July 8, 2012
$16 Billion in Civilian Aid Pledged to Afghanistan, With Conditions
By JANE PERLEZ
TOKYO — An international donor’s conference on Sunday pledged $16 billion for the economic development of Afghanistan in the next four years, but for the first time made it a condition that the Afghan government reduce corruption before receiving all of the money.
The agreement, called the Tokyo Framework of Mutual Accountability, says that foreign governments will assure Afghanistan a steady stream of financing in exchange for stronger anticorruption measures and the establishment of the rule of law. Up to 20 percent of the money would depend on the government meeting governance standards, according to the document, which was released here on Sunday.
The money pledge, along with the plans for the Afghan security forces laid out at a NATO summit meeting in May in Chicago, represent a diplomatic success for American officials, who have lobbied for long-term international support for Afghanistan. There had been concerns that the economic crunch in the West and donor fatigue would leave President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and his American backers scrambling to come up with the money needed to run and secure Afghanistan, where the government’s expenses far outstrip its revenues.
Addressing the conference here in Tokyo, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the lives of all Afghan civilians needed to improve after a decade of war. To accomplish that goal, a number of steps were needed, she said.
“That must include fighting corruption, improving governance, strengthening the rule of law, increasing access to economic opportunity for all Afghans, especially for women,” she said.
Mr. Karzai, who is under increasing pressure from international donors to fight corruption, including within his extended family, acknowledged in his own speech to the conference that corruption had undermined the legitimacy of his government.
But Afghans were not the only ones responsible for corruption, he said: “We will fight corruption with strong resolve where it occurs and ask the same of our international partners.”
Representatives of more than 70 countries attended the conference. Mrs. Clinton did not specify how much the United States would contribute to the $16 billion, saying that Washington would maintain its level of financing. The Obama administration request to Congress for Afghan civilian assistance for 2013 was $2.5 billion, slightly more than the $2.2 billion that lawmakers approved for 2012.
Congress, given budget constraints and public weariness with the war in Afghanistan, would almost certainly appropriate less than the $2.5 billion requested, American analysts said.
The United States is the biggest donor to Afghanistan’s economic development programs. Japan, the host of the conference, announced a pledge of $5 billion over five years. Germany, another large contributor, would give an estimated $550 million for the next four years, said Dirk Niebel, the minister for economic cooperation and development.
Diplomats at the conference said they were pleased with the pledge of $16 billion. The Japanese government said international donors had spent $35 billion on economic development in Afghanistan in the past decade, about twice that committed on Sunday for the next four years.
With recession in Europe and war fatigue in the United States, the possibility of cutbacks in aid for infrastructure projects, schools and health clinics seemed real, several diplomats said.
Before the Tokyo conference, the Afghan government trimmed estimates of what it said it needed in order to fit the outcome on Sunday.
The governor of the Afghan Central Bank said several weeks ago that up to $7 billion annually would be needed to accelerate economic development. Last week, Mr. Karzai said $4 billion would be sufficient, and the World Bank estimated that Afghanistan needed $3.9 billion a year through 2024 to boost development.
Money for the Afghan Army and police forces is separate from that raised in Tokyo. Financing for the Afghan security forces after 2014 is expected to total about $4.1 billion a year.
Beyond the $16 billion, other financing that has been pumped into the Afghan economy through the decade of war would be reduced as countries withdraw military and diplomatic personnel in the next few years, said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow for national security at the Center for American Progress in Washington.
“With many countries heading for the exits and drawing down both military and diplomatic personnel in the next few years, the Afghan government is going to see a reduction in the amount of money it gets from the international community in any case,” Mr. Katulis said.
If the Afghan authorities fail to do a better job curbing corruption, “then the whole framework for international support could collapse,” he said.
After addressing the conference Mrs. Clinton met with the Pakistani foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, for a one-on-one discussion, their first meeting since Pakistan, seven months ago, closed down the route that the United States military uses to transport supplies to Afghanistan. Last week, the route was reopened after Mrs. Clinton issued a statement saying that the United States was “sorry” for the deaths of two dozen Pakistani soldiers in American airstrikes last November.
The route’s closing forced Washington to redirect supplies at a cost of more than $1 billion, and threatened to hurt the United States’ counterterrorism efforts.
In the meeting with Ms. Khar, and at a later session with Ms. Khar and the Afghan foreign minister, Zalmai Rassoul, Mrs. Clinton emphasized again the need for Pakistan to shut down the Haqqani terrorist network that has mounted attacks in Afghanistan against American and NATO targets, a senior State Department official said.
Matthew Rosenberg contributed reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/world ... h_20120709
Afghanistan
August 15, 2012
The Women of Afghanistan
Afghanistan can be a hard and cruel land, especially for women and girls. Many fear they will be even more vulnerable to harsh tribal customs and the men who impose them after American troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
Womens’ rights have made modest but encouraging gains over the past decade. But these could disappear without a strong commitment to preserve and advance them from Afghan leaders, Washington and other international partners.
Severe restrictions imposed by the Taliban, on access to education, health care and work, before they were ousted from power after Sept. 11 have been lifted in government-controlled areas. Women have run for office, been named to government posts and become more involved in Afghan society; some operate their own businesses. The 2004 Constitution guaranteed equal rights. In 2009, a new law banned violence against women and set new penalties for underage and forced marriage, rape and other abuses. Many more girls are in school and maternity death rates are down.
Much, of course, remains to be done. More than half of Afghan girls are still not in school, and, of those who are, few will stay long enough to graduate. Intimidation is commonplace; girls have been attacked and even doused with acid to be kept from attending school. It is not uncommon, especially in rural areas, for families to trade daughters into marriage or prostitution to settle debts. Women abused by their husbands or families too often end up in jail instead of their abusers.
A recent study by Human Rights Watch, which interviewed 58 women and girls in prison, found that half were jailed for acts that any reasonable person would not consider a crime, like running away from abusive situations. People who force women into marriage, often at very young ages, or subject them to violence, are rarely prosecuted, the group said. Female victims get little support from police and judges, and they face the added injustice of being punished for committing “moral crimes,” like “zina” — sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. Criminalizing zina is contrary to Afghanistan’s international obligations, the group says.
There are rare victories. The Times reported on Saturday that an appeals court held up prison sentences of 10 years each for the in-laws who tortured a 13-year-old girl when she refused to become a prostitute or have sex with the man she was forced to marry.
President Hamid Karzai’s record on women’s rights is less than encouraging. While he has pardoned women accused of moral crimes, he has failed to vigorously enforce the violence against women law. In March, he signed off on a decree from the country’s highest religious council stating that women were secondary to men. With his government and the United States exploring peace talks with the Taliban, many activists worry that women’s interests will be sacrificed as part of a strategic deal.
The Obama administration has insisted that this will not happen, most recently at the Tokyo donors’ conference in July when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton promised that “the United States will continue to stand strongly by the women of Afghanistan.” She and other Western leaders will have to keep nudging Mr. Karzai in that direction, even as they invest in schools, teachers, shelters and rule-of-law programs. Right now, it appears as if Washington and other donors are chiefly interested in building up Afghanistan’s expensive Army and finishing infrastructure projects.
One bright spot is that more Afghan women seem to have found their voice and have not been timid about advocating for their own rights. But all Afghans should be invested in empowering women. As Mrs. Clinton has argued, there is plenty of evidence to show that no country can grow and prosper in today’s world if women are marginalized and oppressed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/opini ... h_20120816
The Women of Afghanistan
Afghanistan can be a hard and cruel land, especially for women and girls. Many fear they will be even more vulnerable to harsh tribal customs and the men who impose them after American troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
Womens’ rights have made modest but encouraging gains over the past decade. But these could disappear without a strong commitment to preserve and advance them from Afghan leaders, Washington and other international partners.
Severe restrictions imposed by the Taliban, on access to education, health care and work, before they were ousted from power after Sept. 11 have been lifted in government-controlled areas. Women have run for office, been named to government posts and become more involved in Afghan society; some operate their own businesses. The 2004 Constitution guaranteed equal rights. In 2009, a new law banned violence against women and set new penalties for underage and forced marriage, rape and other abuses. Many more girls are in school and maternity death rates are down.
Much, of course, remains to be done. More than half of Afghan girls are still not in school, and, of those who are, few will stay long enough to graduate. Intimidation is commonplace; girls have been attacked and even doused with acid to be kept from attending school. It is not uncommon, especially in rural areas, for families to trade daughters into marriage or prostitution to settle debts. Women abused by their husbands or families too often end up in jail instead of their abusers.
A recent study by Human Rights Watch, which interviewed 58 women and girls in prison, found that half were jailed for acts that any reasonable person would not consider a crime, like running away from abusive situations. People who force women into marriage, often at very young ages, or subject them to violence, are rarely prosecuted, the group said. Female victims get little support from police and judges, and they face the added injustice of being punished for committing “moral crimes,” like “zina” — sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. Criminalizing zina is contrary to Afghanistan’s international obligations, the group says.
There are rare victories. The Times reported on Saturday that an appeals court held up prison sentences of 10 years each for the in-laws who tortured a 13-year-old girl when she refused to become a prostitute or have sex with the man she was forced to marry.
President Hamid Karzai’s record on women’s rights is less than encouraging. While he has pardoned women accused of moral crimes, he has failed to vigorously enforce the violence against women law. In March, he signed off on a decree from the country’s highest religious council stating that women were secondary to men. With his government and the United States exploring peace talks with the Taliban, many activists worry that women’s interests will be sacrificed as part of a strategic deal.
