Afghans go to polls under threat of Taliban violence

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Under the menacing threat of violence from the Taliban, Afghans headed to the polls on Thursday in the war-ravaged nation's second-ever national election.In parts of the capital Kabul, where recent calm was shattered by a series of bloody attacks leading up to election day, the streets were eerily empty early in the day, save extra security checkpoints. At midday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force reported "Kabul is calm."The Taliban has vowed to disrupt the voting, and the risk may have been too high for some Afghans to venture out to vote.The government ordered a ban on media coverage of incidents of violence in an effort to "ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people."
Thousands of NATO and Afghan soldiers provided security at the polls and more than 30 observer groups -- domestic and international -- were on hand to monitor the voting.
But in other parts of Afghanistan that have been largely spared the daily drumbeat of car bombs, assassinations and whizzing rockets, voters lined up to cast their ballots.Pajhwok, an independent Afghan news agency, reported brisk turnout in western Herat province, which borders Iran.
In central Bamiyan province, where predominantly ethnic Hazaras suffered under Taliban rule, thousands of voters cast their ballots behind cardboard screens inside dust-caked tents. Police struggled to hold back and search the crowd and at one point, people pushed through, breaking off one of the gates to the polling center.
Organizers from Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission said all 412 polling stations across Bamiyan will be open, whereas in neighboring Daikundi province to the south, 11 polling centers were closed because of security concerns. The southern provinces form the heartland of Taliban territory.A few other polling stations in eastern Kunar and Nuristan provinces that did not open and others, including 100 in Ghor that opened without a security presence, Pajhwok reported.The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until the 2001 U.S.-led invasion and in recent months has staged an increasingly bloody insurgency. Afghanistan observers and experts said a high turnout would help marginalize the radical Islamist group."We're at a moment of truth," said Mark Schneider, senior vice president of the International Crisis Group, an independent advisory and analysis organization.Incumbent President Hamid Karzai, dressed in his traditional purple and green striped robe, cast his vote shortly after the polls opened Thursday and had his finger stamped with indelible ink, a measure to thwart fraud."It's the second presidential and parliamentary elections in Afghanistan and I'm sure this will be for peace, for progress and for the well-being of the Afghan people," he said afterward. "And I request the Afghan people to come out and vote so that through their vote, Afghanistan can be a more secure, more peaceful and a better country."Karzai's name appears on the ballot with 40 other candidates for president. His top rival is his former finance minister Abdullah Abdullah, who once served as a confidante of Ahmed Shah Massoud, the charismatic leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance killed by al Qaeda. The other candidate who gathered steam in the campaign is former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, a Western-educated man who served as a World Bank analyst. Who are the candidates? How does the voting work? Read here »Karzai was named interim leader after the fall of the Taliban regime and won the 2004 election by a significant margin. His popularity, however, has waned in recent months as Afghanistan has been crippled by corruption and increasing bloodshed.Both Abdullah and Ghani hailed anti-corruption measures and government transparency as centerpieces of their campaign platforms.More than 3,000 candidates also are on the ballot vying for 420 provincial seats.Women's votes were seen as crucial. Under Taliban rule, women were denied equal rights and hurtled backward in time. In some areas, however, women voters were greatly outnumbered by men.Habiba Surobi, the female governor of Bamiyan, said one problem is that women who live in remote areas are still not aware of their rights."This is something to be concerned about," she said, adding that it was the responsibility of Afghanistan's women leaders to ensure better awareness and education.International donors are helping pay for Afghanistan's $223 million electoral undertaking. Richard Holbrooke, the top U.S. envoy in the region, acknowledged earlier this week that staging an election in the midst of war was tough, but expressed optimism that Thursday's vote would showcase Afghanistan's fledgling democracy.About 15 million Afghans are registered to vote. Earlier, officials had estimated that number as 17 million.

