Coalition Forces

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, flew to Afghanistan on April 16 to meet with U.S. commanders who are leading the intensified hunt for Osama bin Laden.  During the meeting Myers hinted at a U.S. scale-down of troops by next year.

A truck carrying fuel to a U.S. military base in the Kunar province was blown up on April 22.  The blast wounded three people, who were quickly evacuated by American helicopters.  The attack was attributed to troops loyal to warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Germany and the Netherlands agreed to send a joint Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to northeast Afghanistan on April 23.  Currently there are a dozen PRTs operating in Afghanistan under U.S. command.  NATO has agreed to take command of five additional PRTs by the end of June, including the team to be sent by Germany and the Netherlands.

An American military convoy was ambushed on a road near the village of Dailanor in Kandahar province on April 24.  Three marines were injured, the first casualties from the new 2,000 man contingent taking part in Operation Mountain Storm.

General Afghan Security Situation

Five Afghan government officials and two civilians were killed during a Taliban offensive in the Birmal district of the Praktika province on April 12.  The next day the Taliban also claimed responsibility for killing two Afghan civilians for allegedly spying for the U.S. government.  The Taliban-associated violence continued on April 14, when a bomb exploded in front of a U.S. military base in Kandahar City, an ex-Taliban stronghold.  The explosion wounded Gen. Salim Khan, a senior Afghan police official.  Another police chief, Yar Mohammed, was ambushed along with nine of his officers in Zabul Province.

UNHCR High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers flew to Afghanistan on April 15 as part of a nine day, three country tour to survey the current refugee problem facing Afghanistan.  He urged Afghanis to not divert attention from the large ongoing repatriation operation, which has seen some 2.5 million refugees return since the fall of the Taliban.  This year it is believed that anywhere from 800,000 to one million refugees will return.  On April 19, after surveying the refugee situation in Afghanistan, Lubber said all new refugee camps inside Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan should be closed by September.

On April 16, the Taliban fired rockets at a checkpoint in the southwest Nimroz province.  The attack killed eight Afghan soldiers.

On April 20, President Hamid Karzai stated that he plans to reduce the size of his cabinet, currently comprised of 30 officials.  Additionally, Karzai hopes to clarify each cabinet member, and overhaul the method of selecting sub-cabinet level positions, which in the past has been given to reward allies.  The new deputy positions would no longer be political appointees. However, the current cabinet must first approve Karzai’s proposals in order for these measures to be implemented.

A group of 50 armed men attacked a group of aid workers in the Kandahar province on April 23.  No casualties were reported though the assailants set fire to eight vehicles.

President Karzai returned to Kandahar on April 25 for the first time since an assassination attempt on his life occurred there 19 months ago.  During his visit he iterated that he welcomed members of the Taliban to reintegrate into Afghan society.

International Security Assistance Force

Afghan police forces and NATO peacekeepers arrested eight Islamic militants on April 19.  The eight detained reportedly have links to renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and his Hezb-i-Islami faction that is suspected of having ties to al Qaeda and ex-Taliban forces. 

Germany’s foreign minister, Joshka Fischer, traveled to Afghanistan on April 20 to meet with President Karzai.  During his one day trip, he also visited 300 German troops stationed in the northern town of Kunduz.

Afghan police, assisted by ISAF, blockaded a street in central Kabul near the Ministry of Finance on April 21.  ISAF spokesman Lt. Richard Scarth confirmed two arrests, but declined to give specifics.

Pakistan

Pakistani tribal militiamen launched their own offensive against al Qaeda and remaining Taliban figures in South Waziristan on April 18.  This move is a response to the Pakistan’s ultimatum to the tribesmen to flush out remaining insurgents or face military consequences by April 20.  The militia, known as Lashkar, is 2,000 strong but has yet to capture any suspects.

Five renegade tribesman accused of sheltering al Qaeda and Taliban militants have struck a deal with  Maulana Abdul Malik, a member of Pakistan’s lower parliament and part of a hard-line religious coalition opposed to military deployment near the Afghan-Pakistani border.  Under the deal, the tribesmen will receive amnesty in return for their promise to not work against Pakistan’s interests.  The men, Naik Mohammed, Noor Islam, Maulvi Abbas Khan, Maulvi Abdul Aziz, and Sharif Khan, formally surrendered on April 24, at a local jirga, or tribal council, in the village of Shakai. 

The following day Pakistan freed 50 men who had been arrested during the March military offensive.

Other News in Brief

• With the Taliban ousted, and soccer no longer banned in Afghanistan, the newly formed national team was scheduled to play a friendly benefit match in Verona, Italy. This was to be the Afghan team’s first game in Europe in 20 years.  However, on April 13, it was reported that nine members of the team were missing.  The game went ahead when Afghan players living in Germany were brought in as substitutes, with proceeds from the match going towards the construction of two aid centers and an orphanage in Afghanistan. The team lost 5-0 and was disbanded on April 20, when the missing players surfaced in the Netherlands and Germany seeking asylum.

• Afghanistan’s airline business may be getting a boost. On April 14, several international companies displayed an interest in privatizing Afghanistan’s national airline, Ariana Afghan Airlines.  Last August, the United States agreed to develop a revitalization plan for the airline and discussions about its future have recently been held in Dubai.  President Karzai reportedly endorses the move towards privatization.

• Osama bin Laden’s latest audio recording was aired on April 15.  In it, he vowed to avenge the death of Hamas leader, Ahmad Yassin, and offered a truce to European powers if they withdrew troops from Muslim countries.  European governments quickly rejected the offer.

• The southeast Afghan province of Nangahar banned women from performing on radio and television because it is “un-Islamic.”  Effective on April 16, the move followed a much-debated decision by Kabul Television to air a tape of female singer Parasto in January.  The ban was lifted on April 22 following pressure from President Karzai’s central government.

• On April 18, Afghanistan held its first international conference in 20 years. The two-day Economic Cooperation Organization conference brought 10 regional countries together to discuss ways of improving development and promoting trade. 

• The Afghan finance minister, Ashraf Ghani, declared the Afghan Development Forum a success on April 23.   At the forum, donors agreed that the government will oversee the use of aid pledged to Afghanistan.

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