The Obama administration has insisted that this will not happen, most recently at the Tokyo donors’ conference in July when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton promised that “the United States will continue to stand strongly by the women of Afghanistan.” She and other Western leaders will have to keep nudging Mr. Karzai in that direction, even as they invest in schools, teachers, shelters and rule-of-law programs. Right now, it appears as if Washington and other donors are chiefly interested in building up Afghanistan’s expensive Army and finishing infrastructure projects.
One bright spot is that more Afghan women seem to have found their voice and have not been timid about advocating for their own rights. But all Afghans should be invested in empowering women. As Mrs. Clinton has argued, there is plenty of evidence to show that no country can grow and prosper in today’s world if women are marginalized and oppressed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/opini ... h_20120816
September 8, 2012
Potential for a Mining Boom Splits Factions in Afghanistan
By GRAHAM BOWLEY
KALU VALLEY, Afghanistan — If there is a road to a happy ending in Afghanistan, much of the path may run underground: in the trillion-dollar reservoir of natural resources — oil, gold, iron ore, copper, lithium and other minerals — that has brought hopes of a more self-sufficient country, if only the wealth can be wrested from blood-soaked soil.
But the wealth has inspired darker dreams as well. Officials and industry experts say the potential resource boom seems increasingly imperiled by corruption, violence and intrigue, and has put the Afghan government’s vulnerabilities on display.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/world ... h_20120909
Potential for a Mining Boom Splits Factions in Afghanistan
By GRAHAM BOWLEY
KALU VALLEY, Afghanistan — If there is a road to a happy ending in Afghanistan, much of the path may run underground: in the trillion-dollar reservoir of natural resources — oil, gold, iron ore, copper, lithium and other minerals — that has brought hopes of a more self-sufficient country, if only the wealth can be wrested from blood-soaked soil.
But the wealth has inspired darker dreams as well. Officials and industry experts say the potential resource boom seems increasingly imperiled by corruption, violence and intrigue, and has put the Afghan government’s vulnerabilities on display.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/world ... h_20120909
Maternal and Child Health in Badakhshan Afghanistan: Progress and Challenges
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aziz-baig ... 11996.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aziz-baig ... 11996.html
For Afghans, Name and Birthdate Census Questions Are Not So Simple
"Culture is a census obstacle: Many Afghans lack surnames, most do not know their birthday, and women will not speak if their husbands are out."
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/11/world ... d=45305309
"Culture is a census obstacle: Many Afghans lack surnames, most do not know their birthday, and women will not speak if their husbands are out."
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/11/world ... d=45305309
Unruly Factions Hurt Taliban’s Bid to Capture Afghan Hearts, and Territory
KABUL, Afghanistan — A series of kidnappings and robberies struck northern Helmand Province this summer, paralyzing residents and embarrassing the Taliban leaders who controlled the area.
Responding to growing complaints, the Taliban leadership based in Pakistan ordered a hunt to find the criminals, but soon discovered an inconvenient truth: Their own people were behind the banditry, earning thousands of dollars in ransoms every month. Within a matter of days, the culprits had been captured and executed, including two notorious fighters known as Pickax and Shovel.
Though the episode went largely unnoticed outside the Taliban stronghold, it highlights a question that is on the minds of many: More than 13 years after the war here started, who exactly are the Taliban? Are they the bandits responsible for the abduction and killings of numerous villagers? Or are they the disciplined leaders who hanged the fighters who had taken to criminal tyranny?
Increasingly, it appears, they are both.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/03/world ... d=45305309
KABUL, Afghanistan — A series of kidnappings and robberies struck northern Helmand Province this summer, paralyzing residents and embarrassing the Taliban leaders who controlled the area.
Responding to growing complaints, the Taliban leadership based in Pakistan ordered a hunt to find the criminals, but soon discovered an inconvenient truth: Their own people were behind the banditry, earning thousands of dollars in ransoms every month. Within a matter of days, the culprits had been captured and executed, including two notorious fighters known as Pickax and Shovel.
Though the episode went largely unnoticed outside the Taliban stronghold, it highlights a question that is on the minds of many: More than 13 years after the war here started, who exactly are the Taliban? Are they the bandits responsible for the abduction and killings of numerous villagers? Or are they the disciplined leaders who hanged the fighters who had taken to criminal tyranny?
Increasingly, it appears, they are both.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/03/world ... d=45305309
Afghan Policewomen Struggle Against Culture
But the gunmen had seen her face, and they fired 11 bullets into her.
Parveena’s story — she was one of six policewomen killed in 2013 — is an extreme case, but it reflects the dangers and difficulties of Afghan policewomen and the broader Western effort to engineer gender equality in Afghanistan. The plight of women under the Taliban captured the Western imagination, and their liberation became a rallying cry. A flood of money and programs poured into Afghanistan, for girls’ schools and women’s shelters and television shows, all aimed at elevating women’s status.
But these good intentions often foundered against the strength of Afghan sexual conservatism. As the tale of Afghan policewomen shows, repressive views of women were not just a Taliban curse, but also a deeply embedded part of society.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/world ... 05309&_r=0
But the gunmen had seen her face, and they fired 11 bullets into her.
Parveena’s story — she was one of six policewomen killed in 2013 — is an extreme case, but it reflects the dangers and difficulties of Afghan policewomen and the broader Western effort to engineer gender equality in Afghanistan. The plight of women under the Taliban captured the Western imagination, and their liberation became a rallying cry. A flood of money and programs poured into Afghanistan, for girls’ schools and women’s shelters and television shows, all aimed at elevating women’s status.
But these good intentions often foundered against the strength of Afghan sexual conservatism. As the tale of Afghan policewomen shows, repressive views of women were not just a Taliban curse, but also a deeply embedded part of society.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/world ... 05309&_r=0
Afghans Form Militias and Call on Warlords to Battle Taliban
KABUL, Afghanistan — Facing a fierce Taliban offensive across a corridor of northern Afghanistan, the government in Kabul is turning to a strategy fraught with risk: forming local militias and beseeching old warlords for military assistance, according to Afghan and Western officials.
The effort is expected to eventually mobilize several thousand Afghans from the north to fight against the Taliban in areas where the Afghan military and police forces are losing ground or have had little presence. The action is being seen as directly undermining assurances by officials that the security forces were holding their own against the Taliban.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/world ... d=71987722
KABUL, Afghanistan — Facing a fierce Taliban offensive across a corridor of northern Afghanistan, the government in Kabul is turning to a strategy fraught with risk: forming local militias and beseeching old warlords for military assistance, according to Afghan and Western officials.
The effort is expected to eventually mobilize several thousand Afghans from the north to fight against the Taliban in areas where the Afghan military and police forces are losing ground or have had little presence. The action is being seen as directly undermining assurances by officials that the security forces were holding their own against the Taliban.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/world ... d=71987722
Afghan Minerals, Another Failure
In 2010, the Pentagon and American geologists estimated that Afghanistan has $1 trillion of untapped mineral deposits, including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and industrial metals like lithium. Gen. David Petraeus, who was then the chief of the United States Central Command, said there was “stunning potential” for the war-ravaged country, which by now should have begun to reap much-needed revenue and equally needed jobs.
That development is lagging, and there are growing concerns that $488 million in American aid could be squandered if Washington and Kabul do not take firmer charge of the extraction projects and put regulatory and other reforms in place. America’s troubled attempts to help Afghanistan with its mineral and hydrocarbon industries were reported last month by John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction.
His office found that even after America invested millions of dollars to develop infrastructure and technical skills, the Afghan government “still lacks the technical capacity to research, award and manage new contracts without external support.” Its ability to be self-sustaining in minerals and hydrocarbons seems a “very distant goal,” while many American-financed projects are incomplete.
It is important for Afghanistan to move forward more quickly and smartly than it has. The country depends on foreign aid, which is declining as American troops withdraw, and needs to generate its own revenue. By some estimates, mineral development could produce $2 billion annually in royalties and taxes while oil and gas reserves could be worth $220 billion more.
The American aid went through a special Defense Department Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, which administered 11 projects at a cost of $282 million before Congress shut down its operations in March, and the United States Agency for International Development, which has three programs totaling $206 million. The task force awarded contracts for ventures like mineral exploration and seismic surveys; U.S.A.I.D. is helping reform mining policy regulation and strengthen the ministry of mines and petroleum.
But the report said that there was a lack of overall strategy by the United States and that the task force failed to establish multiyear plans or written guidelines for selecting projects or evaluating them. There was little interagency coordination since the task force answered to the Pentagon rather than America’s ambassador in Kabul, who, for example, learned of a $39.6 million task force project to refurbish a natural gas pipeline only after Afghan officials thanked him for United States support.
Mr. Sopko’s report also faulted U.S.A.I.D. for not taking over certain task force initiatives, many of which, like mineral and hydrocarbon tenders and the gas pipeline, were left incomplete. The projects were transferred to the Afghan government, but given institutional failings “there is a significant risk” that American investments “will go to waste,” the report concluded.
Some projects handled by the Afghan government independently have already been marred by corruption, the report said. It cited allegations that small mining contracts have gone to warlords and members of Parliament in contravention of Afghan law.
American officials dispute some of Mr. Sopko’s complaints — one argued the task force was intended to operate differently, and take more risks, than U.S.A.I.D. — and say they are working on some of the weaknesses he identified. The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, has shown more willingness to tackle management and corruption problems in this and other areas, but he has been struggling to complete his government and is butting heads even with some allies.
