August 21, 2009

Overview

Afghan officials hail elections as a success, at least 26 killed in sporadic attacks across the country

At least 26 people were reported killed on Thursday (August 20) in scattered attacks across the country during Afghanistan’s second presidential election, but officials say that militants failed to disrupt the vote and have hailed the elections as a success. “The Afghan people dared rockets, bombs and intimidations… We’ll see what the turnout was.  But they came out to vote. That’s great,” the BBC quoted Afghan President Hamid Karzai as saying. Kai Eide, the top UN official in the country, acknowledged the scattered attacks, but said that the election “seems to be working well.” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also issued a statement congratulating Afghans on the elections. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also hailed the vote as “a testimony to the determination of the Afghan people to build democracy,” the BBC reported. Almost 95 percent of the more than 6,000 polling stations across Afghanistan opened on Thursday, according to Afghan officials, despite threats by the Taliban to disrupt the vote. Initial results are not expected for days, but according to the Associated Press (AP), a top election official said he thinks that 40 to 50 percent of Afghanistan’s 15 million registered voters cast ballots. Final results are expected on September 17, the BBC reported. In the country’s first presidential elections in 2004, some 70 percent of eligible voters, or over 8 million people, cast ballots. Incumbent President Hamid Karzai is running against some 30 other candidates for re-election and Afghans will also choose 420 councilors in 34 provinces. Karzai is expected to finish first, although analysts believe he may face a challenge from his top challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Karzai was named as interim leader after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. His popularity has decreased in recent months as corruption and insecurity increased. If the winning candidate fails to win more than 50 percent of the vote on Thursday, there will be a run-off election in October. According to President Karzai, militants carried out 73 attacks in 15 provinces, a 50 percent increase in attacks compared with recent days, according to NATO figures, the AP reported. Karzai’s minister of defense and interior said attacks killed eight Afghan soldiers, nine police and nine civilians, while separately, a US soldier was killed in a mortar attack in the east. In northern Baghlan province, militant attacks led to the closure of 14 polling sites, as fighting continued for a second day, the AP and CNN reported. Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) deployed some 270,000 election observers, including some 2,000 foreign observers, at polling stations across the country. The IEC said earlier that it was unable to open voting stations in nine districts that remain outside government control. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Tuesday (August 18) that it would suspend all offensive operations during the elections. ISAF said the announcement comes after a call from the Afghan government to a “Day of Peace” for the elections. Security on election day was provided by Afghan security troops with foreign troops patrolling away from polling centers. A total of some 300,000 troops were reportedly providing security. 

US may increase combat troops in Afghanistan

US defense officials say that the top commander of US troops in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, was mulling cutting back on desk jobs and other support staff to free up more troops for combat, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. “The idea is use troops more effectively,” AFP quoted an unidentified US official as saying. Reducing the non-combat positions would mean “doing more with what you’ve got versus asking for more troops,” the official added. McChrystal is expected to release an assessment of the war in Afghanistan that would identify needs. AFP says that reducing the number of support staff could mean McChrystal would make a more modest troop request to US President Barack Obama. Separately, Sen. John McCain, on Tuesday (August 18) called for more US troops in Afghanistan during a visit with a congressional delegation to Afghanistan. According to the AP, McCain did not specify exactly how many troops he thought were needed before learning McChrystal’s views on how the war was going. However, McCain said that doubling the number of Marines in southern Helmand province could lead to “significantly more success,” according to the AP. He also said that more Afghan troops were needed as well. The senate delegation noted that more US civilian power was necessary to help develop Afghanistan and keep regions form falling back into the hands of the Taliban once military operations concluded. US troop levels are currently at around 62,000 and are expected to climb to 68,000 in the coming months, more than double the number at the start of the year after the Obama administration ordered an additional 21,000 US troops to the country this year. President Obama earlier this week warned of a difficult road ahead while speaking to a gathering of the Veterans of Foreign Wars service organization in Arizona. “The insurgency in Afghanistan didn’t just happen overnight … We won’t defeat it overnight. This will not be quick. This will not be easy,” AFP quoted Obama as saying.

