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NATO to hand over 18 areas in second stage of Afghan takeover

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Afghan forces will assume control of security in 18 areas of the country from NATO, which would bring half of the country's population under the government's nominal authority.
 
The move marks a step further in the transition, which is intended to handover security to Afghan authorities, after the withdrawal of American combat troops and NATO forces by 2014.
 
This stage of transition includes many areas, which are still targeted by Taliban insurgents like central Helmand Province, several districts in Wardak Province and Sarobi District, unlike the first phase of peaceful transition. 
 
Afghan security forces would take over five provinces and 13 districts in this stage, as compared to the first phase when two provinces, Bamian and Panjshir came under the control of security forces.
 
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's spokesperson Aimal Faizi said Kandahar would not be taken over in this stage as NATO officials are reluctant to turn over the city,which is the traditional Taliban stronghold.
 
District Governor Mohammad Haqbeen said though the district centre was under government control, the Taliban continued to execute attacks on the highway.
 
He, however, said the Afghan Government is ready to undertake responsibility.
 
"We want that responsibility, and we are ready for that responsibility. There are still some problems in some areas, but we can handle them," The New York Times quoted Haqbeen, as saying.
 
District Police Chief Colonel Ahmadullah Oria said Afghanistan might still need international community for "training, for mentoring and for support when necessary."
 
Afghan leaders welcomed the transition but a tribal elder, Haji Abdul Rahman Sabir said it was not a vindication of the Marine invasion. (ANI)

Geologists discover one million metric ton rare element bounty in Afghanistan 
Geologists have found one million metric tons of rare earth elements, including lanthanum, cerium and neodymium, in the desert of southern Afghanistan.
 
This single deposit places Afghanistan on the sixth position on a list of countries having the largest rare earth reserves, scientificAmercian.com reports. 
 
US Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Robert Tucker said the discovered quantity of deposits, which are used in manufacturing modern technologies, can fulfill the world's needs for next ten years based on current consumption.
 
He suspects the actual deposit to be much larger based on clues gathered during the three- day reconnaissance mission.
 
"I fully expect that our estimates are conservative. With more time, and with more people doing proper exploration, it could become a major, major discovery," Tucker said.
 
The exploration time was limited as the deposit is located near heavily guarded southern Af-Pak border.
 
"It's one of the most challenging things I've ever done. Walking around with 30 to 40 pounds of protective gear is very difficult," Tucker said.
 
Chemical analyses of rock samples show that the concentration of light rare earth elements in the Afghan deposit are at par with the premier Chinese site, Bayan Obo in Inner Mongolia.
 
The new rare earth findings were mentioned in USGS's new, 2,000-page assessment of Afghanistan's vast mineral bounty, which was presented on September 29 at the Afghan embassy in Washington.(ANI)
 
Experts: New Data Speeds Search For Afghanistan Minerals - 09-30-11
A team of U.S. and Afghan officials and experts has just published new geological data that may speed up efforts to turn Afghanistan's vast mineral deposits into prosperity. 
 
Experts have thought for years that Afghanistan has significant mineral deposits, including gold, copper, iron, rare earths and gems.
 
A new joint U.S.-Afghan project gives foreign investors and mining companies data that is more complete and more accurate. 
 
The U.S. Geological Survey and its counterparts in the Afghan government reanalyzed old data, including information from the Soviet era, with more modern tools than were available when the data was collected decades ago.
 
The USGS also gathered huge amounts of new data from high-tech sensors on satellites and aircraft that peered deeply into most of Afghanistan's rugged and mountainous land. Ground teams examined promising areas in more detail. Team leaders have put all the project's data, thousands of pages of it, on a USGS website in the hope it will encourage companies to bid on projects. 
 
USGS project chief Steve Peters says better information reduces the risk for investors and increases the likelihood that projects will get started. 
 
"We think we have summarized what the potential is and we have provided enough data for private industry and the Ministry of Mines to move forward," said Peters.
 
Peters says some projects, such as gold mining, require relatively simple infrastructure and could get started in a year or so. Other efforts, like mining iron ore, need roads, power, and other kinds of infrastructure, which could take 10 years or more. 
 
Worries about security could slow developments further. 
 
But Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States, Eklil Hakimi, says the lure of profits will encourage companies to hurry up. 
 
"As you know, people who want to make money, they do not want to wait," said Hakimi.
 
The Ambassador says the sooner companies get started, the sooner money and jobs can flow into Afghanistan's troubled economy. 
 
"That is the ultimate goal, to make sure that this wealth that belongs to the people of Afghanistan, ultimately that they can get the benefit from it," he said.
 
He said it is crucial that a fair share of the profits go to ordinary people not just foreign companies or officials.
Analysts: US Anger With Pakistan Runs Precariously High - 09-25-11

South Asian analysts say U.S. frustration with Pakistan may be reaching the breaking point, especially after allegations that militants it supports launched deadly attacks on Americans in Afghanistan.
 
 
Heavy fighting broke out at the U.S. embassy in Kabul earlier this month as militants wearing suicide vests and armed with rocket-propelled grenades bombarded the compound.
 