If there is any hope of managing Afghanistan’s indigenous treasures into the future, there must be rigorous monitoring of how American aid is spent. That’s a difficult feat to accomplish in a war zone, but it will be even harder if Mr. Sopko’s investigating staff in Kabul is cut by 40 percent, as the State Department now intends.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/opini ... pe=article
In 2010, the Pentagon and American geologists estimated that Afghanistan has $1 trillion of untapped mineral deposits, including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and industrial metals like lithium. Gen. David Petraeus, who was then the chief of the United States Central Command, said there was “stunning potential” for the war-ravaged country, which by now should have begun to reap much-needed revenue and equally needed jobs.
That development is lagging, and there are growing concerns that $488 million in American aid could be squandered if Washington and Kabul do not take firmer charge of the extraction projects and put regulatory and other reforms in place. America’s troubled attempts to help Afghanistan with its mineral and hydrocarbon industries were reported last month by John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction.
His office found that even after America invested millions of dollars to develop infrastructure and technical skills, the Afghan government “still lacks the technical capacity to research, award and manage new contracts without external support.” Its ability to be self-sustaining in minerals and hydrocarbons seems a “very distant goal,” while many American-financed projects are incomplete.
It is important for Afghanistan to move forward more quickly and smartly than it has. The country depends on foreign aid, which is declining as American troops withdraw, and needs to generate its own revenue. By some estimates, mineral development could produce $2 billion annually in royalties and taxes while oil and gas reserves could be worth $220 billion more.
The American aid went through a special Defense Department Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, which administered 11 projects at a cost of $282 million before Congress shut down its operations in March, and the United States Agency for International Development, which has three programs totaling $206 million. The task force awarded contracts for ventures like mineral exploration and seismic surveys; U.S.A.I.D. is helping reform mining policy regulation and strengthen the ministry of mines and petroleum.
But the report said that there was a lack of overall strategy by the United States and that the task force failed to establish multiyear plans or written guidelines for selecting projects or evaluating them. There was little interagency coordination since the task force answered to the Pentagon rather than America’s ambassador in Kabul, who, for example, learned of a $39.6 million task force project to refurbish a natural gas pipeline only after Afghan officials thanked him for United States support.
Mr. Sopko’s report also faulted U.S.A.I.D. for not taking over certain task force initiatives, many of which, like mineral and hydrocarbon tenders and the gas pipeline, were left incomplete. The projects were transferred to the Afghan government, but given institutional failings “there is a significant risk” that American investments “will go to waste,” the report concluded.
Some projects handled by the Afghan government independently have already been marred by corruption, the report said. It cited allegations that small mining contracts have gone to warlords and members of Parliament in contravention of Afghan law.
American officials dispute some of Mr. Sopko’s complaints — one argued the task force was intended to operate differently, and take more risks, than U.S.A.I.D. — and say they are working on some of the weaknesses he identified. The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, has shown more willingness to tackle management and corruption problems in this and other areas, but he has been struggling to complete his government and is butting heads even with some allies.
If there is any hope of managing Afghanistan’s indigenous treasures into the future, there must be rigorous monitoring of how American aid is spent. That’s a difficult feat to accomplish in a war zone, but it will be even harder if Mr. Sopko’s investigating staff in Kabul is cut by 40 percent, as the State Department now intends.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/opini ... pe=article
Taliban Present Gentler Face but Wield Iron Fist in Afghan District
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan — As they have captured more territory in Afghanistan this year, the Taliban have twinned their military offensive with a publicity push. Their pitch goes something like this: We’ve learned the lessons from our time in power, and we’re ready to moderate a bit.
At international conferences, delegates from the Taliban — infamous for outlawing girls’ schools during their rule from 1994 to 2001 — have made a point of being willing to meet and talk with female officials. Old hard-line stances against music and photography have been softening.
But for insight into how the Taliban might rule if they succeed in holding large stretches of Afghanistan, consider Baghran district, in the southern province of Helmand.
There, where the Taliban were scarcely ever out of power, the harsh old policies of the ’90s are still in full swing. Men are hauled into jail if they shave beards, and spot turban checks are still in place to expose any fancy haircuts. And there is still no freedom for women to travel or learn.
The Taliban in Baghran are not an insurgent force but the government, and a long-established one at that.
“In Baghran, you feel like you are in a mini-emirate of the Taliban,” said a 45-year-old shopkeeper, Esmatullah Baghrani, referring to the Taliban’s formal name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. “When I am out of Baghran, I feel like I am in a different world".
more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/15/world ... d=45305309
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan — As they have captured more territory in Afghanistan this year, the Taliban have twinned their military offensive with a publicity push. Their pitch goes something like this: We’ve learned the lessons from our time in power, and we’re ready to moderate a bit.
At international conferences, delegates from the Taliban — infamous for outlawing girls’ schools during their rule from 1994 to 2001 — have made a point of being willing to meet and talk with female officials. Old hard-line stances against music and photography have been softening.
But for insight into how the Taliban might rule if they succeed in holding large stretches of Afghanistan, consider Baghran district, in the southern province of Helmand.
There, where the Taliban were scarcely ever out of power, the harsh old policies of the ’90s are still in full swing. Men are hauled into jail if they shave beards, and spot turban checks are still in place to expose any fancy haircuts. And there is still no freedom for women to travel or learn.
The Taliban in Baghran are not an insurgent force but the government, and a long-established one at that.
“In Baghran, you feel like you are in a mini-emirate of the Taliban,” said a 45-year-old shopkeeper, Esmatullah Baghrani, referring to the Taliban’s formal name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. “When I am out of Baghran, I feel like I am in a different world".
more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/15/world ... d=45305309
Ignoring Sexual Abuse in Afghanistan
The incidents of sexual assault on children described by American service members who served in Afghanistan are sickening. Boys screaming in the night as Afghan police officers attacked them. Three or four Afghan men found lying on the floor of a room at a military base with children between them, presumably for sex play.
No less offensive is that American soldiers and Marines who wanted to intervene could not. According to an account in The Times by Joseph Goldstein, they were ordered by their superiors to ignore abusive behavior by their Afghan allies and “to look the other way because it’s their culture.”
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/opini ... ef=opinion
The incidents of sexual assault on children described by American service members who served in Afghanistan are sickening. Boys screaming in the night as Afghan police officers attacked them. Three or four Afghan men found lying on the floor of a room at a military base with children between them, presumably for sex play.
No less offensive is that American soldiers and Marines who wanted to intervene could not. According to an account in The Times by Joseph Goldstein, they were ordered by their superiors to ignore abusive behavior by their Afghan allies and “to look the other way because it’s their culture.”
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/opini ... ef=opinion
Ashraf Ghani, Afghan President, Vows to Crack Down on Abuse of Boys
Addressing revulsion at the widespread sexual abuse of boys by powerful Afghan commanders, President Ashraf Ghani pledged on Wednesday that his government would do what it could to stamp out a practice that is pervasive among many wealthy and prominent men in his country.
Mr. Ghani was unambiguous in his condemnation of the practice, calling it “unacceptable” and saying that pedophiles would be prosecuted no matter who they were.
“Six-year-, 8-year-, 10-year-olds are raped, and I’m not going to tolerate this,” Mr. Ghani said from Kabul in an interview conducted by video conference. “To the extent to which the authority of the state can be harnessed to this task, we are going to focus on it and not permit it.”
That will be no easy feat. Though many Afghans find it repugnant, the sexual abuse of boys is so widespread that the practice even has a euphemistic name — bacha bazi, literally “boy play” — and is often ritualized in parties at which young boys are dressed as girls and forced to dance before they are raped.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/world ... d=71987722
Addressing revulsion at the widespread sexual abuse of boys by powerful Afghan commanders, President Ashraf Ghani pledged on Wednesday that his government would do what it could to stamp out a practice that is pervasive among many wealthy and prominent men in his country.
Mr. Ghani was unambiguous in his condemnation of the practice, calling it “unacceptable” and saying that pedophiles would be prosecuted no matter who they were.
“Six-year-, 8-year-, 10-year-olds are raped, and I’m not going to tolerate this,” Mr. Ghani said from Kabul in an interview conducted by video conference. “To the extent to which the authority of the state can be harnessed to this task, we are going to focus on it and not permit it.”
That will be no easy feat. Though many Afghans find it repugnant, the sexual abuse of boys is so widespread that the practice even has a euphemistic name — bacha bazi, literally “boy play” — and is often ritualized in parties at which young boys are dressed as girls and forced to dance before they are raped.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/world ... d=71987722
Kunduz and the Many Failures in Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan — ON Monday, Taliban forces took the northern city of Kunduz. In Kabul, the mood was grim. The Parliament summoned security chiefs for questioning and accused the government of incompetence. Meanwhile, news photos show Taliban commanders raising their flag in the center of Kunduz, posing triumphantly.
This is not what our country was supposed to look like a year after the formation of the national unity government, an agreement the United States helped broker. Afghanistan is on a regressive path. The political arrangement between President Ashraf Ghani and his chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, has metamorphosed into the opposite of everything it was designed to deliver.
Instead of inclusiveness and unity, we have an isolated government at odds with its own constituency. Countering corruption and making government more responsive now appear to be extravagant hopes. The leadership has failed to agree on very basic key appointments, such as an attorney general and governors. Increased attacks and disputed territories stymie the prospects for better security. Ungoverned spaces and the emergence of terrorist groups like the Islamic State pose a graver threat today than they did a year ago.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/opini ... d=45305309
Kabul, Afghanistan — ON Monday, Taliban forces took the northern city of Kunduz. In Kabul, the mood was grim. The Parliament summoned security chiefs for questioning and accused the government of incompetence. Meanwhile, news photos show Taliban commanders raising their flag in the center of Kunduz, posing triumphantly.
