September 4, 2009

Overview

NATO to probe airstrike after dozens, including civilians, killed

A pre-dawn airstrike by NATO-led forces in northern Afghanistan on Friday (September 4) has left more than 80 people dead, some of them reportedly civilians, reports say. NATO officials confirmed that coalition airplanes destroyed two fuel tankers that had been hijacked by insurgents in Kunduz province. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP) the tankers had been heading to the capital, Kabul, from Tajikistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office said that 90 people were killed and hurt, while police and the interior ministry put the toll at 56 Taliban killed and 10 others wounded. Afghan officials say that the attack killed insurgents but also killed civilians who had been surrounding the trucks that were trying to siphon off fuel. According to AFP, Karzai said any targeting of civilians was unacceptable. According to the New York Times (NYT), the incident occurred in the tiny village of Omar Kheil, located some 15 miles south of Kunduz. The German defense ministry said that German forces in northern Afghanistan under NATO command had called in the attack, the NYT reported. The strike comes just months after top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, restricted the use of airstrikes in an effort to reduce possible civilian casualties. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that an investigation had been launched. “Civilian casualties caused by ISAF are down over 95% from last year’s levels. But, as we all know, in conflicts like these, mistakes can happen. In this case, let us now see what the investigation concludes,” the BBC quoted him as saying.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal releases assessment on war

A report has been released by the top US general and head of NATO and US forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, calling for a new strategy in the war in Afghanistan. The report has not yet been published, but McChrystal sent the report to the Pentagon and NATO headquarters on Monday (August 30). US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates had asked for the 60-day review on the situation in Afghanistan. Sources say that McChrystal did not ask for more troops in his review, however, according to the Associated Press (AP), NATO officials say that he is expected to separately request more troops in a couple of weeks. “The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort,” the AP quoted McChrystal as saying in a statement on Monday. According to the AP, a NATO statement said that the assessment seeks to implement US President Barack Obama’s strategy “to reduce the capability and will” of insurgents and extremists, including al-Qaida, and support the growth and development of Afghan security forces and Afghan governance. According to NATO officials, McChrystal wants to intensify development of Afghan security forces, improve the government and refocus on economic development initiatives, the LA Times reported. Additionally, according to ABC News, McChrystal emphasized a shift from fighting the Taliban to protecting the population, rooting out corruption, doubling the number of Afghan security troops and changing the way Afghan troops are trained. In counterinsurgency guidelines released to troops last week, McChrystal urged troops to change their mindset in order to win the fight against the insurgency by focusing on protecting civilians rather than just fighting militants. According to the LA Times, the full assessment will not be released until Gates and President Obama have had a chance to review it.

August is deadliest month for US troops

August was the deadliest month of the war for US troops. With the death of two US service members by two bombings on Monday, the number of US troops killed in August rose to 47, the highest monthly toll since the war began in late 2001, the Associated Press reported. NATO confirmed the deaths of the two servicemen but did not release any details yet. An additional 26 troops from Britain, Canada, Poland, Belgium, Estonia, and France were killed in August, bringing the total number of international troops killed since a surge of US troops in July, to 150, according to ABC News. According to icasualties.org, the total is almost the same number killed between 2001 and early 2004. In an interview with Bloomberg news, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the increased casualties since the surge of US troops is not unexpected. “The fact that we’re going into areas where the Taliban have basically been unchallenged for a number of years means that our casualties are going to be higher,” Gates said.

US officials and experts warn “civilian surge” moving too slowly

US officials and other experts say that the so-called “civilian surge” is moving too slowly, some five months after US President Barack Obama ordered an increase in civilian experts to go hand-in-hand with a military push. According to the AP, fewer than one-quarter of the extra civilians expected to provide expertise in agriculture, education, law, engineering and other areas are in place. Some US officials warn that at that slow pace, the US risks losing an opportunity to boost the war effort amid faltering public support, a resurgent Taliban and the deployment of more US troops, the AP reported. “Our ability to bring civilians in and surge those civilians … has not moved at a pace that probably we would like it to,” Gen. James Cartwright, Vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Congress in July, the AP reported. According to figures from US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, between 90 and 100 of the some 450 extra civilians expected to be dispatched to Afghanistan by the end of the year have already arrived. According to the AP, most of the rest of the staff is expected to arrive in October and November and are mainly from the US State Department, US Agency for International Development and the Agriculture Department. According to the AP Holbrooke said critics don’t understand the difficulties. “We have hundreds of people in the pipeline. Many people have already arrived. Most importantly, you can’t have civilians go out (into the field) unless there’s security,” the AP quoted Holbrooke as saying.

