February 15, 2008

Overview

US launches new training for Afghan police
The US is launching a new training program for Afghanistan's police force, using US soldiers and contractors as mentors. The new program, called Focus District Development, will send 800 US soldiers and 700 contractors from DynCorps International, a US-based private military contractor, to train police for eight weeks at regional sites, followed by two to four months of working with police in the field in small teams. The training program is now in its first phase, which provides Afghan officers with new vehicles, weapons, uniforms, radios and protective gear. Police officers are also enrolled in an electronic pay system to prevent the common problem of superiors taking a portion of their paychecks. Afghan police are often targeted by militants for attack, with 925 police officers killed in ambushes in 2007. The lack of effective police training has been a prominent criticism of the West since the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the hardline Taliban regime.

At least 20 killed in violence this week, provincial governor escapes assassination attempt

At least 20 people were killed in separate violent incidents across Afghanistan this week. On Thursday (February 14), four Afghan police officers died and two officers were wounded in a three-hour gun battle after insurgents ambushed a police vehicle in southwestern Nimroz province. On Wednesday (February 13), a US-led coalition airstrike killed at least four suspected Taliban militants and wounded two others in Tirin Kot (also spelled Tarin Kowt), the capital of south-central Uruzgan province, as part of an operation targeting a group of militants on motorbikes that had killed other militants. Elsewhere in Uruzgan, coalition troops killed an unspecified number of militants and arrested three others during a raid at a Taliban-linked compound. Three Afghan soldiers were killed and four soldiers were wounded in southern Helmand province when a bomb struck an army vehicle. An Italian soldier was killed and another wounded when insurgents attacked as the soldiers helped distribute aid to the local population near Rudbar town, 35 miles (60 km) from the Afghan capital, Kabul. This is the first Italian soldier death in the country since November. On Tuesday (February 12), a roadside bomb exploded in the eastern province of Khost, killing two Afghan security guards hired by the US to fight beside coalition forces and wounding another. In Uruzgan province, US-led coalition forces shot dead an "armed assailant," and arrested three suspected insurgents, while raiding compounds believed to be housing Taliban militants in Tirin Kot district. On Monday (February 11), the governor of southern Kandahar province, Asadullah Khalid, escaped unharmed from an assassination attempt when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb blast, wounding three people. Khalid was reportedly traveling north of the provincial capital, Kandahar City, to open reconstruction projects in the Shah Wali Kot district when the attack occurred. Afghan authorities have arrested two male suspects. On Saturday (February 9), Afghan cleric Mullah Abdul Wasay Akhund, two of his children and two other men were killed in an explosion at Akhund’s home in Helmand province. He was reportedly making a bomb that exploded prematurely.

Winter death toll hits 926 in Afghanistan
Afghanistan's death toll from severe weather conditions this winter has reached 926, the Associated Press reported Afghanistan National Disaster Management Commission spokesman Ahmad Shikeb Amraz as saying on Friday (February 15). Almost half of those deaths, 462, have been in the western province of Herat, where dozens of people have had hands or feet amputated due to frostbite. Other affected provinces are Farah, Badghis and Ghor. The harsh winter conditions, including extreme cold, snowstorms and avalanches, have been responsible for more than 316,000 cattle deaths and 833 houses being destroyed. This is the worst winter on record, with national meteorological statistics only having been collected for a decade. However, Afghan officials believe it may be the coldest winter in 30 years, with the lowest recorded temperature this season being -22 degrees Fahrenheit (-30 degrees Celsius). Heavy snow has blocked roads in several provinces, making humanitarian access to remote villages very difficult. Officials also remain concerned about the spread of winter diseases in communities in rugged, inaccessible areas. At least 100 pneumonia patients, primarily children, have died in the past month, Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) spokesman Abdullah Fahim said on Thursday. In the same period, over 170,000 patients with pneumonia and other acute respiratory infections have been treated at health centers across the country. The MoPH has asked the NATO-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Badakhshan for air support to enable medical teams to service otherwise inaccessible areas. The country remains under the national public health emergency declared on January 8, with 30,000 health workers requested to not take leave for the duration of the emergency period. Pneumonia results from the infection of air passages and lungs, resulting in breathing difficulty and, if untreated, may lead to death within three to four days. It primarily affects children under five years of age, and is responsible for almost one in five deaths in that age group worldwide.

