Afghanistan — Elections

• Election Security: Anonymous U.S. defense officials tell Reuters they expect Taliban intimidation efforts to rise in advance of the parliamentary vote, particularly in the north where they have put in "extra effort" since the presidential elections last year. In Herat, ten campaign workers for Fauzia Gilani, a female candidate and current sitting MP, were abducted by unidentified gunmen. [Reuters] [NYT] [AJE]
• Candidate Profiles: The AFP interviews some of the younger first-time candidates in the upcoming election; "Afghanistan can only solve its own problems if young people go into politics to do things for their country," candidate Farkhunda Naderi says. [AFP]

Afghanistan — Security

• Security Force Training: The Afghan Ministry of Defense said that remarks from Gen. William Caldwell, the chief of the joint NATO/US training effort, on the low level of literacy and high attrition rate among Afghan security forces were "totally incorrect". Accord to the Ministry of Defense, 68,000 of the 136,000 Afghan troops can read and write. Gen. Caldwell is interviewed separately by the LAT, which focuses on the challenges of driving training; more than half of Afghan army injuries result from vehicular accidents. [TOLO] [LAT]
• Taliban Attacks: Taliban fighters killed eight police officers in an attack on a checkpoint outside Kunduz yesterday morning; only one Afghan soldier survived the attack, but was able to force a withdrawal by the Taliban. In a separate checkpoint attack in Ghazni Wednesday night, 8 police were wounded. [BBC] [WSJ] [TOLO]

Afghanistan — Politics and Diplomacy

• Karzai and the US: Pres. Karzai’s office issued a series of statements yesterday after meetings with the new head of CENTCOM, Gen. James Mattis and a visiting group of U.S. Congressmen, in which he said that while "outstanding progress" that has been made in reconstruction, "we haven’t progressed in the war against terrorism." Karzai also said Pres. Obama’s July 2011 date to begin withdrawal of some U.S. forces from the country "has given courage to the enemies of Afghanistan".  In an interview with the Post, national security advisor and former foreign minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta said that the "central issue is international jihadis", and that while "we will fight corruption," "to put this problem and challenge at the top of all the others in Afghanistan, that’s a joke. A bad joke. It’s avoiding responsibility." Spanta suggested that the U.S. needed to intensify drone strikes against Afghan Taliban commanders living in Pakistan and called for sanctions against Pakistan and denial of visas to Pakistani generals. Spanta also said that aide Mohammad Zia Salehi "absolutely rejected" reports that he was on the CIA payroll. [WAPO] [AJE]

Afghanistan — Remainders

• Taliban Believed to Have Recovered Crashed Drone’s Camera [AFP]
• 17 Killed in Nangahar Flooding [TOLO]
• Afghanistan Drills for Oil for the First Time in Sar-i-Pul [Reuters]
• Video: Embedded with the Taliban [WIRED]
• Report: IEC Press Conference Notes Aug 26 – "Manawi said that polling centers had been closed in 25 provinces; of those, the minimum number of centers closed was six and the maximum 107, in Ghazni province." [Democracy International]
• Commentary: The Helmand Flood Zone Fiasco - "As with many past efforts in Helmand, this wasn’t in itself an “alternative livelihoods” project; creating livelihoods that would be sustainable after the withdrawal of donor funding was not a primary concern." [Joel Hafvenstein, Registan]
• Commentary: The Civilian Cost of Armed Conflict in Afghanistan: Overview of Recent Reports – "AAN Senior Analyst Sari Kouvo takes a closer look at patterns identified on violations against – and protection of – civilians in the war in Afghanistan and brings in other, lesser known data." [AAN]

Collated by Colin Cookman

Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission Chairman Fazil Ahmad Manawi speaking at a press conference August 26 2010 Kabul (photo by Colin Cookman)

Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission Chairman Fazil Ahmad Manawi held a press conference August 26 in Kabul to discuss preparations for the upcoming vote. Democracy International attended along with a number of local Afghan press outlets. Our notes are based on unofficial translations of Chairman Manawi’s remarks and an official press statement provided by the IEC.