Oxfam says a third of Afghans at risk of hunger

Oxfam International, the British-based international aid agency, on Wednesday (August 19) said that one-third of the population in Afghanistan is at risk of hunger. Oxfam says that although millions of dollars in aid have been given to the country, it has been insufficient to deal with the legacy of decades of conflict. Oxfam says that the US spends US$100 million per day on security, but the overall aid budget for all donors combined is less than US$7 million per day for the country. Oxfam says that aid can make a big difference in Afghanistan, but the money has to be well spent, as much of the money given by foreign governments is ineffective, uncoordinated or wasteful and doesn’t reach ordinary citizens. Oxfam says that even after some eight years of Western presence in Afghanistan, many areas are facing severe food shortages with almost 7.3 million people at risk of hunger. The situation is exacerbated by the conflict, which makes some areas inaccessible to aid workers. The aid group says that poverty levels remain some of the worst in the world, with 40 percent of Afghans living below the poverty line. “The international community has promised a lot to the Afghan people but much aid and reconstruction have failed to live up to those promises. Donors have double pledged funds and have been slow to disburse aid money, a situation compounded by inefficiency, lack of accountability and corruption. Aid that does reach Afghanistan often doesn’t reach the people it’s meant to help, or it is spent on projects which fulfill donor priorities, rather than Afghan needs,” said Grace Ommer, Oxfam Great Britain’s country director for Afghanistan.

US envoy Richard Holbrooke observes elections in Afghanistan, pledges energy and economic aid for Pakistan

US President Barack Obama’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, on Thursday (August 20) toured polling stations in the capital, Kabul. “So far, every prediction of disaster turned out to be wrong,” Reuters quoted Holbrooke as saying during his tour. However, he did acknowledge that the stations he visited did not show a complete picture of the situation countrywide.  “We don’t know what it’s like out in the countryside,” Reuters quoted Holbrooke as saying. Holbrooke had first traveled to neighboring Pakistan before making his way to Afghanistan and promised Wednesday (August 19) to help Pakistan deal with its energy crisis and provide economic aid. Holbrooke began his visit to Pakistan on Saturday (August 15). According to AFP, Holbrooke hailed Pakistan’s progress against the Taliban and said that Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the US face a “common enemy” in Islamist extremists. “We have made a major turn in our relations with Pakistan under President Barack Obama … We are now stressing the needs of all Pakistani people, to put an emphasis on what you have told us is your number one concern: energy,” AFP quoted him as saying. Holbrooke said that the US was setting up a task force of experts to help Pakistan deal with the crisis and was in talks with international financial institutions to provide Pakistan with economic help, AFP reported. Separately, President Obama’s administration is planning to establish a new unit within the State Department in an effort to counter militant propaganda in Afghanistan, as well as neighboring Pakistan, the New York Times (NYT) reported. According to the NYT, Holbrooke will direct the effort. Proposals are being considered to give the unit up to US$150 million a year to spend on local FM radio stations and on expanded cell phone service across the two countries, the NYT reported. The project is expected to step up the training of local journalists and help produce audio and video programming, as well as pamphlets, posters and CDs, according to the NYT. “Concurrent with the insurgency is an information war. We are losing that war,” the NYT quoted Holbrooke as saying.

Movement

2008: The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) held a press conference in Kabul on December-15. Nilab Mobarez from the UNAMA Spokesperson’s Office reported that the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation and UNHCR just published the first national IDP profiling report. Findings of the report include that the various conflicts and natural disasters in Afghanistan in the last decade have uprooted about 1.2 million people. Currently, about 235,000 people are estimated to be displaced within Afghanistan. According to the report, aid agencies and the Afghan government must focus on local integration to help bring long-term displacement to an end. (UNAMA, December-15)

According to UNHCR, fewer Afghan refugees are returning home, while more people are leaving the country for better jobs and security, a trend that may increase regional tension. More than 5 million of 8 million Afghan refugees have returned home since 2002, but the number of those returning is falling, according to UNHCR. Amid pressure from Iran and Pakistan to send home millions of refugees, representatives from UNHCR, about 30 countries and international organizations met in Kabul in mid-November to mobilize support for the sustained return and reintegration of the refugees. (AFP, BBC, Nov-19)

UNHCR said in the first week of October that some 251,800 registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran had returned to their homes so far in 2008. Most of those repatriated (248,951) under the UN-assisted voluntary repatriation campaign came from Pakistan, while Iran accounted for 2,929 returns. (UNHCR, Oct-7)

