November 13, 2009

Overview

NGOs express concern over relocation of UN staff

Local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Afghans working for international aid agencies have voiced their concern over security after hundreds of international UN staff were temporarily relocated to safer areas in the country and to outside Afghanistan.  The move followed a deadly attack after five international UN employees were killed in an attack on a UN guesthouse in the capital, Kabul. “NGOs have to reassess their security, programs and activities in light of the security threats and the reduction of UN operational capacity,” the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) quoted Laurent Saillard, the director of Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), which groups over 100 Afghan and foreign NGOs working in the country, IRIN reported. According to statistics from the Afghanistan NGO safety office, local aid workers have been killed, kidnapped and harassed more than international UN and NGO workers. In the first nine months of this year, 18 Afghan NGO employees were killed and six others wounded in security incidents. According to IRIN, NGOs have expressed concern over the possible impact on their projects, even though the UN says that hundreds of essential staff will remain in the country to maintain their programs. 

UK Prime Minister Brown says NATO may contribute 5,000 more troops

Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday (November 13) said that he is hopeful he could secure commitments for 5,000 more NATO forces in Afghanistan. Brown has already pledged 500 additional UK troops to Afghanistan under certain conditions. “I think we can probably get another 5,000 forces into Afghanistan,” Brown said. “I have taken the responsibility of asking others in Europe, and outside Europe actually, if they will back this strategy which is partnering the Afghan forces, mentoring the Afghan forces,” the AP quoted Brown as saying. In an interview to the BBC, Brown insisted that Washington and London need the other 43 nations involved in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to help share in the burden. The UK currently has some 9,000 troops in Afghanistan and is the second largest contributor to the 71,000-strong ISAF. The news comes as US President Barack Obama says that a decision on whether or not to send more troops to the country in response to a request by top US military commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal is coming soon. Earlier this week, the US ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, voiced concern over a possible increase in troop numbers because of concerns over corruption and mismanagement by the Afghan government led by President Hamid Karzai. Eikenberry is a former army general who was the top US military commander in Afghanistan for two years before going to Brussels to be deputy chair of NATO’s military committee in 2007, according to the AP. Meanwhile, Germany says that it will send at least 100 extra troops to Afghanistan in January, Germany’s defense minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said. Guttenberg said that the quick-reaction force soldiers would be deployed in the northern province of Kunduz, according to the AP. Most of the some 4,365 German troops in the country are already stationed there. According to Agence France-Presse, the Defense Ministry said that the new company would not take the deployment above the 4,500 limit set by the German parliament.

Japan pledges US$5 billion for Afghanistan

On Tuesday (November 10), Japan pledged up to US$5 billion in new aid to Afghanistan over the next five years, according to various media reports. The announcement came days before US President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Tokyo as part of a visit to several Asian countries. Japan earlier this year said that it was ending a naval refueling mission in support of the US in Afghanistan. The mission is set to end in January. A new government that came to power in September said that it was working on a plan to offer more civilian aid instead. According to the BBC, the money is likely to be used for job training, helping former Taliban fighters reintegrate and for infrastructure and agriculture development. Prime Minister Yukio Hatayama is expected to present the aid package to Obama when he visits the country on Friday (November 13).

Conflict claims over 2,000 civilian lives so far this year

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says that armed conflict in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of over 2,000 civilians from January until October this year. “In the first 10 months of 2009, UNAMA recorded 2,021 civilian deaths compared with 1,838 for the same period in 2008, and 1,275 in 2007,” Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner on human rights said in a statement to the UN Security Council on Wednesday (November 11), IRIN reported. The statement also said that civilians have increasingly been caught in the cross-fire and their basic human rights, such as access to health, education, food and shelter, have been violated by warring parties, according to IRIN. According to UNAMA, 1,397 were killed by anti-government elements, 465 by pro-government forces and 165 by other actors, IRIN reported. UNAMA said that August was the deadliest month with 294 reported deaths. Local rights watchdog, Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM) a local rights watchdog, said there was a culture of impunity. “Thousands of civilians have been  killed by warring parties over the past few years, but not a single individual has been convicted of crimes against humanity or war crimes,” Ajmal Samadi, the director of ARM as quoted as saying by IRIN. (IRIN, Nov. 12)

