November 6, 2009

Overview

UN to relocate hundreds of staff members in Afghanistan

The UN said Thursday (November 5) that it would relocate some 600 staff members, almost half of its international staff, in Afghanistan following last week’s deadly attack against a guest house in the capital, Kabul, that left five staff members dead and nine others wounded. The UN said that it would temporarily relocate its international staff based in the country to safer sites within Afghanistan and the rest would be withdrawn from the country temporarily. Staff members are reportedly spread out across some 90 guest houses across the country. “We will certainly continue our work, but we are taking the measures in order to do so and we are enhancing our security,” the BBC quoted Kai Eide, the head of the UN’s Afghan mission, as saying. Eide said some staff members would relocate to Dubai where the UN has a facility and it is “inside the mission area,” Reuters reported. The staff members would return to work once security had been increased. The relocation would not affect work, such as aid delivery, the BBC reported the UN as saying. The UN had said it was reviewing security after the October 28 attack claimed by the Taliban, the deadliest against the UN in the country since the US-led invasion in late 2001. The UN said the relocation would take some three to four weeks. There are some 1,300 international staff out of some 5,600 based in the country. According to the Associated Press, UN spokesperson Adrian Edwards said that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked for an additional US$75 million to help with security improvements and crisis preparation following the attack.

Abdullah rules out joining President Karzai’s government

Former presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Wednesday (November 4) said that President Hamid Karzai’s re-election is “illegal” and has ruled out joining the new government. Karzai was declared the winner of runoff presidential elections on Monday (November 2) after Abdullah withdrew from the race on Sunday (November 1), saying the vote would not be free and fair. Poll officials on Monday scrapped the runoff vote that had been scheduled for November 7, following Abdullah’s decision. The August 20 presidential elections had been marred from the beginning by widespread allegations of fraud and the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission threw out hundreds of thousands of votes, invalidating almost a third of Karzai’s votes. The move pushed Karzai below the 50 percent threshold he needed for an outright victory forcing a runoff election with Abdullah, Karzai’s nearest rival. The ECC also recommended replacing thousands of corrupt officials and getting rid of polling stations where fraud was reportedly at its worst. Preliminary results released last month showed Karzai winning the election with more than 54 percent, while Abdullah had some 27.7 percent of the vote. Abdullah has called on those who support him to remain peaceful and said that he would not challenge Karzai’s re-election, the BBC reported. Karzai has indicated that he is aiming for an inclusive government and vowed to battle corruption as his foremost priority.

World leaders pressure Karzai on corruption

World leaders this week have urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai to root out corruption in his country or he would lose international support. Karzai has received warnings from US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown among others that he must recruit credible people to root out corruption that had tainted his previous administration, Reuters reported. Brown on Friday (November 6) warned Karzai on corruption saying that he would not put British troops “in harm’s way for a government that does not stand up against corruption.” Reportedly putting forth his strongest criticism against the Karzai government, Brown said that the government of Karzai had become a “byword for corruption,” the BBC reported. Brown set out a series of five tests he said that Karzai’s government had to pass to ensure continued international backing. “International support depends on the scale of his ambition and the degree of his achievement in five key areas: security, governance, reconciliation, economic development and engagement with its neighbors,” Brown said. Brown also reportedly called for a new commission to investigate abuses. On Monday (November 2), US President Barack Obama urged Karzai in a phone call to “write a new chapter” in the governing of Afghanistan and also reportedly asked Karzai to increase efforts to eradicate corruption. Obama said that Karzai “assured me that he understood the importance of this moment. But as I indicated to him, the proof is not going to be in words, it’s going to be in deeds,” the BBC reported him as saying. The comments come as the Obama administration mulls over whether or not to send tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan per a request by the top US military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. According to a report by the New York Times Thursday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that Karzai is “corrupt,” but that NATO had to accept that “he is our guy.” According to Agence France-Presse, France has given Karzai a nine-point plan it feels will help him reform the government and urged him to find a way to work with his rival, Abdullah. In comments earlier this week, Karzai vowed to battle corruption.  “We will try to remove this stigma from our soil and our country in any possible way,” the BBC quoted him as saying. He also called on the Taliban to “…come home and embrace their land.”

