Terror and chaos in Kabul

The Times speculates that behind the targeted killings might be some factions in addition to the Taliban. It's not clear what factions might be in point, but it is pretty clear at this point the Taliban is behind such attacks. It's possible to assume that they carry out their attacks through their third-party criminal groups but what makes the difference? It's still Taliban carrying out these attacks against innocent civilians. The claim that magnetic bombs are homemade is also questionable, at least we should cast doubt on Afghan government officials who make such claims under anonymity. How does the Afghan government know that the sticky bombs are homemade? We know that every one of those bombs are exploded so far and the question is, how did the government find out about the nature of the bombs after they blasted? The degree and magnitude of explosion of all these magnet bombs reveal that they are not homemade, they are rather imported from one of the two neighboring countries. 

The Aftermath of Kabul Restaurant Attack

By: Massoud Hossaini/AP

The Taliban attack on a Lebanese restaurant, the “Taverne du Liban” in Kabul, which took 21 lives, 13 foreigners, and 8 Afghans, caused a great grief to many families inside and outside Afghanistan. The question that should be asked the Afghan security apparatus and President Hamid Karzai would be: “How is it possible that the three suicide attackers penetrated one of the most highly secure areas in Kabul?”

The government has already suspended three police chiefs who were obviously responsible for Wazir Akbar Khan’s security breach. With no doubt one of these police chiefs must be responsible for allowing the attackers to pass through the security barricades, several check points, and finally infiltrate into the building. It is quite likely that one of those chiefs has received money from the Taliban, and might have involved in the scheme independently if not acted in a group. If so, there must be an element of distrust between Karzai and his senior government officials who might be linked with the Taliban over the attack. Otherwise, doubt may cast on Karzai himself and his commitment towards people’s security. Karzai has been infamous for sympathizing with the Taliban calling them “unhappy brothers” and most importantly, he recently decided to release 72 Taliban prisoners who were considered the most “dangerous criminals.”

Inside Afghanistan, some believe that the recent attack on Kabul restaurant might have operated by those Taliban prisoners that Karzai ordered the release a week ago. However, the Afghan officials have already said that such a sophisticated and complex attack is not expected from the ordinary Taliban. The Afghanistan's National Security Council (which is chaired by Hamid Karzai) has blamed the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, for orchestrating the attack.

Whoever is behind the attack the consequence will be costly on Afghanistan, and its people. First, the security breach demonstrates the weakness of Afghan security forces, and specifically their incapability of sustaining the security of foreigners in Kabul. Such attacks are serious threats towards foreign investors and the consequence is detrimental to the Afghan fledgling economy, which has already flagged as the foreign aid has started drying up. In addition, such attacks on foreigners will potentially generate a ground of distrust and cynicism between foreigners and Afghans. As a result, the community of expatriates in Kabul will isolate more than before as mistrust is breeding.

Second, the accusation of Pakistan involvement in the attack will definitely have a serious repercussion on Afghanistan-Pakistan fragile relations. Since the Afghan government has earnestly been seeking Pakistan’s cooperation for peace talk with the Taliban, the National Security Council’s allegation may halt the peace process efforts, and it is very likely that within the next few days the Pakistani officials will angrily react to the Afghan government’s accusation.

Third, for the Afghan people, since the United State has decided to withdraw its troops in 2014, such attacks cause serious concern for their security. A Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) which allows some of the U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan and has already approved by the Afghan tribal elders, Karzai still refuses to sign the agreement. Finally, such attacks will certainly be a threat to the upcoming 2014 Afghanistan’s presidential elections, though Karzai would benefit for postponing the election in order to hold on to power beyond 2014.

The profiling issue from an Afghan traveling to the U.S.

Note: Already published on CNN

After the unsuccessful terror attack on an American jetliner by suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, a 23 year-old Nigerian, security at international airports is getting tighter. In the days after the incident, President Obama vowed to “disrupt and dismantle” every possible threat against the U.S. and ordered enhanced screening and security procedures for all flights, domestic and international. These measures are smart, but they increase the concerns for those travelers who might be suspected by their nationality or religion.

Last week, a viewer called into CNN, to say that anyone who has a Muslim name should not be allowed to fly into the U.S. I have been profiled just because I am coming from Afghanistan, have a Muslim name and identify myself as an Afghan. I personally believe that judging travelers on their ethnicity and religion is not fair. Psychologically, it is disturbing and annoying to be interrogated just because of your nationality. Instead, the security should be reformed and new technology should be developed and used to determine who is actually dangerous.