UNICEF seeks US$13 million for Afghan children
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is seeking US$13 million in emergency funds to help hundreds of thousands of Afghan children lacking proper food, water, medicines, education and other essential services. The appeal, which is part of UNICEF's global appeal for US$856 million covering 39 countries, notes that Afghanistan is facing a variety of natural and man-made disasters across the country leaving scores of children without essential needs. It adds, "Armed conflict, school burning, suicide attacks and kidnappings and killing of humanitarian workers limit the access to civilian population and hamper the delivery of humanitarian assistance." According to UNICEF, the return and deportation of over 610,000 refugees from Pakistan and Iran last year was adding to the needs of people affected by extreme weather and drought. The report estimates that more than 760 people have died since December due to harsh winter conditions. According to the report, some 2 million Afghan school-aged children were out of school, of which an estimated 1.3 million are girls.

Movement

2007: UNHCR temporarily suspends the Afghan voluntary repatriation campaign in Pakistan until March 2008 due to seasonal slowdown. (IRIN, Nov-2). Pakistan has reportedly extended the deadline to close Jalozai camp until March 2008. (IRIN, Sep-4). The UNHCR has asked Pakistan to temporarily suspend closure of Jalozai refugee camp in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that was originally scheduled to be closed on August 31. UNHCR said due to the fast approaching Muslim holy month of Ramadan and winter season, conditions were not conducive for the return of some 100,000 camp residents. UNHCR said any forceful return of these refugees could lead to secondary displacement.

Pakistan is to close all Afghan refugee camps by December 2009 and to repatriate all refugees living in the country. UNHCR says it has repatriated over 306,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan so far this year under its voluntary repatriation campaign. (UNHCR, Aug-10)

4.2 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan, and 500,000 IDPs returned home since early 2002. Close to 3 million of the refugees returned from Pakistan. 2.6 million Afghans remain in Pakistan, including one million in 74 long-term camps. About 1.5 million Afghans returned from Iran. Taking into account unassisted returns, perhaps 600,000 to 700,000 Afghans remain in Iran—up to 30,000 are in seven camps.

Iran deported some 85,000 unregistered refugees to Afghanistan during April 21 - May 14, 2007. Iranian officials say they plan to initially send back 500,000 of over a million illegal refugees in the country. Earlier this week, Iran said it has reached an agreement with the Afghan government to slow down the pace of expulsions for illegal Afghans living in the country.

Some 200,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan have returned to their homes under the UN-assisted voluntary Afghan refugee repatriation program since it resumed on March 1, 2007, following a seasonal winter suspension. Pakistani authorities said voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan that are without proof of registration (PoR) ended in April, and refugees remaining in the country without PoR are now considered illegal and subject to government action. Repatriation campaign for Afghan refugees with PoR.

2006: UNHCR expects to assist 550,000 returnees—400,000 from Pakistan and 150,000 from Iran. However, so far this year only some 60,000 Afghan refugees have repatriated from Pakistan. Unassisted returns are a factor from Pakistan and have been a major contributor to returns from Iran. The tripartite arrangement among UNHCR-Afghanistan-Pakistan is good through 2006. The UNHCR-Afghanistan-Iran Joint Program has been extended into 2007. Repatriation from Pakistan, halted for the winter, recommenced on March 1. UNHCR assisted nearly 9,000 refugees in returning from Pakistan and over 500 from Iran during March. In April 2006, Pakistan closed two long-term camps in NWFP, and two in Baluchistan Province with 250,000 long-term residents. Refugees in Baluchistan can either return to Afghanistan or relocate to Mohammad Kheil camp near Quetta. Refugees in NWFP are moving to Afghanistan or one of ten camps in NWFP—refugees are pushing for a one-year delay.

2005 plans called for 400,000 Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan and 200,000 from Iran, down from an earlier 350,000 estimated from Iran. 453,000 returned from Pakistan. 67,000 from Iran were assisted and over 210,000 returned on their own to Iran for a total of nearly 280,000, and a combined Pakistan and Iran total of 733,000—close to the original projection.

2004 plans were for one million to return. Actual returnees were around 850,000, with 385,000 from Pakistan and 460,000 from Iran, including 80,000 spontaneous returns. Pakistan closed camps in South Waziristan and all new camps, with remaining new refugees going to Mohamed Kheil camp in Baluchistan Province.

Emphasis in 2003 was on repatriation from old camps and cities in Pakistan to rural areas in Afghanistan. 70% of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30% from camps. Over a third returned to Kabul, another 10% went to other central provinces, and just over 20% returned to each of the north and east. The Southern region received 6% and the Western region 4%. The 2003 peak months were June and July.