Polling Center Closings: Manawi spent the bulk of his remarks on last week’s announcement of polling center closures, which we took a closer look at here. Criticizing unspecified media outlets who he said reported on the closures without providing full context on the process, Manawi stressed that any closures had been made on the recommendation of the security services and were within a range similar to last year’s. According to Manawi, in 2009 the IEC planned to open 6,969 polling centers, but was only able to open 6,200; this year the initial plan to open 6,835 centers was revised to 5,897 (at this point).

Manawi said that polling centers had been closed in 25 provinces; of those, the minimum number of centers closed was six and the maximum 107, in Ghazni province. A full list of closed polling centers has yet to be provided. Manawi acknowledged that the number of polling stations would be reduced in some areas of the country but said the number of stations would be increased in safer areas where possible.

Ballot Preparations: Manawi said that the process of packing ballots has been completed for 31 out of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces already; those ballots have already been flown out to fourteen provinces, another ten provinces’ worth are waiting to go at the Kabul airport, and seven are in storage at the IEC warehouse awaiting shipment. He said that the last three provinces’ ballots will be packed by August 31. (According to the election timetable, this is on or ahead of schedule—DI)

In order to curtail the potential for fraud, individual polling stations within a larger polling center are limited to 600 ballots; however Manawi said the provinces would receive a specific allocation of extra ballots that could, in the event of heavy voter turnout, be used to give each polling center up to 40% more ballots than their starting allocation in order to open new polling stations. No new polling centers will be opened before the vote; the developing security situation means additional centers may yet be closed.

Foreign/online media

Afghanistan – Election

• Commentary: A Pre-Election Visit to Paktika – “Out of 22 candidates (one of lowest numbers in the country), six were in the province during my visit, the rest staying in Kabul mainly due to security concerns.” [Tina Blohm, AfPak Channel]

Afghanistan — Security

• Taliban Reconciliation and Reintegration: Speaking to Fox News, Gen. Petraeus said yesterday that Afghan provincial and district governors have begun distributing funding intended to sway local Taliban fighters over to the government’s side over the past few days. Petraeus said that the U.S. "is very much in the information loop” on higher-level political negotiations with senior Taliban and “in a couple of cases has helped in a sense, but is not doing the negotiation." [FOX]
• Trainee Kills Two Spanish Officers: An Afghan police trainee shot and killed two Spanish national guard officers and their interpreter before being killed himself in Qalay-i-Naw, Baghdis yesterday, where the Spanish lead the provincial reconstruction team. A spokesman for the Baghdis governor said that the dispute started when the trainee refused to surrender his weapon on entering the base; NATO said it was still investigating the cause. The Taliban’s spokesman claimed that the shooter had "special contacts" with the insurgents, according to the LAT. Following the shooting hundreds of protestors surrounded the Spanish base, setting fire to parts of it before being partially dispersed by Afghan police. At least 18 people were admitted for gunshot wounds according to local health officials. [NYT] [WSJ] [LAT] [Reuters] [BBC] [Guardian] [AJE] [TOLO]

Afghanistan — Politics and Diplomacy

• Karzai Aide Under Investigation Linked to CIA: Mohammad Zia Salehi, the Afghan national security council aide at the center of recent conflicts between Pres. Karzai and the internationally-backed Major Crimes Task Force after his arrest in July for alleged solicitation of bribes, has been on the CIA’s payroll for “many years”, U.S. and Afghan officials tell the NYT. The piece focuses on the internal contradictions in U.S. strategy towards the country; while some administration officials describe public corruption as the “single greatest threat to the Afghan government and the American mission”, others argue that “fighting corruption is the very definition of mission creep,” in the words of one anonymous official who worries that going after Afghan officials is destabilizing the Karzai government. One Afghan politician predicts that no matter how strong the U.S. pressure against Salehi, Karzai will not allow his prosecution, “because by going after him, you are opening the gates.” [NYT]
• India and Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s foreign minister reciprocated a visit from the Indian national security advisor earlier this week with a trip to New Dehli yesterday, where he met PM Singh and held talks with his counterpart S.M. Krishna. The two countries “agreed that terrorism is the main threat undermining peace and stability in the region and reiterated their resolve to effectively combating and defeating it," according to an official statement, and also discussed trade relations; the Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement agreed to earlier this summer appears to have been held up by continued Pakistani suspicions about direct Indian trade access to Afghanistan. [AFP]

