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AFGHANISTAN UPDATE2 August 2007 No. 12: 26 July - 1 August 2007 If you would like to receive this update, please email basic-wash at basicint.org with the phrase "subscribe to Afghanistan Update" in the subject line. Feedback on format and content is also gladly received. In particular we are keen to hear feedback of how useful you find this update. Please contact Cameron Scott by email at cscott at basicint.org with comments or suggestions. Previous editions of BASIC's Afghanistan Update are available here. Summary:
The Taliban killed a second South Korean hostage on Monday and have threatened to kill more hostages if their demand for the release of seven Taliban prisoners is not met by Wednesday evening. The South Koreans were kidnapped on 19 July in Ghazni province, and despite constant negotiations and several deadline extensions, no peaceful resolution appears imminent. The use of force to free the hostages has been raised as a possibility, particularly since the Afghan government has adamantly refused to capitulate to Taliban demands, but a military operation is risky and the South Korean government has said no rescue attempt would be made without its approval. The kidnapping incident has provoked outrage both within and outside Afghanistan, as President Hamid Karzai described the abduction of the Korean missionaries as "shameful," while senior political and religious figures have decried the kidnapping as un-Islamic and called for the hostages to be released immediately. Pope Benedict XVI has also appealed to the Taliban for their release, describing their captivity a "violation of human dignity." Meanwhile the fate of a German man and four of his Afghan colleagues taken hostage on 18 July also hangs in the balance, and though negotiations have continued they have thus far failed to secure freedom for him or his fellow captives. Civilians have suffered greatly from the insurgency-related violence in 2007, and have been hard hit by aerial bombing in particular. Continued incidents in which civilians have been killed by NATO bombing - more than 50 are reported to have been killed by an airstrike in Helmand last Friday - have prompted the alliance to consider using smaller munitions in order to reduce the chance of killing non-combatants accidentally. While international forces have vowed to reduce the frequency of such incidents and have described existing engagement procedures as adequate to the task, groups such as the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and the United Nations remain doubtful that a switch to lighter munitions will reduce non-combatant casualties. Airpower remains a crucial asset for international forces which the Taliban have struggled to account for. The Daily Telegraph reported on Sunday that insurgents fired a sophisticated heat-seeking SA-7 surface-to-air missile at a U.S. aircraft in Nimruz province on 22 July. Although the pilots of the C-130 transport aircraft successfully evaded the missile, the acquisition of such weapons by the Taliban represents a significant threat to international forces, which rely heavily on aircraft for logistical and combat support. Both security forces and insurgents have sustained casualties in the last week as the NATO-led 'Operation Chakush' (Hammer) continues. Up to 50 insurgents were killed during an engagement in Helmand on Friday, while three British soldiers have been killed in separate incidents in the last week, bringing the total casualty figure for U.K. personnel since 2001 to 68. Elsewhere, fighting in the eastern province of Nuristan on Friday claimed the lives of two U.S. soldiers and injured 13, while a suicide bomber attacked a U.S. convoy in Kabul on Tuesday, wounding three civilians and three soldiers. In northern Afghanistan a suicide bomber attacked Afghan security forces in the city of Kondoz, killing an intelligence official and wounding twelve other people, including eight civilians. In a grisly end to another kidnapping incident, the bodies of four judges abducted last week were found in the Andar district of Ghazni province. The Taliban claimed responsibility for their execution, saying the victims had confessed to working with the United States. In political developments, uncertainty again surrounds the position of Afghan Foreign Minister, Dr. Rangeen Dadfar-Spanta. Dr. Dadfar-Spanta faced calls to resign in May following the deportation of thousands of Afghan refugees from Iran, and though he survived that incident there is continued pressure on President Karzai to remove the Foreign Minister from his post. Tolo TV reported on Saturday that Dr. Dadfar-Spanta had in fact made a decision to resign last week but had delayed due to the death of former King Mohammed Zahir Shah, while Ariana TV quoted Mohammad Yunos Qanuni, the Afghan parliament speaker, on Monday as saying President Karzai had agreed to sack the embattled Dr. Dadfar-Spanta. In other news, the Pajhwok News Agency reported on Wednesday that the Afghan Minister for Information and Culture, Abdol Karim Khorram, has asked Afghan media to consider "the national interest" when covering the upcoming peace jerga to be held with Pakistani officials in Kabul. The leader of Britain's opposition Conservative party, David Cameron, travelled to Afghanistan this week to meet with President Karzai and, NATO officials and British forces. Stating that "we cannot afford to fail," Cameron said that the international community must do more to ensure success and should consider how the international effort is led and coordinated. Britain has the second largest contingent in the ISAF mission with 7,700 personnel in Afghanistan, and more may yet be on the way. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said that British responsibilities may expand in time and could require an increase in force levels, and he expressed frustration with NATO allies that would not commit further personnel or material resources to the mission. Sir Jock's comments were similar to those made by U.N. Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom Koenigs, who said in an interview with Der Spiegel on Tuesday that the international community must not "cave in to the terrorist threat" posed by Taliban kidnappings and said that the Afghan people wanted more, rather than fewer, international forces to help provide security. Cameron Scott
Stories and Links: Why Afghan opium output keeps growing, The Wall Street
Journal, 26/7 (subscription required) Afghanistan kidnaps force Korean rethink on missionary drive,
The Financial Times, 27/7 Sectarian bias is a blight on a rare Afghan good news story, The Guardian, 27/7 http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2135898,00.html Tribal conflict in Afghanistan: Fighting for land and water,
The Economist, 28/7 As the war against the Taliban continues to rage, what is life
in Afghanistan really like? The Independent, 28/7 Taliban forces NATO to rethink its strategy, The Financial
Times, 31/7 Korean hostage crisis pressures US, Karzai, Asia Times
Online, 31/7 Amid war, passion for TV chefs, soaps and idols, The
New York Times, 1/8 Between allies and enemies, South Korean leader in a bind over
hostage crisis, The International Herald Tribune, 1/8 Islamists want Pakistan province renamed "Afghania", Reuters,
1/8 Afghanistan: Taliban propaganda effective among Pashtoons,
Integrated Regional Information Networks, 1/8 Analysis: What to do in Afghanistan? United Press International,
1/8
Editorials, Transcripts and Reports: 'Afghanistan needs more Western troops:" Interview with
U.N. Special Representative Tom Koenigs, Der Spiegel, 31/7 Cops or Robbers? The struggle to reform the Afghan National
Police, The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 29/7
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