Movement

The UNHCR said that it has almost completed its shelter program for more than 50,000 of the most vulnerable Afghan returnees this year, bringing to some 1.2 million those who have benefited since the re-integration project started in 2002. The refugee agency says that this represents some 25 percent of the more than 4.3 million Afghans assisted home by the UNHCR since the end of 2001, which include 3.4 million from Pakistan and over 865,000 from Iran. UNHCR says its re-integration program will continue for the next two years, especially in the shelter sector and will continue to support the government-led program to allocate land to landless returnees. (UNHCR, Oct-27)

According to the UN, aid agencies and local officials say that several thousand people returning to their homes in northern Jowjan and Sar-i-Pul provinces need assistance before winter sets in. The agencies say that most are returnees from Iran and from a camp of displaced persons in southern Afghanistan. UNHCR says that it has set up a tented camp in Sozma Qala district in Sar-i-Pul province to accommodate hundreds of returnees from Iran. Provincial officials say that around 300 families had returned to Jowzjan province from the Zhari IDP camp in Kandahar province. (IRIN, Oct-29)

According to the UNHCR, there were more than 1,300 Afghans seeking asylum in Tajikistan in 2008, but the number has almost doubled in the first five months of this year, according to the BBC. Some of the reasons for the influx include violence over the border in Afghanistan. Tajikistan is struggling to provide the refugees with jobs and health care and a special government decree outlawed the settling of refugees in the capital and job opportunities in small towns are almost non-existent. (BBC, Oct-21)

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	Fifty tons of wheat seeds, 70 tons of urea and 25 tons of fertilizer were distributed by the provincial Directorate of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock and was supported and funded by the Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team in Logar province. Around a thousand farmers are expected to benefit from the distribution. Yields are expected to be two times higher than previously. (NATO, Nov-4) 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	Afghan and NATO-led forces killed an unspecified number of militants and detained several others during an operation against a district Taliban commander in the central province of Ghazni. (Reuters, Oct-25) ISAF said joint Afghan and NATO troops killed a number of suspected Taliban militants and wounded another in central Wardak on Thursday (October 22). (Reuters, Oct-23) Afghan and NATO-led forces killed a few militants during a search of a compound in Ghazni province. (Reuters, Oct-18) Two civilians, a woman and a school-age girl, were killed in crossfire during a raid by security forces against militants in the central province of Ghazni on Friday (October 16). (CNN, Oct-16)
Comments	Three schools for girls were completed in Logar province and will serve more than 1,000 girls. Two schools were built in Khoshi district in eastern Logar, while the third was built in Muhammad Agha district. The construction was led by the Provincial Ministry of Education and funded by the Czech PRT. The Czech PRT has been assisting the people of Logar since March 2008. (Czech PRT, Oct-18)