2007: UNHCR temporarily suspends the Afghan voluntary repatriation campaign in Pakistan until March 2008 due to seasonal slowdown. (IRIN, Nov-2). Pakistan has reportedly extended the deadline to close Jalozai camp until March 2008. (IRIN, Sep-4). The UNHCR has asked Pakistan to temporarily suspend closure of Jalozai refugee camp in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that was originally scheduled to be closed on August 31. UNHCR said due to the fast approaching Muslim holy month of Ramadan and winter season, conditions were not conducive for the return of some 100,000 camp residents. UNHCR said any forceful return of these refugees could lead to secondary displacement. 

Pakistan is to close all Afghan refugee camps by December 2009 and to repatriate all refugees living in the country.  UNHCR says it has repatriated over 306,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan so far this year under its voluntary repatriation campaign.  (UNHCR, Aug-10)

4.2 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan, and 500,000 IDPs returned home since early 2002.  Close to 3 million of the refugees returned from Pakistan. 2.6 million Afghans remain in Pakistan, including one million in 74 long-term camps. About 1.5 million Afghans returned from Iran. Taking into account unassisted returns, perhaps 600,000 to 700,000 Afghans remain in Iran—up to 30,000 are in seven camps.

Iran deported some 85,000 unregistered refugees to Afghanistan during April 21 - May 14, 2007.  Iranian officials say they plan to initially send back 500,000 of over a million illegal refugees in the country.  Earlier this week, Iran said it has reached an agreement with the Afghan government to slow down the pace of expulsions for illegal Afghans living in the country. 

Some 200,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan have returned to their homes under the UN-assisted voluntary Afghan refugee repatriation program since it resumed on March 1, 2007, following a seasonal winter suspension.  Pakistani authorities said voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan that are without proof of registration (PoR) ended in April, and refugees remaining in the country without PoR are now considered illegal and subject to government action.

2006: UNHCR expects to assist 550,000 returnees—400,000 from Pakistan and 150,000 from Iran.  However, so far this year only some 60,000 Afghan refugees have repatriated from Pakistan.  Unassisted returns are a factor from Pakistan and have been a major contributor to returns from Iran. The tripartite arrangement among UNHCR-Afghanistan-Pakistan is good through 2006.  The UNHCR-Afghanistan-Iran Joint Program has been extended into 2007.  Repatriation from Pakistan, halted for the winter, recommenced on March 1.  UNHCR assisted nearly 9,000 refugees in returning from Pakistan and over 500 from Iran during March.  In April 2006, Pakistan closed two long-term camps in NWFP, and two in Baluchistan Province with 250,000 long-term residents.  Refugees in Baluchistan can either return to Afghanistan or relocate to Mohammad Kheil camp near Quetta. Refugees in NWFP are moving to Afghanistan or one of ten camps in NWFP—refugees are pushing for a one-year delay. 

2005 plans called for 400,000 Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan and 200,000 from Iran, down from an earlier 350,000 estimated from Iran. 453,000 returned from Pakistan.  67,000 from Iran were assisted and over 210,000 returned on their own to Iran for a total of nearly 280,000, and a combined Pakistan and Iran total of 733,000—close to the original projection.

2004 plans were for one million to return.  Actual returnees were around 850,000, with 385,000 from Pakistan and 460,000 from Iran, including 80,000 spontaneous returns.  Pakistan closed camps in South Waziristan and all new camps, with remaining new refugees going to Mohamed Kheil camp in Baluchistan Province. 

Emphasis in 2003 was on repatriation from old camps and cities in Pakistan to rural areas in Afghanistan.  70 percent of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30 percent from camps. Over a third returned to Kabul, another 10 percent went to other central provinces, and just over 20 percent returned to each of the north and east.  The Southern region received 6 percent and the Western region 4 percent. The 2003 peak months were June and July.

In 2002 over 2.3 million Afghan refugees returned with 2 million assisted by UNHCR.  UNHCR repatriated 1.53 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan, including 125,000 from Baluchistan and 1.4 million from the North West Frontier Province.  82 percent were from urban areas; only 3 percent were from new camps.  265,000 refugees were assisted in returning from Iran; and 10,000 refugees from the central Asian republics. 

