December 21, 2007

Overview

Afghan President says foreign troops needed for next 10 years

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is saying that the foreign security presence in his country will be needed for another 10 years. In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, Karzai said Afghanistan had suffered massive destruction and rebuilding the country will take longer that initially thought. When asked how long his country would need German troops, Karzai said, "I believe it will take another 10 years, at least 10 years." He said Afghanistan's biggest security problem is Taliban "rear bases," or safe havens outside Afghanistan. He said the international community has so far failed to realize this, adding that his country is suffering as a result. Germany currently has some 3,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led, UN-backed International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). German troops, which are largely deployed in the country's relatively calmer north, are helping with civilian reconstruction projects and peacekeeping. Germany has lost 26 soldiers since it began its peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan in 2002. Earlier this month, Germany's lower house of parliament voted to extend Germany's troop mission in Afghanistan for another year.

Taliban kill at least 15 security guards in western Afghanistan

Taliban insurgents ambushed a convoy carrying fuel for foreign military bases in the country, killing at least 15 Afghan security guards and wounding nine others. The attack took place early on Tuesday (December 18) in Bala Buluk district in western Afghanistan's Farah province. Provincial Governor Mohaidin Baluch told the Associated Press (AP) that between six and eight vehicles from a private security company were escorting a civilian convoy of fuel tankers when they were ambushed by Taliban fighters. He said most of the trucks were set on fire and one was taken by the militants. Baluch said the guards worked for US Protection and Investigations (USPI), a US-based private security company. However, officials at USPI had not been reached at the time of this report. Speaking to the Reuters news agency over the phone, a purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack. He said 12 security guards were also being held and acknowledged that two Taliban fighters were also killed in the clash. Colonel Saydo Khan, a police spokesman, said reinforcements had arrived in the area and were currently fighting the Taliban in a village near the scene of the attack. The convoy was reportedly traveling from the western province of Herat to Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand province in the country's south. Farah, which lies between Herat and Helmand, has seen increasing militant activity over the past year.

Afghan authorities arrest four in connection with German's disappearance

Afghan authorities have reportedly arrested four people in connection with the disappearance of a German male who went missing on Sunday (December 16) in the western province of Herat. Nur Khan Nikzad, a provincial police spokesman in Herat, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that four relatives of the German man's Afghan wife have been arrested as suspects. He said authorities believe the relatives knew the German's whereabouts. Herald Kleber, 42, a Muslim convert known by his Islamic name of Abdul Rahman, is a carpenter by trade. He worked for the German aid organization Gruenhelme (Green Helmets) between 2003 and 2004 in Herat. He later decided to stay in Herat to pursue personal interests. He is reportedly married to an Afghan woman and has two children. Afghan officials suspect Kleber's disappearance may have more to do with his Afghan wife's relatives than the ousted Taliban, who allegedly are behind most kidnappings of westerners in the country.

Movement

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. Repatriation campaign for Afghan refugees with PoR.

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% of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30% from camps. Over a third returned to Kabul, another 10% went to other central provinces, and just over 20% returned to each of the north and east. The Southern region received 6% and the Western region 4%. 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% were from urban areas; only 3% 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	An avalanche in the Murgab area in central Ghor killed at least 16 people. On March 19 floods killed 30 people in Uruzgan province.
IDP Movement
Food	A rapid food needs assessment by USAID’s Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) suggests that due to failed wheat crops, unfavorable weather and higher food prices, Ghor province would need in the short-term (December-April) some 14,231 metric tons of food assistance to feed its vulnerable population. (ReliefWeb, Oct-18) The Bamyan Disaster Management Committee has asked for 22,000 tons of food items for vulnerable people in Waras and Punjab affected by recent floods and a cold wave. UNAMA says that some 50 percent of 20,000 tons of foodstuff are being rushed to affected areas. (Frontier Post, Oct-11) According to local officials, thousands of students attending 40 schools in Ghazni province have not received WFP food assistance for over a month due to insecurity. FAO on July 5 said that 6.5 million Afghans suffer from chronic food insecurity. (IRIN, July-8)
Health	UN agencies and the local provincial government raise funds to build a new maternity wing in the Bamiyan main hospital. The new facility is expected to provide essential healthcare for expectant mothers in central Bamiyan province and to reduce the risk of both maternal and child mortality. (UNAMA, July-17). At least 20 children have died in several districts of central Daikundi and northern Balkh provinces over the past five weeks due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July-12) Typhoid fever has claimed five lives and infected some 200 others in the Charsada district of central Ghor province. (People’s Daily Online, Feb-15)
NFIs -Shelter	IOM, UNICEF, UNOCHA, & OXFAM
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Security	A family of five on a motor bike was killed near Uruzgan province’s capital, Tirin Kot, on Sunday (December 16) when the motor bike ran over a freshly planted landmine, killing the husband, wife and their three children. (HT, Xinhua, Dec-17) Six civilians were killed and six others wounded when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb on a road outside the provincial capital, Tirin Kot, in Uruzgan province on Thursday (December 13). (ABC, Dec-13) Several suspected Taliban insurgents were killed in US-led airstrikes near the village of Sarsina in south-central Uruzgan province on November 20. (ABC, Nov-20) On November 18, the bodies of five Afghan policemen were found hung from a tree with their wrists and legs slashed. The victims were abducted about two months ago from a checkpoint in Uruzgan province. At least 11 suspected Taliban insurgents were killed in a clash with Afghan and foreign security forces in Uruzgan province on November 17. (ABC, CNN, BBC, Nov 18-19)
Comments