UN reports sharp drop in Afghan opium production

The UN said Wednesday (September 2) that poppy cultivation and opium production in Afghanistan have dropped sharply from last year. The report, titled the 2009 Afghan Opium Survey, by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), says that cultivation has dropped 22 percent in a year and opium production by 10 percent. “At a time of pessimism about the situation in Afghanistan, these results are a welcome piece of good news and demonstrate that progress is possible,” the AP quoted Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of UNODC, as saying in a statement. According to CNN, the most significant drop was in southern Helmand province, where cultivation dipped from 255,976 acres (103,590 hectares) to 172,561 acres (69,833 hectares). The report found that 20 of the 34 provinces in the country were now free of opium farming. This was the second year in a row that production of opium had dropped in the country. According to CNN, the report attributes the decrease to aggressive counter-narcotics tactics, a push for farmers to grow legal crops, pressure from NATO-led troops and better government leadership. However, analysts say that suppliers may be deliberately depleting stockpiles to boost world heroin prices, which are currently low, according to the BBC. The country produces an estimated 90 percent of the world supply of opium, which is used to make heroin. According to CNN, the report found evidence that drug cartels, similar to ones in Colombia were being formed. “A marriage of convenience between insurgents and criminal groups is spawning narco-cartels linked to the Taliban,” CNN quoted Costa as saying. 

Floods affect eastern Afghanistan

Flash floods have left at least 11 people feared dead and dozens of houses damaged in eastern Afghanistan, the UN’s Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) reported. The floods were triggered by unseasonal rains overnight in Alingar District in Laghman province on Wednesday (September 2), Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Sayed Ahmad Safi, a spokesperson for the provincial governor, as saying. “Eleven people, including nine from one family, are missing. We have found five bodies so far and are still searching for others,” AFP quoted him as saying. According to AFP, the floods also left dozens of animals dead and washed away some 150 acres (60 hectares) of farmland. According to AFP, following several years of drought, the country has had good rain and snow in the past two years, but have caused spring and summer floods. Flash floods also affected neighboring Nangarhar province on Monday (August 31). The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday that an Afghan Red Crescent Society-led assessment team estimated around 4,000 people affected, mostly in the provincial capital, Jalalabad city. According to IRIN, the assessment reported four killed and seven others injured, with 289 houses destroyed and 234 damaged. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), UN agencies, NGOS and local officials have begun delivering relief items but aid groups were concerned the situation could worsen as more rain was expected. Aid groups were also concerned about a possible malaria outbreak in affected areas as stagnant water could create a breeding ground for mosquitoes, IRIN reported. According to OCHA, around 400,000 people in Afghanistan are affected each year by floods, earthquakes, avalanches and drought.