Afghanistan Relief Efforts:  United Nations Coordination Regions

Central Region

Location	Central Region
Coordination
Population
IDP Movement	No New Information
Food	There have been at least six attacks on World Food Program (WFP) food convoys in 2008, and WFP temporarily suspended food delivery to Daikundi province.(IRIN, May-28)
Health	No New Information
NFIs -Shelter	No New Information IOM, UNICEF, UNOCHA, & OXFAM
Water & Sanitation	No New Information UNICEF
Security	Taliban insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at two schools in Baraki Barak district of Logar province on Tuesday (August 18). The schools were to be used as polling stations for Thursday’s (August 20) elections. (Reuters, Aug-18) Taliban insurgents blew up a school in Qara Bagh district in Ghazni province.  The school was to be used as a polling station on Tuesday. Also a roadside bomb wounded two Afghan policemen carrying election papers in the same district.  (Reuters, Aug-18) Afghan police killed one insurgent and detained another during an operation in central Logar province on Saturday (August 15).  (Reuters, Aug-17) Twelve insurgents, including four Arabs, were killed when Afghan and foreign forces targeted a suspected militant compound in Sayed Abad district in central Wardak province on Friday (August 14). (Reuters, Aug-14) At least three Afghan soldiers and a foreign service member were killed when Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy in Ajrestan district on Monday (August 10).  According to provincial officials as many as eight Afghan soldiers and seven Taliban fighters were killed in the fighting.  (Reuters, Aug-11)
Comments	Avalanches in Daykundi province killed one woman and three children during the first week of April. (IRIN, Apr-2)

East Central Region

Location	East Central Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population
IDP Movement	The Afghan Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) agreed to work together towards creating sustainable livelihoods for 2,000 recent Afghan returnees from neighboring countries. About 640,000 Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan this year. (IOM, Dec-16)
Food	The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on December 9 that increasing attacks on food convoys by insurgents are leading to a food crisis. The attacks force convoys to take longer routes, thus increasing the cost of transportation and the food itself. Most food prices are already far beyond the reach of ordinary people. Aid agencies fear that the food crisis could exacerbate child malnutrition throughout the country. (UNICEF, Dec-9)
Health	No New Information UNICEF, CARITAS, MSF, IFRC, IRC, ICRC
Non-Food Items - Shelter	No New Information UNHCR, ACTED, MSF, IRC, ICRC, IOM
Security	Afghan security forces stormed a bank in Kabul and killed three armed robbers on Wednesday (August 19). Local media identified the robbers as Taliban members.  (Reuters, Aug-19) At least seven people were killed and more than 50 were wounded by a suicide car bomb attack on a Western military convoy on a main road in the east of Kabul on Tuesday (August 18). Two Afghans working for the UN were among those killed. (Reuters, Aug-18) Two rockets were fired at the capital, Kabul overnight Tuesday with one of these hitting the presidential palace, causing some damage. A second rocket hit a police headquarters. Neither hit caused any casualties.  (Reuters, Aug-18) A suicide car bomber killed at least seven civilians and wounded nearly 100 outside the headquarters of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in central Kabul on Saturday (August 15). (Reuters, Aug-15) Four civilians were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb on the northern outskirts of Kabul on Saturday.  (Reuters, Aug-15) Two insurgent-fired rockets hit a residential area near Kabul airport on Friday (August 14) but did not cause any casualties.  (Reuters, Aug-14) At least three Afghan police and two civilians were killed when around six Taliban fighters armed with guns and explosives vests attacked government buildings in Pul-e-Alam district in Logar province on Monday (August 10). At least 26 people were reportedly wounded in the attacks.  (Reuters, Aug-10)
Water & Sanitation	An agreement has been signed between the UNHCR and the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) to provide safe drinking water for Afghan returnees from Pakistan and Iran, as well as IDPs. (UNHCR, Sep. 24)
Comments	No new information

