November 30, 2007

Overview

Netherlands extends Afghan mission until 2010

The Dutch cabinet today (Friday, November 30) decided to extend its military mission in Afghanistan in support of NATO-led forces until December 2010. The cabinet also decided to reduce its troop presence in Afghanistan from 1,649 to about 1,400 by next year as new troop commitments from France, Slovakia and the Czech Republic arrive. Speaking to a press conference, Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said, “We have to prevent the region falling back to Taliban times, when human rights were breached,” adding, “This is also about our safety. We don't want terrorists in our front yard.” The mission extension is estimated to cost around US$880 million to US$1.02 billion (600-700 million euros). Most of the Dutch troops are based in restive southern Uruzgan (also spelled Oruzgan) province where they also lead a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). The Dutch cabinet also approved an additional US$29.25 million (20 million Euros) for reconstruction work in Uruzgan starting January 2008. The new funding will be made available for healthcare and education in the province. The decision, which comes amid growing public opposition to Dutch troops in Afghanistan, has yet to be approved by the Dutch parliament, which is likely to vote on the matter before the Christmas recess.

NATO-led airstrikes kill dozens of militants across Afghanistan’s south and east

This week, NATO-led airstrikes across Afghanistan’s south and east killed more than 100 people, mostly militants. More than 30 Taliban insurgents were killed in multiple airstrikes in southern Kandahar province on Wednesday (November 28). According to the provincial police chief, Agha Sayed Saqib, Afghan and foreign forces called in airstrikes during a raid at two militant hideouts in Zhari district in southern Kandahar province Wednesday (November 28) that left at least 30 militants dead and several wounded. The joint forces also captured 12 militants, including five that were wounded in the clash. Local officials claim that some 65 Taliban militants were killed in a US-led coalition airstrike in eastern Paktia province along the Pakistan border on Sunday (November 25). A second airstrike in Paktia’s Patan district killed eight people, including four in a vehicle carrying suspected Taliban rebels. A separate airstrike in the provincial capital, Gardez, killed three suspected militants attempting to plant a bomb.

US-led coalition airstrikes kill 14 construction workers in eastern Afghanistan

At least 14 Afghan construction workers were killed in US-led coalition airstrikes overnight in eastern Afghanistan. According to reports, US-led helicopter gunships and fighter jets attacked a camp of tents in remote Nuristan province Monday (November 26) night, killing all of the workers on the site while they were asleep. Sayed Noorullah Jalili, director of the Kabul-based road construction company Amerifa, said all 14 workers were killed and there were no survivors. He said workers were from four nearby provinces. The provincial governor, Tamim Nuristani, said coalition forces carried out airstrikes following intelligence reports that "the enemy" was in the area. Brigadier General Carlos Branco, spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said, "ISAF was engaged in Nurgram and Doab (districts), and in those places we used airstrikes against (Taliban)." He said an investigation was under way and ISAF was trying to get a clearer picture.

Afghanistan cannabis cultivation up 40 percent

Cannabis cultivation in Afghanistan is up by about 40 percent this year over last year. In its 2007 opium survey, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates cannabis cultivation in the country this year to be around 173,000 acres compared to 123,550 acres in 2006. According to the survey, cannabis is now being grown in at least 18 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces and the trend is alarming, especially in the north, where farmers in the poppy-free regions have switched to growing cannabis. The survey especially notes that in the opium-free northern province of Balkh, cannabis cultivation is spreading rapidly. The crop is a source of both marijuana and hashish, requires very little investment and care, and can be just as profitable as opium due to twice the yield per acre as that of poppies. UN officials fear that farmers who do not cultivate poppies may turn to growing cannabis, as it is getting little or no scrutiny from Afghan officials focused on poppy eradication. Afghanistan continues to be the world's largest producer of opium, accounting for some 93 percent of the world's opium, a key ingredient in heroin. It is estimated that more than 80 percent of the heroin on the European markets originates from poppies grown in Afghanistan.