After the recent incident, there is much discussion in the media about profiling, security screening and issuing special security checks for people coming from mostly Muslim countries. The new order for an extra security check for bag and pat down includes 14 countries. Afghanistan is one of them.

I personally feel comfortable with any kind of security measures that take place at the airports, and I do not find it offensive even to be strip-searched as long as security is the reason. I am from Afghanistan, and I have always experienced tight security at international airports and it doesn’t bother me. But the only thing that concerns me is profiling. As an Afghan, I have faced lots of difficulties at international airports. The security personnel at the airports asked me questions I have never heard, and inquired repeatedly about my destination.

For example, this past August when I got my visa from the U.S. embassy in Kabul to come to the U.S. to attend college, I was stopped at the Dubai airport and questioned more than ever before even though I have traveled to the U.S. before. The security at Dubai international airport was not honestly to check my bags but instead the security worker interrogated me about what I have been doing all my life, questioning me as if I were a member of al Qaeda or the Taliban. Even though I had already passed through security, my bags had been checked and the security personal had stuck a special security sticker on my passport - the security personnel didn’t let me on board while I was in line. He kept me until all passengers were boarded. While he was holding my passport in his hand, he moved around and finally found a camera and a scanner to take my picture and scan my passport. I got on the plane only five minutes before the boarding gate closed. It made me upset and annoyed just because I was profiled based on my nationality. The effect didn’t leave me until I reached my destination.

It is true that most of terrorist attacks have targeted Westerners, and that most terrorists are Muslim. But it is bigoted to judge people according to their religion or nationality. Such extreme measures would be profiling people based on their race, not evaluating them as individuals.

Since September 11, 2001, the security at airports has been effective enough to prevent terrorists from entering the United States, but the case of AbdulMutallab proved that the U.S. intelligence was not capable or failed to conduct a pre-emptive action.

Thus, as the U.S. admitted that its security failed to prevent the Christmas Day attack, al Qaeda has proven itself to not be confined to Afghanistan and Pakistan, but that it is also in Gulf countries like Yemen. The security was not smart enough to track down a 23-year-old man wandering around and boarding at an Amsterdam airport.

It is good to have to be checked to ensure security but it is devastating to be treated and interrogated the same manner as a suspected person, just because I am sharing the same type nationality. In August 2007, a 7-year-old Muslim boy was stopped in the U.S. three times on suspicion of being a terrorist. Also, in August 2009, the Bollywood star, Shahrukh Khan, was stopped for questioning at Newark Liberty International Airport which enraged his fans in India.

Finally, it would be good to investigate and recognize the suspected person before issuing him/her a visa and before traveling to the United States. Profiling is wholly inappropriate and will enrage people who are innocent. Looking for Muslim names and names similar to al Qaeda members that are blacklisted is not smart. Profiling based on nationality breeds anger only. Instead there should be effective and aggressive plans to track down the threats from those who are truly dangerous.

Please go to CNN crossroad blog page and read the critics at the bottom of this post

Learning Online Journalism and Writing Blogs in Helmand Province

Note that this article was first published in the America.gov (direct link of this interview)and if you reproduce this article you must retain this notice.
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Introduction: A surprising number of Afghans blog on the Internet and even more want to learn how. Nasim Fekrat has been at the forefront of helping Afghans use modern technology to communicate with each other and the rest of the world – but it can be a dangerous business. America.gov’s Jane Morse talked with him earlier this year while he was in United States on a fellowship (see: Eager to Learn About the World, Tech Savy Afghans Turn to Blogs.) In a new guest post, Nasim talks about his latest efforts to teach blogging in Helmand province, the largest in Afghanistan and the world’s top opium-producing region. The province is the site of ongoing deadly fighting between the Taliban and American, British and other NATO troops.

This is the sixth day that I am in the war-torn province of Helmand. My friends in other provinces do not know what I am here for, and before I explain it to them, they ask me, “What the heck are you doing there?”

I am in Helmand province to conduct a training session on online journalism and blog writing. We had planned for owners of 20 media outlets to participate in this two-day training session, but we received more applications than we expected. We were unaware that we would get 28 people for the training session, including reporters, poets and writers.

You may think that we had everything we needed for the training class, but we did not have everything. We had just two computers that connected to the Internet and we had 28 journalists. Every one of them required the Internet during the training. It may be unbelievable for readers or funny to them, but we did it. Every one of the participants had a blog entry by the end of the training session and had posted two subjects on their blogs. Almost all of the blogs were written in Pashto (one of the official and most common languages in Afghanistan) and discussed subjects such as culture, literature, community, politics and agriculture in Helmand province.