This is not what our country was supposed to look like a year after the formation of the national unity government, an agreement the United States helped broker. Afghanistan is on a regressive path. The political arrangement between President Ashraf Ghani and his chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, has metamorphosed into the opposite of everything it was designed to deliver.
Instead of inclusiveness and unity, we have an isolated government at odds with its own constituency. Countering corruption and making government more responsive now appear to be extravagant hopes. The leadership has failed to agree on very basic key appointments, such as an attorney general and governors. Increased attacks and disputed territories stymie the prospects for better security. Ungoverned spaces and the emergence of terrorist groups like the Islamic State pose a graver threat today than they did a year ago.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/opini ... d=45305309
Fear of Taliban Drives Women Out of Kunduz
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban occupation of Kunduz may have been temporary, but what they did to Afghan women’s rights could prove to be lasting.
In a methodical campaign, the Taliban relentlessly hounded women with any sort of public profile, looted a high school and destroyed the offices of many of the organizations that protected and supported women in Kunduz.
Among those who have fled are the women who ran a shelter for female victims of violence, who Taliban commanders say are “immoral.”
Gone are educated women who worked for the government or international organizations; gone are some women who were school administrators and women who were activists for peace and democracy. They left, mostly at night, on foot or in run-down taxis, hiding under burqas, running for their lives.
“I won’t go back — I will never go back,” said Dr. Hassina Sarwari, the Kunduz Province director of Women for Afghan Women, which ran a shelter for abused women, a family guidance center and a center for the children of women in the Kunduz prison.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/world ... d=71987722
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban occupation of Kunduz may have been temporary, but what they did to Afghan women’s rights could prove to be lasting.
In a methodical campaign, the Taliban relentlessly hounded women with any sort of public profile, looted a high school and destroyed the offices of many of the organizations that protected and supported women in Kunduz.
Among those who have fled are the women who ran a shelter for female victims of violence, who Taliban commanders say are “immoral.”
Gone are educated women who worked for the government or international organizations; gone are some women who were school administrators and women who were activists for peace and democracy. They left, mostly at night, on foot or in run-down taxis, hiding under burqas, running for their lives.
“I won’t go back — I will never go back,” said Dr. Hassina Sarwari, the Kunduz Province director of Women for Afghan Women, which ran a shelter for abused women, a family guidance center and a center for the children of women in the Kunduz prison.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/world ... d=71987722
In Reversal, Obama Says U.S. Soldiers Will Stay in Afghanistan to 2017
WASHINGTON — President Obama halted the withdrawal of American military forces from Afghanistan on Thursday, announcing that the United States will keep thousands of troops in the country through the end of his term in 2017 and indefinitely prolonging the American role in a war that has already lasted 14 years.
In a brief statement from the Roosevelt Room in the White House, Mr. Obama said he continued to oppose the idea of “endless war.” But the president, who once traveled to Afghanistan to declare “the light of a new day on the horizon,” said Thursday that a longer-term American presence there was vital to the security of the United States and a country that is beset by the Taliban, their allies from Al Qaeda, and militants from the Islamic State.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/world ... d=71987722
WASHINGTON — President Obama halted the withdrawal of American military forces from Afghanistan on Thursday, announcing that the United States will keep thousands of troops in the country through the end of his term in 2017 and indefinitely prolonging the American role in a war that has already lasted 14 years.
In a brief statement from the Roosevelt Room in the White House, Mr. Obama said he continued to oppose the idea of “endless war.” But the president, who once traveled to Afghanistan to declare “the light of a new day on the horizon,” said Thursday that a longer-term American presence there was vital to the security of the United States and a country that is beset by the Taliban, their allies from Al Qaeda, and militants from the Islamic State.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/world ... d=71987722
Are We Losing Afghanistan Again?
“ALLAH has promised us victory and America has promised us defeat,” Mullah Muhammad Omar, the first head of the Taliban, once said, “so we shall see which of the two promises will be fulfilled.” When his colleagues admitted this summer that Mullah Omar had died, Al Qaeda and affiliated groups around the globe remembered those words — victory is a divine certainty — in their eulogies. And in Afghanistan today, though the majority of Afghans still do not identify with the Taliban or Al Qaeda, Mullah Omar’s bold defiance in the face of a superpower is beginning to look prescient.
Since early September, the Taliban have swept through Afghanistan’s north, seizing numerous districts and even, briefly, the provincial capital Kunduz. The United Nations has determined that the Taliban threat to approximately half of the country’s 398 districts is either “high” or “extreme.” Indeed, by our count, more than 30 districts are already under Taliban control. And the insurgents are currently threatening provincial capitals in both northern and southern Afghanistan.
Confronted with this grim reality, President Obama has decided to keep 9,800 American troops in the country through much of 2016 and 5,500 thereafter. The president was right to change course, but it is difficult to see how much of a difference this small force can make. The United States troops currently in Afghanistan have not been able to thwart the Taliban’s advance. They were able to help push them out of Kunduz, but only after the Taliban’s two-week reign of terror. This suggests that additional troops are needed, not fewer.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/opini ... 87722&_r=0
“ALLAH has promised us victory and America has promised us defeat,” Mullah Muhammad Omar, the first head of the Taliban, once said, “so we shall see which of the two promises will be fulfilled.” When his colleagues admitted this summer that Mullah Omar had died, Al Qaeda and affiliated groups around the globe remembered those words — victory is a divine certainty — in their eulogies. And in Afghanistan today, though the majority of Afghans still do not identify with the Taliban or Al Qaeda, Mullah Omar’s bold defiance in the face of a superpower is beginning to look prescient.
Since early September, the Taliban have swept through Afghanistan’s north, seizing numerous districts and even, briefly, the provincial capital Kunduz. The United Nations has determined that the Taliban threat to approximately half of the country’s 398 districts is either “high” or “extreme.” Indeed, by our count, more than 30 districts are already under Taliban control. And the insurgents are currently threatening provincial capitals in both northern and southern Afghanistan.
Confronted with this grim reality, President Obama has decided to keep 9,800 American troops in the country through much of 2016 and 5,500 thereafter. The president was right to change course, but it is difficult to see how much of a difference this small force can make. The United States troops currently in Afghanistan have not been able to thwart the Taliban’s advance. They were able to help push them out of Kunduz, but only after the Taliban’s two-week reign of terror. This suggests that additional troops are needed, not fewer.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/opini ... 87722&_r=0
Flawed Justice After a Mob Killed an Afghan Woman
KABUL, Afghanistan — Farkhunda had one chance to escape the mob that wanted to kill her. Two Afghan police officers pulled her onto the roof of a low shed, above the angry crowd.
But then the enraged men below her picked up poles and planks of wood, and hit at her until she lost her grip and tumbled down.
Her face bloodied, she struggled to stand. Holding her hands to her hair, she looked horrified to find that her attackers had yanked off her black hijab as she fell. The mob closed in, kicking and jumping on her slight frame.
The tormented final hours of Farkhunda Malikzada, a 27-year-old aspiring student of Islam who was accused of burning a Quran in a Muslim shrine, shocked Afghans across the country. That is because many of her killers filmed one another beating her and posted clips of her broken body on social media. Hundreds of other men watched, holding their phones aloft to try to get a glimpse of the violence, but never making a move to intervene. Those standing by included several police officers.
Unlike so many abuses against Afghan women that unfold in private, this killing in March prompted a national outcry. For Farkhunda had not burned a Quran. Instead, an investigation found, she had confronted men who were themselves dishonoring the shrine by trafficking in amulets and, more clandestinely, Viagra and condoms.
VIDEO and more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/world ... 87722&_r=0
KABUL, Afghanistan — Farkhunda had one chance to escape the mob that wanted to kill her. Two Afghan police officers pulled her onto the roof of a low shed, above the angry crowd.
But then the enraged men below her picked up poles and planks of wood, and hit at her until she lost her grip and tumbled down.
Her face bloodied, she struggled to stand. Holding her hands to her hair, she looked horrified to find that her attackers had yanked off her black hijab as she fell. The mob closed in, kicking and jumping on her slight frame.
The tormented final hours of Farkhunda Malikzada, a 27-year-old aspiring student of Islam who was accused of burning a Quran in a Muslim shrine, shocked Afghans across the country. That is because many of her killers filmed one another beating her and posted clips of her broken body on social media. Hundreds of other men watched, holding their phones aloft to try to get a glimpse of the violence, but never making a move to intervene. Those standing by included several police officers.
Unlike so many abuses against Afghan women that unfold in private, this killing in March prompted a national outcry. For Farkhunda had not burned a Quran. Instead, an investigation found, she had confronted men who were themselves dishonoring the shrine by trafficking in amulets and, more clandestinely, Viagra and condoms.
VIDEO and more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/world ... 87722&_r=0
Afghan Woman’s Nose Is Cut Off by Her Husband, Officials Say
KABUL, Afghanistan — A young woman has been hospitalized in northern Afghanistan and is hoping to travel to Turkey for reconstructive surgery after her husband cut off her nose, the police and the woman’s family said on Tuesday.
The woman, Reza Gul, 20, was attacked by her husband with a knife on Sunday in Shar-Shar, a village in an impoverished and Taliban-controlled part of Faryab Province. Reza Gul was in stable condition on Tuesday in a hospital in Maimana, the provincial capital, according to a spokesman for the Faryab police, Sayed Massoud Yaqubi.