At least 11 dead from H1N1 outbreak in Afghanistan

Afghan officials say that at least 11 Afghans have died from the H1N1 virus in the country. The Afghan Ministry of Public Health said Monday (November 9) that 779 cases of H1N1 were reported since early July and that 710 of those cases have been reported among Afghan, US and Italian troops, the AP reported. Public Health Minister Dr. Mohammad Amin Fatemi said that the Afghan National Army reported 390 cases and 320 cases were reported among foreign troops, the AP reported. Most of the cases are US forces stationed at Bagram Air Base and Italian soldiers at the military base in Herat. In an effort to halt the spread of the H1N1 flu, Afghan officials on November 2 declared an emergency decided to close schools and universities and wedding halls and public bathrooms for three weeks. According to Reuters, the public health ministry said that an evaluation will be made after two weeks to determine whether or not to open schools. According to the ministry, 453 cases have been reported in Kabul, 272 in Parwan, 32 in Kandahar, 15 in Heart and the rest in Balkh, Bamiyan and Nangarhar provinces. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that out of the first 11 million doses the WHO will receive, some 500,000 doses will go to Kabul. According to Reuters, a public health ministry spokesperson said that the WHO has pledged to provide 1 million doses of vaccines. (AP, Reuters, Nov-2, 9)

Movement

2009: According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), military operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in northwestern Pakistan have forced hundreds of households to abandon their homes and seek refuge in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan, the UN’s Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) reported. A joint assessment by the Afghan government and UNHCR indicates that 440 families, mostly from FATA’s Bajaur Agency, are living in two districts of Kunar province, but no formal camps have been set up for them. The refugees are reportedly being hosted by relatives and local Afghan communities. UNHCR says that it has distributed tents and other relief supplies and the World Food Program said it was planning to deliver food to some 290 families in the near future. The NATO-led provincial reconstruction team has also helped distribute food to the refugees. According to IRIN, over the past few months, up to 3,000 Pakistani households have sought temporary settlement in eastern Kunar and Nangarhar province. A local official in Kunar said that most have returned, but hundreds of families were still displaced. (IRIN, Nov. 9)

