CIVIL - MILITARY FUSION CENT RE

Afghanistan Review Week 19 08 May 2012 Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises

This document provides a weekly overview of developments in from 01 – 07 May 2012, with INSIDE THIS ISSUE hyper-links to source material highlighted in blue and underlined in the text. For more information on the Economic Development topics below or other issues pertaining to events in Afghanistan, contact the members of the Afghanistan Team, or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org. Governance & Rule of Law Security & Force Protection Economic Development Steven A. Zyck ► [email protected] Social & Strategic Infrastructure euters outlines the case of the Milli Boot Factory outside of , which is on the DISCLAIMER verge of closing after losing its primary customer – the Afghan National Security Forc- R es (ANSF). The Afghan government reportedly cancelled a contract with the company, The Civil-Military Fusion Centre first agreed by the US government, to provide leather boots to the ANSF. American officials (CFC) is an information and had previously hailed the factory as a major success. The company had been slated to receive knowledge management organisa- approximately USD 40 million per year to provide boots to the ANSF. However, when the tion focused on improving civil- United States handed over procurement responsibilities to the Afghan government, the Afghan military interaction, facilitating ministries of defence and interior awarded the boot contract to Chinese and Pakistani firms. information sharing and enhancing The Chinese firm is selling boots to the ANSF for only USD 22 per pair as opposed to the price situational awareness through the of USD 62 charged by the Milli Boot Factory. Fargad Saffi, the owner of the Milli Boot Facto- CimicWeb portal and our weekly ry, has been forced to fire his 700-person workforce and is grappling what to do with USD 30 and monthly publications. million in un-used raw materials. The problems experienced by Saffi and his company could CFC products are based upon and potentially become more common, says Reuters. International forces in Afghanistan adopted link to open-source information an “Afghan First” policy in 2010 which impelled the military to procure materials locally from a wide variety of organisations, where possible. This policy is, according to Reuters, credited with creating 15,000 new jobs in research centres and media outlets. Afghanistan and potentially denying the insurgency added recruits. However, the Afghan gov- However, the CFC does not endorse ernment does not necessarily hold such a policy, and many Afghan companies which supplied and cannot necessarily guarantee the ANSF and other internationally-funded activities are now increasingly concerned that they the accuracy or objectivity of these will experience a decline in business similar to the one facing the Milli Boot Factory. sources. The withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan is negatively impacting foreign investment CFC publications are inde- in the country, according to a senior official at the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency pendently produced by Desk (AISA) interviewed by Tolo News. AISA Investment Promotion Director Rohullah Ahmadzai Officers and do not reflect says his agency has noticed a decline in foreign direct investment since 2011, when the Inter- national Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced it would be transferring security respon- NATO or ISAF policies or posi- sibility to the Afghan government and the ANSF by 2014. Providing tions of any other organisation. an example of investors’ declining willingness to en- The CFC is part of NATO Allied gage with Afghanistan, Ahmadzai notes one mul- Command Operations. tinational joint venture which appears to have withdrawn a proposal to develop an in- dustrial park focused on agricultur- al processing. You Are Reading the TH Tolo News also reports that Afghan- 200 EDITION istan’s Minister of Commerce and of the CFC Afghanistan Review CONTACT THE CFC Industries, Anwar ul Haq Ahady, If you enjoy the and the Iranian Ambassador to Af- CFC’s reports, please For further information, contact: ghanistan, Abolfazl Zohrevand, encourage your colleagues signed an agreement on 02 May. Afghanistan Team Leader to “Sign Up” at www.cimicweb.org. [email protected] Under the agreement, Afghan trad- ers will be able to use the Iranian

