- KABUL (IRIN-AFP) -- Hakim
Taniwal, the governor of Afghanistan's volatile eastern province of Khowst,
told IRIN on Friday that the country's former hard line Islamist Taliban
rulers were regrouping in an effort to step up anti-government militancy.
There are fears that this could further harm security in the region and
impact on aid work and reconstruction.
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- "We know that they are preparing, but they will
not be able to achieve anything," he told IRIN from the Afghan capital,
Kabul, adding that although a lot of reports were being received about
Taliban activities, little movement had been seen on ground.
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- "The reality is that there are increased Taliban-related
security incidents compared to the past," he said. Officials in Khowst
maintain those recently two Taliban fighters and two government soldiers
died in a gun battle in Zhawara District of the province.
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- At the end of March, US-led Coalition forces concluded
operation Valiant Strike, the third-largest operation they had conducted
this year against the remnants of Al Qaeda and Taliban rebels in the south.
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- With the killing of an International Committee of the
Red Cross delegate in Oruzgan Province and regular skirmishes with Coalition
troops in the south and southeast, elements suspected to be remnants of
the Taliban and forces loyal to the Afghan renegade warlord, Gulbuddin
Hikmatyar, with possible help from Al Qaeda, have clearly stepped up their
attempts to destabilise Kabul.
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- Regional experts recently said that the lack of promised
reconstruction work in the country was not helping the problem of renegades.
This was particularly true of the Pashtuns in the south who abandoned the
Taliban in return for a better future. "Afghans want to see quick
results, they had difficult times because of the drought and fighting,
and now the state machinery is unable to meet their expectations,"
Taniwal explained.
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- He went on to say that most of the projects the government
was undertaking were quick impact, only addressing humanitarian relief
and recovery, but not tackling reconstruction. "A lot of time is being
wasted and there is no pragmatism," he said. Over the winter, many
roads in Khowst were surveyed for reconstruction, but work on them has
yet to begin. However, he maintained that the province was under control.
"I do not buy the impression that Taliban can stage a massive comeback,
despite their recent attacks," he maintained. "They brutalised
ordinary people, and it's impossible to win back popular support,"
he added.
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- Afghan security still a 'major concern,' says EU: Security
remains a "major concern" in Afghanistan, EU foreign minister
said Monday, reiterating the need for a multi-ethnic Afghan army to be
established.
- Meeting a day after a huge blast rocked east Kabul, prompting
initial fears of an attack on the US embassy; they also underlined the
need for security to be boosted outside of the Afghan capital.
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- "Security continues to be a major concern,"
said the ministers, expressing support for Afghanistan's International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF.) "The Council (of ministers) underlines
that lasting peace and stability will depend on extending security outside
of Kabul, and the establishment of an effective and genuinely national
multi-ethnic Afghan army," it said.
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- In addition the war-scarred country needs "functioning
police and border forces, reform of the justice sector and the demobilization,
disarmament and reintegration of former combatants," said a statement.
In the latest scare in Afghanistan, a blast Sunday night left a two-metre
(six feet) crater at the side of the Kabul-Jalalabad road in Yakatut district
about five kilometres (two miles) from the Afghan capital's city centre.
-- IRIN/AFP
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- Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
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- http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_15-4-2003_pg4_9
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