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

Afghanistan Relief Efforts: United Nations Coordination Regions

Central Region

Location	Central Region
Coordination
Population	An avalanche in the Murgab area in central Ghor killed at least 16 people. On March 19 floods killed 30 people in Uruzgan province.
IDP Movement
Food	On December 26 a landslide had blocked access to Kehmard district in Bamiyan province, leaving an estimated 40,000 vulnerable to food shortages as prices of food rose sharply. (IRIN, Dec-27) A rapid food needs assessment by USAID’s Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) suggests that due to failed wheat crops, unfavorable weather and higher food prices, Ghor province would need in the short-term (December-April) some 14,231 metric tons of food assistance to feed its vulnerable population. (ReliefWeb, Oct-18) According to local officials, thousands of students attending 40 schools in Ghazni province have not received WFP food assistance for over a month due to insecurity. FAO on July 5 said that 6.5 million Afghans suffer from chronic food insecurity. (IRIN, July-8)
Health	UN agencies and the local provincial government raise funds to build a new maternity wing in the Bamiyan main hospital. The new facility is expected to provide essential healthcare for expectant mothers in central Bamiyan province and to reduce the risk of both maternal and child mortality. (UNAMA, July-17). At least 20 children have died in several districts of central Daikundi and northern Balkh provinces over the past five weeks due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July-12)
NFIs -Shelter	IOM, UNICEF, UNOCHA, & OXFAM
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Security	Two Dutch and two Afghan soldiers died in separate friendly fire incidents on January 12 in Dehrawud district of Uruzgan province. (Reuters, Jan-13) Two civilians were killed and five others wounded in a clash between NATO troops and Taliban insurgents in the provincial capital, Tirin Kot, in Uruzgan province on January 4. (ABC, Jan-7)
Comments

East Central Region

Location	East Central Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population
IDP Movement	UN; Government encouraging refugees to return to home provinces to limit burden on Kabul—government land distribution program only in province of origin;
Food	ISAF troops carried out a two-day food donation near the village of Gulbagh in Chahar Asiab district, (NATO, Feb-11) IRC, Action Contra la Faim; WFP
Health	At least 100 pneumonia patients, primarily children, have died in the past month in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said Thursday (February 14). In the same period, over 170,000 patients with pneumonia and other acute respiratory infections have been treated at health centers across the country. The country remains under the national public health emergency declared on January 8, with 30,000 health workers requested to not take leave for the duration of the emergency period. (IRIN, Feb-14) More than 10,000 people, mostly children, have been affected by diarrhea in flood-stricken provinces across the country, including Kabul. (IRIN, July-12) Kabul is home to the world’s worst outbreak of leishmaniasis, thought to have spread to hundreds of thousands of people. The sandflies that spread the parasites causing the disease are present in all Afghan cities, but more prominently in poor, crowded areas where they breed on waste land and in trash. (Reuters, May-7) UNICEF, CARITAS, MSF, IFRC, IRC, ICRC
Non-Food Items - Shelter	UNHCR, ACTED, MSF, IRC, ICRC, IOM
Security	On Wednesday (Feb-13), near the town of Rudbar, about 35 miles (60 km) from Kabul, an Italian soldier was killed and another wounded when insurgents attacked as the soldiers helped distribute aid to the local population. (AFP, Feb-13) One civilian was killed and two others wounded in a suicide bomb attack near a military vehicle in Kabul’s Taimani neighborhood on January 31. (BBC, CNN, Jan-31) One US-led coalition soldier was killed and three others wounded January 25 in Nari district in Kunar province in a clash with Afghan insurgents. (ABC, MSNBC, Jan-25) Seven people, including five foreigners, were killed in an attack on Kabul’s five-star Serena hotel on January 14. (KT, BBC, Jan-14)
Water & Sanitation	An agreement has been signed between the UNHCR and the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) to provide safe drinking water for Afghan returnees from Pakistan and Iran, as well as IDPs. (UNHCR, Sep. 24) ICRC
Comments	The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is seeking US$13 million in emergency funds to help hundreds of thousands of Afghan children lacking proper food, water, medicines, education and other essential services. (AFP, VOA, Feb-12) According to the UN World Food Program (WFP), the US, Canada and Denmark have pledged US$31 million to a joint UN and Afghan government appeal for food aid to 2.55 million vulnerable Afghans. "The US has confirmed (its) contribution of 30,000 metric tons (MT) of wheat worth US$19 million, Canada has confirmed US$10.1 million and Denmark has confirmed US$2 million," WFP country representative Rick Corsino said. (IRIN)

