December 24, 2008

Overview

US troops pledge extra forces to Afghanistan

On Sunday (December 21), Afghanistan welcomed a US pledge to deploy up to 30,000 extra troops by mid-2009, which would nearly double the number of US forces in the country, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. The Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen stated that he hoped and recommended the new troops would be sent to areas where Taliban fighters were most active, particularly in the volatile southern province of Helmand and on the border with Pakistan, where terrorists infiltrate into Afghanistan. Baheen also told the AFP that additional troops would intensify the training and equipping of Afghan national security forces so that they increase their capabilities in contributing to the fight against terror. NATO encouraged other members of the alliance on Sunday that they must follow the US in committing additional forces to the war in Afghanistan to ensure the burden of the battle against the growing insurgency is properly shared. In addition, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed a deployment order to mobilize 3,000 more troops that would be a part of a combat aviation brigade in Afghanistan next year, US military officials told CNN on Friday (December 19). According to the AFP, Gates approved the order in response to a request for additional forces by General David McKiernan, the US commander in Afghanistan. CNN said the brigade will deploy a number of much-needed helicopters to the region. However, on Sunday Iran warned the US about sending 3,000 more troops in support of the 30,000 already involved in the conflict with Taliban. "The US should be careful of the consequences of its new policies in Afghanistan and not make the same mistakes as in Iraq," the Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mistake as saying. The Taliban also warned Washington that its forces would be "cruelly defeated" as the Soviets were in the 1980's, the Dawn said. A spokesman for the Taliban dismissed the US troop pledge and also added that more troops "would only provide the militants with more targets." The US currently has some 31,000 troops in Afghanistan, which is out of a total foreign force of more than 65,000 from over 40 nations. Meanwhile, more casualties have been reported due to violence in Afghanistan's troubled south.

US wants South Korean troops in Afghanistan

After recently being withdrawn from Iraq, South Korea is being asked by the US to redeploy their troops to Afghanistan, according to a report on Tuesday (December 23) the Agence France-Presse (AFP) said. The Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported Seoul military sources as saying that the "unofficial" request by the US was made this month when the South Korean contingent, Zaytun, withdrew from the northern Iraqi city of Erbil after a four-year deployment. South Korean troops brought security and stability to Erbil over the past four years and the AFP reported that the US seems to want the Zaytun unit to set another successful example of civil-military operations in Afghanistan. A defense ministry spokesman said "the Seoul government would consider assistance to Afghanistan after assessing the political situation there and domestic factors." Non-combat forces from South Korea were sent to both Afghanistan and Iraq to support the US, its closest ally. They sent 3,600 engineers and medical troops to Iraq in 2004, providing medical services to almost 89,000 local residents in Erbil province, and offering vocational classes to more than 2,000 people. At the request of the US, South Korea extended the deployment four times, but gradually reduced their numbers until all soldiers were withdrawn last Friday (December 19).

At least 21 dead in fresh violence

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) reported a soldier with the NATO-led-force in Afghanistan was killed on Wednesday (December 24) during an insurgent attack in the east of the country, the AFP reported. The nationality of the soldier has not been released. In the southern province of Zabul, four rebels were killed by US-led coalition forces on Wednesday during a combined operation with Afghan forces. According to Ghulam Jailani Khan, deputy provincial police chief, the incident occurred when the joint forces targeted a Taliban hideout in the Sury district of Kabul. Khan said that one of the dead was local commander Mullah Assadullah, who was reportedly responsible for roadside bombs and other attacks in the region. On Tuesday more violence was reported in an area outside Kabul, where 10 French soldiers were killed in an ambush that happened four months ago, The News reported. The coalition said Tuesday that US-led forces, targeting an insurgent leader, killed six suspected militants on Monday (December 22) in Sarobi district, 35 miles (60 km) east of Kabul. Three other suspected rebels were captured during the operation. On Monday in Central Ghazni province, a car bomb with two attackers exploded near an Afghan's governor's compound, killing one civilian and wounding seven others. Over the last month, the joint Afghan-US operation, known as Operation Lion Heart, has killed about 20 insurgent fighters, an Afghan governor told Reuters on Monday. On Sunday, in the area to the northwest of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, a British marine was killed in an explosion, making him the seventh member of British forces in Afghanistan to be killed in the past eight days, according to the AFP. In the southern province of Zabul in Qalat district, 215 miles (350 km) southwest of Kabul, US-led coalition forces killed four suspected militants and detained five others during an operation on Saturday (December 20) that targeted the Taliban's roadside bomb network. On Friday, three Danish soldiers and a Dutch troop were killed in separate incidents, the Associated Press (AP) reported. In Helmand province, three Danish soldiers were killed and another was badly wounded when their armored vehicle struck a bomb or land mine. Denmark has some 700 troops in the NATO force in Afghanistan and has so far suffered 21 casualties. It was reportedly the biggest single loss for the Danish force in southern Afghanistan. The Dutch soldier was killed after stepping on an explosive device during a fire fight with the Taliban in the southern province of Uruzgan, the AP reported. It is the 18th death for the Netherlands since the government took the unpopular step of sending 1,650 troops to serve the NATO-led force in August 2006. This year, nearly 290 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, making it the most violent year yet of the insurgency. 