East Central Region

Location	East Central Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population
IDP Movement	UN; Government encouraging refugees to return to home provinces to limit burden on Kabul—government land distribution program only in province of origin;
Food	ISAF troops carried out a two-day food donation near the village of Gulbagh in Chahar Asiab district, (NATO, Feb-11) IRC, Action Contra la Faim; WFP
Health	President Karzai helped inaugurate the new hospital of the National Department of Security on September 14. (GOA, Sep-14) More than 10,000 people, mostly children, have been affected by diarrhea in flood-stricken provinces across the country, including Kabul. (IRIN, July-12) Kabul is home to the world’s worst outbreak of leishmaniasis, thought to have spread to hundreds of thousands of people. The sandflies that spread the parasites causing the disease are present in all Afghan cities, but more prominently in poor, crowded areas where they breed on waste land and in trash. (Reuters, May-7) UNICEF, CARITAS, MSF, IFRC, IRC, ICRC
Non-Food Items - Shelter	UNHCR, ACTED, MSF, IRC, ICRC, IOM
Security	Afghan security forces gunned down an unarmed civilian near the Kabul airport after mistaking him for a suicide bomber on Monday (December 17). (Xinhua, KT, Dec-17) Five civilians were killed and nine others wounded in two separate attacks, including a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul on Saturday (December 15). (KT, Reliefweb, Dec-17) A suicide car bomb attack aimed at Afghan army personnel in the Chihuisitoon shopping area on Wednesday (December 5) killed 13 people, including six soldiers and seven civilians. (IHT, BBC, Dec-5)
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) ICRC
Comments	The Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA) says it has completed demining the community of Karte Sakhi in Kabul. (UNAMA, Sep-15)

Eastern Region

Location	Eastern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, International Islamic Relief Organization;
Population
IDP Movement	UNHCR
Food	IRC NATO-led ISAF PRT transported water pipes for a nearly seven-mile-long planned water supply project in Baghlan province. (NATO, Aug-23)
Health	Provincial officials in southern Khost, Kandahar and eastern Nangarhar provinces have confirmed hundreds of diarrhea cases due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July-11) FAO confirmed cases of the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza (bird flu) virus in poultry in the eastern city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province and in Sawki district in Kunar province. (FAO, Feb-26)
Non-Food Items - Shelter	CWS, UNICEF
Security	Two children were killed in an accidental blast in Bati Kot district in eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday (December 20) when an explosive device they brought into their home exploded. (TNI, Dec-21) Some 65 Taliban militants were killed on Sunday (November 25) in a US-led coalition airstrike in eastern Paktia province along the Pakistan border. (BBC, DT, Nov-26) A second airstrike on Sunday in Paktia’s Patan district killed eight people, including four in a vehicle carrying suspected Taliban rebels. A separate airstrike in the provincial capital, Gardez, killed three suspected militants attempting to plant a bomb. (BBC, DT, Nov-26) At least 14 Afghan construction workers were killed in US-led coalition airstrikes overnight in eastern Afghanistan on November 26. According to reports, US-led helicopter gunships and fighter jets mistakenly attacked a camp in remote Nuristan province that night, killing all of the workers on the site while they were asleep in their tents. (CNN, ABC, Nov-27-28)
Water & Sanitation	CARITAS; ICRC, UNICEF
Comments

Northeastern Region

Location	Northeastern Region
Coordination
Population	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast
Movement IDPs
Food
Health	WHO, Merlin, UNICEF, MSF; ICRC
Non-Food Items (NFIs) -Shelter	UNICEF, ACTED, Refugees Int’l, Mercy Corps
Security	Taliban insurgents ambushed and killed two Afghan policemen and abducted a police commander in Nuristan province. (BBC, Oct-7) Twelve people, including five government employees and seven policemen, were killed on September 23 when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their vehicle as it traveled through northeastern Badakhshan province. (CNN, Sep-24)
Water & Sanitation
Comments	At least 13 people were killed in an avalanche in Baharak district in northeastern Badakhshan province on Tuesday (December 11). Fifteen others were rescued. (IRIN, Dec-12)