Stakes high as Afghans go to vote

BBC.COM
Millions of Afghans are set to vote in the country's second presidential election since the fall of the Taliban.Militants have threatened to disrupt the polls, in which President Hamid Karzai is running for a second term.Violence has escalated in recent days and at least five election workers were killed on Wednesday. There are fears some Afghans will be afraid to vote.But a government order for a media black-out on poll-day attacks so as not to dissuade voters has been criticised.Some 300,000 Afghan troops and members of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) are being deployed to protect the 17 million registered voters.Polling stations open at 0700 (0230 GMT) and close at 1600. However, it remains unclear how many of the 6,969 polling sites will operate because of the security threat.“ I'm requesting all our people wherever they are... to come out and vote in millions ”
The interior ministry says about a third of the country is at high risk of attack and that no polling stations will be open in eight districts under Taliban control.
There are also concerns about corruption, with reports of voting cards being openly sold and of candidates offering large bribes.
Opinion polls suggest support for Hamid Karzai, who is running against 41 candidates, is at around 45%, with his former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, in second place with 25%.On Wednesday Mr Karzai urged all registered voters to cast their ballot in defiance of the insurgents.
Ian Pannell, BBC News, Kabul Despite a lively campaign the enthusiasm and joy that surrounded the last election has largely disappeared.
Corruption, fraud, apathy and the threat of attacks from the Taliban are expected to keep many people away from the polls.But millions of pounds have been invested and hundreds of lives have been lost in order to allow this election to happen.Not surprising then that western officials insist that any vote, however flawed, is still better than none at all."I'm requesting all our people, wherever they are - in villages, in homes, in remote areas, in valleys - to come out and vote in millions to make this country a greater, better success," he said. "It's good for all of us."
"Enemies will do their best, but it won't help," he added.
Militants have made repeated threats against the polls and more than 25 people have been killed in bombings and attacks in the last two days.
In a statement, the Taliban said 20 suicide bombers had made their way to the capital, Kabul, where they were preparing attacks.
In Helmand province, insurgents warned that anyone with indelible ink on their finger, used to identify people who have voted, would have it cut off.
The BBC's Caroline Wyatt, in the Helmand city of Lashkar Gah, says there is a quiet sense of menace in the province as people weigh up whether to risk going to the polling station.
Reporters harassed
The US has expressed concern about the apparent attempts by militants to intimidate voters.
But State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said there was a "very strong will of the majority of people in Afghanistan to be responsible for their own destiny".

Mr Kelly also criticised Afghan attempts to ban media coverage of violence during the polls, saying unfettered media reporting was "a fundament of a free society".
Some journalists have reported being harassed and beaten by security forces. The United Nations has asked for the ban to be lifted, saying the Afghan constitution guarantees a free press.
Thursday's vote will be Afghanistan's second presidential election since the US-led invasion in 2001 toppled the Taliban regime.
Preliminary official results should be announced sometime on Saturday evening. If the winning candidate fails to gain more than 50% of the vote on Thursday, there will be a second-round run-off in October.

Kick out Karzai. We deserve a second chance

www.timesonline.co.uk
My country is on the brink of chaos, and without peace, honesty and justice in Afghanistan the whole world is in danger
Ashraf Ghani
The success of the Nato-led intervention in Afghanistan hangs in the balance in the elections that begin today. Without a new government committed to restoring the State’s sovereignty and working with the international community to stabilise the country, the insurgency will spiral further out of control. Afghanistan needs a new leader who has a clear strategy to achieve our mutual goal of sending foreign troops home.

In the past three years the insurgency has grown in strength and number. The Taleban have reversed their losses in southern and eastern strongholds and gained ground in once stable parts of the North and West. Al-Qaeda still remains active on our border. The number of troops on the ground has increased, and yet this past July was the deadliest month for foreign forces since the conflict began eight years ago.

In the run-up to today’s election the insurgents once again stepped up their attacks. Deadly suicide bombs outside Nato headquarters and around Kabul this week have underlined their determination. They are targeting candidates and voters alike, intent on killing soldiers, police and innocent civilians. Fear has gripped the country as Afghans anxiously anticipate a violent post-election outcome.

The corruption of the Karzai regime has enabled this deterioration of security by tolerating lawlessness, cutting deals with warlords and turning a blind eye to the drug trafficking that is funding attacks and perpetuating injustice. Mr Karzai’s recent pardon of five drug dealers and a known rapist are just the latest in a series of unconscionable acts he has committed as president. This week he even welcomed General Abdul Rashid Dostum, a known killer, back to Afghanistan to endorse his re-election bid. Not only does Mr Karzai lack a coherent strategy to stabilise the state, but also he lacks the will and legitimacy among the people to do so.