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 Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), the sixth and last polio immunization drive for this year will begin on November 15, and up to 8 million children under the age of five are expected to receive the oral vaccine. Around 54,000 workers will help with the vaccination, according to IRIN. Five campaigns have been carried out so far this year. IRIN says that some threats and attacks were carried out by armed groups, particularly in insecure southern provinces.  “The MoPH has not engaged in direct talks with the armed opposition for access but through tribal elders we have tried to raise awareness about the importance of polio vaccination for all children,” MoPH spokesperson Faird Raaid was quoted as saying by IRIN. The Taliban reportedly endorsed a three-day immunization campaign in September. According to IRIN, around 15 percent of Afghan children miss out on different immunizations according to the latest National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment. According to the WHO, polio has been virtually eradicated in the north and central Afghanistan, but has remained endemic in the insecure south and southeast. According to IRIN, the MoPH says that of the total 25 cases confirmed so far this year, 22 were reported in the two southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand and one each in Nooristan, Ghor and Kapisa provinces. In 2008, 31 polio cases were reported country-wide. MoPH officials also said that some 6.8 million children aged 6-56 months will receive oral drops of Vitamin A. (IRIN, Nov-12) According to Afghanistan’s National HIV/AIDS Control Program, over 50 people have been diagnosed as HIV-positive in Afghanistan over the past nine months, bringing the total number of registered cases to 556. According to Malika Popal, the program’s advocacy and communications adviser, most have got the virus through intravenous drug use. Afghanistan’s MoPH estimates that some 2,000-3,000 are living with HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan. According to IRIN, the country’s virus prevalence rate of around 0.5 percent is considered among the lowest in the world. Experts say the armed conflict, lack of awareness of HIV/AIDS, lack of access to social services, rising intravenous drug addiction and the poor social status of women could lead to a rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in the country. (IRIN, Nov-5) Afghanistan’s MoPH and the Ministry of Finance on November 4 launched a new Partnership Contracts for Health Service (PCH) program today after signing 16 contracts with 10 NGOs totaling some US$72 million over two years to provide health services in 12 provinces of the country, supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The contracts begin implementation of Basic Packages of Health Services (BPHS) and Essential Packages of Hospital Services (EPHS) for 12 provinces and for assistance to the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul, according to USAID. The contracts are for two years with a one-year extension expected depending on results, according to USAID. The PCH program is expected to be implemented for a total of five years, with a total value of US$236 million. As a result of the contracts, the MoPH will support 462 health facilities and over 4,000 health posts. (USAID, Nov-4)
Non-Food Items - Shelter	No New Information UNHCR, ACTED, MSF, IRC, ICRC, IOM
Security	Two Afghans were killed and four others, including foreign troops, were wounded when a suicide bomber targeted a US military convoy near Camp Phoenix—a US military base on the outskirts of capital, Kabul, on Friday (November 13). (CNN, BBC, NYT, Nov-13) ISAF said in a statement that Afghan and NATO troops detained a group of suspected insurgents in southeastern Paktia province. (Reuters, Oct-30)
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	A Norwegian journalist and his Afghan interpreter have been released. Paal Refsdal, working for a Norwegian production company, was abducted last week (November 6) along with his Afghan colleague in eastern Kunar province near the Pakistan border. The Norwegian media earlier did not report on the abduction for fear of jeopardizing their colleague’s safety. (Reuters, CPJ, Nov-12) One Afghan soldier was killed and another wounded by insurgent fire in the eastern Laghman province overnight. (Reuters, Nov-9) 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)
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	An Afghan woman was shot dead after Afghan troops opened fire after their convoy hit a roadside bomb in northern Takhar province. Three soldiers were also wounded in the blast. (Reuters, Nov-11) NATO and Afghan officials claimed on Monday (November 9) that they have killed at least 130 Taliban fighters during a joint operation around Char Dara district in the northern province of Kunduz over the past week. Lt. Col. Todd Vician said eight Taliban commanders were among those killed during a 5-day operation. (Reuters, Nov-9) At least seven members of the Afghan security forces and a civilian were killed in an alleged NATO-led airstrike on Friday (November 6) in northwestern Badghis province. NATO said it is investigating if its close air support was responsible for the casualties. NATO said five American soldiers were also wounded in an operation against the militants. (NYT, Nov-8) 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	Two civilians were killed and three wounded when a suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of NATO troops in Shah Joy district in southern Zabul province on Wednesday (November 11). (Reuters, Nov-11) Two civilians were killed and 13 wounded when a rocket hit a house in Yahya Khail district in southeastern Paktika province on Tuesday (November 10), during a fire fight between joint Afghan-NATO forces and insurgents. (Reuters, Nov-10) Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops seized some 500,000 pounds (227,000 kg) of ammonium nitrate and 5,000 bomb components during a raid at a warehouse in Kandahar city on Sunday (November 8). (Reuters, Nov-10) A US service member was killed in a roadside bomb blast. ISAF gave no further details of the incident. (Reuters, Nov-10) The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) denounced a NATO-led raid at its office in the provincial capital, Qalat, in southern Zabul province on Saturday (November 7) that left one person killed. NATO claimed the person killed was an enemy militant, while ARCS said the individual was a guest of an ARCS staff driver. NATO, which detained three ARCS employees, later resealed them after questioning. (IRIN, Nov-10) A British soldier was killed in a roadside explosion near Sangin district in southern Helmand province on Sunday (November 8). (Reuters, Nov-9) A British soldier with the 2^nd Battalion, The Rifles, was killed in a roadside bomb blast in Helmand on Saturday (November 7). (KT, Nov-9) 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)
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)
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	The body of one of the two missing US soldiers was recovered by a military diving team in a river in western Afghanistan. The two soldiers on a resupply mission went missing last week (November 4). According to some reports, the missing soldiers were recovering supplies dropped by a NATO aircraft that had fallen into a river. (Reuters, Nov-11) 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