DAILY AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN MEDIA ANALYSIS
TOP TALIBAN COMMANDER KILLED IN BADGHIS
HALF OF GOVERNMENT-OWNED LAND IN HERAT SOLD ILLEGALLY
DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS INAUGURATED IN AFGHANISTAN
U.S. DRONE AND PAKISTAN AIR ATTACKS
17 FEBRUARY 2009
I. MOC Flashpoints
TOP TALIBAN COMMANDER KILLED IN BADGHIS
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) Press reported that a top Taliban commander was killed along with other militants in an air strike in Badghis Province in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. military.
Forces targeted a rebel compound overnight in the district of Bala-Morghab. Provincial police chief Sayed Ahmad Sameh confirmed the incident saying Mullah Dastagir, his commander, and 8 other Taliban militants were killed during the air strikes. Dastagir’s brother was severely injured in the attack.
Cheragh Daily claimed that besides Dastagir and his commander, 10 others have been killed. PakTribune reported the commander as Mullah Baz Muhammad. Zahir Azimi, Ministry of Defense spokesman, said that these Taliban were killed in Boka village on Sunday night.
Dastagir was responsible for a surge in violence in Badghis in recent months. Previously he was arrested and under investigation by the military, only later to be released from jail with the help of influential elders’ pledges and orders by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Some timer after his release, Dastgir rejoined the Taliban, and led 150 Taliban militants to attack government officials on their way to Bala-Morghab from Qala-i-Naw, located in the center of Badghis. He killed more than 20 soldiers of the Afghan National Army and Afghan police in an ambush.
In related news, in the Nad Ali District of Helmand Province, Afghan security forces backed by international troops killed 8 Taliban members when the insurgents ambushed the convoy of joint forces. No Afghan or international troops were injured.
HALF OF GOVERNMENT-OWNED LAND IN HERAT SOLD ILLEGALLY
Over 50 percent of government land, estimated to be 20,000 hectares, was taken over by corrupt elite in Herat Province, reports Salam Watandar. Many obtained fraudulent paperwork with the help of corrupt family or friends in government positions and now claim ownership.
8am reported that Ghulam Mohammad Rahmani, Justice Ministry representative for Herat, told reporters that the province owned 40,000 hectares, half of which is now illegally owned by individuals. Rahmani added that the government has established several investigatory committees but no results have come forward so far. Afghan Paper claimed otherwise, reporting that Rahmani said the government has taken no action.
In Injil District of Herat, the small city of Ariana has been undergoing development projects and now with closer looks into the projects it has been discovered that government land has been
illegally sold for most of the city’s construction projects. Khwaja Sultan Mohammad, a man claiming to be the owner of Ariana city is in dispute with the government, stating that the land is a family inheritance. He said that after much battling with the government, he has given up, and after court hearings the government has seized his land. Similar situations can be found in several other cities in Herat.
Ariana TV reported on additional events in Herat Province, broadcasting the Bayat Foundation’s continuous efforts to help poor and needy Afghans during the winter. This time the foundation approached refugees and internally displaced residents in need of winter relief assistance in Herat. The Provincial Department of Repatriates thanked the foundation as the first private organization to send relief winter packages for distribution among families in refugee camp in the province.
DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS INAUGURATED IN AFGHANISTAN
8am reported that 34 projects in the Afghan provinces of Takhar, Jowzjan and Balkh have begun, which could help 9,450 families within these provinces. The projects are divided as such: 22 in Takhar, 8 in Jowzjan, and 4 in Balkh.
Jan Muhammad Nabizada, spokesman of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in Takhar said the projects included graveling 22 kilometers of road, construction of 120 bridges, 3 deep water wells, 2 hydroelectric power stations, irrigation canals and flood-retaining walls. These projects were completed in 3 months and cost 25 million Afghani, of which 10 percent was covered by provincial residents and rest by the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.
Additionally, Ariana TV reported that more than 32 development projects were completed by the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in Kandahar, Wardak, and Kapisa provinces. The ministry officials said the projects, which cost more than $14 million, included building roads, flood-retaining walls, irrigation canals, and deep water wells. According to National Solidarity Program officials, work on hundreds of other projects is underway in the same provinces.
In Jawzjan Province, the energy department reported to have completed a feasibility study for a hydropower plant to be constructed in the province. The plant is expected to begin operation by March of this year. The plant is expected to generate more than a hundred megawatts of electricity.
Bakhtar News Agency (BNA) reported that the Ghaisya Academy of Science of Herat Province has started the Greenery Environment and Planting Program. Mulawi Khodadad, head of the Academy, said the program from the Agriculture Department will plant 10,000 decorative and fruitful plants within 10 days. This Academy has 51 hectares of land located in the east of Herat province where 1,500 students are currently training.
U.S. DRONE AND PAKISTAN AIR ATTACKS
PakTribune reported that in Surkh Pull area, at least 30 people have been killed and at least 3 others were injured during the first U.S. drone attack in Kurram Agency, part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in northwestern Pakistan . Four U.S. drone planes fired 4 missiles at suspected militant hide-outs in the Sarpal area of Sadda in lower Kurram. Fifteen people were initially believed to be killed in the attack, but after a search of the area many bodies
trapped under the rubble were located, currently totaling up to 30 casualties. It is said that the camp of Bahram Khan Kochi, an Afghan insurgent commander was in the Sarpal area and attacked.