Initially, the Afghan population welcomed the Nato forces, but the Bush doctrine of counterterrorism resulted in arbitrary arrests, detentions and accidental civilian deaths that turned the people against the troops. The efforts of the international community have been undermined by incompetent Afghan leadership. The prime example is the National Police, which after $10 billion in international assistance remains unprepared and rife with corruption. The Obama Administration is ready to change this doctrine but it needs a capable and reliable partner.

I have a strategy for restoring sovereignty that can bring peace to Afghanistan in the next three to seven years. Only one fifth of my plan involves a military effort, the rest consists of government reform and economic growth. For this to happen it will be essential for the Afghan Government and the international community to agree to a process with clear benchmarks that measures meaningful process toward withdrawal, such as a mutual commitment to shut foreign detention centres such as Bagram within three years.

Once the joint commitment is established then a coherent peace- building process can begin. The first priority will be to negotiate an initial ceasefire. Only then can a process of reconciliation with the Taleban begin. We need to talk with the Taleban and understand why they joined the insurgency to help to address the root causes. In my experience, injustice and bad governance have been the primary drivers.

The next step will be to reorganise Afghan security forces. As commander-in-chief, the president must lead the security effort — something that Mr Karzai has failed to do. Operations should be restructured around three key priorities: securing cities, highways and large projects. In their endeavours, the security forces need to take a neighbourhood-level approach, reaching out to local elites to ensure cooperation. Rooting out corruption will be critical to this. I want to create a network of 20,000 citizen monitors who will report on the abuse of power by local officials and police. These monitors should be connected in a telephone chain that leads them directly to the president’s office from local, district and provincial levels. Such a “neighbourhood watch” scheme would restore trust in the armed forces.

The final step to achieving security will be to create jobs. Afghanistan suffers from almost 53 per cent unemployment, and 71 per cent of our population is under the age of 30. I have laid out a detailed plan to create one million new jobs in construction, mining and agriculture. These jobs will help to give Afghans a stake in society — so that they won’t want to attack it. My economic agenda includes privatisation, foreign investment and the opening of international markets to Afghan goods. Whether it is a rural women’s co-operative exporting dried fruit, the beef sold by a nomadic herdsman or even our deep deposits of copper or gems, Afghanistan is rich in exportable resources. Ultimately it will be impossible to achieve stability until people see improvements in their daily lives. Jobs and growth are the way to make that happen.

Military gains will never be enough. Nowhere is this better illustrated than Helmand. Despite repeated Nato victories, it is still not safe. Strong civic institutions, such as courts, local councils and an uncorrupt police force are needed to enforce a just and lawful order.

After almost eight years of Hamid Karzai, violence, drug trafficking and rampant corruption are continuing to erode our national sovereignty. The elections offer both Afghanistan and the international community a rare second chance to get it right: to root out the insurgency, pursue reconciliation and enforce the good governance that is needed to secure the peace and make it last. The future stability of our nation, our region and the world depend on the outcome.

Ashraf Ghani is a former Finance Minister, and a presidential candidate in Afghanistan

Voter turnout could deal blow to Taliban

(CNN) -- A high voter turnout in Thursday's presidential elections in Afghanistan could help marginalize the Taliban, experts said Wednesday.

The militant Islamist group, which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, has threatened to violently derail the war-torn nation's second-ever presidential election. Fifteen million voters, almost half the nation, are registered.

In the last week, two suicide car bombers killed 15 people in Kabul, a rocket landed on the presidential palace compound, wounding a staffer, and Afghan security forces killed three gunmen after storming a bank. The Taliban said the gunmen were potential suicide bombers and that there were 17 more in the capital.

If the Afghan people rise above the threats and attacks and turn out en masse to vote, the Taliban's ability to exact fear on the population will be diminished. In essence, a large voter turnout will be a vote of confidence in the democratic process, experts said.

But, warned J. Alexander Thier of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan, congressionally funded think tank, it's a two-way street.

"[Voters are] not going to be able to stand up to the Taliban and Taliban intimidation if they don't believe in the alternative," said Thier, who directs the institute's "Future of Afghanistan" project.

It's imperative the election is deemed legitimate, he said, because if the Afghan people think the election was rigged or predetermined, they will lose faith in an already weak and corrupt government.