Movement

2008: The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) held a press conference in Kabul on Monday (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)

Some 2,800 Pakistani families crossed the border into northeastern Afghanistan over the past two months to escape fighting between militants and Pakistani security forces in Bajur region.  Most of the people are reportedly in Kunar province.  (AFP, Sept-19)

UNHCR is asking Pakistan to revise its Afghan refugee repatriation plan, as the current plan to repatriate some 2.4 million refugees by the end of next year (2009) is “unworkable” due to persistent insecurity and lack of economic opportunities.  (BBC, Apr-18).

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

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

Afghanistan Relief Efforts:  United Nations Coordination Regions

Central Region

Location	Central Region
Coordination
Population
IDP Movement	No New Information
Food	There have been at least six attacks on World Food Program (WFP) food convoys in 2008, and WFP has 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	In Ghazni province, a car bomb with two attackers killed one civilian and wounded seven others on Monday (December-22), when the bomb exploded near the governor’s compound in Ghazni City. Both attackers were also killed. (Reuters, Dec-22)
Comments	No New Information

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 German Federal Foreign Office is giving another US$1.3 million (1 million Euros) to the UN World Food Program (WFP) to provide basic necessities to people in particularly remote areas of Afghanistan during the winter. Germany’s winter aid for Afghanistan amounts to US$8.45 million (6.5 million Euros). (Government of Germany, Dec-4) The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on December 9 that increasing attacks on food convoys by insurgents are leading to a food crisis. The attacks force convoys to take longer routes, thus increasing the cost of transportation and the food itself. Most food prices are already far beyond the reach of ordinary people. Aid agencies fear that the food crisis could exacerbate child malnutrition throughout the country. (UNICEF, Dec-9)
Health	No New Information UNICEF, CARITAS, MSF, IFRC, IRC, ICRC
Non-Food Items - Shelter	No New Information UNHCR, ACTED, MSF, IRC, ICRC, IOM
Security	US-led coalition forces killed six militants and detained three others in Surobi district, about 40 miles (60 km) northeast of Kabul, on Monday (December 22). (Reuters, Dec-23)
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	NATO entered talks with Afghanistan’s northern neighbors to allow the shipment of more supplies through those countries. The move comes as Taliban attacks on NATO supply lines through Pakistan increase and the local transport association suspended any convoys to Afghanistan beginning December-15. At least 75 percent of supplies to foreign troops travels through Pakistan. (BBC, Dec-15)

Eastern Region

Location	Eastern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, International Islamic Relief Organization;
Population
IDP Movement	UNHCR
Food	NATO-led ISAF PRT transported water pipes for a nearly seven-mile-long planned water supply project in Baghlan province.  (NATO, Aug-23) IRC
Health	No New Information
Non-Food Items - Shelter	No New Information CWS, UNICEF
Security	In Kunar province, a joint US-Afghan operation along the Pakistani border has killed about 20 insurgents over the last month. The operation is conducted in close cooperation with Pakistani forces on the other side of the border, Afghan authorities reported on Monday (December-22). (Reuters, Dec-22) In the east of the country, a soldier with the NATO-led force in Afghanistan was killed on Wednesday (December-24) during an insurgent attack. (AFP, Dec-24)
Water & Sanitation	CARITAS; ICRC, UNICEF
Comments	No New Information

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	No New Information
Water & Sanitation	No New Information
Comments	The Mine Detection Center (MDC), an Afghan NGO, has cleared 1 million square meters of landmines in Afghanistan’s northeastern region since January. According to UNAMA, 165 people have been killed and more than 1100 people have been injured in mine accidents in the four northeastern provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan, Takhar and Badakhshan. (UNAMA, Oct-21)

