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Genuine Cooperation needed for Peace
April 16, 2012
Expecting complete withdrawal of ISAF and NATO forces by 2014, the country is afraid of undergoing a power vacuum and fresh round of regional interference and domestic instability. If will come true, the occurrence will certainly lead to uncontrolled turmoil, chaos and anarchy. With billions of dollars spent ...
Quetta has Turned the Worst Place for Hazaras
April 16, 2012
The systematic target killings of the Hazara community continue heart- wrenchingly unabated. The road between Mariabad and Hazara town Burory, the two main locations of the Hazaras in Quetta city has become horrendously dangerous and risky during past few months. They generally avoid traveling, and if they travel ...
A New Fighting Season and the War of Perceptions
April 15, 2012
The spring has arrived and, with it, so has the season for the Taliban's new wave of offensives. Over the past few days, tens of Afghans have been killed and injured in various bombings throughout the country. In the west, the relatively peaceful Herat province was the scene of a number of suicide bombings that shattered the ...
The City of Buddha is Still Dark
April 15, 2012
Last week people from Bamiyan, the city of Buddha, reached Kabul to protest against the inequalities from the side of Afghan government and the international community. The protest took place in front of the building of Afghan Parliament in Kabul. Participants were holding play cards with slogans such as "Stop ...
Start of a New Debate on 2014 Events
April 14, 2012
Afghanistan is going to experience another turning point in its chequered history within next few years. International community has officially announced to complete the drawdown from Afghanistan in 2014. In the meanwhile, 2014 is going to be an election cycle. Given the fact that Afghanistan continues to be destabilized by ...
Growing Hatred against Terrorism
April 14, 2012
The residents of Garmser district of Helmand province have chopped ears of a man accused of planting an IED or a roadside bomb that resulted in the deaths of civilians. The planted bomb exploded Thursday resulting in the death of two children and injury of 6 people including three other children. "This i ...
Genocide in Making
April 14, 2012
The targeted killings in southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta continue as two more people from the Hazara community were shot dead on Friday. About 24 innocent people have been killed in the last two weeks. The provincial law enforcement agencies and intelligence of security establishment have failed to control the situation. Thousands of ...
UN to Assist Afghanistan in 2014 Elections
April 12, 2012
It is really important for Afghanistan to have some very important political changes before the year 2014 when the international troops will complete their withdrawal. One of the most important factors in the political development of Afghanistan will be the 2014 elections. It is necessary that the elections should ...
Future Burden or Defenders of Afghanistan?
April 12, 2012
Defense Minister, Abul Rahim Wardak on his recent visit to Washington has said that Afghanistan will significantly reduce the number of its troops to 230,000 after the NATO withdraws in 2014. That indicates a twist in the plans of NATO and Afghan government. Based on earlier plans, Afghan ...
Time to Become Serious about Afghan Future
April 12, 2012
The US embassy here in Kabul has said that they are ready to negotiate with the Taliban. Willingness to talk to the Taliban that continue to kill and injure people, destroy roads and schools, and disrupt lives on a daily basis is understandable. This is because violence has surged and international community has come to ...
Washington-Kabul Agreement over Nighttime Raids
April 11, 2012
Since the start of second round of presidency, Mr. President Hamid Karzai's relation with the White House has not moved on a track without speed breakers. Initially, he was blamed for systematic electoral fraud in order to win over his close ...
Act before the Security Situation Turns Too Complex
April 11, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012, Afghanistan went through two other deadly terrorist attacks in west and south. At least 15 people were killed in two separate suicide bombings in Guzara district of Herat and Helmand. In Herat province, eight civilians and three policemen died when suicide bombers detonated their vehicle ...
NDS Exposes Names of Media with Affiliation to Neighboring Countries
April 11, 2012
According to a report published yesterday on a local newspaper, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) has exposed the names of print and broadcasting media that are funded by Pakistan and Iran and that try to mold their messages to the public in accordance with objectives of the said countries. Speaking in a media ...
Concerns over Possible Backfire
April 10, 2012
On Sunday, April 08, 2012, Afghanistan and the United States reached an agreement about the night raids. Under the agreement, Afghan government has a veto over the operations to be conducted by the NATO forces and supervised by the government. The agreement was signed by Afghan Defense Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak and ...
Systematic Genocide of a Minority in Pakistan
April 10, 2012
During the first 10 days of April so far, 18 people from the minority Hazara ethnic group have been killed in southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta. In an attack yesterday, Monday April 09, 2012, six people were shot dead and three injured after unknown assailants opened fire in a shoe-maker's shop on a busy shopping ...
Before the Banks get Emptied…
April 10, 2012
The announcement of US and its allies to end their combat operations by mid 2013 and prepare withdrawing their full forces out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014 has impacted many important areas. In addition to morale boost to insurgents, the plan has adversely affected investments, businesses and other day to day activities. The ...
How a Welcomed Intervention Changed into Frustration
April 09, 2012
Creation of effective institutions is an important component of state-building. The US-led international intervention in Afghanistan initially aimed at state-building in Afghanistan because it was assumed that a failed state poses threats to both its own citizens as well as to the global security. Afghanistan under the ...
Investment in Afghan Opium to Save Future
April 09, 2012
Against the weighty claims of success by Afghan government in countering narcotics, not only opium production has increased but also people have started investing in narco-businesss to secure their future amid withdrawal plan of US-led NATO forces from Afghanistan. According to Jean-Luc Lemahieu, head of the UN Office ...
