidence to onship game will be played on the United Nations‟ Interna- suggest a decrease in these numbers for 2011. tional Day of Peace on 21 September. Awards will be given to teams that embody the ideals of peace. The UNAMA- Members of the northern and north-eastern Women‟s Council sponsored tournament is expected to draw sports enthusiasts, told Pajhwok Afghan News that women‟s participation in the peace activists, government officials and international commu- Second International Bonn Conference in this coming Decem- nity representatives as they support this innovative way of cel- ber would be key to its success. Fauzia Kofi, a member of par- ebrating the International Day of Peace. liament from Badakhshan province, told Pajhwok that “women must gain 25% of participation in the Bonn Conference” in The New York Times reports on an initiative called “The Af- order to ensure adequate representation. ghan Women‟s Writing Project” begun by American journalist Masha Hamilton. The writing project seeks to give a voice to President , addressing the Kabul Youth Confer- the women of Afghanistan. The online magazine is where as ence, entreated Afghan youth to get their education, reports many as 75 Afghan women share anecdotes about their lives, Tolo News. According to the article, Karzai said that education political commentary and poetry. Women reporting from with- is the key to creating a better Afghan society for future genera- in Afghanistan have unique challenges, one participant told tions. Karzai went further and discouraged the several hundred The New York Times. As a woman, she says she cannot jour- youth in attendance from participating in political activities, ney alone to gain Internet access but, rather, must be accompa- which he reportedly labelled a distraction. nied by a man at all times. The writing project maintains the confidentiality of the writers; often, even the families of partic- ipants are not aware of the women‟s activities. The article not- SUBMIT A REQUEST ed that Afghanistan was recently named the world‟s most dan- FOR INFORMATION (RFI) gerous country for women in a survey conducted by TrustLaw Woman. CimicWeb account holders can submit RFIs to the CFC. These may concern the UNAMA highlighted the importance of literacy in creating a sectors addressed in this newsletter or peaceful society during the International Literacy Day on 08 other topics relevant to Afghanistan or September. Community literacy centres for women have been our other focus areas. To submit an RFI, fill out the request form by clicking here. active in Afghanistan for the past two decades. The UN is working to educate women and girls both to improve literacy Have a colleague who is interested in sub- levels and to foster peace. The World Food Programme (WFP) mitting an RFI? Tell them to request a helps to attract women to take part in literacy programmes by CimicWeb account by clicking here. providing them food for their families, says UNAMA.

ENGAGE WITH US Civil-Military Fusion Centre (CFC) [email protected] www.cimicweb.org

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