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 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 say voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan that are without proof of registration (PoR) ended this week (April 15), 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 will close 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	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) The Bamyan Disaster Management Committee has asked for 22,000 tons of food items for vulnerable people in Waras and Punjab affected by recent floods and a cold wave. UNAMA says that some 50 percent of 20,000 tons of foodstuff are being rushed to affected areas. (Oct. 11, Frontier Post) 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. (July 8, IRIN)
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) Typhoid fever has claimed five lives and infected some 200 others in the Charsada district of central Ghor province. (Feb. 15, People’s Daily Online)
NFIs -Shelter	IOM, UNICEF, UNOCHA, & OXFAM
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Security	Three civilians, one NATO soldier and a large number of Taliban insurgents were killed in a firefight in the provincial capital, Tarin Kot, in south-central Uruzgan province on Friday (Nov-23). (KT, Nov-23) Several suspected Taliban insurgents were killed in US-led airstrikes near the village of Sarsina in south-central Uruzgan province on Tuesday (Nov-20). (ABC, Nov-20) On Sunday (Nov-18), the bodies of five Afghan policemen were found hung from a tree with their wrists and legs slashed. The victims were abducted about two months ago from a checkpoint in Uruzgan province. At least 11 suspected Taliban insurgents were killed in a clash with Afghan and foreign security forces in Uruzgan province on Saturday (Nov-17). (ABC, CNN, BBC, Nov-18, 19) Five suspected Taliban fighters were killed in a four-hour gun battle in Uruzgan’s Naish district on Thursday (Nov-15). (ABC, IHT, Nov-16)
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, (Feb. 11, NATO) IRC, Action Contra la Faim; WFP;
Health	President Karzai helped inaugurate the new hospital of the National Department of Security on September 14. (GOA, Sep. 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	A suicide bomb attack aimed at a US military convoy in Kabul killed two civilians and wounded several others on Tuesday (November 27). (BBC, KT, Nov-27) At least four civilians were killed when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle on the outskirts of Kabul on Monday (November 26). (BBC, DT, Nov-26)
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 Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA) says it has completed demining the community of Karte Sakhi in Kabul. (UNAMA, Sep. 15) Floods triggered by spring rains continue to affect districts in Kunar, Laghman and Nangarhar provinces. Floods have killed 13 people in Kunar and another eight in Laghman. Nearly 3,000 people have been affected by the floods in these provinces. (OCHA, Apr. 5)

Eastern Region

Location	Eastern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, International Islamic Relief Organization;
Population
IDP Movement	UNHCR
Food	IRC; NATO-led ISAF PRT transports water pipes for a nearly seven-mile-long planned water supply project in Baghlan province. (NATO, Aug. 23)t
Health	Provincial officials in southern Khost, Kandahar and eastern Nangarhar provinces have confirmed hundreds of diarrhea cases due to water contamination from recent floods. (IRIN, July 11) FAO confirmed cases of the H5N1 type of bird flu in poultry in the eastern city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province and in Sawki district in Kunar province. (FAO, Feb. 26)
Non-Food Items - Shelter	CWS, UNICEF
Security	Some 65 Taliban militants were killed on Sunday (November 25) in a US-led coalition airstrike in eastern Paktia province along the Pakistan border. (BBC, DT, Nov-26) A second airstrike on Sunday in Paktia’s Patan district killed eight people, including four in a vehicle carrying suspected Taliban rebels. A separate airstrike in the provincial capital, Gardez, killed three suspected militants attempting to plant a bomb. (BBC, DT, Nov-26) At least 14 Afghan construction workers were killed in US-led coalition airstrikes overnight in eastern Afghanistan on Monday (November 26). According to reports, US-led helicopter gunships and fighter jets mistakenly attacked a camp in remote Nuristan province Monday night, killing all of the workers on the site while they were asleep in their tents. (CNN, ABC, Nov-27-28)
Water & Sanitation	CARITAS; ICRC, UNICEF
Comments

Northeastern Region

Location	Northeastern Region
Coordination
Population	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast
Movement IDPs
Food
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

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, March 23).
Movement of IDPs	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	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) Members of the NATO-led ISAF medical team with the support of the Afghan National Police deployed recently to Arghestan district, Kandahar province, to provide temporary medical assistance to the local populace. Working alongside with ANP in Khughani village, the medical mission treated 575 local Afghans and 30 policemen. (NATO, July 23)
NFIs - Shelter	UNHCR, Mercy Corps;
Security	NATO-led airstrikes in Zhari district in Kandahar on Wednesday (November 28) killed at least 30 Taliban militants. (CNN, KT, Nov-29) Unidentified gunmen on motorbikes shot dead a school principal in Khost on Wednesday. (CNN, KT, Nov-29) Taliban insurgents beheaded seven Afghan policemen on November 23 after running over their checkpoints in Arghandab district in southern Kandahar province. Six other policemen are also reportedly missing. (KT, Nov-23) Four Afghan policemen were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Zheri district in Kandahar on November 16. (ABC, IHT, Reuters, Nov-16) Fifteen Taliban fighters were killed in a clash with Afghan and foreign security forces in Garmser district in Helmand province on November 10. (ABC, AP, Nov-13)
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