Eastern Region

Location	Eastern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, International Islamic Relief Organization;
Population
IDP Movement	UNHCR
Food	IRC NATO-led ISAF PRT transported water pipes for a nearly seven-mile-long planned water supply project in Baghlan province. (NATO, Aug-23)
Health	Provincial officials in southern Khost, Kandahar and eastern Nangarhar provinces have confirmed hundreds of diarrhea cases due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July-11)
Non-Food Items - Shelter	CWS, UNICEF
Security	On Tuesday (Feb-12), a roadside bomb exploded in the eastern province of Khost, killing two Afghan security guards hired by the US to fight beside coalition forces, and wounding another. The guards were on their way to an outpost along the Afghan-Pakistani border when their vehicle encountered the bomb. (CNN, Feb-13) One Afghan soldier and two civilians were killed and five others wounded in a suicide car bomb attack aimed at an Afghan National Army convoy in Ghazni city on February 8. (KT, Reuters, Feb-8) A suicide car bomb attack aimed at a NATO military convoy in Khost province wounded three NATO soldiers. (KT, Feb-8) Four Afghan soldiers working with the US-led coalition forces were killed when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Khost on January 25. (ABC, MSNBC, Jan-25) Eleven people, including nine policemen and two civilians, were reportedly killed in US-led coalition airstrikes aimed at Taliban insurgents in Ghazni on January 24. (BBC, ABC, Jan-24)
Water & Sanitation	CARITAS; ICRC, UNICEF
Comments

Northeastern Region

Location	Northeastern Region
Coordination
Population	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast
Movement IDPs
Food	On December 27, heavy snowfall had blocked access to at least 10 districts in Badakhshan province, leaving some 200,000 people in need of food assistance. (IRIN, Dec-27)
Health	WHO, Merlin, UNICEF, MSF; ICRC
Non-Food Items (NFIs) -Shelter	UNICEF, ACTED, Refugees Int’l, Mercy Corps
Security	Taliban insurgents ambushed and killed two Afghan policemen and abducted a police commander in Nuristan province. (BBC, Oct-7) Twelve people, including five government employees and seven policemen, were killed on September 23 when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their vehicle as it traveled through northeastern Badakhshan province. (CNN, Sep-24)
Water & Sanitation
Comments	The MoPH has asked the NATO-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Badakhshan for air support to enable medical teams to service otherwise inaccessible areas. (IRIN, Feb-14) At least 13 people were killed in an avalanche in Baharak district in northeastern Badakhshan province on December 11. Fifteen others were rescued. (IRIN, Dec-12)

Northern Region

Location	Northern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, IOM
Population	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast; 60,000 IDPs from North elsewhere in country.
Movement IDPs	IOM
Food
Health	MSF, ICRC, UNICEF At least 20 children have died in several districts of northern Balkh and central Daikundi provinces over the past five weeks due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July-12)
NFIs –Shelter	IOM, ACTED, Mercy Corps
Security	More than 65 people, including six members of Afghanistan’s lower house of the parliament and 59 schoolchildren, were killed and more than 100 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack near a sugar factory in northern Baghlan province on November 6. (ABC, BBC, Reuters, Nov 6-8) Four people, including a district police chief, his brother and two other policemen, were killed in a roadside bomb blast in northern Baghlan province on September 24. (The News, Sep-25)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF, ICRC, DACAAR
Comments	ISAF PRT helps flood-affected families in Khamyab and Qarqin districts in Jowzjan province at the request of provincial authorities. (Frontier Post, Aug-12)