Maroof Samar, a doctor who is the acting director of public health in Faryab, said Reza Gul had been in “very critical condition when she was brought in — she had lost much blood.”
Throughout the six years Reza Gul and her husband, Muhammad Khan, 25, have been married, he and members of his family have regularly abused her, beating her and binding her in chains, said Reza Gul’s mother, Zarghona. Mr. Khan regularly went to Iran for work, returned for a few months during which he abused his wife, then left her with his family, she said.
“This infidel cut off my daughter’s nose,” Zarghona said. “If I catch him, I’ll tear him to pieces.”
Though Reza Gul took her severed nose to the hospital, the facility was not equipped to handle the complicated surgery needed to reattach it. Dr. Samar said the governor of Faryab had enlisted the Turkish Embassy in Kabul to help arrange travel to Turkey for surgery and treatment. Reza Gul received a national identity card on Tuesday, he said, which she will use to apply for a passport to get to Turkey as soon as possible.
Her plight has again brought attention to endemic violence against women in Afghanistan, which the United Nations Development Program rated one of the worst countries in the world to be born female. Despite more than a decade of efforts to enact an Afghan legal system that protects women, and more than $1 billion in legal aid from the United States alone, Afghan women remain particularly vulnerable to abuse. And their attackers, for the most part, are only rarely punished.
On Sunday afternoon, Zarghona said, Reza Gul and Mr. Khan got into an argument over his having taken his uncle’s 6- or 7-year-old daughter as his fiancée, with the intention of making her his second wife this year. During the dispute, Mr. Khan erupted into a rage, took a knife and cut off his wife’s nose, said Zarghona, who goes by a single name.
Mr. Khan and one of his brothers then threw Reza Gul on the back of a motorcycle with the intention of taking her away to kill her, Zarghona said. But news of the attack spread quickly in the village, causing an uproar, and Mr. Khan fled for his life.
“I went to the Taliban,” Zarghona said. “I asked them: ‘Is this the Islam we are following? My daughter’s nose chopped off? But you are doing nothing about it. I want justice.’ ”
“They got really angry, and now they are searching for the boy,” she said. “I hope they find him before the police do.”
Mr. Yaqubi, the police official, said the authorities had heard that “the Taliban has already arrested Muhammad Khan, and he is presently in their custody.”
“We don’t know what they plan to do with him, but we will follow the case and bring him to justice.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/20/world ... d=71987722
KABUL, Afghanistan — A young woman has been hospitalized in northern Afghanistan and is hoping to travel to Turkey for reconstructive surgery after her husband cut off her nose, the police and the woman’s family said on Tuesday.
The woman, Reza Gul, 20, was attacked by her husband with a knife on Sunday in Shar-Shar, a village in an impoverished and Taliban-controlled part of Faryab Province. Reza Gul was in stable condition on Tuesday in a hospital in Maimana, the provincial capital, according to a spokesman for the Faryab police, Sayed Massoud Yaqubi.
Maroof Samar, a doctor who is the acting director of public health in Faryab, said Reza Gul had been in “very critical condition when she was brought in — she had lost much blood.”
Throughout the six years Reza Gul and her husband, Muhammad Khan, 25, have been married, he and members of his family have regularly abused her, beating her and binding her in chains, said Reza Gul’s mother, Zarghona. Mr. Khan regularly went to Iran for work, returned for a few months during which he abused his wife, then left her with his family, she said.
“This infidel cut off my daughter’s nose,” Zarghona said. “If I catch him, I’ll tear him to pieces.”
Though Reza Gul took her severed nose to the hospital, the facility was not equipped to handle the complicated surgery needed to reattach it. Dr. Samar said the governor of Faryab had enlisted the Turkish Embassy in Kabul to help arrange travel to Turkey for surgery and treatment. Reza Gul received a national identity card on Tuesday, he said, which she will use to apply for a passport to get to Turkey as soon as possible.
Her plight has again brought attention to endemic violence against women in Afghanistan, which the United Nations Development Program rated one of the worst countries in the world to be born female. Despite more than a decade of efforts to enact an Afghan legal system that protects women, and more than $1 billion in legal aid from the United States alone, Afghan women remain particularly vulnerable to abuse. And their attackers, for the most part, are only rarely punished.
On Sunday afternoon, Zarghona said, Reza Gul and Mr. Khan got into an argument over his having taken his uncle’s 6- or 7-year-old daughter as his fiancée, with the intention of making her his second wife this year. During the dispute, Mr. Khan erupted into a rage, took a knife and cut off his wife’s nose, said Zarghona, who goes by a single name.
Mr. Khan and one of his brothers then threw Reza Gul on the back of a motorcycle with the intention of taking her away to kill her, Zarghona said. But news of the attack spread quickly in the village, causing an uproar, and Mr. Khan fled for his life.
“I went to the Taliban,” Zarghona said. “I asked them: ‘Is this the Islam we are following? My daughter’s nose chopped off? But you are doing nothing about it. I want justice.’ ”
“They got really angry, and now they are searching for the boy,” she said. “I hope they find him before the police do.”
Mr. Yaqubi, the police official, said the authorities had heard that “the Taliban has already arrested Muhammad Khan, and he is presently in their custody.”
“We don’t know what they plan to do with him, but we will follow the case and bring him to justice.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/20/world ... d=71987722
Afghan Troops Retreat Under Pressure From Taliban
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan — The last of the Afghan forces have pulled out of the strategic district of Musa Qala in southern Helmand Province, officials said on Saturday, months after the Taliban overran most of the district and kept them holed up in desert outposts.
The retreat, which had many politicians here mystified, was the latest blow to a province that had been teetering for months. Now, the resurgent Taliban insurgents either control or are contesting 10 of its 14 districts, extending the fighting to Babaji, a suburb so close to the provincial capital that residents of the city could hear the clashes at night.
Col. Mohammad Rasoul Zazai, a spokesman for the Afghan Army’s 215th Maiwand Corps in Helmand, said the military leadership had decided that it was more effective to pull out the remaining troops and reinforce bases elsewhere in the province.
“We don’t have troops in Musa Qala anymore,” Colonel Zazai said.
Other officials said the decision was made to avoid further casualties to a reeling force because the army units were under severe pressure from the Taliban, making reinforcement and resupply difficult.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/world ... world/asia
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan — The last of the Afghan forces have pulled out of the strategic district of Musa Qala in southern Helmand Province, officials said on Saturday, months after the Taliban overran most of the district and kept them holed up in desert outposts.
The retreat, which had many politicians here mystified, was the latest blow to a province that had been teetering for months. Now, the resurgent Taliban insurgents either control or are contesting 10 of its 14 districts, extending the fighting to Babaji, a suburb so close to the provincial capital that residents of the city could hear the clashes at night.
Col. Mohammad Rasoul Zazai, a spokesman for the Afghan Army’s 215th Maiwand Corps in Helmand, said the military leadership had decided that it was more effective to pull out the remaining troops and reinforce bases elsewhere in the province.
“We don’t have troops in Musa Qala anymore,” Colonel Zazai said.
Other officials said the decision was made to avoid further casualties to a reeling force because the army units were under severe pressure from the Taliban, making reinforcement and resupply difficult.
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/world ... world/asia
Greed, Corruption and Danger: A Tarnished Afghan Gem Trade
KABUL, Afghanistan — The local people called the militia’s takeover of the giant lapis mine in northeastern Badakhshan Province a white coup — easy and bloodless. Perhaps, but the seizure has become a lesson in how the lack of accountability and rule of law in Afghanistan can turn bounty into ruin.
Riding waves of excitement after a 2010 report by the United States military that Afghanistan’s mineral wealth could be worth as much as $1 trillion, the Lajwardeen Mining Company won a 15-year contract in 2013 to extract lapis lazuli in Badakhshan. For thousands of years, Afghanistan has been one of the chief sources of lapis lazuli, a prized blue gemstone associated with love and purity and admired by poets as well as jewelers.
Valued at about $125 million a year in 2014, the lapis trade had the potential to be worth at least double that, and Lajwardeen, owned by an Afghan family in the import-export business for three generations, saw a great opportunity.
Yet within 21 days of officially beginning its work, the company lost the mine to a local militia supported by the Afghan political elite.
In the two years since, according to interviews with company employees, Afghan officials and militia commanders, the government has done little to restore the mine to the company. Lapis is still being mined, with the rent split between the militia and the Taliban, who have established a strong foothold in a province long resistant to them.
With the plunge in global commodity prices deflating some of the enthusiasm for Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, the initial excitement has faded into broader — and, among Afghans, all-too-familiar — concerns over mismanagement, impunity and corruption. The country has failed to make even the most basic legal and regulatory changes, and even President Ashraf Ghani recently expressed fear that “we are faced with the curse of natural resources.”
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/06/world ... d=45305309
KABUL, Afghanistan — The local people called the militia’s takeover of the giant lapis mine in northeastern Badakhshan Province a white coup — easy and bloodless. Perhaps, but the seizure has become a lesson in how the lack of accountability and rule of law in Afghanistan can turn bounty into ruin.
Riding waves of excitement after a 2010 report by the United States military that Afghanistan’s mineral wealth could be worth as much as $1 trillion, the Lajwardeen Mining Company won a 15-year contract in 2013 to extract lapis lazuli in Badakhshan. For thousands of years, Afghanistan has been one of the chief sources of lapis lazuli, a prized blue gemstone associated with love and purity and admired by poets as well as jewelers.