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	According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the UN's World Health Organization (WHO), has identified a total of 23 cases of polio so far this year throughout Afghanistan. One new polio case was detected this week by a WHO-supported Polio Surveillance Team, involving a child from Kandahar city. The three-day National Immunization Days (NIDs) for Polio Eradication targeted some 7.5 million children on October 11-13. More than 44,000 volunteers helped out more than 6,000 coordinators, monitors, supervisors, facilitators, social mobilizers and trainers, according to UNAMA. The WHO says that although final figures are not available, the campaign "expects to reach more than 95 percent coverage except in the South. (UNAMA, Oct-20) UNICEF, CARITAS, MSF, IFRC, IRC, ICRC
Non-Food Items - Shelter	No New Information UNHCR, ACTED, MSF, IRC, ICRC, IOM
Security	ISAF said in a statement that Afghan and NATO troops detained a group of suspected insurgents in southeastern Paktia province. (Reuters, Oct-30) At least five UN foreign staff workers, one Afghan civilian and two Afghan security guards were killed in an attack by Taliban militants on the Bekhtar guest house in Kabul on Wednesday (October 28). At least nine other UN staff members were reportedly wounded by three gunmen who also reportedly detonated explosives around their bodies during the attack. (BBC, CNN, Oct-28) Six people were killed and two wounded when a suicide bomber targeted a local security firm in Wazi Zadran district in eastern Paktia province. (Reuters, Oct-9) A suicide car bomb exploded outside the Indian Embassy in capital, Kabul, around 8:30 a.m. local time on Thursday (October 8), killing at least 17 people, 15 civilians and 2 policemen and wounding as many as 80 others. Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing (KT, AP, Oct-8)  Joint forces killed and detained an unspecified number of suspected militants during an operation against Taliban in Kabul. Suspects were believed to be behind a series of attacks in Kabul. (Reuters, Oct-7) Afghan officials said that police foiled a series of bomb attacks aimed at destroying bridges and other facilities in several parts of the country. (Reuters, Sep-27) A car bomb struck an Italian military convoy on Thursday (September 17) on the road between the US embassy and Kabul’s main airport, killing six soldiers and as many as 10 Afghan civilians. As many as 55 Afghan civilians were also wounded.  (Reuters, AFP, Sep-17)
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	The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is chlorinating hundreds of public water sources and conducting hygiene promotion to help areas hit by an outbreak of cholera in eastern Nangarhar. The outbreak comes less than two months after heavy rains triggered flash floods that left thousands homeless. The health ministry has recorded over 670 cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhea in around a third of the country’s 34 provinces, including Kabul. Almost 30 people have been killed by the disease. IRC says almost 300 cholera cases have been reported in Nangarhar. (IRC, Oct-27)
Non-Food Items - Shelter	US Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) on September 17 delivered more than 4,000 pounds of supplies, including blankets, pots and pans, tarps, hygiene and dental kits, sandals and backpacks to more than 500 widows, orphans and disabled persons in the provincial capital Asadabad in northeastern Kunar province.  (AFPS, Sep-25)
Security	A roadside bomb killed eight Afghan civilians in a taxi in the Khogiani district of eastern Nangarhar province. (Reuters, Oct-30) Afghan police and NATO troops killed some 26 militants in a counter-attack in Giro district of Ghazni province on Thursday (October 29). (Reuters, Oct-30) NATO-led forces said on Tuesday (October 27) that they have recovered the remains of three US military contractors from the wreckage of a US army reconnaissance plane (C-12 Huron) that crashed in eastern Nuristan province on October 13.  The cause of the crash is under investigation. (AP, Oct-27) A US soldier was killed in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday (October 24), while another died of his wounds from an insurgent attack. (Reuters, Oct-26) Afghan and NATO-led forces killed several Taliban fighters and obtained a number of suspected militants during a search of a compound in the southeastern province of Khost on Saturday (October 17). (Reuters, Oct-18) Two US soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan on Friday (October 16). NATO-led forces did not provide any further details.  (Reuters, Oct-17) Afghan and foreign forces killed six Taliban insurgents, including a local commander, during an air and ground assault overnight in Kamdesh district in eastern Nuristan province. (Reuters, Oct-10) A roadside bomb killed two soldiers serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in eastern Afghanistan.  (Reuters, Oct-10) US and Afghan forces accidentally killed a child during a raid on a Taliban compound Wednesday (October 7) night in the eastern Logar province.  (AP, Oct-8) Afghan and NATO-led forces killed at least 40 militants in eastern Nuristan province on Tuesday (October 6) where eight US and two Afghan soldiers have lost their lives in an attack by the militants on Saturday. Forces also freed 13 Afghan policemen that were captured during Saturday’s fighting. Ten Afghan soldiers were killed in Tuesday’s fighting that used close air support. (BBC, AP, Oct-7) Eight US and three Afghan soldiers were killed on Saturday (October 3) when hundreds of Taliban stormed two remote US bases in the Kamdesh district in eastern Nuristan province.  (Reuters, Oct-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
Water & Sanitation	No New Information
Comments	Three French soldiers were killed in a violent storm in northeastern Kapisa province.  (BBC, Sep-27)