The Afghanistan Team [email protected]

port at Chabahar to import and export goods. Approximately 50 hec- Humanitarian Update tares of land are being allocated near the port for use by Afghan trad-

ers. Zohrevand had the following to say about the agreement: “The Food security is expected to remain stable throughout outcome of this agreement is not only positive for Afghanistan and Afghanistan through September, according to the latest Iran relations, we also expect it to help the joint cooperation of Afghan “Food Security Outlook” report for Afghanistan pro- and Iran traders so they can expand through cooperation to the Middle duced by the Famine Early Warning System Network East and Asia.” The Iranian ambassador indicated that Afghanistan (FEWS NET). The wheat harvest is likely to be average, had applied for rights to use Chabahar port and that this agreement is and the country has received average to above-average the outcome of that application process. levels of rainfall. Pockets of food insecurity will, howev- er, likely be found in Badakhshan province and small Regional economic cooperation was also the subject of an article from parts of north-western Afghanistan. Rural economic con- The Hindu Business Line. The Indian government will soon be hosting ditions may improve given rising livestock prices and the a meeting of regional investors in order to encourage them to invest in increasing value of wage labour. Compensation for agri- Afghanistan. According to an Indian government official, “[t]he meet- cultural labour is up 50%. ing will be held before the Tokyo meeting on Afghanistan. The Delhi meeting will act as a sort of the bridge between the earlier Istanbul meeting on Afghanistan and the Tokyo meeting.” Indian Foreign Min- ister SM Krishna also instructed working groups on economic cooper- ation, capacity development and socio-cultural development – which were recently established between India and Afghanistan – to meet in the near future. Over the past nine months, Pakistan exported more than USD 1 billion in goods to Afghanistan but imported less than USD 7 million from Afghanistan, according to Dawn.1 Pakistan currently exports more goods to Afghanistan than to its much larger neighbours, India and Iran. Pakistan exports nearly as much to Afghanistan as it does to Chi- na. However, businesspeople in Pakistan have expressed concern that improving trade relations in the region could enable India to replace Pakistan as a major supplier of goods to Afghanistan. They indicated Most likely food security scenario, July-September 2012 that, if India is ultimately permitted to ship goods to Afghanistan via Source: FEWS NET Pakistan, Pakistani firms could reportedly lose approximately USD 2 billion per year in commerce. Lastly, according to Tolo News, the governor of Afghanistan’s Central Bank, Noorullah Delawari, told the Afghan parliament that shareholders owe approximately USD 250 million to Kabul Bank, which was taken over by the Afghan government in late 2010. The Central Bank has identified – though not necessarily seized – several properties owned by former Kabul Bank shareholders in Dubai.

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

he US and Afghan governments have signed the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) outlining relations between the two countries after 2014, according to Voice of America (VoA) News. US President Obama signed the agreement with Afghan T President during an unannounced visit to Kabul on 01 May. Topics covered in the agreement include govern- ment reform, free and transparent elections and the elimination of corruption, according to Tolo News. The SPA also indicates that foreign interference in Afghanistan’s electoral processes must be avoided, President Karzai said. The SPA will be sent to the Afghan parliament for approval by both the Wolesi Jirga (upper house) and Meshrano Jirga (lower house). While the Haq Wa Adalat party welcomed the agreement, two major opposition groupings, the Afghanistan National Front and the National Coalition, criticised the SPA, according to Pajhwok Afghan News. The opposition parties said the agreement was signed in a rush without consulting political parties or considering recommendations made by the Loya Jirga. Afghan lawmaker Shukria Barekzai says “[i]t is very early to say that the parliament may pass [the SPA] or not”. According to the aforementioned VoA News article, Kabul-based independent researcher Omar Sharifi says that the SPA sends a strong message “that the international community will remain engaged and prevent a return to the sort of civil war that tore Afghani- stan apart for part of the 1990s”. However, the Taliban and Hezb-e Islami both denounced the Agreement, according to Pajhwok. The Taliban said the Afghan government does not have the authority to sign an accord that legalises a foreign presence in Afghanistan. A Taliban statement said the following: “The agreement will create more conflicts, insecurity and political instability.” Meanwhile, a Hezb-e Islami spokesman, Ghairat Baheer, told Pajhwok that “[n]o respect has been shown to the opinion of Afghans” in the estab- lishment of the SPA.