State of Afghan Children
April 09, 2012
A latest UNICEF report The State of World's Children 2012: Children in an Urban World highlights the plight of Afghan children, particularly the challenges faced by them in urban areas. Besides the fact that children have been the worst victims of the last four decades of conflict in Afghanistan, they are still the most ...
Learn From Dennis
April 08, 2012
Days ago, an American soldier was run over by Mine Resistant and Ambush-protected vehicle while he was trying to save a shell cas ings collector girl in the northeast of the country, Laghman province. Mr. Dennis Weichel, 29, was in a NATO convoy, reportedly, saw children on the path of the ...
Can Negotiation with Taliban Establish a Permanent Peace?
April 08, 2012
Going by what transpired of the Afghan premiership and its western allies have commonly comprehended that negotiated settlement with the fanatically purist Talibs are indeed for a cooperative path out of the morass after ten years of often directionless drift and Karzai supports ...
With High Risk Rate, What will be Afghan Economy’s Future?
April 07, 2012
At times when there is a pressing need for more foreign and domestic investments, according to figures the investment in Afghanistan has decreased. Afghanistan is a country where every sector requires investment – mining, construction, energy, telecommunication, agriculture ...
Alarming Number of Drug Addicts
Saturday April 07
Afghanistan produces about 90 percent of the world's poppy production. The number of drug addicts in the country is based on estimations and is not clear. Though overall statistics is not as terrible as from Herat, however it reflects the severity of the situation. The Government has no efficient program for drug addicts. For ...
The Taliban: From a Spent Force to a Looming Specter
Saturday April 07
The Taliban's brutal regime was overthrown in late 2001 with the help of international community led by the United States of America (USA). When Bonn Conference was held following the fall of Taliban, they were viewed as a spent force, with the remnants being chased in the mountains along the borderline between Afghanistan and ...
FM Rassoul’s Doha Visit and Talks with Taliban
April 05, 2012
Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Muhammad Al Attiyah has "all parties" would be invited to the negotiations process. While talking in a press conference with Foreign Minister Zalmay Rassoul, who is on an official visit to Doha for the first time after the developments on Taliban's confirmation of opening an ...
Peace-Building Requires More than a Flawed Process
April 05, 2012
Any negotiated settlement of a conflict requires mechanisms and outcomes to be laid down clearly. The process must be inclusive and based on broad-based consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. Afghan government has been pursuing and implementing integration and reconciliation ...
Recent Attacks Negate Claims of Improvement in Security Conditions
April 05, 2012
Amid all optimism of US and Afghan authorities on the improvement in security condition in Afghanistan, the Taliban launched attacks taking lives of Afghan security forces, NATO service members and civilians. On Tuesday night, six people, including four policemen, were killed in Helmand province by Taliban insurgents, who ...
A Sublime Goal and an Urgent Need
April 04, 2012
Afghanistan should not be allowed to become a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. This is the most stated goal pursued by the international community in Afghanistan. This is echoed in new statement by Leon Panetta, the US defense secretary. Politicians and political actors in the country believe that the ...
Failure against ‘Green on Blue Attacks’
April 04, 2012
Incidents where an Afghan soldier murders his NATO counterpart or mentor – a trend being called 'green on blue attack' by US authorities – have multiplied concerns over relationship and trust between Afghan security forces and US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan. So far 17 NATO soldiers have lost their lives as result of ...
The Sad Inefficiency of a Process
April 04, 2012
It has now become evident that the negotiation and reconciliation with the Taliban and other insurgent groups has thus farbeen a mere rhetorical dream pursued by Afghan government, in particular by President Hamid Karzai. Both mechanisms and outcomes remain flawed and are not clearly defined. The taxpayers' money of western ...
What will Afghanistan Lose in the Strategic Deal?
April 03, 2012
Speaking to fresh graduates of the National Military Academy in Kabul last week, President Karzai promised that all military operations will be carried out by Afghan forces in 2013. The President mentioned the logistic and technical problems that Afghan forces face now, but hoped that the country will be able to find ...
Teenagers Killed for Friendship
April 03, 2012
Two teenagers have been brutally killed in Ghazni province of Afghanistan. A girl aged 12 and a boy aged 15 have been killed in acid attack, an official said Saturday, with witnesses claiming it was because of their friendship in what is an ultra-conservative country. The bodies were discovered on Friday in ...
The Springtime and Re-growth of Evil Weeds
April 02, 2012
Spring is a season of rebirth and renewal. It is now the springtime. Flowers and plants are beginning to sprout and grow. There is also a damned weed that starts to grow in spring and fully develops in the summer time. This is the evil force of Taliban. Instead of blossoming of hope in Afghanistan, there grow concerns ...
Defense Ministry Security Breach, Increasing Infiltration
April 02, 2012
A high-profile attack has been foiled in the Ministry of Defense on last week with arrest of some soldiers after 10 suicide vests were found in the parking area of the ministry. Apparently terrorists had planned to blow up buses taking Defense ministry employees to their homes in the afternoon. Security break at such a ...
The Capital of Islamic Civilization is now a Lodging for Militants
April 02, 2012
Ghazni has been one of the troubled provinces of Afghanistan over the last years. It is situated in central-east Afghanistan and located 143 kilometers by road southwest of Kabul. Ghazni province has been named as the capital of Islamic civilization for 2013. Since it is linked by a highway with Kandahar to the south-west ...