Valued at about $125 million a year in 2014, the lapis trade had the potential to be worth at least double that, and Lajwardeen, owned by an Afghan family in the import-export business for three generations, saw a great opportunity.
Yet within 21 days of officially beginning its work, the company lost the mine to a local militia supported by the Afghan political elite.
In the two years since, according to interviews with company employees, Afghan officials and militia commanders, the government has done little to restore the mine to the company. Lapis is still being mined, with the rent split between the militia and the Taliban, who have established a strong foothold in a province long resistant to them.
With the plunge in global commodity prices deflating some of the enthusiasm for Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, the initial excitement has faded into broader — and, among Afghans, all-too-familiar — concerns over mismanagement, impunity and corruption. The country has failed to make even the most basic legal and regulatory changes, and even President Ashraf Ghani recently expressed fear that “we are faced with the curse of natural resources.”
More....
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/06/world ... d=45305309
Afghan Women Take on Farming
Small-scale agricultural ventures are changing attitudes as well as boosting incomes.
Peaches, apricots and apples have transformed life for Nadia, a 32-year-old from the village of Tajikan in the northern province of Baghlan.
Six years ago she planted an orchard with the aim of becoming a small-scale fruit producer.
“The orchard became productive three years later,” she told IWPR. “Now I make over 1,000 US dollars from the fruit each year, as well as from growing vegetables and selling wood.”
It has not been easy. As well as obstacles in marketing her produce, Nadia worries about security and has to contend with prejudice because she is a woman.
“It really irritates me when I meet shopkeepers to talk about the selling my fruit and they tell me, ‘Go and send a man from your family because you are a woman.’”
Agriculture, a central pillar of Afghanistan’s economy, has traditionally been dominated by men. Women are sometimes recruited to work the fields or tend livestock, but have no say in any of the profits.
A number of schemes, however, have had considerable success supporting women who want to start small-scale agricultural enterprises.
Nadia is one of those who have benefited from the aid of the National Solidarity Programme (NSP), a flagship scheme set up to help local communities in Afghanistan run their own development projects.
Created by the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in 2003, its Community Development Councils (CDCs) in villages across Afghanistan are funded to implement infrastructure or agriculture projects.
As well as receiving government money, the NSP is supported by the World Bank, the Aga Khan Foundation, the United States development agency USAID and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund.
Zia Jan Noori, a 28-year-old from Pulkhumri city, is another beneficiary of the NSP programme.
“When I got married, I faced a very difficult and hard future because my husband was jobless and we were so poor,” she said. “But then someone told me to go to the NSP and seek their help. My husband was against it, but I went to their office despite his opposition. They provided me with 30 egg-laying chickens.”
That was all she needed to get started, Noori continued. “Now I have 100 chickens and I earn about 200 dollars a month from selling eggs. My husband also helps me in my work and our lives have changed dramatically.”
Nasratullah Shaheer, the NSP head in Baghlan, said, “We have been working over the last ten years to provide funding to women and our foundation has so far supported about 1,000 women.”
He continued, “We work in different sectors; for example, agriculture, livestock, making handicrafts, handbags and purses, embroidery and sewing. At first our helps is limited, but women who develop their projects are guaranteed under our constant and continuous support.”
“We are working across various sectors to improve women’s working capacity,” added She Beg Talibi, head of human resources at the Agha Khan’s office in Baghlan province. “For example, as part of development in the villages we help women in education, agriculture and handicrafts.
“We help women to be independent and stand on their own feet,” he continued, adding, “We have also built a health care institute for women in Baghlan from which many midwives and nurses graduate each year.”
Once the women’s schemes are up and running, they can expect additional support in terms of marketing and tax breaks.
“We help provide opportunities for women to sell their products in Afghanistan and internationally,” said Shah Hussain Hussaini, director of Baghlan’s chamber of commerce.
“With the help of the Agha Khan’s office, we have exhibited many products produced by women at Bibi Sabri Garden [a women-only park] to showcase and boost women’s agricultural efforts in Baghlan.
“We’ve also conducted many seminars with the help of other agencies to develop women’s business enterprises, and provide advice to women in various sectors,” he continued, adding that women running small businesses did not have to pay tax until their enterprise reached a certain size.
Khadija Yaqin, director of women’s affairs in Baghlan, agreed that agriculture and livestock farming were great ways for local women to boost their incomes.
“We know many women who led very difficult lives before starting their farming projects, but now they are busy in agricultural work which has changed everything for the better. In fact, they’re really happy with their work.
“Various organisations have held lots of useful workshops and seminars for these women,” she continued. “Customers who buy their products said they are of high quality and appreciate the honesty with which these women do business.”
Pulkhumri resident Gul Ahmad Yakta, who runs an ice cream shop, said, “I have contract with one of the businesswoman who has a dairy farm. For three years now I have bought milk from Bibi Bibi Sidiqa. She provides me with 20-30 litres of milk every day. Her milk is very pure and she is very trustworthy.”
She added, “In the past I had a milk contract with another businessman, but the quality was not good.”
Even some of those who were at first opposed to women starting farming projects have now been won over.
“Before my wife started the agricultural work with the help of the NSP, our life was not so good,” said Nasim Gul, a farmer himself. “Although I had five hectares of land in the Doosh district of Baghlan, they weren’t enough to support our daily needs.”
“At first, when my wife told me that she was going to start agricultural work, I was against it because I thought it would be difficult for her and that people would start gossiping about us. For instance, that they would say that I couldn’t earn enough money so I forced my wife to start agricultural work. “
But working together has transformed their economic situation, he continued.
“Not only our life has become so good, but we also have savings,” Gul said. “I realise now that I was wrong, because women can do anything that men can do.”
This report was produced under IWPR’s Promoting Human Rights and Good Governance in Afghanistan initiative, funded by the European Union Delegation to Afghanistan.
https://iwpr.net/global-voices/afghan-w ... ke-farming
Small-scale agricultural ventures are changing attitudes as well as boosting incomes.
Peaches, apricots and apples have transformed life for Nadia, a 32-year-old from the village of Tajikan in the northern province of Baghlan.
Six years ago she planted an orchard with the aim of becoming a small-scale fruit producer.
“The orchard became productive three years later,” she told IWPR. “Now I make over 1,000 US dollars from the fruit each year, as well as from growing vegetables and selling wood.”
It has not been easy. As well as obstacles in marketing her produce, Nadia worries about security and has to contend with prejudice because she is a woman.
“It really irritates me when I meet shopkeepers to talk about the selling my fruit and they tell me, ‘Go and send a man from your family because you are a woman.’”
Agriculture, a central pillar of Afghanistan’s economy, has traditionally been dominated by men. Women are sometimes recruited to work the fields or tend livestock, but have no say in any of the profits.
A number of schemes, however, have had considerable success supporting women who want to start small-scale agricultural enterprises.
Nadia is one of those who have benefited from the aid of the National Solidarity Programme (NSP), a flagship scheme set up to help local communities in Afghanistan run their own development projects.
Created by the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in 2003, its Community Development Councils (CDCs) in villages across Afghanistan are funded to implement infrastructure or agriculture projects.
As well as receiving government money, the NSP is supported by the World Bank, the Aga Khan Foundation, the United States development agency USAID and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund.
Zia Jan Noori, a 28-year-old from Pulkhumri city, is another beneficiary of the NSP programme.
“When I got married, I faced a very difficult and hard future because my husband was jobless and we were so poor,” she said. “But then someone told me to go to the NSP and seek their help. My husband was against it, but I went to their office despite his opposition. They provided me with 30 egg-laying chickens.”
That was all she needed to get started, Noori continued. “Now I have 100 chickens and I earn about 200 dollars a month from selling eggs. My husband also helps me in my work and our lives have changed dramatically.”
Nasratullah Shaheer, the NSP head in Baghlan, said, “We have been working over the last ten years to provide funding to women and our foundation has so far supported about 1,000 women.”
He continued, “We work in different sectors; for example, agriculture, livestock, making handicrafts, handbags and purses, embroidery and sewing. At first our helps is limited, but women who develop their projects are guaranteed under our constant and continuous support.”
“We are working across various sectors to improve women’s working capacity,” added She Beg Talibi, head of human resources at the Agha Khan’s office in Baghlan province. “For example, as part of development in the villages we help women in education, agriculture and handicrafts.
“We help women to be independent and stand on their own feet,” he continued, adding, “We have also built a health care institute for women in Baghlan from which many midwives and nurses graduate each year.”
Once the women’s schemes are up and running, they can expect additional support in terms of marketing and tax breaks.
“We help provide opportunities for women to sell their products in Afghanistan and internationally,” said Shah Hussain Hussaini, director of Baghlan’s chamber of commerce.
“With the help of the Agha Khan’s office, we have exhibited many products produced by women at Bibi Sabri Garden [a women-only park] to showcase and boost women’s agricultural efforts in Baghlan.
“We’ve also conducted many seminars with the help of other agencies to develop women’s business enterprises, and provide advice to women in various sectors,” he continued, adding that women running small businesses did not have to pay tax until their enterprise reached a certain size.
Khadija Yaqin, director of women’s affairs in Baghlan, agreed that agriculture and livestock farming were great ways for local women to boost their incomes.
“We know many women who led very difficult lives before starting their farming projects, but now they are busy in agricultural work which has changed everything for the better. In fact, they’re really happy with their work.
“Various organisations have held lots of useful workshops and seminars for these women,” she continued. “Customers who buy their products said they are of high quality and appreciate the honesty with which these women do business.”