Days earlier a truck filled with explosives attacked a NATO outpost south of Kabul, wounding 77 coalition troops.
 
U.S. officials say these and other attacks were launched by the Haqqani network, an ally of the Taliban with strong connections to the Pakistani intelligence agency.
 
"The Haqqani network, for one, acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's internal services intelligence agency," said Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. "With ISI support, Haqqani operatives planned and conducted that truck bomb attack, as well as the assault on our embassy."
 
Those comments from the nation's top military commander have shaken U.S. relations with Pakistan, an ally in the war against terror.
 
Pakistan has refused to use its troops to attack insurgents from the Haqqani network, based in North Waziristan, a tribal area along the border with Afghanistan. Analysts say Pakistan uses such militant groups to counter the military might and influence of arch rival India.
 
"Everyone knows that the ISI supports, trains, mans missions, sees both the Afghan Taliban and elements that are allied to it, like the Haqqani network, as their assets," said Christine Fair of Georgetown University. "So there is just this frustration that we have to treat them like an ally, but in fact they are operating against us and our interests."
 
Following the U.S. commando raid that killed al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, the relationship between Washington and Islamabad soured considerably.
 
Pakistani officials have denied knowing bin Laden was living comfortably in their country and they deny any involvement in the recent attack on the American embassy in Kabul.
 
"If you say that it is ISI involved in that attack, I categorically will deny it. I categorically deny it," said Rehman Malik, Pakistani Interior Minister.
 
U.S. officials say there is credible evidence the Haqqani network also was behind an attack against the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul last June and many smaller, but effective, operations.
 
The top commander in Afghanistan is clear about what he thinks needs to be done.
 
"We seek to have the Pakistani government place greater pressure on the Haqqani network," said General John Allen, Commander International Forces in Afghanistan.
 
The Pakistani military has refused to go after the Haqqani network and analysts say relations are hitting rock bottom. 
 
"The Pakistanis are really trying to put as much of a wedge between our countries as possible and they are winning. Congress is fed up with them, fed up with them," said Fair.
 
In the past 10 years, analysts say the United States has provided Pakistan with about $20 billion in military and civilian aid.
 
With America facing major economic difficulties and its relationship with Pakistan severely frayed, the future of such aid appears to be very much in question.
 
Guards open fire at Rabbani's funeral 09-23-11
Security guards at the burial ceremony of former Afghan president Burhanudin Rabbani here Friday fired into the air after some mourners hurled stones at the vehicles of the officials, Xinhua reported.
 
'Some mourners hurled stones at the vehicles of officials who attended the burial ceremony, and security guards opened fire into the air to control the situation,' a witness said.
 
Rabbani, who headed a council that was trying to broker peace with the Taliban, was Tuesday assassinated in a suicide bomb attack at his house in Kabul.
 
Counterfeit Dollars Flooding Afghanistan
KABUL -- Money-exchange dealers in Kabul say they are concerned by the large amounts of counterfeit foreign money that they say is entering Afghanistan from neighboring countries, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reports.
 
Aminullah Owijdan, head of the Kabul-based Money Exchange Dealers Association, told RFE/RL that there has been a huge influx of fake U.S. dollars on Kabul's streets in recent weeks.
 
"We suspect that countries like Iran and Pakistan are attempting to discredit [and disrupt] Afghanistan's money markets," he said. "Therefore, we are urging the government and security forces to do more in the border areas to prevent [the fake money's] entry into the country."
 
Dealers have asked locals to report to the police if they find counterfeit banknotes, which are reportedly softer in texture than the originals.
 
Saif al-Din, professor of economics at Kabul University, told RFE/RL that the entrance of fake currencies into Afghanistan has damaged the economy and disrupted everyday business transactions.
 
"If the government and security forces are serious about finally tackling this problem, it has to put certain control mechanisms in place to detect forged money and keep it from entering Afghanistan in the first place," he said. Read more at spero
 
Taliban claim responsibility for abducting 30 kids
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for kidnapping about 30 Pakistani children who mistakenly crossed into Afghanistan while on a picnic, a media report said.

The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for the incident that took place in Pakistan's northwestern tribal area of Bajaur Agency, Xinhua Saturday cited a TV channel as reporting.

The 30 Pakistani boys were reportedly abducted by Taliban militants after they mistakenly crossed the border into Afghanistan's Kunar province during a picnic.

The boys - all aged between 10 to 15 - were picnicking Thursday during Eid in northwest Bajaur tribal region when they were kidnapped.

Tribal elders were trying to negotiate their release.
Afghan militants abduct 30 kids
Thirty Pakistani children, who accidentally entered Afghanistan while celebrating Eid, were kidnapped by militants, a media report said Friday.

Afghan militants kidnapped the 30 children who crossed the border into Afghanistan's Kunar province from Bajaur Agency, Geo News reported.

Sources said these children were celebrating Eid when they crossed the border by mistake.

The media report said that the children have been moved to an unknown location.
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