In addition to that attack, 5 militants were killed and several others were wounded after fighter jets attacked suspected militants’ hideouts in the Mamond area of Bajaur Agency, also located in FATA, according to Geo TV. Several militants’ positions were also destroyed in air strikes. Meanwhile, security forces backed by fighter jets pounded militants’ positions situated in the Inayat Klay, Rehman Abad, Shainkot and Bai Cheena areas of Khar, a city in Bajaur. Because of this, curfew has been enforced in Bajaur Agency for the past 12 days.
II. Commentary
TEARS FOR THE DEATH OF TREES
Khawaran presents a commentary piece from Gul Ahmed Darwishi about the famous pistachio forests of Badghis Province, which the author recalls from a time when the entire province was covered by pistachio and alpine trees. Within these forests of alpine and pistachio there are many shrines which are well over 100 years old which play a daily role for the Muslims of Badghis. With the respect and superstitious fear that the Badghis residents have for these shrines, the citizens make no attempts at disturbing the woods, rather than providing them protection. The famous pistachio and alpine trees once over populated the province together, now you find great gaps in the forests as most of the trees have been cleared out by vicious forces attacking them and causing a full destruction. Badghis has not only lost the beauty of these trees but a great economic strength.
The writer tells the true story of Mohammad Hassan, also known as Shiren Sokhan Herati, who was the provincial counsel in charge of the forests and agriculture. He was known for the great love and dedication he provided to the pistachio and alpine forests. The elders of the province still remember him and speak of his stories. Shiren Sokhan one day caught a man cutting down a tree in the forest to make tools for himself, and he took the man to the city to be judged by the law for what he had done. Soon after, Shiren Sokhan announced the funeral of his son, inviting all of his friends and family. As the casket was being buried, people noticed that the cut tree was being buried. The people were confused and questioned Shiren Sokhan, to which he replied, “This is my young son who was nurtured with care and love, and a man cut him down.”
Today in the province of Badghis over 60 percent of its forests of pistachio and alpine have been destroyed. The majority of the remaining forests are under the rule of non-military armed forces, which use the forests for their own personal financial gain. Provincial Governor Mohammad Ashraf Nasiri says that within the areas of Badghis not under government control, militants burn and destroy the forests. The central government is not paying attention to the forests and as a result, the forests are facing extinction. Weeks before harvesting the pistachio trees, the militant forces come throughout the province, collect all of the pistachios and put a stop to any citizen in Badghis from earning any economic benefit from the harvest.
Provincial residents affirm that lawless militants use the trees for fire wood and cut the branches before the harvest, preventing the tree from repopulating. They believe that the government is at greater fault because no preventative action is being taken. Azita Rafat, Lower House member for Badghis has brought this matter to the attention of Parliament several times. Wahidullah Sultani, provincial official in charge of the forest, says that since now over 60 percent of the forest is destroyed, the rest of the land should be divided amongst the citizens so they can take care of the
forests. Unfortunately, citizens will not take control over the land because currently it is unofficially divided amongst militant forces.
Badghis government officials have been seeking help and have gotten in touch with a company in Spain which will provide $200,000 this year for plantation projects. The 90,000 acres of pistachio trees are within five districts of Badghis, and if government protection is provided it will benefit from millions of dollars in revenue.
The writer ends with the hopes that the authority figures bring a change in this situation and save the forests so they too can be remembered by future generations with great pride like the wonderful Shiren Sokhan.
III. Evening News
Ariana TV evening Pashto news reported that thousands of hectares of agricultural land in Kundoz and Takhar provinces remains uncultivated due to drought and lack of seeds. Officials in the Agriculture departments of these northern provinces estimate that those factors, combined with the poor economy of the farmers, has rendered about 50 percent of rain-fed agricultural lands in these provinces uncultivable. The drought conditions last year have increased concern among the farmers of northern provinces for their future. They have warned that farmers will be discouraged from cultivating more land if the drought conditions continue and the government fails to support them.
RTA TV evening Dari news reported that the security police of Takhar Province have arrested five persons accused of transporting narcotics. The press office of the Ministry of Interior Affairs said the arrested persons had placed nine packets of heroin in a car to take from Kalfagan to another area. RTA added that the case is under the police investigation.
It was also reported that in Parwan Province police have seized a number of the different types of ammunition from various areas. The security press office said the seized ammunition included 16 100mm artillery shells, 6 RPG7 rockets, 1 BM1 fire, 2 mines, and 1 82mm artillery shell. All of these were recovered and seized by the security police form Saihgard, Jabelsaraj in the center of Parwan. The ammunition was handed over to the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) commission.
Geo TV evening Urdu news reported Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas Tarar said 41 detonators, 3 hand grenades, and a large quantity of Kalashnikov rounds were recovered from a building near the Kotla Jam patrolling post in Sargodha. He told Geo TV that police had initiated the investigation into the recovery of arms.
In other news from Geo TV, the Federal State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Syed Sumsam Ali Shah Bukhari speaking at a Youm-e-Raza conference in Karachi, said Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Bralvi’s Urdu translation of the Quran was easy to understand which helped evolve spirituality and righteousness in readers. Other speakers at the event said Khan Bralvi’s life was exemplary for Muslims to follow and added that Islam is the religion of peace, which teaches love and tolerance. Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Saeed Ahmed Kazmi also attended the conference, as well as prominent professors of universities and other religious scholars.
The ARACHNID, or Afghanistan Regional Analysis of Communications Highlights, News & Information Developments is produced daily for the International Security Assistance Force and United States Central Command. The ARACHNID provides ISAF and CENTCOM the most current situational awareness of regional reporting in the Pashtu-, Dari Persian-, and Urdu-language media on Afghanistan, as well as on relevant events in Pakistan and other countries in the region that impact Afghanistan. Email the ARACHNID Team to receive the ARACHNID.