Afghanistan — Remainders

• Five U.S. Soldiers Charged in Premeditated Killing of Afghan Civilians [AP]
• 22 School Girls Reportedly ‘Poisoned’ in Kabul [TOLO] [AJE]
• US Troops Fire Shots to Disperse Protestors in Parwan; Local Police Say One Killed [AP]
• Ministry of Information and Culture Attempts to Keep Female Flesh Off Afghan TV [Reuters]

Summary collated by Colin Cookman

Local offline media

More detail to come.

8/26/10

Which youth can be a suitable candidate?
Mandegar, Dari daily. Thursday August 26, 2010.

A columnist with Mandegar Dari daily delves into the claims of candidates who are posing as representatives of youth in the country. The columnist doubts their claims.

300 people have trained to be election observers
8 am, Dari daily. Thursday August 26, 2010.

8 am reports that IEC, ECC, FEFA and Counter Part had organized a workshop for training 300 people as election observers for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Counter campaign against candidates in Herat
8 am, Dari daily. Thursday August 26, 2010.

The campaign of some candidates in Herat province has faced a systematic counter campaign. Their posters have been defaced, painted over and graffiti-ed with insulting language. 

Summary collated and translated by Hamayon Rastagar

Further to this morning’s digest, here’s a more detailed summary of the local language items.

Afghanistan’s Senate has also expressed concerns about the election process
8 am, Dari daily. Wednesday August 25, 2010.

Afghanistan’s senate has expressed its serious concerns about the possibility of irregularities in upcoming parliamentary elections. The senate has identified reducing polling centers, buying of voter registration cards, and discrimination against women as majors areas of concern.

Senate’s second deputy M. Alam Izadyar has stated that some candidates are buying voter registration cards belonging to the supporters of their rivals in order to deprive them of the votes of their core supporters.

Female senators have voiced concerns on how the security situation negatively impacts women candidates in this election. They believe due to lack of law and order, and growing insurgency women candidates cannot campaign freely. Moreover, the senate has also highlighted on systematic defacing of women candidate’s posters as a sign of prevalent misogynistic politics.

The senate has demanded from election officials and security authorities to pay attention to their concerns. 

Peoples concerns about the one third of the polling centers being closed in Ghazni
8 am, Dari daily. Wednesday August 25, 2010.

As the Election Day is getting closer the people in Ghazni are becoming more anxious about the transparency and fairness of the upcoming election. One of their major concerns is that 107 polling centers will remain closed in the province. The residents of the province believe if the mentioned polling centers will stay closed, as announced; the people of the province will be deprived of their political rights and of their fair share in the next parliament.

It should be noted that about one third of the polling centers in Ghazni will remain closed. Thus, Ghazni has the highest number affected polling centers in the country.

Divisions over the parliamentary elections
Mandegar, Dari daily. Wednesday August 25, 2010.

Mandegar Daily in its editorial discusses the divisions between the international community and the Afghan government on how to conduct the elections. The paper states that the Afghan government t prefers to hold the elections on time under any circumstances. However, the international community is trying to prevent the elections from taking place on its scheduled date of 18 September.

If the elections did not take place, it is going have a negative impact on the process of democracy in this country. It should be noted that, if the elections were postponed this time, due to any reason, international community will lose its interest in supporting the democratic process in this country. There are circles in the international community who are not very enthusiastic about strengthening democracy in this country. If the elections were postponed this time anti-democratic forces will be encouraged everywhere; and it is dangerous for democracy in Afghanistan. 

Disqualified candidates asked to remove posters
Afghanistan Times, English daily. Wednesday August 25, 2010.