1 The Nation cited a higher figure, indicating that trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan is worth approximately USD 2.2 billion per year.

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Afghanistan’s relationship with India was discussed on 01 May at a meeting between Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul and senior government officials in New Delhi, according to The Washington Post. Rassoul met with his Indian counterpart, SM Krishna, to discuss elements of the strategic agreement between the two countries which was signed in October 2011; the bilateral agreement was recently approved by both houses of the Afghan parliament, according to Outlook Afghanistan. Krishna remarked that Afghani- stan’s security was of “extreme importance” to India because the security of both nations is intertwined. The pact signed between the two countries last October addressed such security concerns – and included an offer for India to train Afghan forces. The pact also covered issues such as trade, economic cooperation and education. The US government has for several years been secretly releasing high-level detainees from a military prison in Afghanistan as part of negotiations with insurgent groups, unnamed US officials tell The Washington Post. The article states that the “strategic release” pro- gramme aims to quell violence in concentrated areas. In some cases the programme requires that former detainees maintain their con- nections with insurgent group so they can use these relationships to further peace-building efforts. Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cum- mings, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told Pajhwok the process has specific criteria. He stated the following: “These cases are extremely rare and are an exception. Detainees are not used as bargaining chips in restive provinces, but are considered when the release of a detainee enables better governance, elevates the capacity of Afghan government and can Do You Have Too contribute to building trust between fractious tribes.” Much to Read? Members of the Taliban who want to negotiate with the Afghan government will be pro- tected by a new commission, Afghan officials tell Tolo News. The joint commission, Listen to the CFC Afghanistan made up of officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States, will protect Tali- Review Podcast on your computer, ban members who are willing to engage in peace talks, Ministry of Foreign Affairs smartphone, tablet or other device. spokesman Janan Mosazai said. This comes amid recent news reports which suggest that Click here to access the podcasts. several Taliban commanders engaging in peace talks with the Afghan government have either been threatened or killed. Bloomberg reports that the US government is renewing efforts to stem corruption in Afghanistan. The US government steers funding to Afghan ministries deemed to be effective and away from those that fail to meet certain standards, such as the Ministry of Transpor- tation, according to an unnamed US State Department official.2 Steven Trent, the acting Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), wrote in a 30 April quarterly report to the US Congress that 30% of his office’s investigations involve pub- lic corruption and bribery. During the first three months of 2012, Trent’s office worked with other US and Afghan law enforcement offices to recover USD 446,000 in stolen fuel and USD 175,000 in cash bribes. The US government shut down one project that was using Afghan officials to review corruption cases; some Afghan personnel involved in the project were reportedly using their positions to gain ideas on how to cheat, according to an unnamed government official. In related news, the Afghan Attorney General’s Office (AGO) detained at least 13 government officials, including some high-level figures, in connection with corruption, Khaama Press states. Afghan Finance Ministry officials said the detained individuals can resume their duties if the charges against them are not proven. An Afghan media-focused NGO, Nai, marked World Press Freedom Day on 03 May by publishing a report indicating that dozens of journalists and reporters continue to be threatened by government officials, Taliban militants and others groups, Ariana states. Reuters reports that representatives of Afghanistan’s media industry are asking the government to protect the rights of journalists. While media freedoms are specified within the Afghan constitution, the relatively large press corps can face intimidation, abduction or even death for reporting on issues such as corruption and other controversial topics. Editor-in-chief for Pajhwok, Danish Karokhil, told Reuters that three of their reporters have been killed over the last decade. Some government officials acknowledge that authorities are not do- ing enough. Deputy Minister of Information and Culture Deen Mohammad Mubarez Rashidi, for instance, told a ceremony honouring slain radio journalist Sadim Khan Bhadurzoy that “[t]he Afghan government simply needs to do more to protect media freedoms”. Bhadurzoy was kidnapped and beheaded in Paktika province in February; no one has yet been arrested in connection with his murder. Some media organisations also hold back from publishing stories they know will attract the government’s ire. Sediq Zalique, head of investigative reporting at a national daily newspaper in Afghanistan, told Reuters he received threatening phone calls after publishing articles revealing corruption and drug-running by public officials. In related news, Amnesty International launched a campaign this week for the release of an Afghan journalist, Nasto Naderi, who had been held without charge since 21 April, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). The AGO said the reporter was serving a short jail sentence for drinking alcohol and is also facing charges for making false accusations against government officials. According to Tolo News, President Karzai said the decision on whether to hold the presidential elections a year early continues to be reviewed and that any decision will respect Afghanistan’s laws. He disputed claims that he might be re-nominated for the presidency.