When I asked the participants what made them participate in the training, our discussion taught me something new. One of them, who was familiar with Wikipedia, told me: “I want to inform people about Helmand province.”

He said that whenever he goes to the Internet site to search Lashkargah (the capital city of Helmand province) and Helmand province, he only finds results that center on drugs, war and violence.

Therefore, he is learning to utilize blogging in order to inform the world that Helmand is not a place of drugs and war but has agriculture, culture and literary works which have not been widely publicized.

One of the participants told me that he wants to discuss the security challenges in Helmand province using blogging, and he wants to hear opinions from other bloggers concerning the operation in Helmand province and find solutions for the conflict in this province.

The enthusiasm for the training was more than expected and the reason for that is clear: This is a war-torn province and nobody is willing to put himself in danger in order to conduct training for journalists. But for me, as a young Afghan from the generation of war victims and refugees, I love to serve my country and my fellow citizens. I want to teach them the things that I have learned. I like to spread the culture of blogs and online journalism in Afghanistan among the younger generations.

This was the third workshop on blogging and online journalism which was conducted with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the blogging Institution of Afghanistan in Helmand province. This program has been scheduled in other provinces and the next workshop will be in Bamyan province.

Read more about Nasim’s efforts at his English language blog, Afghan Lord at http://www.afghanlord.org/

You can see his photo gallery The World Through My Eyes at http://www.fekrat.org/

Additional photo galleries by Nasim can be found on NATO’s website, as well as at PreventHate.org:
http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2008/02/PHOTO/EN/index.htm
http://preventhate.org/gallery.asp

Strong Action Is a Joke

Today, on the way coming to Berlin, I was reading USA-Today in plane from 5 December about Condolleza Rice’s meeting in Islamabad about Mumbai case.
This report was saying, Rice satisfied with Pakistan’s readiness to peruse lead in the attacks in India that have sharply raised tensions between the two nuclear power.

It is really funny to hear that after her talks with Islamabad, Pakistani leaders is committed to the war on terror and does not want to be associated with terrorism.
The funniest part is that when Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari told to Rice that the attack were a chance to strengthen efforts against terrorism in his country and promised to take “strong action”.

Once again, look at this sentence: “Asif Ali Zardari told to Rice that the attack were a chance to strengthen efforts against terrorism in his country and promised to take “strong action”.

As Afghan who is living in Pakistan neighborhood which is directly affected by its extremism and radicals Muslim groups, for me it is a joke. Pakistan supported Taliban and Islamic militants in the past and present and I am sure this will be turn to an internal enemy inside the country which may lead Pakistan to a civil war. Taliban was born in the time of Benazir Bhutto and ISI generals committed to support them; they look for their regional political benefits after Taliban still and after.

When Zardari says to Rice “this is a chance to wake up and to strengthen efforts against terrorist”, this means the attacks and several violent for the last two years which increasing caused lot of casualties inside Pakistan is nothing and this is the one he was struck that the Pakistan government should take “strong action”.

For the last years, Pakistan was lying that terrorism does not exists there but now the United States realized where the terrorism and Taliban are getting supports and equipped. If Pakistan government doesn’t support Afghan government and US, the only way to get ride of these Islamic extremism in Pakistan is i think American missile could wipe them off.

I hope Obama administration comes up with a better strategy towards liberating Afghanistan from the current situation.

The Dream of Martin Luther King Become True

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Today, early morning when I opened the news pages on Internet, I read "Obama became the next president of USA" I became excited and suddenly stood and shouted. I couldn't control myself and I said "Greeting Obama! Oh great man in which the dream of Martin Luther King became true now. The people who were close to me they laughed at me but I couldn't control myself, while I was shedding tears I came out from the net café. When I arrived home I wept fully, but tears from happiness. However I don't believe to pray but I was praying for him to win, this was my hope and today I am the witness that my hope turned real.

Obama is the one who wants to change. He turned the dreams of millions of people to reality, millions of people who were hoping fall off the walls. Now, he is the winner and turned into the hero of his nation and the people in his country. He is the one who said, once there was a great man in US history who told his people:

"I have a dream, I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

But today another great man has appeared one who can follow this way and turns his dream to reality. Today, another great man has appeared in the 21 century, from the same people who loudly tells his people: "Things are fine just the way they are. Take a look around, our world needs a change, you can be that change."

His appearance was with encouraging people and giving hopes to those people who were hopelessly living not for a single moment, but for hundreds of years. He appeared to assure his people that "Things are fine", what a beautiful motto.