Pulkhumri resident Gul Ahmad Yakta, who runs an ice cream shop, said, “I have contract with one of the businesswoman who has a dairy farm. For three years now I have bought milk from Bibi Bibi Sidiqa. She provides me with 20-30 litres of milk every day. Her milk is very pure and she is very trustworthy.”
She added, “In the past I had a milk contract with another businessman, but the quality was not good.”
Even some of those who were at first opposed to women starting farming projects have now been won over.
“Before my wife started the agricultural work with the help of the NSP, our life was not so good,” said Nasim Gul, a farmer himself. “Although I had five hectares of land in the Doosh district of Baghlan, they weren’t enough to support our daily needs.”
“At first, when my wife told me that she was going to start agricultural work, I was against it because I thought it would be difficult for her and that people would start gossiping about us. For instance, that they would say that I couldn’t earn enough money so I forced my wife to start agricultural work. “
But working together has transformed their economic situation, he continued.
“Not only our life has become so good, but we also have savings,” Gul said. “I realise now that I was wrong, because women can do anything that men can do.”
This report was produced under IWPR’s Promoting Human Rights and Good Governance in Afghanistan initiative, funded by the European Union Delegation to Afghanistan.
https://iwpr.net/global-voices/afghan-w ... ke-farming
A Start-Up Turns to Saffron to Help Afghanistan Regrow
Bomb-blasted roads, frequent blackouts, shortages of basic equipment and an untested consumer market are hardly conditions that make for natural entrepreneurial opportunities.
But three Army veterans and one civilian who all served in Afghanistan have taken on those challenges in their new venture. Their company, Rumi Spice, buys saffron from Afghan farmers and sells it to international customers.
Their business is part of a small crop of efforts to help develop Afghanistan’s resource economy.
“We wanted to create something to empower everyday Afghans long after we left,” said Kimberly Jung, one of Rumi Spice’s founders, who said the company’s name was inspired by the 13th-century Persian poet.
Started two years ago, Rumi Spice now sells saffron that is used by chefs in renowned restaurants like the French Laundry in California and Daniel in New York. It appeared on the shelves and website of the luxury food seller Dean & DeLuca this month.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/busin ... .html?_r=0
Bomb-blasted roads, frequent blackouts, shortages of basic equipment and an untested consumer market are hardly conditions that make for natural entrepreneurial opportunities.
But three Army veterans and one civilian who all served in Afghanistan have taken on those challenges in their new venture. Their company, Rumi Spice, buys saffron from Afghan farmers and sells it to international customers.
Their business is part of a small crop of efforts to help develop Afghanistan’s resource economy.
“We wanted to create something to empower everyday Afghans long after we left,” said Kimberly Jung, one of Rumi Spice’s founders, who said the company’s name was inspired by the 13th-century Persian poet.
Started two years ago, Rumi Spice now sells saffron that is used by chefs in renowned restaurants like the French Laundry in California and Daniel in New York. It appeared on the shelves and website of the luxury food seller Dean & DeLuca this month.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/busin ... .html?_r=0
Attack at University in Kabul Shatters a Sense of Freedom
KABUL, Afghanistan — As cafes, restaurants, and performance centers in Kabul came under attack one after another in recent years, the campus of the American University of Afghanistan remained a rare oasis for some of the country’s brightest young men and women.
Beyond providing a quality education, the school offered a glimpse of a carefree life away from the unpredictable violence that afflicted the rest of the capital. Behind layers of security, students could play basketball at the gym, compete in debate tournaments or just have an uninterrupted conversation over coffee.
That sense of freedom, too, was violated Wednesday night.
Men with Kalashnikov rifles and grenades first gunned down a guard at the adjoining school for the blind. One drove a car packed with explosives into the American University’s wall, blowing a gap through it. Two more militants dashed onto campus, where hundreds of students were taking evening classes. The attackers methodically stalked the men and women trapped inside, fighting off the Afghan security forces for nearly 10 hours in a terrifying overnight siege.
On Thursday morning, at least 13 lay dead: seven students, three police officers, two university guards and the night guard at the neighboring school for the blind. Abdul Baseer Mujahid, a spokesman for the Kabul police, said that more than 30 others were hurt in the attack; another estimate, from the Health Ministry, said 16 had been killed and 53 wounded.
The attack was unmistakably a blow to young Afghans who had chosen to defy the migrant exodus away from the country’s war and instead pursue their dreams in the difficult circumstances at home.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/world ... d=71987722
KABUL, Afghanistan — As cafes, restaurants, and performance centers in Kabul came under attack one after another in recent years, the campus of the American University of Afghanistan remained a rare oasis for some of the country’s brightest young men and women.
Beyond providing a quality education, the school offered a glimpse of a carefree life away from the unpredictable violence that afflicted the rest of the capital. Behind layers of security, students could play basketball at the gym, compete in debate tournaments or just have an uninterrupted conversation over coffee.
That sense of freedom, too, was violated Wednesday night.
Men with Kalashnikov rifles and grenades first gunned down a guard at the adjoining school for the blind. One drove a car packed with explosives into the American University’s wall, blowing a gap through it. Two more militants dashed onto campus, where hundreds of students were taking evening classes. The attackers methodically stalked the men and women trapped inside, fighting off the Afghan security forces for nearly 10 hours in a terrifying overnight siege.
On Thursday morning, at least 13 lay dead: seven students, three police officers, two university guards and the night guard at the neighboring school for the blind. Abdul Baseer Mujahid, a spokesman for the Kabul police, said that more than 30 others were hurt in the attack; another estimate, from the Health Ministry, said 16 had been killed and 53 wounded.
The attack was unmistakably a blow to young Afghans who had chosen to defy the migrant exodus away from the country’s war and instead pursue their dreams in the difficult circumstances at home.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/world ... d=71987722
Taliban Gain Ground in Afghanistan as Soldiers Surrender Their Posts
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Besieged Afghan officials in the southern province of Oruzgan said on Sunday that scores of regular Afghan soldiers had surrendered in the past week to the Taliban, a trend also occurring recently in other provinces.
The latest case involved 41 Afghan National Army soldiers who surrendered and turned their base, the Mashal base in Chora District, over to the insurgents on Saturday night, according to Dost Mohammad Nayab, the spokesman for the province’s governor.
He said it was the third Afghan Army post in the province to surrender to the Taliban in the past week. Significant surrenders have been reported in Kunduz and Helmand Provinces as well.
The Taliban have taken more territory in Afghanistan this year than at any time in their 15-year struggle against the Western-supported Afghan government, according to United Nations data. At the same time, the Afghan military has suffered declining numbers and high attrition rates, according to data from the United States military. Afghan officials have said military casualty rates are historically high.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/31/world ... d=71987722
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Besieged Afghan officials in the southern province of Oruzgan said on Sunday that scores of regular Afghan soldiers had surrendered in the past week to the Taliban, a trend also occurring recently in other provinces.
The latest case involved 41 Afghan National Army soldiers who surrendered and turned their base, the Mashal base in Chora District, over to the insurgents on Saturday night, according to Dost Mohammad Nayab, the spokesman for the province’s governor.
He said it was the third Afghan Army post in the province to surrender to the Taliban in the past week. Significant surrenders have been reported in Kunduz and Helmand Provinces as well.
The Taliban have taken more territory in Afghanistan this year than at any time in their 15-year struggle against the Western-supported Afghan government, according to United Nations data. At the same time, the Afghan military has suffered declining numbers and high attrition rates, according to data from the United States military. Afghan officials have said military casualty rates are historically high.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/31/world ... d=71987722
Saudis Bankroll Taliban, Even as King Officially Supports Afghan Government
KABUL, Afghanistan — Fifteen years, half a trillion dollars and 150,000 lives since going to war, the United States is trying to extricate itself from Afghanistan. Afghans are being left to fight their own fight. A surging Taliban insurgency, meanwhile, is flush with a new inflow of money.
With their nation’s future at stake, Afghan leaders have renewed a plea to one power that may hold the key to whether their country can cling to democracy or succumbs to the Taliban. But that power is not the United States.
It is Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is critical because of its unique position in the Afghan conflict: It is on both sides.
A longtime ally of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia has backed Islamabad’s promotion of the Taliban. Over the years, wealthy Saudi sheikhs and rich philanthropists have also stoked the war by privately financing the insurgents.
All the while, Saudi Arabia has officially, if coolly, supported the American mission and the Afghan government and even secretly sued for peace in clandestine negotiations on their behalf.
The contradictions are hardly accidental. Rather, they balance conflicting needs within the kingdom, pursued through both official policy and private initiative.
The dual tracks allow Saudi officials plausibly to deny official support for the Taliban, even as they have turned a blind eye to private funding of the Taliban and other hard-line Sunni groups.
The result is that the Saudis — through private or covert channels — have tacitly supported the Taliban in ways that make the kingdom an indispensable power broker.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/world ... d=45305309
KABUL, Afghanistan — Fifteen years, half a trillion dollars and 150,000 lives since going to war, the United States is trying to extricate itself from Afghanistan. Afghans are being left to fight their own fight. A surging Taliban insurgency, meanwhile, is flush with a new inflow of money.
With their nation’s future at stake, Afghan leaders have renewed a plea to one power that may hold the key to whether their country can cling to democracy or succumbs to the Taliban. But that power is not the United States.
It is Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is critical because of its unique position in the Afghan conflict: It is on both sides.
A longtime ally of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia has backed Islamabad’s promotion of the Taliban. Over the years, wealthy Saudi sheikhs and rich philanthropists have also stoked the war by privately financing the insurgents.