Southern Region

Location	Southern Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population	IFRC says that flash floods and avalanches in early March have affected 2,200 families in Helmand/Sangreen Grishk, Musa Qala, and Nowzad districts; and 400 families in Uruzgan/Dehraud district. (IFRC, Mar-23).
Movement of IDPs	Intense military operations against Afghan insurgents in southern Helmand province, especially in Musa Qala district, have caused hundreds of families to flee their homes to neighboring districts and the provincial capital, Lashkargah. (IRIN, Dec-6) UNOCHA reports that over 2,500 families have left their homes in different districts of Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces over the past two months, according to provincial officials. Many of the displaced say they are leaving because of forced recruitment attempts by the Taliban and air strikes by international forces. Many have sought shelter in Kandahar city. (UNOCHA, Sep-27) In Uruzgan province, 880 families affected by conflict in Chora district have been settled in Tirin Kot and Dehrawud districts with the help of UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP and UNICEF. (ReliefWeb, July-30) About 2,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled their homes in several parts of Helmand province due to heavy fighting between Taliban insurgents and NATO-led forces. (IRIN, July-9)
Food	WFP says it could not deliver 50 tons of mixed food to Geeti district in Daykundi province due to security concerns. WFP plans to deliver food as soon as safe passage is guaranteed. (IRIN, Nov-14) The World Food Program (WFP) delivered 500 metric tons of food to the provincial capital Lashkargah, in southern Helmand province for some 4,500 families affected by fighting in Musa Qala, Sangin, Kajakiand Nawzad districts. (ReliefWeb, Sep-3) WFP also distributed 300 tons of food to some 37,000 beneficiaries in Kandahar and Helmand under food-for-work and literacy programs. (ReliefWeb, Sep-3) UNICEF; Mercy Corps; CARITAS; WFP
Health	A UNICEF-led Polio vaccination campaign was suspended in Musa Qala due to military operations. The campaign was also suspended in parts of five other districts. (ReliefWeb, Dec-20) Afghan and US-led coalition forces treated some 700 Afghans during a two-day outreach operation in Kandahar on December 7 and 8. (Reliefweb, Dec-12) The Australian Reconstruction Task Force (RTF), part of the Dutch-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Regional Command South, has completed the redevelopment of the Tarin Kowt Hospital and the construction of the Yaklengah Comprehensive Health Clinic. (NATO, Sep-17) The Afghan Ministry of Public Health and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) signed a memorandum of understanding under which the ICRC will significantly increase its support for the 390-bed regional referral Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar for the next two years. The hospital formerly run by Italian NGO Emergency provides essential care for thousands of patients, including men, women and children wounded in hostilities in the neighboring provinces of Zabul, Helmand and Uruzgan. (ICRC, July-26)
NFIs - Shelter	UNHCR, Mercy Corps
Security	On Saturday (Feb-9), Afghan cleric Mullah Abdul Wasay Akhund, two of his children and two other men were killed in an explosion at the cleric's home in southern Helmand province. Provincial police said Akhund was making a bomb that exploded prematurely, killing his two young sons and two other men and critically wounding his wife and a daughter. (CNN, The News, Feb-11) On Monday (Feb-11), the governor of southern Kandahar province, Asadullah Khalid, escaped an assassination attempt unharmed when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb blast, wounding three people. Khalid was traveling north of the provincial capital, Kandahar City, to open a number of reconstruction projects in the Shah Wali Kot district when the attack occurred. Afghan authorities have arrested two male suspects. (Reuters, BBC, Feb-11) On Tuesday (February 12) in south-central Uruzgan province’s capital, Tirin Kot, coalition forces shot dead one man and arrested three suspected insurgents while raiding suspected Taliban compounds. (CNN, Feb-13) On Wednesday (Feb-13), three Afghan soldiers were killed and four other soldiers wounded in Helmand province when a bomb struck an army vehicle. (CNN, Feb-13) In Zabul province, Afghan and coalition forces detained six individuals. (AP, Feb-15) A US-led coalition airstrike killed at least four suspected Taliban militants and wounded two others in Uruzgan’s Tirin Kot district as part of an operation targeting a group of militants on motorbikes that had killed other militants. Elsewhere in Uruzgan, coalition troops killed an unspecified number of militants and arrested three others during a raid at a Taliban-linked compound. (AP, Feb-14) On February 3, nine suspected Taliban militants were killed in a clash with security forces in Dehrawud district in southern Uruzgan province. (KT, ABC, Feb-4) Five civilians, including one woman, two men and two children, were killed on February 4 in Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand province, when their taxi ran over an explosive device. Separately in Helmand on the same day, three Afghan policemen were wounded when a bomb struck their vehicle. (KT, Feb-5)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Some 2,500 families (roughly 13,000 people) who fled ongoing violence in Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar are staying around Kandahar city in urgent need of temporary shelter. (IRIN, Oct-3) UNICEF estimates some 262 of the 740 schools in the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul are currently unable to provide education. (UNNS, July-30)

Southern Region IDP camps

Location	Zhare Dasht - South of Kandahar – 6 camps
Type	IDP Camp
Coordination	UNHCR
Camp Capacity	30,000; expandable to 60,000
Population	125,000 IDPs in south; 48,500 at Zhare Dasht
Movement IDP
Food	WFP
Health	UNICEF, MSF
NFIs – Shelter
Security
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Support for Spin Boldak camps terminated in 2004.

Western Region