Eastern Region

Location	Eastern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, International Islamic Relief Organization;
Population
IDP Movement	UNHCR
Food	NATO-led ISAF PRT transported water pipes for a nearly seven-mile-long planned water supply project in Baghlan province.  (NATO, Aug-23) IRC
Health	No New Information
Non-Food Items - Shelter	No New Information CWS, UNICEF
Security	Four civilians, including two women, were killed overnight Wednesday (August 19) in a roadside bomb blast in southeastern Paktika province. (Reuters, Aug-19) A roadside bomb killed two US service members and wounded three others with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday (August 18). NATO did not provide further details. (Reuters, Aug-18) Ten people were wounded when a rocket hit a house in the eastern city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province on Tuesday. (Reuters, Aug-18) A US civilian working with ISAF was killed in an ambush by Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday (August 16). No further details were provided by NATO. (Reuters, Aug. 17) Two insurgents were killed when a bomb they were trying to plant exploded prematurely in Paktika province on Saturday (August 15).  (Reuters, Aug-17) A NATO-led airstrike in Spera district of Khost province on Friday (August 14) killed at least 13 Taliban insurgents.  (Reuters, Aug-15) Afghan security forces killed two insurgents in clashes in eastern Paktika province on August 14. Two soldiers were also wounded in the clash. (Reuters, Aug-15) Afghan troops backed by US forces killed 20 militants and seized a weapons cache during a sweep operation in the eastern Sabari district of Khost province on August 7.  (Reuters, Aug-8) One insurgent was killed and two wounded when a roadside bomb they were planting exploded prematurely in Yaqubi district in Khost province on August 7.  (Reuters, Aug-8) Two truck drivers carrying supplies for foreign forces were killed in an ambush by Taliban insurgents in eastern Laghman province on Thursday (August 6).  (Reuters, Aug-6) Six civilians were killed on Wednesday (August 5) when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in eastern Nangarhar province.  (VOA, Aug-5)
Water & Sanitation	CARITAS; ICRC, UNICEF
Comments	As many as 40 people were killed in two earthquakes that struck Nangarhar province early Friday (April 17) morning. More than 60 people were wounded and over 200 houses damaged, according to preliminary reports. (VOA, Reuters, AFP, Apr-17)

Northeastern Region

Location	Northeastern Region
Coordination
Population
Movement IDPs	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast
Food	No New Information
Health	Afghan officials and the medical team assigned to the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Panjshir province coordinated with local leaders in two districts to augment health care to 563 people. (GoUSA, Oct. 23) WHO, Merlin, UNICEF, MSF; ICRC
Non-Food Items (NFIs) -Shelter	UNICEF, ACTED, Refugees Int’l, Mercy Corps
Security	Three soldiers from US-led coalition forces were killed on Thursday (June 4) in Kapisa province when insurgents attacked their vehicle with a bomb and small-arms fire.  (AP, June-4)
Water & Sanitation	No New Information
Comments	The Mine Detection Center (MDC), an Afghan NGO, has cleared 1 million square meters of landmines in Afghanistan’s northeastern region since January. According to UNAMA, 165 people have been killed and more than 1100 people have been injured in mine accidents in the four northeastern provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan, Takhar and Badakhshan. (UNAMA, Oct-21)

Northern Region

Location	Northern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, IOM
Population	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast; 60,000 IDPs from North elsewhere in country.
Movement IDPs	No New Information IOM
Food	No New Information
Health	No New Information MSF, ICRC, UNICEF
NFIs –Shelter	No New Information IOM, ACTED, Mercy Corps
Security	As many as 20 Taliban militants were killed in clashes with Afghan security forces in northern Baghlan province on Thursday (August 20). Clashes disrupted voting for the presidential elections in the area.  (The News, Aug-20) A roadside bomb killed four people, including three election commission employees, while they were transporting voting materials in the remote Argu district of northeastern Badakhshan province on Tuesday (August 18). (Reuters, Aug-18) Three insurgents were killed and two wounded in a clash overnight Tuesday with Afghan police in Chardara district in Kunduz province. (Reuters, Aug-18) Gunmen shot dead a provincial council candidate in the Murdian district in northern Jowzjan province Monday (August 17) evening.  (Reuters, Aug-18) Five civilians, including two women and two children, were killed in the crossfire between Taliban insurgents and government troops in northern Baghlan province on Thursday (August 13).  (Reuters, Aug-14) Two policemen and eight Taliban insurgents were killed overnight in a clash in Dasht-e-Archi district in Kunduz province on Wednesday (August 12).  (Reuters, Aug-13) Taliban militants killed two people, including a district police chief in Dasht-e-Archi district in northern province of Kunduz in a pre dawn attack on a government compound on Wednesday (August 12).  (BBC, Aug-12) Two Afghan female candidates running in provincial elections survived attacks in northern Takhar province on Sunday (August 9). In the first attack in Dargat district, Maria Temori was attacked by gunmen. Two people, including one of Temori’s supporters, and a policeman, were wounded in the incident, while two of the gunmen were killed. In the second attack in Yanga Qala district, unidentified gunmen tried to burn down the house of Sohalia Joya, but they were stopped by other residents.  (Reuters, Aug-10)
Water & Sanitation	No New Information UNICEF, ICRC, DACAAR
Comments	The European Commission’s Humanitarian aid Office and the NGO ActionAid launched a cash for work program in northern Afghanistan on October 22 aimed at providing about 5,000 families with enough food to cover half of their daily requirements through the winter. The program is active in 40 villages in Jawzjan Province’s Darzab and Qushtepa districts, and in Balkh province’s Dawlatabad and Kaldar districts. (ActionAid, Oct-22)