2 The article particularly highlights the following ministries as being strong performers: Mines, Finance and Foreign Affairs.

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Referring to the fact that Afghan presidents are limited to two terms in office, President Karzai stated: “I am not nominated and I can’t be nominated for this presidential election.” In closely related news, major opposition parties say President Karzai should resign if he attempts to hold elections ahead of the current schedule, Ariana reports. The National Coalition of Afghanistan and the Afghan Na- tional Front say expediting or delaying the presidential elections is forbidden under the Afghan constitution.

The in-laws of Sahar Gul, the young Afghan bride whose abuse at the hands of her in-laws attracted international media attention in December 2011, have been sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Police are still looking for Gul’s husband and brother, both of whom are suspects in the case. Outlook Afghanistan reports that the Wolesi Jirga will start taking disciplinary action next month against absentee lawmakers. Throughout April, 43 members of the lower house of the Afghan parliament were absent. One official said that absentee lawmakers had previously not been held accountable but noted that they could now face disciplinary action at the end of each month.

Security & Force Protection Mark Checchia ► [email protected]

even Afghans were killed when a suicide bomber attacked the Green Village compound, which houses foreign contractors in Kabul, on 02 May, hours after US President Barack Obama flew out of the country, United Press International reports. The In- S ternational Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stated that all attackers were dead but did not specify the number, according to FirstPost. The Los Angeles Times says the insurgents were covered in burqas which hid their weapons. The Taliban claimed responsi- bility for the attack. On that same day in Kabul, a Pakistani man whose truck was packed with explosives was arrested, Tolo News reports. A spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) said “[t]he man who wanted to carry out a suicide attack in Kabul city was arrested by Afghan security troops in Pul-e-Charkhi in east of Kabul”. Kabul’s security posture was elevated, with a larger number of police in full combat gear stationed on the major roads, after the Taliban announced they would launch a “spring offensive” across Afghanistan starting in early May. Rahmatullah Nabil, chief of the NDS, urged Pakistan’s tribal chiefs to prevent boys from learning to be insurgents at religious schools, Tolo News reports. Nabil asserts that some of the more than 5,000 religious schools in Pakistan are teaching boys to be suicide attack- ers. He said in an address to the Afghan senate that “[i]nstead they should learn computers programs”. Nabil warned that the presence of insurgent centres on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border would lead to a continuation of insecurity. The New York Times reports that ISAF has admitted responsibility and expressed regret for an airstrike that killed six members of a family in Helmand province, officials confirmed on 07 May. The provincial governor’s spokesman, Dawoud Ahmadi, said an investi- gation had determined that a family home had been mistakenly targeted by an American airstrike, which had been called to counter a Taliban attack. The US regional commander, Major General Charles M. Gurganus apologised for the mistaken attack, Mr. Ahmadi said. A US military spokesman in Helmand stated: “We expressed regret over the incident, and we’re investigating to determine how this happened. We are deeply saddened by any civilian death and particularly regret an incident where civilians are killed.” The Soviets had considerable time to shape the Afghan security sector, and that legacy lives on in many of the senior officers, accord- ing to The News Tribune. However, some Afghan security personnel find that the US trainers who now share their knowledge have a much “lighter touch”. “It used to be the other army would tell the Afghans what to do,” said Major General Mohammed Hashim, who has served in the Afghan security services for 31 years. “The Americans just come up with recommendations. The Americans work side by side” with the ANSF, he continued. The US trainers are described as cultivating creativity in military operations. The ANSF are working in a modern operations centre, suited to the Afghan context, which is equipped with technology to monitor events and provide vital information to senior officers. At a seminar on solving police problems in Kabul on 03 May, Minister of the Interior Bismillah Mohammadi said “Police will be drawn from war after the year 2014 and then they will focus on their real duties, i.e. enforcement of law and order,” Ariana News re- ports. Mohammadi is seeking help and support from the international community to enable the police to return to their primary role in society after years of engaging with counter-insurgency efforts. He said that the international community’s help in training and equip- ping the national police has been successful, but noted that problems remain in areas such as border protection, intelligence and foren- sics. Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak further noted that the (ANA) will require the help of the Afghan National Police (ANP) and international forces after 2014. Wardak added that the police may return to strictly law enforcement tasks after terrorist attacks are less persistent. A gunman in an ANA uniform shot and killed an ISAF service member in southern Afghanistan on 06 May, according to CNN. Coali- tion forces returned fire, and the attacker was killed. ISAF released no further details. The same article describes another attack on 06 May in which a vehicle carrying US troops struck a roadside bomb in Paktiya province. One American was killed, and two others were wounded. Lastly, an explosion killed three US troops and injured a further two in Ghazni province on 07 May, CNN states. An un-named Western official said the bombing happened just south of a base in Ghazni. The explosion reportedly blew up the soldiers’ vehicle.