I write these words, while the tears fall down from my eyes. I shed tears for the happiness of those people who are happy today in the US, for the people who were dreaming to become the winner, for the people who were fighting against injustice, discrimination and civil rights. Tonight, what a fabulous night would be for them. I wish I was there, I wish I was one those people who shed tears of happiness and victory today.

You know, from what pain I suffer in this corner of the world? Only God knows from my heart. Everyday when I wake up, my moments starts with tension, an explosion in the city or suicide attack, all things go along, removing security from me. Everyday I have to go out but when I go out, you know I am completely unsure, that I will come back safely.

You know, I haven't seen my mother for months and she is waiting for months to see me and my hope is to meet my mother and leave myself among her arms and shed tears fully. But you know why I can't reach her? Because in 150 kilo meters, the distance between me and my mother, everyday we hear that Taliban beheaded people, took them with themselves or killed them on the road. But I want to see my mother.

Afghan National Army

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This is the picture of our young people, our noble children. I am proud of them, two days working with them i believe they are so strong to stand up against enemy, against Taliban and strangers who are against our nation. I am so glad and proud today to see the National Army of Afghanistan getting so strong. Before Mujaheddin and starting civil war, Afghanistan had the most powerful Army. This is was a threat to neighboring countries. As i see and the interests among people who are joining to army day by day i am sure that they will be strong again.

Taliban Uses US-made Stinger Anti-Aircraft Guided Missile

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… The fear starts when you feel you are someone, specifically when every one of us feels that we are important, for ourselves. But today when we flew from Kabul to Bamyian with a USAID Helicopter, we reached Maidan Shahr, the area that is strongly influenced by Taliban. The helicopter slowly started rising, and the passengers, all journalists, seemed worried. I don’t know, or may be it was only me having fear. Fear of becoming a victim of some guided missile which recently the Taliban are equipped with.

It will not be a surprise to hear that the Taliban are equipped with such a missile. Just a few weeks ago, there was a deadly US helicopter crash caused by a stinger guided missile in southern Afghanistan. As you will remember, our USA friends had equipped the Afghan warriors “Mujahideen” with their latest weapons in the times of the holey invasion of the Soviet Union. And today these guided missiles are used against US forces in Afghanistan.
In 2005, in a report at RTA TV was told how these missiles got out of work in the times of civil war, but recently the ISI had repaired them for the Taliban, in order to target the US aircrafts. If this news is right, NATO forces will have big challenges in the struggle against the Taliban.

However, Pakistani authorities announced that this is a baseless claim by the US. A report published by the Pentagon says that more than 250 Soviet aircrafts have been crashed by these missiles in the time of Soviet Union invasion in Afghanistan.

So... until we didn’t cross the Onai pass, every one of us was in fear. Fear of the possibility that a missile could hit us.

And now I am in Bamyian, where the Buddha Statues where blown up by the extremist Islamists of the Taliban. I am here, invited as a speaker in a two days seminar which is funded and organized by UNAMA and the US embassy to celebrate peace day.
I'll have to analyze, and focus on the impacts and roles of digital media and blogs, in -promised visions of- peace, security and democracy in Afghanistan, over the last 7 years.

Towards a Critical Situation

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The security situation is deteriorated rapidly in the recent days. The rocket attack on Afghan capital airport indicates that the Taliban insurgents broken the entrance stability security gates towards Kabul. This means, Taliban are really close to capital nowadays. Horror is spreading fast among the people; the residents of Kabul are really worry what will happen in the next coming weeks.

Yesterday around 10:30AM there was a heavy conflict between Taliban insurgents and Afghan security forces in Surobi Tangi area (Kabul Province, Surobi District, Kabul-Jalalabad main road) Additional security forces have been dispatched to the area. As I informed, the clash is still going on since yesterday.

Also, yesterday three female aid workers for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and their Afghan driver were shot dead by gunmen who opened fire on their vehicle near the capital Kabul.

Korean Hostages Raped by Taliban

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According to local news resources reported that Merajuddin Pathan, governor of Ghazni province has expressed that a group of Taliban who are holding Korean hostages in Ghazni assaulted four hostages’ women, which created a battle between two groups inside of the Taliban.

The local and international news agencies did not reveal the news for some reason But only one local media revealed the news in Kabul. The report witnessed by Mr. Pathan the governor and he added that Pakistani Taliban did the assault.

Taliban militants on a road in the central Ghazni province kidnapped the 23 South Koreans weeks ago. Afghan and the U.S led coalition forces have cordoned off a suspected Taliban hideout in Qarabagh district of Ghazni to secure the release of the hostages. The Taliban also demanded the withdrawal of 200 South Korean troops from this country. The South Korean government said the soldiers would be pulled out at the end of 2007 as scheduled. Taliban militants have carried out kidnappings time and time again over for the past two years. After killing two Koreans they released the two women out of 21 other hostages.

