The Afghanistan NGO Safety Office Issue: 70 16-31 March 2011 ANSO and our donors accept no liability for the results of any activity conducted or omitted on the basis of this report. THE ANSO REPORT -Not for copy or sale- Inside this Issue COUNTRY SUMMARY Central Region 2 With the inclusion of this resent a willingness to ac- region this year, with the 8 Northern Region period, March AOG incident cept tactical losses in order South also reporting it’s Western Region 14 levels mark a 68% increase to achieve strategic gains, first NGO incident. As is over those reported last year the events of this period typical, the incidents re- Eastern Region 17 (see graph p. 7) as well as a will likely serve to shape the ported varied greatly, both Southern Region 23 44% increase over those re- conflict in the East through in regards to type and actor ported in February. Of note, the mid-term. attribution. Criminality, ANSO Info Page 29 Helmand Province in the The recent announcements however, factored heavily, South accounts for a full regarding transition with incidents reported in quarter of these incidents (Enteqal), scheduled to Herat, Nangarhar, and Ka- YOU NEED TO KNOW alone, continuing the trend begin in June, identified a bul. Cases of intimidation of unprecedented incident focus on the Central Region occurred in Nangarhar and • Marked increase in overall volumes in this province, the Herat, with a collateral IDF incident volumes as the provinces of Pan- majority of which were re- jshir, Bamyan, and Kabul strike in Badakhshan and a • IEA de-facto control of Nuri- ported from 3 districts alone. SAF attack in Kunar also stan (minus Surobi District) are Of these, most were IED all slated to shift lead secu- occurring. While the arrest • Transition sites announced related incidents and small rity authority from ISAF to of INGO staff in Faryab is scale inconclusive conven- the ANSF. The cities of unusual, the AOG direct • 3 NGO staff fatalities in Kan- tional engagements between attack on NGO staff in dahar Herat, Mazar-I-Sharif, AOG and IMF. Lashkar Gah (Helmand) Kandahar was the periods • Proliferation of illegal check- IEA efforts to capitalise on and Mihtarlam (Laghman) most significant. In the points the reorientation of IMF in are also included in this attack, 3 national staff were killed, bringing the years the East have recently left plan. It should be noted them the ascendant power that most of the areas iden- total to 7, well above the 2 ANSO is supported by within Nuristan following the tified are relatively permis- fatalities reported by this seizure of Waygal District sive and by all measures time last year. this period. While the exist under the auspices of From a localized perspec- ‘dynamic occupation’ of ANSF control already so tive, illegal checkpoints DACs has been a long stand- the impact on the local con- (AOG/Criminal) continue ing element of the conflict, text will likely be marginal. to be of particular concern unchallenged occupation and There were 9 NGO direct to the NGO community as de-facto control on this scale incidents reported this peri- both the regularity of oc- represents a new paradigm in od, bringing the months currence and geographic the conflict. In conjunction total to 12. This figure is dispersion has expanded with AOG actions in Kunar, directly in line with the 5 as the year has progressed. this has left AOG with unim- year average of 12 incidents Though incidents were peded access to cross border per month (see graph p. reported from all regions, infiltration routes and this 21). Of note the two inci- the proliferation within the freedom of movement has dents reported from Herat North is particularly trou- led to a concomitant influx in the West this period de- bling due to it’s direct im- of fighters into the region. note the first cases for the pact on NGO travel and While IMF actions likely rep- access. THE ANSO REPORT Page 2 C ENTRAL REGION NGO Incidents KABUL KABUL Year to Date 3 50 This Report Period 1 While the stakes are high when 40 criminal elements breach into On 23 March, a local businessman 30 NGO premises, they nonetheless was taken from the main street in 20 present attractive targets due to Labi Jar, PD 11. All three cases 10 involved a group of attackers the real or anticipated presence of 0 high-value assets. This period, it wearing ANSF uniforms, targeted appears that ease of access was owners of private businesses, and the motivating factor for a group were staged in the streets in the of four robbers to enter an INGO late evening hours (between 8 pm KABUL AOG KABUL Crime and 10 pm). project site in Dih Murad Khan, (Company), Deh Sabz and Puli Charkhi which PD 7. The incident occurred in