Category: Afghanistan

Amnesty International issued a report last week on the failure of donor countries in supporting efforts to reestablish the rule of law in Afghanistan. According to the report, “as the international community focuses its attention on post-conflict reconstruction in Iraq, it is crucial that it does not rescind promises made to the Afghan people.” The […]

Afghanistan this week has experienced its most violent 24-hour period in nearly a year. A bomb exploded on a bus in the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, killing 15 people including six children. Two Afghan aid workers working for the Afghan Red Crescent were killed and another three injured in southeastern Afghanistan, and more than […]

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) readies to take control of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Monday, Afghanistan continues to struggle amidst growing attacks on aid workers and law enforcement officers in its provinces. Despite repeated calls by the United Nations (UN), Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and progressive organizations including the Feminist […]

In a report released yesterday, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the security situation in Afghanistan unstable. Annan named the expansion of the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) beyond the capital city of Kabul as “the best way to fill in the security gap” that threatens the peace in Afghanistan, according to a UN release. […]

Hundreds of protesters yesterday demonstrated in the Afghan capital of Kabul, demanding that the government adhere to the 2001 Bonn agreement, which laid the groundwork for a return to democracy in Afghanistan. Zarmina Akhgar, deputy chairwoman of the Freedom and Democracy Movement (Dari: Nahzat-e Azadi wa Democracy) joined other demonstrators, including members of the National […]

Most Americans (67 percent) support expanding UN peacekeeping operations beyond Kabul in Afghanistan, according to a recent survey by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). PIPA director Steven Kull explained that despite concurrent deployment of US troops elsewhere, Americans are supportive of efforts in Afghanistan “[p]resumably… prompted by a combination of a feeling of […]

At a House hearing held yesterday on Afghanistan’s reconstruction, Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA) called upon NATO, which recently agreed to take over the 4,500 person peacekeeping force in Afghanistan (ISAF), to double the size of ISAF. He also called for NATO to expand its mandate to provide greater security throughout the country and “to prevent […]

The Feminist Majority, along with along with 78 other humanitarian, human rights, and conflict prevention organizations, called upon NATO to expand the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. NATO will assume control of ISAF in August, but the groups are urging NATO to order an expansion of ISAF now because it takes time to […]

Underscoring the lack of security in Afghanistan, four German peacekeeping troops were killed on Saturday in an explosion that wounded 31 others. This was the biggest attack on the international security assistance forces (ISAF) yet, according to Reuters. The peacekeeping troops were traveling on a bus in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, when a suicide […]

Dozens of activists from women’s rights and human rights groups filled a Senate hearing room yesterday wearing bright yellow stickers that read “Afghanistan: Where’s the Marshall Plan?” Andrew Natsios, USAID administrator, testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations on the President’s budget for 2004. In his opening remarks, Ranking Committee Member Senator Patrick […]

A recent rise in threats against Afghan citizens for expressing their views on the country’s draft constitution is a cause for concern, according to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and the United Nations. “We have received reports of increasing threats, physical aggression and even arbitrary detentions,” said Nader Naderi, an AIHRC commissioner, according […]

Hamid Karzai, the interim President of Afghanistan, called for an extra $15 billion from the West for his country’s reconstruction. According to The Observer, Karzai warned that the current $5 billion committed so far is not enough to meet the promises given by the United States and Britain to rebuild Afghanistan. Karzai also stated that […]

Afghanistan plans to begin voter registration for the 2004 elections this September. However, Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned the United Nations that with no recent electoral experience and after two decades of warfare, the country could not accomplish this task alone, according to the Associated Press. Registration is expected to cost around $80 million and […]

During a visit to Germany by Secretary of State Colin Powell, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called for the expansion of international peacekeeping forces beyond Kabul. Since Germany currently leads the peacekeeping force of some 4,500 troops, Schroeder’s statement prompted NPR reporter Emilie Harris to speculate on whether his announcement signals a possible shift in U.S. […]

At United Nations Security Council briefing yesterday, Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi called the security situation in Afghanistan “unstable and insufficient.” Brahimi called for the expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) outside of Kabul to the rest of Afghanistan in order to support the development of a new constitution, voter registration, and the 2004 […]

Three hundred Afghan demonstrators staged an anti-US, anti-British protest in Kabul today-the capital’s first since the Taliban fell in 2001. Shouting sentiments like, “We want Islam to rule. We want security. [The US and Britain] have failed to bring it to us and we want them out,” the protesters confirmed warnings that religious fundamentalism is […]

A 35-member commission appointed to review Afghanistan’s draft constitution includes seven women. A preliminary draft of the constitution was completed last November by an eight-member committee headed by Vice President Nayiamatullah Shahrani, according to the Associated Press. The new commission will spend a month refining the draft, and then they will solicit the views of […]

Religious fundamentalism is on the rise in Afghanistan, an international human rights group warned officials this week at the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Commission. Human Rights Watch (HRW) representative Loubna Freih addressed the Commission saying, “The international community has allowed warlords and local military commanders to take control of much of the […]

While the United States Office for the Reconstruction of Iraq sent teams to Iraq to establish offices in various parts of the country this week, Afghanistan continues to struggle for resources and security to make possible the rebuilding of its government and its country. According to the Washington Post “the military is splintered by factionalism, […]

US bombs were responsible for the deaths of 11 civilians in Afghanistan earlier this week, according to the Agence France Presse. Considered the most serious mistake by the US military in Afghanistan since the accidental bombing of an Afghan wedding party last June, the 1,000-pound laser-guided bomb struck a civilian home, killing seven women and […]