Southern Region

Location	Southern Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population
Movement of IDPs	Intense military operations against Afghan insurgents in southern Helmand province, especially in Musa Qala district, have caused hundreds of families to flee their homes to neighboring districts and the provincial capital, Lashkargah. (IRIN, Dec-6)
Food	No New Information UNICEF; Mercy Corps; CARITAS; WFP
Health	NATO reported on December-14 that hundreds of people received medical care and humanitarian assistance in Zabul province. Members of the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), the Afghan Army and coalition forces participated in the operation. (NATO, Dec-14) Members of the Zabul PRT and of the Kentucky Army National Guard delivered four pre-fabricated medical containers to the Atgar district center. The delivery will help to improve the health care capacity in the province that has only one health care provider so far. (NATO, Dec-6)
NFIs - Shelter	No New Information UNHCR, Mercy Corps
Security	A district chief and a tribal leader were killed when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in southern Kandahar province on Wednesday (August 19).  (Reuters, Aug-19) A roadside bomb killed two policemen in Uruzgan (also spelled Oruzgan) province on Wednesday.  (Reuters, Aug-19) Three civilians and a police officer were killed in the border town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar province when one of the two bombs planted by insurgents exploded as police were trying to defuse it on Wednesday.  (Reuters, Aug-19) Taliban insurgents attacked a police post on the outskirts of Kandahar province overnight Tuesday (August 18). However, there were no casualties.  (Reuters, Aug-18) At least five people, including three soldiers and two civilians, were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint in Uruzgan (also spelled Oruzgan) on Tuesday.  (Reuters, Aug-18) Two US soldiers working with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed in a roadside bomb blast in southern Kandahar province on Tuesday. (Reuters, Dawn, Aug-18-19) A US soldier was killed as result of hostile fire in Helmand province on Tuesday.  (Dawn, Aug-19) Afghan forces backed by close foreign air support killed some 29 Taliban insurgents during an overnight operation on Saturday (August 15) in Uruzgan (also spelled Oruzgn) province.  (Reuters, Aug-15) Eight insurgents were killed in a clash with Afghan troops in Nawzad district in Helmand province on Friday (August 14). (Reuters, Aug-14) Three British soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb explosion while on patrol in Sangin district in Helmand province on Thursday (August 13). (Reuters, Aug-13) Nine civilians were killed by a roadside bomb in Nahr Saraj district of Helmand province on Wednesday (August 12).  (Reuters, Aug-13) Three teenage boys playing outside an orphanage were killed when a landmine planted by insurgents exploded in southern Kandahar province on Wednesday.  (Reuters, Aug-13) A roadside bomb killed an American soldier on Wednesday in southern Afghanistan. NATO declined to give details.  (Reuters, Aug-13)
Water & Sanitation	No New Information UNICEF
Comments	British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on December-13, that Britain will help Afghanistan with upcoming elections and has also offered to set up a task force to fight corruption. Britain plans to give Afghanistan US$10 million to register voters for next year’s elections. (CNN, Dec-15) On December-19 Tooryalai Wesa, an Afghan-Canadian academic, accepted the post of governor in southern Kandahar province. (AP, Dec-19)

Southern Region IDP camps

Location	Zhare Dasht - South of Kandahar – 6 camps
Type	IDP Camp
Coordination	UNHCR
Camp Capacity	30,000; expandable to 60,000
Population	125,000 IDPs in south; 48,500 at Zhare Dasht
Movement IDP	No New Information
Food	No New Information WFP
Health	No New Information UNICEF, MSF
NFIs – Shelter	No New Information
Security	No New Information
Water & Sanitation	No New Information UNICEF
Comments	Support for Spin Boldak camps terminated in 2004.