Besides an accurate SAF against lead to the arrests of numerous individuals. the night of 23 March and saw the an ANP checkpoint in Dih Sabz Meanwhile, Surobi also experienced several perpetrators leave with the booty (attributed to AOG) and an IED significant seizures of weapon caches and in a of kitchen appliances. The site seizure from a back road in the public statement, NDS claimed to have de- watchman, who called for help vicinity of the Puli Charkhi Pris- tained a group of HQN operatives, including a during the course of action, was on, AOG kinetic activity remained suicide bomber, involved in the planning of assaulted and lightly wounded. limited to the highway in Surobi suicide attacks in the western parts of Kabul This cycle, just 9 out of 50 inci- with SAF strikes against fuel tank- during Nowruz. The veracity of this infor- dents were of criminal or AOG er convoys on 25 and 26 March in mation could not be corroborated so far. nature. 6 criminal incidents in Ka- Tangi Abreshum. While both Amongst the documented cases, the seizure of bul City (including the above attacks caused material damage, 56 kg of explosives from a private vehicle at mentioned robbery), outweighed the former also resulted in the the checkpoint in Sangi Neveshta made the 3 AOG escalations recorded in death of a driver who was trapped news, as did the discovery of 81 kg of opium the rural districts (2 in Surobi and inside the vehicle. The timing concealed in a spare tyre of a truck apprehend- 1 in Dih Sabz), accompanied by a patterns of AOG strikes on the ed in PD 5. single case of an IED placement highway, both against civilian sup- ply trucks and IMF patrols in- March has closed without any significant AOG recovered from a secondary road attack recorded in the capital, leaving the 2011 in Puli Charkhi. The momentum creasingly revolve around the morning hours between 0900 and volume of suicide attacks at three, in line with thus remained with the ANSF and the long-term trend of one suicide attack per IMF forces policing the region, 1200 hrs though the traffic of heavy vehicles is usually restricted month. The exploration of vulnerabilities (for whereas the capital navigated thru the purposes of suicide attack targeting) in the an intensive period of public from 0600 to 0800 hrs. The time window of 1200 – 1500 hrs cur- movements of international and national secu- events (incl. Nowruz celebrations) rity forces outside the ‘Ring of Steel’, in partic- and political announcements rently appears as a good time to move thru the Surobi section, ular along the Jalalabad Road and Darulaman (such as the long-awaited intro- (though including Wazir Akbar Khan & the duction of the security transition although precautions (and contin- gency planning) should be envis- Airport Road) remains a likely scenario in the by President Karzai) without a future. The targeting of ‘softer’ venues significant AOG attack. aged to avoid the risks of staying on the highway too late into the (especially these associated with security targets Following a lull in criminal abduc- afternoon /evening hours. and more easily accessible) constitutes a pat- tions in the last quarter of 2010, tern primarily seen in the East and the North, concomitant to a series of suc- ANSF & IMF initiated a large which AOG may yet attempt to exploit. More cessful police operations against series of pro-active and intelli- likely and less precarious, IDF attacks towards ACG involved in this business, gence-based operations in Kabul ‘target-rich’ locations will remain a consistent this cycle saw a third documented City, in particular in the residential component of the security map of Kabul. abduction in Kabul City this year. areas of PD 8 (Qalacha), PD 5 THE ANSO REPORT Page 3 NGO Incidents LOGAR Year to Date 1 This Report Period 0 Logar scored the highest volumes of documented kinetic operations encounters in Wardak and Kapisa, this cycle, with gains and losses on and has translated into higher cas- both sides of the conflict, proving ualty figures on the IMF and that the province has entered a ANSF side. more advanced stage of the sea- In Puli Alam, all AOG attacks sonal conflict cycle. 9 out of the were significant, starting with a total 23 incidents were AOG- combined SAF and heavy weap- initiated, distributed across Puli ons attack on the highway in Ba- Alam (4), Baraki Barak (3) and zaar Kolangar (16 March), which Charkh witnessed an AOG engagement of an Charkh (2). Unlike in the eastern resulted in two fatalities and an ANA-IMF patrol on the main road, with the parts of Kapisa and in Wardak, additional two casualties among latter returning fire which caused the deaths of ANSO has not captured any sig- the IMF.