Officials of the ECC have asked for the removal of posters of disqualified candidates. ECC spokesperson told Pazhwok News on Tuesday the candidates struck off the list should remove their posters and other campaign material.

Foreign/online media

Afghanistan — Elections

• Election Insecurity: The AP interviews Kandahar residents who say they will not vote in the upcoming election out of fear of attack and skepticism of meaningful change. The AFP focuses on deteriorating security in the north, particularly Kunduz and Balkh. "We have pledged to hold elections in those areas where security forces hold tight security," the IEC tells TOLOnews. The NDS intelligence service briefed parliament on election security on Tuesday. Reuters offers a backgrounder on the parliament’s role and the electoral process. [AP] [AFP] [TOLO] [Sada] [Reuters] [Reuters]
• Female Candidates: The number of female candidates in the parliamentary election has risen from 28 in 2005 to 406 today, The Guardian reports, despite widespread reports of harassment by both Taliban insurgents and rival candidates. [Guardian]

Afghanistan — Security

• Military Operations and Troop Withdrawals: The Afghan Taliban issued a statement yesterday calling remarks by Gen. Petraeus that Taliban momentum had been reversed “baffling”. Marine Corp Commandant James Conway told reporters yesterday that he believed Pres. Obama’s decision to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan was “probably giving our enemy sustenance” and that “the president was talking to several audiences at the same time” in choosing the date. Conway nonetheless suggested that there would be a psychological impact on Taliban fighters when they realized U.S. forces would not be immediately leaving, and said it will be “a few years” before Marines turned over security responsibility completely to Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan. [Reuters] [NYT] [WAPO] [Army Times] [BBC] [CNN] [AJE]
• Logistics: The flooding in Pakistan has slowed, but not completely stopped, NATO logisitical supply lines to Afghanistan, the NYT reports. The northern Chaman border cross road into southern Afghanistan, which passes through Quetta, Jacobabad, and Sukkur, is underwater at several points, as is the northern Torkham crossing road near Peshawar; trucks are being re-routed along the southern Balochistan coast. The Afghan Taliban claim to have destroyed 24 fuel trucks in southern Helmand; NATO denies the report. [NYT] [AJE]
• Civilian Casualties: A team of NATO investigators are traveling to Baghlan Province to investigate claims that a night raid on Sunday had killed 8 Afghan civilians and left 12 wounded. [NYT] [TOLO]

Afghanistan — Remainders

• Ministry of Defense: Private Security Contractor Shut-Down to Begin Next Week [TOLO]
• India to Re-Open Kabul Medical Mission [TOI]
• Afghan Capital Removing Blast Walls [AP]
• Four Police Wounded in Jalalabad Bombing [TOLO]
• Commentary: Failure to Communicate – “Interpreters have a different stake from the Americans in the outcome of the war, and by definition they’re working with people who can’t understand half the things they say, meaning that there’s no accountability if they’re translating an English message into something totally different.” [Neil Shea,FP]

Foreign media collated by Colin Cookman

Local media

(These will be translated in more detail for the afternoon edition of the digest)

Afghanistan’s Senate has also expressed concerns about the election process
8 am, Dari daily. Wednesday August 25, 2010.

The Afghan senate has expressed concern given the volatile security situation whether it is possible to conduct a fair and transparent election.

Peoples concerns about the one third of the polling centers being closed in Ghazni
8 am, Dari daily. Wednesday August 25, 2010.

As the election day nears the people in Ghazni are becoming more anxious about the transparency of the upcoming election. One of their major concerns is that 107 polling centers will remain closed in the province.

Divisions over the parliamentary elections
Mandegar, Dari daily. Wednesday August 25, 2010.

Mandegar Daily in its editorial discusses the divisions between the international community and the Afghan government on how to conduct the elections.

Vote runs up against fear, disenchantment
Afghanistan Times, English daily. Wednesday August 25, 2010.

Afghanistan Times quoting Pazhwak states that people might be reluctant to participate in elections due to the high risk that it poses.

Local media collated by Hamayon Rastagar