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Social & Strategic Infrastructure Rainer Gonzalez ► [email protected]

A recent article by the Hindustan Times confirms that India is officially withdrawing from the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project . The IPI project would have brought large quantities of gas from Iran’s southern Pars gas field through a 2,700-km pipeline to both Pakistan and India. India officially indicated that it withdrew from the project given the high gas price demanded by Iran. Other experts suggested an alternative motive for the decision. India’s former Minister of Petroleum, Mani Shankar Aiyar, said that India gave up on the project due in part due to international sanctions against countries doing business with Iran. Pakistan reportedly re- mains determined to move forward with a two-nation Iran-Pakistan (IP) pipeline which will end in Karachi, reports the Business Re- corder. Pakistan’s decision to pursue the pipeline with Iran is reportedly motivated by the country’s energy shortages. Iran has already built 900 km of pipeline in the direction of Pakistan and would have to finish a remaining 200 km to reach the Pakistani border. Paki- stan will have to invest an estimated USD 1.25 billion to complete its section of the IP pipeline, which will initially carry 22 million cubic meters of gas per day. That amount will progressively be increased to 50 million cubic meters per day. After seven years of operating, the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Laghman province is closing, and PRT personnel are hand- Humanitarian Update ing over their tasks and responsibilities to the provincial administra- tion, reports the US Air Force. Since 2005, when it was established, Twenty-six people lost their lives, and 80 more are miss- the PRT’s mission has been to build governance and stability by work- ing after flash floods hit a wedding ceremony in Sar-e ing together with local government officials. One PRT member was Pul province, reports Pajhwok. According to officials quoted as saying that the Afghan officials “are ready to do this on their with the Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Au- own”. thority, the incident occurred due to an overnight flood triggered by two days of heavy rain. Residents and local In other news, Afghanistan’s National Security Council (NSC), officials have launched a search operation, and rescue chaired by the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, recognised the effec- teams have been sent to the area. tive role of village councils in enabling education in the provinces by engaging with representatives of the insurgency, reports Pajhwok Af- More than 160 Afghan asylum seekers held in Indonesia ghan News. President Karzai says that closing schools only harms the have been on hunger strike for almost four days. They Afghan people and that education is necessary for progress and pros- demand to be transferred to Australia, reports the Agence perity in Afghanistan, reports Outlook Afghanistan. The NSC meeting France-Presse. The asylum seekers, 40 of whom had to came after 100 schools had been closed in Ghazni province due to be hospitalised, are all men aged 17 to 40. According to insurgent threats. Similarly, in Nangarhar province, six schools had to the article, they said they could not stay in the centre any close after Taliban members threatened to attack schools in retaliation longer and they wanted to be transferred to Australia to for the arrest of a fellow insurgent in the remote district of Khogyani, take up residency there. Some of the asylum seekers have says Tolo News. A delegation has been sent to the area to investigate; been locked in Indonesian prisons for more than two meanwhile, provincial council members in Nangarhar called upon the years. Taliban not to use schools for political or militant aims. More than 100 youths participated in the entrance exam for the Nai Media