Northern Region

Location	Northern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, IOM
Population	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast; 60,000 IDPs from North elsewhere in country.
Movement IDPs	No New Information IOM
Food	No New Information
Health	No New Information MSF, ICRC, UNICEF
NFIs –Shelter	No New Information IOM, ACTED, Mercy Corps
Security	No New Information
Water & Sanitation	No New Information UNICEF, ICRC, DACAAR
Comments	The European Commission’s Humanitarian aid Office and the NGO ActionAid launched a cash for work program in northern Afghanistan on October 22 aimed at providing about 5,000 families with enough food to cover half of their daily requirements through the winter. The program is active in 40 villages in Jawzjan Province ’s Darzab and Qushtepa districts, and in Balkh province’s Dawlatabad and Kaldar districts. (ActionAid, Oct-22)

Southern Region

Location	Southern Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population
Movement of IDPs	Intense military operations against Afghan insurgents in southern Helmand province, especially in Musa Qala district, have caused hundreds of families to flee their homes to neighboring districts and the provincial capital, Lashkargah. (IRIN, Dec-6)
Food	No New Information UNICEF; Mercy Corps; CARITAS; WFP
Health	NATO reported on December-14 that hundreds of people received medical care and humanitarian assistance in Zabul province. Members of the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), the Afghan Army and coalition forces participated in the operation. (NATO, Dec-14) Members of the Zabul PRT and of the Kentucky Army National Guard delivered four pre-fabricated medical containers to the Atgar district center. The delivery will help to improve the health care capacity in the province that has only one health care provider so far. (NATO, Dec-6)
NFIs - Shelter	No New Information UNHCR, Mercy Corps
Security	In Zabul province, US-led coalition forces killed four insurgents and detained five others in an operation on Saturday (December-20), targeting the Taliban’s roadside bomb network along Highway One in Qalat district. (HT, Dec. 21) In Zabul’s Shinkay district, two suspected Taliban militants were reported dead on Thursday (December 18) after they were detained by Afghan police and coalition forces. (Reuters, Dec-23) Four rebels were killed by US-led coalition forces on Wednesday (December-24) during a combined operation with Afghan forces against the Taliban in Zabul. One of the militants killed was local commander Mullah Assadullah, who is known to be responsible for roadside bombs and other attacks in the region. (BBC, Dawn, Dec-24) In Helmand province, a British marine was killed in an explosion on Sunday (December-21), northwest of the city of Lashkar Gah. The marine was the seventh member of the British forces in Afghanistan to be killed in the last eight days. (AFP, Dec-22) On Friday (December-19), three Danish soldiers were killed and one other wounded when their vehicle drove over a bomb or land mine. (AP, Dec-20) In Uruzgan province, a Dutch soldier was killed when he stepped on an explosive device during a fire-fight with the Taliban on Friday. It was the 18^th Dutch soldier killed in Afghanistan since August 2006. (AP, Dec-20)
Water & Sanitation	No New Information UNICEF
Comments	British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on December-13, that Britain will help Afghanistan with upcoming elections and has also offered to set up a task force to fight corruption. Britain plans to give Afghanistan US$10 million to register voters for next year’s elections. (CNN, Dec-15) On December-19 Tooryalai Wesa, an Afghan-Canadian academic, accepted the post of governor in the volatile southern province of Kandahar. He will be officially sworn in on December-20. (AP, Dec-19)

Southern Region IDP camps

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

Western Region

Location	Western Region
Coordination	UNHCR; ICMC
Population	No New Information
Movement IDPs	12,000 IDPs, mostly in Maslakh camp IOM
Food	No New Information IRC, CARITAS, UNICEF, World Vision, IOM, Action Contre la Faim; WFP
Health	At least three people were killed in an outbreak of highly contagious Viral Hemorrhagic Fever in Herat city that was first reported on August 25, according to the Ministry of Public Health. Officials confirmed 10 suspected cases as of August 27 and said most of the infected were butchers, shepherds or others involved with animals. The patients were put in quarantine. (IRIN, Aug-27)
Non-Food Items (NFIs) – Shelter	No New Information
Security	On Monday (December 22), Afghan and US-led coalition forces killed two Taliban militants in Zer-e-Koh Valley in Shindand district of Herat province. (Reuters, Dec-23) Second Secretary at the Indian embassy in Kabul, JP Singh confirmed the abduction of an Indian worker in Herat province named Simon Paramanathan. He was abducted in October and Singh claimed he was still alive. Abductors have demanded US$50,000 for his release and have set the deadline for Friday (December 26). (Hindustan Times, Dec-24).
Water & Sanitation	No New Information UNICEF
Comments	The International Organization for Migration (IOM) inaugurated an upgraded Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) radio station and a media center in Qal-i-Naw district in the province of Badghis. IOM installed an AM transmitter and studio, with funding from the Spanish government. The new equipment has allowed the station to broadcast to every district in the province. (IOM, Oct. 24)

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