All the while, Saudi Arabia has officially, if coolly, supported the American mission and the Afghan government and even secretly sued for peace in clandestine negotiations on their behalf.
The contradictions are hardly accidental. Rather, they balance conflicting needs within the kingdom, pursued through both official policy and private initiative.
The dual tracks allow Saudi officials plausibly to deny official support for the Taliban, even as they have turned a blind eye to private funding of the Taliban and other hard-line Sunni groups.
The result is that the Saudis — through private or covert channels — have tacitly supported the Taliban in ways that make the kingdom an indispensable power broker.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/world ... d=45305309
A Female Afghan Pilot Soars and Gives Up
Perhaps no Afghan’s story better embodied America’s aspirations for Afghanistan than that of Capt. Niloofar Rahmani, the first female fixed-wing pilot in the fledgling Afghan Air Force.
She was celebrated in Washington in 2015 when the State Department honored her with its annual Women of Courage award. “She continues to fly despite threats from the Taliban and even members of her own extended family,” the first lady, Michelle Obama, said in a statement.
On Thursday, on the eve of her scheduled return to Afghanistan from a 15-month training course at Air Force bases in Texas, Florida and Arkansas, Captain Rahmani broke a sobering piece of news to her American trainers. She still wants to be a military pilot, but not under her country’s flag. This summer, she filed a petition seeking asylum in the United States, where she hopes to eventually join the Air Force.
“Things are not changing” for the better in Afghanistan, Captain Rahmani said in an interview on Friday. “Things are getting worse and worse.”
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/opini ... ef=opinion
Perhaps no Afghan’s story better embodied America’s aspirations for Afghanistan than that of Capt. Niloofar Rahmani, the first female fixed-wing pilot in the fledgling Afghan Air Force.
She was celebrated in Washington in 2015 when the State Department honored her with its annual Women of Courage award. “She continues to fly despite threats from the Taliban and even members of her own extended family,” the first lady, Michelle Obama, said in a statement.
On Thursday, on the eve of her scheduled return to Afghanistan from a 15-month training course at Air Force bases in Texas, Florida and Arkansas, Captain Rahmani broke a sobering piece of news to her American trainers. She still wants to be a military pilot, but not under her country’s flag. This summer, she filed a petition seeking asylum in the United States, where she hopes to eventually join the Air Force.
“Things are not changing” for the better in Afghanistan, Captain Rahmani said in an interview on Friday. “Things are getting worse and worse.”
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/opini ... ef=opinion
Taliban, Collecting Bills for Afghan Utilities, Tap New Revenue Sources
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government faces a peculiar problem in at least two major provinces: It provides precious electricity, some of it imported at costly rates from neighboring countries, but Taliban militants collect most of the bills.
If the government cuts off power, it will further anger a population that is already disenchanted. If it does not, the revenue from the power will continue to provide more income to an already emboldened Taliban.
The Taliban, fighting the Afghan government and a large international military coalition, have long tapped into Afghanistan’s lucrative drug trade and illegal mining, in addition to the streams of donations they receive from supporters abroad, mainly in the Persian Gulf states.
But as they have taken over increasingly large areas in the past two years, they have found new ways of diversifying and collecting revenue, according to interviews with officials, Taliban commanders and local residents.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/28/worl ... d=71987722
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government faces a peculiar problem in at least two major provinces: It provides precious electricity, some of it imported at costly rates from neighboring countries, but Taliban militants collect most of the bills.
If the government cuts off power, it will further anger a population that is already disenchanted. If it does not, the revenue from the power will continue to provide more income to an already emboldened Taliban.
The Taliban, fighting the Afghan government and a large international military coalition, have long tapped into Afghanistan’s lucrative drug trade and illegal mining, in addition to the streams of donations they receive from supporters abroad, mainly in the Persian Gulf states.
But as they have taken over increasingly large areas in the past two years, they have found new ways of diversifying and collecting revenue, according to interviews with officials, Taliban commanders and local residents.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/28/worl ... d=71987722
Afghan Taliban Awash in Heroin Cash, a Troubling Turn for War
KABUL, Afghanistan — The labs themselves are simple, tucked into nondescript huts or caves: a couple-dozen empty barrels for mixing, sacks or gallon jugs of precursor chemicals, piles of firewood, a press machine, a generator and a water pump with a long hose to draw from a nearby well.
They are heroin refining operations, and the Afghan police and American Special Forces keep running into them all over Afghanistan this year. Officials and diplomats are increasingly worried that the labs’ proliferation is one of the most troubling turns yet in the long struggle to end the Taliban insurgency.
That the country has consistently produced about 85 percent of the world’s opium, despite more than $8 billion spent by the United States alone to fight it over the years, is accepted with a sense of helplessness among counternarcotics officials.
For years, most of the harvest would be smuggled out in the form of bulky opium syrup that was refined in other countries. But now, Afghan and Western officials estimate that half, if not more, of Afghan opium is getting some level of processing in the country, either into morphine or heroin with varying degrees of purity.
The refining makes the drug much easier to smuggle out into the supply lines to the West. And it is vastly increasing the profits for the Taliban, for whom the drug trade makes up at least 60 percent of their income, according to Afghan and Western officials.
More..
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/worl ... liban.html
KABUL, Afghanistan — The labs themselves are simple, tucked into nondescript huts or caves: a couple-dozen empty barrels for mixing, sacks or gallon jugs of precursor chemicals, piles of firewood, a press machine, a generator and a water pump with a long hose to draw from a nearby well.
They are heroin refining operations, and the Afghan police and American Special Forces keep running into them all over Afghanistan this year. Officials and diplomats are increasingly worried that the labs’ proliferation is one of the most troubling turns yet in the long struggle to end the Taliban insurgency.
That the country has consistently produced about 85 percent of the world’s opium, despite more than $8 billion spent by the United States alone to fight it over the years, is accepted with a sense of helplessness among counternarcotics officials.
For years, most of the harvest would be smuggled out in the form of bulky opium syrup that was refined in other countries. But now, Afghan and Western officials estimate that half, if not more, of Afghan opium is getting some level of processing in the country, either into morphine or heroin with varying degrees of purity.
The refining makes the drug much easier to smuggle out into the supply lines to the West. And it is vastly increasing the profits for the Taliban, for whom the drug trade makes up at least 60 percent of their income, according to Afghan and Western officials.
More..
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/worl ... liban.html
Harassment All Around, Afghan Women Weigh Risks of Speaking Out
KABUL, Afghanistan — “You’re ugly, Maryam, everyone says so, but I guess you’re a virgin so when you’re ready to have sex, let me know and I will be glad to …” Her male co-worker, writing on her Facebook account, finished the sentence obscenely.
It was 10 a.m. on a normal day in the life of an Afghan working woman. The journalist Maryam Mehtar, 24, said she had already that morning been harassed or assaulted at least five times: in the bus to work, on the street waiting for the bus, by a man who grabbed her buttocks, by another man who asked how much she charged and by a young boy who said she had a “pretty vulva.”
Finally in the relative safety of her own office, she opened her computer to read the Facebook offer from one of her colleagues to deflower her.
Emboldened by the uprising of women in America and Europe against sexual harassment, a few particularly courageous Afghan women are speaking out, too, in the face of a problem long just accepted as commonplace and unsolvable.
“Most of my friends are silent,” said Ms. Mehtar, who works for the Afghan news agency Sarienews. “They think if they talk everyone will blame them, and they’re right.”
Ms. Mehtar is one of the few Afghan women willing to name and shame her abusers, something most are afraid to do — and not just because of fear of public humiliation.
When women speak up, they take a big risk, said Shaharzad Akbar, 30, who works as an adviser to President Ashraf Ghani and says she was sexually assaulted when she was an intern early in her career. “In Afghanistan, women can’t say they faced sexual harassment. If a woman shares someone’s identity, he will kill her or kill her family. We can never accuse men, especially high-ranking men, without great risk.”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/10/worl ... d=45305309
KABUL, Afghanistan — “You’re ugly, Maryam, everyone says so, but I guess you’re a virgin so when you’re ready to have sex, let me know and I will be glad to …” Her male co-worker, writing on her Facebook account, finished the sentence obscenely.
It was 10 a.m. on a normal day in the life of an Afghan working woman. The journalist Maryam Mehtar, 24, said she had already that morning been harassed or assaulted at least five times: in the bus to work, on the street waiting for the bus, by a man who grabbed her buttocks, by another man who asked how much she charged and by a young boy who said she had a “pretty vulva.”
Finally in the relative safety of her own office, she opened her computer to read the Facebook offer from one of her colleagues to deflower her.
Emboldened by the uprising of women in America and Europe against sexual harassment, a few particularly courageous Afghan women are speaking out, too, in the face of a problem long just accepted as commonplace and unsolvable.
“Most of my friends are silent,” said Ms. Mehtar, who works for the Afghan news agency Sarienews. “They think if they talk everyone will blame them, and they’re right.”
Ms. Mehtar is one of the few Afghan women willing to name and shame her abusers, something most are afraid to do — and not just because of fear of public humiliation.
When women speak up, they take a big risk, said Shaharzad Akbar, 30, who works as an adviser to President Ashraf Ghani and says she was sexually assaulted when she was an intern early in her career. “In Afghanistan, women can’t say they faced sexual harassment. If a woman shares someone’s identity, he will kill her or kill her family. We can never accuse men, especially high-ranking men, without great risk.”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/10/worl ... d=45305309