Institute, a training facility supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Institute provides practical training for aspiring journalists, broadcasters and media managers, according to a USAID press release. Once they have completed the curriculum, which covers practical knowledge and skills related to radio, television and new media, the students will be awarded a Diploma in Media. In addition, a number of individual social and infrastructure developments were reported during the past week: a. While inaugurating a school, the Turkish Ambassador to Afghanistan, Basat Öztürk, announced that his country will keep sup- porting Afghanistan’s education sector, reports Pajhwok. According to Ozturk, there are 5,600 students studying at private high schools funded by a Turkish foundation; these schools employ 528 teachers and 150 Turkish nationals. b. Residents from Helmand province will contribute AFN 2.7 million to repair the historic palaces of Dar-ul Aman and Tak Baik in Kabul, reports Pajhwok. The funds have been collected from government officials, traders, police and army personnel, students and others. c. Residents of Shiberghan, the capital of Jowzjan province, participated in a campaign to clean the city and remove mud and sand brought by the recent floods, reports Pajhwok. In exchange, each of the 576 workers will receive 50 kg of wheat, four litres of cooking oil, six kg of pulses and one kg of salt. d. Approximately 4.5 km of roads in Uruzgan and 1.5 km of roads in Kandahar have been inaugurated after being paved, reports Pajhwok. The work in Uruzgan was funded by the Australian PRT. The road works in Kandahar were undertaken with funding from the provincial government. e. A new girls’ school with a capacity of 500 students was inaugurated in Jowzjan, says Pajhwok. The new school has been funded by the Swedish government in conjunction with the United Nations Children’s Fund at a cost of USD 120,000.

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Recent Readings & Resources

. “Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement Between The United States of America And The Islamic Republic of Af- ghanistan”, 02 May 2012.

. “Afghanistan Price Bulletin, April 2012”, Famine Early Warning Systems Network and the United States Agency for International Development, April 2012. . “U.S. Military Information Operations in Afghanistan: Effectiveness of Psychological Operations 2001–2010”, RAND Corporation, 2012, by Arturo Munoz. . “Local institutions, livelihoods and vulnerability: lessons from Afghanistan”, Humanitarian Policy Group Working Paper, Overseas Development Institute, April 2012, by Adam Pain and Paula Kantor.

Afghanistan Events Calendar

. Agricultural Development for Afghanistan Pre-Deployment Training. The United States Department of Agriculture (www.usda.gov) and a consortium of American universities deliver this training. The curriculum will meet the needs of all deploying United States Government personnel in support of the USG Agriculture Strategy in Afghanistan. The train- ing is for United States Government personnel and will take place in Fresno, California on 18-23 June. Participants will be enrolled on a first come first serve basis. Contact Ryan Brewster, US Department of Agriculture, at [email protected] for further information. If you are a CFC account-holder and would like your event notice or publication to appear here, please send all relevant details to [email protected]. The CFC is not obliged to print information regarding publications or events it receives, and the CFC retains the right to revise notices for clarity and appropriateness. Any notices submitted for publication in the “Afghanistan Review” newsletter should be relevant to Afghanistan and to the CFC’s mission as a knowledge manage- ment and information sharing institution.

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

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