PACIFIC DISASTER MANAGEMENT INFORMATION NETWORK (PDMIN) 1 Jarrett White Road MCPA-DM, Tripler AMC, HI 96859-5000 Telephone: 808.433.7035 · [email protected] · http://www.coe-dmha.org Asia-Pacific Daily Report August 20, 2003 Afghanistan Pakistani and Afghan officials to hold security talks tomorrow Pakistani and Afghan officials are scheduled to hold border security talks tomorrow. Jawed Ludin, spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai said today that cross-border attacks by Pakistanis and Arab nationals loyal to the ousted Taliban regime were of great concern to the Afghan government and that the issue would be raised with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri when he arrives in Kabul tomorrow. Afghan officials allege that Sunday’s (August 17) attack by heavily armed militants on a police headquarters in Barmal district in southeastern Paktika province that left at least 22 people dead was launched from Pakistan. Ludin said Pakistan and Afghanistan have to work together to counter such militant attacks that are a threat to the peace and stability of both countries. Kasuri told the Pakistani-based English daily "The News” yesterday that his visit to Kabul would help remove misgivings and misunderstandings between the two countries. Kasuri said the two countries were already sharing intelligence, adding that it needed to be strengthened further to avert any misunderstanding by either side. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been tense since the opposition Northern Alliance, with the help of the US, ousted the hardline Taliban regime in 2001. The Tajik-dominated Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai remains wary of Pakistan, which once supported the Taliban. http://asia.news.yahoo.com/030819/afp/030819072118asiapacificnews.html http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/aug2003-daily/19-08-2003/main/main8.htm http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/66364/1 United Nations to step up security in Afghanistan following Iraq bombing Following yesterday’s bombing of the United Nations (UN) headquarters in the Iraqi capital Baghdad that left at least 20 people dead, including the UN Secretary General’s special envoy for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN plans to step up security in Afghanistan. Maki Shinohara, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told Agence France-Presse earlier today (Wednesday, August 20) that she doubts the Baghdad bombing would have any operational impact on UN activities in Afghanistan, however, she added that she expected already stringent security to be further tightened in the aftermath of yesterday’s bombing. Maki said despite all security precautions, she considered all UN missions in Afghanistan “soft targets ” for terrorist attacks. Due to a recent surge in violence in Afghanistan against local and western aid workers, government and military targets, especially in the southern and eastern parts of the country, many international aid organizations have either suspended or significantly reduced their road missions in violence-stricken areas. Earlier this month, the UNHCR suspended work in eastern Kunar province after a rocket landed near its office. Workers from the Afghan Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, and the UK-based Save the Children charity have been the latest victims of violence against humanitarian aid workers. The Afghan government, the United Nations, and numerous humanitarian aid and human rights groups in recent weeks have renewed their calls for the expansion of security operations beyond Kabul, warning that failure to maintain security could plunge the country back into chaos. http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/d57af94f05a5f898c1256d880035d262?OpenDocument India Arrests spark anti- government demonstrations; 2 civilians, 6 militants and 3 soldiers killed in continuing violence in IcK According to the Kashmir Media Service today, the arrest of 2 civilians in Anantnag district in Indian- controlled Kashmir (IcK) reportedly triggered anti- government demonstrations after army personnel conducted search operations on a Muslim’s home. Human rights groups and local witnesses have alleged that human rights abuses sometimes occur during search operations in which security forces say they are searching for hidden militants or evidence of militancy. Although rallies have been banned in IcK since the 1989 separatist revolution, the demonstration was only the second since Monday (August 18), when residents in Rajouri district protested the death of a Hindu hotelier while in army custody. Meanwhile, an elderly Hindu civilian in the southern district of Tral was kidnapped and killed last night by unidentified gunmen in a continuing trend of deliberate violence against civilians in Hindu- dominated southern IcK. In the past week, at least 11 civilians have been deliberately killed by unidentified gunmen, including 2 torture deaths, and the torture and beheading of another elderly civilian in Rajouri. Meanwhile, 1 soldier and a civilian were killed when militants attacked a security party near Srinagar city. Six militants and 1 soldier were killed in clashes in Anantnag, Kupwara and Poonch districts. http://www.kashmirtimes.com/first2.htm http://www.pitnews.com/createframes.asp?main=indian&val=1&id= http://www.kashmirtimes.com/first12.htm http://www.kmsnews.org/Kashmir%20News%20Archive/20/News200803-05.htm http://www.kashmirtimes.com/first1.htm Indonesia Government to assist drought victims in Java The government said yesterday that it would distribute some 20,000 tons of rice worth some US$7.5 million and start labor programs for some 250,000 farmers across the main Indonesian island of Java who are unable to farm because of the ongoing drought. Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Jusuf Kalla said that the labor programs would start next week and would last for about two months as the rainy season is expected to start in October. “We are now focusing on addressing problems resulting from the drought because it has hit Java’s rice- producing belt. We will also help farmers in East Nusa Tenggara province,” Jusuf said. West Java province has been the most badly affected by the drought. Around 450,000 hectares of farmland reportedly had dried up by the middle of this month. Some 1.2 million people nationwide have been affected by the drought, the Jakarta Post reports. However, Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency reported that this year’s dry season was relatively normal but also says that the drought this year is harsher than last year’s. http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20030820.@02 http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20030820.B02 Philippines NPA attacks in Mindoro, Mindanao kill 1 civilian, 10 soldiers and 1 policemen According to the Manila Times today, at least 1 civilian, 10 soldiers and 1 policemen were killed yesterday and on Tuesday (August 18) in 2 separate attacks by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in the Mindanao province of Davao Oriental and the Visayas province of Oriental Mindoro. In an ambush on Tuesday, rebels attacked a dump truck on its way to a construction site in Mindoro Oriental, killing 5 military engineers. In another attack yesterday in Oriental Mindoro, 5 soldiers and 1 policemen were killed in an alleged NPA attack on a remote village. One civilian was killed in the crossfire. On Sunday (August 17), suspected NPA members shot dead the police Chief Inspector of Catanduanes province. NPA rebels often target government authorities, as well as infrastructure and large businesses, and conduct extortion operations in form of “revolutionary taxes.” The 33-year old NPA is the country’s oldest insurgency and has been on the decline since the fall of the Soviet Union. In recent months, the NPA has been put on the terrorist blacklist of the US, Canada and several European countries, from which sources used to provide funding to the leftist group. However, it is still fairly active across the country, particularly in rural areas where it has been able to exercise its control. More than 40,000 people are believed to have been killed in the NPA insurgency. http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2003/aug/21/top_stories/20030821top6.html Adviser says MILF peace talks to begin next week; Landmines, forced conscription hamper IDP returns Mahid Mutlian, vice governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), reportedly said today that long-awaited talks between the government and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume next week. Mutilan is an advisor to the government panel for the peace talks. Malaysia has agreed to host the negotiations, but has not given a formal invitation to the Philippine government yet. Mutilan said the talks depend on whether new MILF chairperson Al Haj Ebrahim would pursue a similar policy to that of deceased former MILF leader, Salamat Hashim, whose death caused a delay in the talks earlier this month. Presidential adviser on the peace process, Eduardo Ermita, head of the government panel, said that a final draft of the peace agreement is already being refined. Observers say that Ebrahim is more of a moderate than Hashim, however, he is not a Muslim scholar and appears not to carry as much foreign political clout as Hashim. The MILF peace talks were originally postponed in May after a series of fatal bombings in Mindanao. Yesterday the Department of Social Welfare for the ARMM said at least 66,000 IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) remain in refugee camps and 398,000 remain at relatives’ homes. A report by the Norwegian Refugee Council last week said many displaced residents were also previously displaced in the 2000 conflict under former Philippine President Joseph Estrada. Many areas were reportedly in the process of rehabilitation when the conflict broke out anew in Cotabato province in February. In addition, the report said that many men flee out of fear of being forced to join the MILF or accused of being an MILF rebel by the military.