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	The World Food Program (WFP) says it is moving 33,000 metric tons of food to remote areas of the country to prepare for the fast approaching winter. The pre-positioning began in August and will continue through November. The food is expected to support some 862,000 Afghans. (WFP, Oct-27)
Health	No New Information MSF, ICRC, UNICEF
NFIs –Shelter	No New Information IOM, ACTED, Mercy Corps
Security	Afghan soldiers killed seven Taliban insurgents, four of them foreigners, in an operation in the northern province of Kunduz on Wednesday (November 4). (Reuters, Nov-4) Afghan officials are searching for an aircraft, possibly a helicopter, that may have crashed in a remote area of the Hindu Kush mountains in northern Afghanistan Thursday (October 22) after villagers reported seeing a crash. NATO said it had no reports of any military aircraft having crashed and the UN said all its aircraft had been accounted for. (AP, Oct-22) Taliban insurgents stormed a clinic in the rugged Sar-i-Pul province, seizing eight health workers, including women.  (Reuters, Oct-13) Taliban fighters attacked a police post in northern Faryab province overnight and abducted eight police officers.  (Reuters, Oct-13) Afghan troops detained 18 militants in two separate operations overnight in the northern province of Kunduz.  (Reuters, Oct-10)
Water & Sanitation	No New Information UNICEF, ICRC, DACAAR
Comments	A strong 6.2-magnitude quake struck around 50 miles southeast of Feyzabad in Badakshan province in a sparsely populated area in the Hindu Kush mountains early Friday (Oct-23) morning. No serious damage was reported from the quake, which was centered some 170 miles below the surface. (CNN, DPA, Oct-23) 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 British soldier from 3^rd Battalion, The Rifles, was killed in an explosion in Sangin district in southern Helmand province on Friday (November 6). (Reuters, Nov-6) Two US service members were killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan on Thursday (November 5). NATO did not provide further details of the incident. (Reuters, Nov-6) NATO said on Thursday (November 5) that it is investigating a rocket strike near Babaji village in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, in southern Helmand province Wednesday night (November 4) that allegedly killed 9 civilians. NATO claims the strike was intended at a group of individuals planting roadside bombs. (CNN, Nov-5) Five British soldiers were killed and another six wounded in an attack by an Afghan police officer on Tuesday (November 3) at a check point in Nad Ali district in Helmand province. (Reuters, BBC, ABC, Nov-4) Four civilians were killed and two others wounded by a roadside bomb in Khakriz district of southern Kandahar on Thursday (October 29), the Interior Ministry said. (Reuters, Oct-30) Eight US servicemen and an Afghan civilian were killed and several wounded in two separate insurgent attacks described as “multiple, complex” bomb strikes in southern Kandahar province on Tuesday (October 27). Seven American soldiers and an Afghan civilian were killed in the same attack, while one US soldier was killed in another attack elsewhere in Kandahar while patrolling in a military vehicle. (AP, Oct-27) Four US soldiers were killed and two wounded when two US Marine helicopters—one UH-1 and an AH-1 collided in flight before sunrise over the southern Helmand province on Monday (October 26). (AP, Oct-26) Two US service members working for the NATO-led forces were killed in a roadside bomb attack in southern Afghanistan on Thursday (October 22). (Reuters, Oct-26) A foreign soldier was killed on Thursday in southern Afghanistan by enemy fire. No further details were provided. (Reuters, Oct-26) One US service member was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan on Saturday (October 24). NATO did not provide further details of the incident. (Reuters, Oct-25) ISAF said that joint Afghan and NATO troops killed several militants and detained half a dozen suspected Taliban militants during a search of a compound in southern Helmand on Friday (October 23). (Reuters, Oct-23) ISAF said Friday that a service member with NATO-led troops died from wounds sustained in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan on Thursday (October 22). (Reuters, Oct-23) The UK Ministry of Defense said that a soldier from the Royal Military Police was killed in Gereshk district in southern Helmand on Thursday by an explosion.(Note: It is unclear if the soldier is the same mentioned in the paragraph above) (BBC, Oct-22) ISAF said a joint Afghan-coalition operation detained a suspect wanted over multiple militant attacks in southern Kandahar on Wednesday (October 21). (AFP, Oct-21)
Water & Sanitation	The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) says that since a drought in 1996, many traditional irrigation sources have been drying up in southern provinces. MAIL says that drought has destroyed more than 80 percent of “kareze” (Channel water from underground aquifiers for use in irrigation) and springs in Kandahar. MAIL says the drying up of irrigation sources and poor irrigation management has forced more people to consider alternative livelihoods. (IRIN, Nov. 4) UNICEF
Comments	More than 200 students at the Afghan-Canadian Community Center (ACCC) in Kandahar graduated on Monday (November 2) from a professional education program funded largely by the Canadian International Development Agency. (CIDA, Nov. 4) The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) to date has helped provide loans to over 1,441 microfinance clients, including farmers in Helmand, totaling US$832,800. Funds are provided via the Afghan government to the World Council of Credit Unions and is distributed via Islamic Investment and Finance Cooperatives (IIFCs) to members. DFID says the loans are aimed to boost counter narcotics work by giving famers incentives to plant legal food crops instead of illegal poppy. DFID’s activities in Helmand are closely coordinated with USAID. (DFID, Oct-23) 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	Afghan soldiers and civilian medical personnel with the assistance of Spanish and US forces treated more than 300 people each day between October 6-8 at a cooperative medical engagement near Camp Zafar. The Afghan army sent buses to multiple villages to ensure that villagers received care. More than US$30,000 in medications, antibiotics and hygiene items were purchased from the local economy and distributed. (ISAF, Oct-21) 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	A search is underway by NATO-led forces to find two soldiers that went missing two days ago during a routine resupply mission.  Meanwhile, the Taliban said they were holding the bodies of two drowned soldiers that they recovered in western Badghis province on Wednesday (November 4). According to the provincial police chief, the two service-members were Americans who drowned in a river after arriving in the area during a gun battle on Wednesday. (Reuters, Nov-6) Seven US service members and three civilian US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents were killed when their helicopter crashed in Darabam district in western Badghis province on Monday (October 26). Another 12 Americans and 14 Afghans were reportedly injured in the crash. Taliban claimed responsibility for downing the aircraft. However, a NATO official ruled out enemy fire as cause of crash. (BBC, AP, Oct-26)
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