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	Two US soldiers were wounded in central Logar province when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb Tuesday (September 1) evening. Troops opened fire, but there were no reports of casualties.  (Reuters, Sep-2) Three insurgents and one local guard were killed when insurgents attacked a NATO supply convoy in the Qara Bagh district in Ghazni province on Saturday (August 29).  (Reuters, Aug-29) Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy of Afghan counter-narcotics police, killing three and wounding 23 others on the outskirts of Ghazni city, in Ghazni province on Friday (August 28). (Reuters, Aug-28) A roadside bomb on Wednesday (August 26) killed one Afghan soldier and wounded two others in Mohammad Agha district in Logar province.  (Reuters, Aug-26)
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	A French soldier was killed and nine others were wounded, some seriously, when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle northeast of the provincial capital, Kabul, during a reconnaissance mission near Showki region in Kapisa province between the coalition bases of Nijrab and Baghram on Friday (September 4).  (AFP, Xinhua, Sep-4) Five unidentified men were killed when a rocket they were trying to set up exploded prematurely in the northeastern outskirts of Kabul on Wednesday (September 2).  (Reuters, Sep-3) A US serviceman with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed as a result of a non-combat-related injury on Sunday (August 23).  (Reuters, Aug-23) Two US servicemen were killed in two separate security incidents east of Kabul on August 20.  One soldier was killed by a roadside bomb, while the other died in a mortar attack.  (Reuters, Aug-21) A US service member died of his wounds suffered in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan on August 21.  (Reuters, Aug-21)
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	At least 23 people, including Afghanistan’s deputy chief of intelligence Abdullah Laghmani, were killed in a suicide bomb attack outside a mosque in the provincial capital, Mihtarlam, in eastern Laghman province on Wednesday (September 2).  (AP, Sep-2) Afghan and US-led forces killed 34 Taliban insurgents during an operation against an insurgent training facility in Paktika province on Tuesday (September 1).  (Reuters, Sep-1) NATO-led forces said in a statement that a US serviceman was killed when the vehicle he was riding struck a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Friday (August 28). The statement gave no further details. (Reuters, Aug-28) Four Afghan police officers were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in eastern Ali Sher district of Khost on Thursday (August 27). (Reuters, Aug-28) Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops detained seven suspected insurgents, including a Taliban commander, at a medical clinic in the Sar Hawza district in Paktika province on Wednesday (August 26), where they were being treated.  (Reuters, Aug-27) A roadside bomb killed two civilians and wounded one in Sayed Khel district of Paktika province on Wednesday.  (Reuters, Aug-27) Four civilians working for a construction company were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Yousef Khail district Paktika province on Tuesday (August 25).  (Reuters, Aug-25) A Taliban fighter gunned down two Afghan policemen before he was shot dead in an attack on a police post on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Jalalabad, in eastern Nangarhar province on August 21.  (Reuters, Aug-22)
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
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 90 people, including insurgents and civilians, were killed in Afghanistan’s northern province of Kunduz when NATO aircraft struck two fuel tankers that were hijacked by Taliban insurgents. The strikes took place Thursday night (September 3). The civilians were reportedly killed while collecting fuel.  (Reuters, Sep-4) Afghan police killed three Taliban insurgents in a clash in Kunduz province on Wednesday (September 2).  (Reuters, Sep-3) A girl was killed and six people, including four school children, were wounded when a bomb attached to a bicycle exploded in northern Jawzjan province on Wednesday as a convoy from the International Red Cross drove past. One of the Red Cross vehicles was reportedly damaged.  (AFP, Sep-2) Afghan police killed eight Taliban insurgents and wounded five others in a clash in Qala Zaal district in northern province of Kunduz on Wednesday.  (Reuters, Sep-2) A joint force of NATO and Afghan troops killed several insurgents, including a woman, during a search of compounds in northern Chardara district of Kunduz on Thursday (August 27), NATO said in a statement. A civilian was also wounded in the fight.  The district chief claimed foreign troops also killed three members of a family. (Reuters, Aug-28) The head of the justice department for Kunduz was killed when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Kunduz city on Wednesday (August 26).  (Reuters, Aug-26) One Pakistani engineer was killed and two others wounded when unidentified gunmen attacked their vehicle as they were travelling through Baghlan province on Wednesday.  (Reuters, Aug-26) Insurgents attacked a police post in northern Takhar province on Saturday (August 22). Afghan security forces returned fire, killing one of the assailants, while others were forced to retreat.  (Reuters, Aug-24) Six Afghan policemen, including a senior officer, were killed in a roadside bomb attack on Saturday in Kook Chinar district in Baghlan province. (Reuters, AFP, Aug-22-23)
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 soldier with NATO-led forces was killed in an ambush by Taliban insurgents during a patrol in southern Afghanistan on Thursday (September 3). No further details were available.  (Reuters, Sep-4) Two US service members were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan on Thursday (September 3). NATO forces did not provide further details.  (Reuters, Sep-3) A British soldier was fatally shot Wednesday night (September 2) in Babaji district in Helmand province while on foot patrol.  (Reuters, Sep-3) A roadside bomb killed a British soldier from NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Helmand on Wednesday.  (Reuters, Sep-3) Four insurgents were killed and three wounded when a roadside bomb they were planting went off in Arghandab district in southern Kandahar province Tuesday (September 1) evening.  (Reuters, Sep-2) An Afghan employee of a US security company was killed and three others wounded when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Zabul province on Tuesday.  (Reuters, Sep-1) A US soldier died on Tuesday (September 1) of wounds sustained on Monday (August 31) in southern Helmand province.  (Reuters, Sep-1) Two British soldiers were killed in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, in southern Helmand province on Monday while on foot patrol.  (Reuters, Sep-1) Two US servicemen were killed in two separate bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan on Monday.  NATO did not provide further details.  (Reuters, Aug-31) At least two civilians were killed and 21 wounded when a suicide bomber on foot attacked a joint NATO-Afghan patrol in Shah Joy district in southern Zabul province on Saturday (August 29). (Reuters, Aug-29) Unidentified gunmen killed a local employee of a demining agency and wounded four others in an attack on the outskirts of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand province on Saturday.  Six other workers are reportedly missing.  (Reuters, Aug-29) A roadside bomb killed one Afghan policeman and wounded eleven, including six civilians, on the outskirts of Kandahar city on Friday (August 28).  (Reuters, Aug-29) NATO and Afghan troops patrolling a market in the southern Shah NATO-led forces reported that NATO-led and Afghan forces detained six militants during an operation on the southern outskirts of Kandahar city on Thursday (August 27).  (Reuters, Aug-28) Three Afghan children were killed when a mortar they were playing with exploded in Nahr Saraj district in Helmand province on Wednesday (August 26).  (Reuters, Aug-27) At least 43 people, mostly civilians, were killed when a powerful bomb blast ripped through the downtown area of restive Kandahar city, the provincial capital of southern Kandahar province on Tuesday (August 25). At least 60 people were also wounded in the blast that also damaged or destroyed at least 10 buildings.  (AP, Aug-26)
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	Seven people were wounded when a remote-controlled bomb planted on a bicycle exploded in the western city of Heart on Friday (September 4).  (Reuters, Sep-4) Three guards working for a local security company were killed when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest near their car in Delaram district in western Nimroz province on Friday.  (Reuters, Sep-4) Spanish troops killed 13 Taliban insurgents in a 15-hour battle in Qala-i-Naw in western Badghis province on Thursday (September 3).  (Reuters, Sep-3) Four Afghan police escaped a Taliban prison in western Faryab province on Sunday (August 30), killing six of their captors in a gunfight that also left one police officer dead.  (AFP, Aug-31) Six Taliban insurgents were killed by Afghan police backed by western troops in Pusht Rod district in Farah on Friday (August 28).  (AFP, Aug-29) 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)
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