Meanwhile, Taliban strongly rejected allegations regarding sexual assault on four female Korean captives. Militant spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi told to media they were waging jihad against obscenity, immorality and un-Islamic acts in Afghanistan.

Picnicking Out of Kabul

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Last Friday we went out of Kabul for a picnic. I was invited by my German friend Martin Garner.
In the early morning I went to Park-e- Share-e-Naw to watch partridge fighting in order to complete my articles about animal fighting in Afghanistan. After some murmurings the competition started. I witnessed two matches and interviewed the winners.

Later I called Martin and joined him after an hour that I passed in the heavy traffic. It was not only me who Martin and his friend were waiting for but another Kandahari guy coming from far away was expected too. We came out of the car and walked along side the area when I saw a motorcyclist stopping nearby and looking as seriously. Soon, he pulled out his cell-phone and started calling and looking. I was about to be afraid and noticed Martin and his Afghan friend who were talking in French. When he heard what I saw he was afraid more than me and started calling to his friends who had left us in the street.

After a while his friend came and we continued our journey to Wardak. We had multi problems, not only security, and this deteriorated over the last few days. The driver was careless and nearly crashed two to three times. After we insisted much, he started to drive a bit more slowly but still there was fear. We reached Maidan Wardak, where a tanker was set on fire just a few days before. I asked Martin to change his seat and sit in the back to avoid more attention. On the way we saw a school that was fired at and a road was ruined by a roadside bomb.

“This village is full of Taliban and I have no doubt that many bombs are planted at the road side”, the driver whispered slowly to his friend.

We reached and entered his village in Sayed Abad and after turning we stopped in front of a house where we were invited by Nawid Sahil. We drove to a garden where many elderly villagers were already drinking and chatting. We sat on a carpet and leaned on pillows. For the whole way I had felt increasingly tension but I was comfortable at last. I told Martin that these villagers have the power and control, and we’re safe. The villagers were talking about political issues and it seemed they were not very satisfied with the Karzai government.
The glassman who seemed to be a family member of our host was asking us from time to time how we felt, “do we feel comfortable?” I assured him that we were fine and comfortable.

We started to eat lunch very late; if it would have taken any longer we were close to start eating the leaves.
The meals were delicious, the bread was local and tasty, and especially the yoghurt’s water was so yummy. The guys were telling us about the local beer. It was a bit strange that a few people drank beer while the elder villagers were there. I thought maybe they might not understand if it was bear rather than Pepsy or any other soft drink.

The lunch was too much and we only ate a bit of it. This is a part of Afghan traditions; they always cook more than there are expected guests. They presume other coming un-expected guests or sometimes are afraid of having a lesser meal. It is a bad reputation for the hosts if meals don’t satisfy the guests. Therefore they cook for 50 people when there are only 20 invited.

I was a bit uncomfortable because of the security measures and the tight space where to walk around. You had to be careful when walking in garden, and there shouldn’t be women in sight otherwise you’ll be shot by the men. This is what they call honor and pride; this is a very sensitive part of the traditions, mostly among Pashton but among other ethnicities differences are there. For example the Hazara woman works with her man side by side and appears with him together in public, same for Tajiks.

On our way returning to Kabul, we changed the car, now obviously with a good driver who was careful of himself. The same fear I had felt in the morning I felt again in the afternoon. We again put Martin among us to hide him out of sight to not attract curiosity. When we crossed the Maidan Shar hill I was a bit relieved and thought that at least we were not in danger anymore.
The Taliban's influence on the people is growing. Their access to the villagers too.

A few weeks ago, Taliban entered into the Wardak district “Sayeed Abad” and asked the local governor to leave his job and support the Taliban. Local elders and the governor discussed, and after two weeks they told and promised the Taliban that if they conquer Ghazni province they will join and support them.

Taliban are entering villages and distribute their messages through Mullah’s and students studying in religious schools. They promise to support the villagers and to bring peace instead of horrors and fears. In their message they call the people to stand up against the US and its allies, they call for the people to stand up against the US forces who killed the civilians in southern provinces. Recently a video of beheading people who supported the US and the Karzai government was released by the Taliban. In the video some of the people were beheaded from their back neck while others kept their feet tight. One of the pictures shows Mullah Dadullah, the infamous and brutal Taliban leader who was killed a few months ago in the Uruzgan province by the international forces.