Western Region

Location	Western Region
Coordination	UNHCR; ICMC
Population	No New Information
Movement IDPs	12,000 IDPs, mostly in Maslakh camp IOM
Food	No New Information IRC, CARITAS, UNICEF, World Vision, IOM, Action Contre la Faim; WFP
Health	At least three people were killed in an outbreak of highly contagious Viral Hemorrhagic Fever in Herat city that was first reported on August 25, according to the Ministry of Public Health. Officials confirmed 10 suspected cases as of August 27 and said most of the infected were butchers, shepherds or others involved with animals. The patients were put in quarantine. (IRIN, Aug-27)
Non-Food Items (NFIs) – Shelter	No New Information
Security	Eight insurgents were killed when police stormed the house of a district-level Taliban commander in the Guzara district in western Herat province on Monday (August 17).  (Reuters, Aug-18) Four US soldiers on the NATO-led ISAF were killed when their vehicle struck an IED in western Afghanistan on Thursday.  (BBC, Reuters, Aug-6-7) A US soldier was killed in a roadside bomb blast while on patrol in western Farah province on Wednesday (August 5).  (Reuters, Aug-6) A district security official targeted by a Taliban bomb on Monday (August 3) died of his wounds at a military hospital in Kandahar.  (Reuters, Aug-5) A roadside bomb killed at least 12 people, including two policemen, a woman and a 12-year old girl and wounded 26 others in western city of Herat.  (Reuters, Aug-3) Four Afghan soldiers were killed and three wounded when Taliban insurgents ambushed a convoy carrying ballot papers and other election supplies in Bala Baluk district in Farah province on Friday (July 31). (Reuters, Jul-31) Some 13 people were burned when they tried to take fuel from an overturned fuel tanker that was attacked by Taliban insurgents in Bala Baluk district in Farah province on Friday.  (Reuters, Jul-31)
Water & Sanitation	No New Information UNICEF
Comments

Refugee Camps in Pakistan

Location	Long-term camps in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), NWFP, Baluchistan Province, and by capital, Islamabad; Mohamed Kheil 1 & 2 camps (85 km southwest of Quetta)
Type	Refugee Camps
Coordination	Afghanistan, Pakistan and UNHCR on August 2 extended the tripartite agreement governing the voluntary repatriation of registered Afghans from Pakistan through December 2009. The agreement provides a legal and operational framework for the process. To date, more than 3 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan under the voluntary repatriation program since 2002. This year, more than 300,000 Afghans have returned. (UNHCR, GOP, Aug-2)
Camp Capacity	About one million mostly long term Afghans in 74 camps—down from about 200 camps.
Population	2.05 million registered Afghans remaining in Pakistan; 63 camps in NWFP, 12 in Baluchistan; and one million elsewhere; Many occupants are long-term residents or were born in Pakistan. (UNHCR, Aug-2) Jungle Pir Alizai (Balochistan): 36,000, originally scheduled to close June 15. Kacha Gari (NWFP): original population of 64,811, officially closed July 26 – 37,000 repatriated. (UNHCR, July-27) Jalozai (NWFP): 109,934, originally scheduled to close August 31.  UNHCR on August 22 requested Pakistan to temporarily suspend the camp’s closure due to insufficient time for some 100,000 people to move and settle into new places in the face of the fast approaching Ramadan and winter season. (UNHCR, Aug-22)  The deadline was extended to April 15 due to the impending winter. According to IRIN, at least 352 have left Jalozai so far in March.  (IRIN, Mar-20) Girdi Jungle (Balochistan): 17,844, scheduled to close August 31. (IRIN, June-14)
Refugee Movement	No New Information
Food	No New Information WFP, CRS, ARC
Health	No New Information UNICEF, MSF
Non-Food Items (NFIs) - Shelter	No New Information CRS
Security	No New Information
Water & Sanitation	No New Information IFRC, MDM
Comments	No New Information