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	IOM
Food
Health	MSF, ICRC, UNICEF At least 20 children have died in several districts of northern Balkh and central Daikundi provinces over the past five weeks due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July-12)
NFIs –Shelter	IOM, ACTED, Mercy Corps
Security	More than 65 people, including six members of Afghanistan’s lower house of the parliament and 59 schoolchildren, were killed and more than 100 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack near a sugar factory in northern Baghlan province on November 6. (ABC, BBC, Reuters, Nov 6-8) Four people, including a district police chief, his brother and two other policemen, were killed in a roadside bomb blast in northern Baghlan province on September 24. (The News, Sep-25)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF, ICRC, DACAAR
Comments	ISAF PRT helps flood-affected families in Khamyab and Qarqin districts in Jowzjan province at the request of provincial authorities. (Frontier Post, Aug-12)

Southern Region

Location	Southern Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population	IFRC says that flash floods and avalanches in early March have affected 2,200 families in Helmand/Sangreen Grishk, Musa Qala, and Nowzad districts; and 400 families in Uruzgan/Dehraud district. (IFRC, Mar-23).
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) UNOCHA reports that over 2,500 families have left their homes in different districts of Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces over the past two months, according to provincial officials. Many of the displaced say they are leaving because of forced recruitment attempts by the Taliban and air strikes by international forces. Many have sought shelter in Kandahar city. (UNOCHA, Sep-27) In Uruzgan province, 880 families affected by conflict in Chora district have been settled in Tirin Kot and Dehrawud districts with the help of UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP and UNICEF. (ReliefWeb, July-30) About 2,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled their homes in several parts of Helmand province due to heavy fighting between Taliban insurgents and NATO-led forces. (IRIN, July-9)
Food	WFP says it could not deliver 50 tons of mixed food to Geeti district in Daykundi province due to security concerns. WFP plans to deliver food as soon as safe passage is guaranteed. (IRIN, Nov-14) The World Food Program (WFP) delivered 500 metric tons of food to the provincial capital Lashkargah, in southern Helmand province for some 4,500 families affected by fighting in Musa Qala, Sangin, Kajakiand Nawzad districts. (ReliefWeb, Sep-3) WFP also distributed 300 tons of food to some 37,000 beneficiaries in Kandahar and Helmand under food-for-work and literacy programs. (ReliefWeb, Sep-3) UNICEF; Mercy Corps; CARITAS; WFP
Health	Afghan and US-led coalition forces treated some 700 Afghans during a two-day outreach operation in Kandahar on December 7 and 8. (Reliefweb, Dec-12) The Australian Reconstruction Task Force (RTF), part of the Dutch-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Regional Command South, has completed the redevelopment of the Tarin Kowt Hospital and the construction of the Yaklengah Comprehensive Health Clinic. (NATO, Sep-17) The Afghan Ministry of Public Health and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) signed a memorandum of understanding under which the ICRC will significantly increase its support for the 390-bed regional referral Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar for the next two years. The hospital formerly run by Italian NGO Emergency provides essential care for thousands of patients, including men, women and children wounded in hostilities in the neighboring provinces of Zabul, Helmand and Uruzgan. (ICRC, July-26)
NFIs - Shelter	UNHCR, Mercy Corps
Security	Afghan security forces claim to have killed at least 20 Taliban insurgents and arrested nine others in Kandahar’s Zhari district on Sunday (December 16). (AP, KT, Dec-17) A UNICEF-led Polio vaccination campaign was suspended in Musa Qala due to military operations. The campaign was also suspended in parts of five other districts. (ReliefWeb, Dec-20) One British soldier, two children and 12 Taliban insurgents were killed during a security operation in Musa Qala in Helmand province on Saturday (December 8). (BBC, AP, Dec-10) Afghan and US-led coalition forces recaptured the town of Musa Qala on Monday (December 10). More than 50 suspected Taliban insurgents were killed in two days of fighting that ended on Tuesday (December 11) around Musa Qala. (BBC, ABC, KT, Dec- 12) Afghan security officials claim to have killed at least 35 Taliban insurgents during a three-day joint military operation that ended on December 1 in Kandahar’s Shah Wali Kot district. (BBC, Yahoo, TNI, Dec-3) Unidentified armed men ambushed a WFP truck carrying 18 tons of high energy biscuits on Sunday (December 2), killing the driver and abducting his assistant. The truck and its cargo remain missing. (WFP, Dec-6)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Some 2,500 families (roughly 13,000 people) who fled ongoing violence in Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar are staying around Kandahar city in urgent need of temporary shelter. (IRIN, Oct-3) UNICEF estimates some 262 of the 740 schools in the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul are currently unable to provide education. (UNNS, July-30)

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
Food	WFP
Health	UNICEF, MSF
NFIs - Shelter
Security
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Support for Spin Boldak camps terminated in 2004.

Western Region

Location	Western Region
Coordination	UNHCR; ICMC
Population