"As we increase our military resources there, it will look like the U.S. is pouring in to prop up a leader not supported by his own people," Thier said.

A bogus election - whether real or perceived -- could exacerbate an already fragile political situation, another expert said.

"There's a concern that if they don't handle this election properly, there will be more violence because people are not trusting the legitimacy of the election," said Patricia DeGennaro, who has served as a consultant on policy development in President Hamid Karzai's office.

Daniel Markey, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations and former State Department staffer, said nothing would better suit the Taliban, which is trying to dissuade citizens from voting in an effort to discredit the entire process.

The group, which has resurged in recent years, also is attempting to show the international community that the war in Afghanistan is not winnable, Markey said.

"The entire project in Afghanistan - the reason we have tens of thousands of troops there - is based on the idea that eventually we'll get a stable and effective government," he said. "If it's thoroughly discredited by the Taliban, if it leads to more instability, then the political side of the equation won't come together and the military side won't be enough to hold Afghanistan together."

The Taliban shouldn't be the sole scapegoat for Afghanistan's woes. In addition to U.S. and international mishandling of the situation in Afghanistan, the government of Karzai, who is running for re-election, is seen as corrupt and ineffective, Markey said.

Another problem is the people of Afghanistan, said Frank Anderson, president of the Middle East Policy Council and former chief of the CIA's Near East and South Asia division.

There are plenty of people in Afghanistan who want to see democracy and civil society prevail, but there are more people - largely in the rural areas - who have little faith in government, he said.

They want better lives but have far more confidence in family and tribal leaders, outside of whom, they believe, "there is no permanent friendship and no permanent enmity," Anderson said.

"There is a population that lacks the education and opportunities to even conceive what benefit they could get from a modern nation-state," said Anderson, who headed the CIA's Afghan task force in the late 1980s. "They've always been able to prevent a modernizing state force from extending its writ into the countryside."

Perhaps demonstrating the point is that polls indicate votes are going to fall largely along ethnic lines.

Karzai is a Pashtun, Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, while his top opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, is half Pashtun and half Tajik, the second-largest ethnic group.

Experts differ on whether the election will be a landslide or photo finish, but most agree Karzai has the advantage over Abdullah, a 48-year-old doctor who served as Karzai's foreign minister until 2006.

Another front-runner, Ashraf Ghani, has not been polling well. DeGennaro said it's because he refuses to bargain with powerful warlords and elders, a common Afghan means of garnering popular support.

While Karzai's and Abdullah's campaign headquarters have been bustling with people trying to form alliances with the next potential chief executive, Ghani has embraced a more grassroots approach.

"His compound is quite quiet. ... That's why he's not doing well," said DeGennaro, an adjunct associate professor at New York University who has taught classes on international intervention in Afghanistan.

Ghani is the best prospect for change, the professor said. He works with women and intellectuals, embraces Western-style governments and keeps human rights and social issues like literacy atop his agenda, she said.

Karzai, DeGennaro said, is more prone to bombastic promises. Afghans are increasingly weary of the war and violence in their country and Karzai has promised to boot U.S. troops out of major cities and curtail the deadly U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan.

"It's definitely what Afghans want to hear, but he's never going to implement [his promises]," DeGennaro said.

Not much will change in Afghanistan if Karzai or Abdullah win, experts predict. In regard to human rights, the rampant opium trade and the U.S. military presence - a few of the top issues dogging Afghanistan - "there is no significant policy daylight between them on the key issues," Anderson said.

There is also little difference in the level of support that either man would receive from Washington, he said, adding, "Irrespective of who wins, the enemy isn't going to stop."

Though Americans are largely buffered from the violence and political turmoil that unfolds daily in Afghanistan, the Council on Foreign Relations' Markey said U.S. citizens should keep an eye on the nation.

"We should care about those troops, but we should also care about stability in Afghanistan so we don't see a return to something that looks like pre-9/11 Afghanistan," he said.

US energy experts due today: Holbrooke

KARACHI: President Barack Obama’s envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke announced on Wednesday that a team of US experts would arrive in Pakistan on Thursday to help address its energy crisis.

He told a news conference before flying to Afghanistan at the conclusion of his visit to Pakistan that the US would begin issuing 100 business visas every week in Karachi from next month and restore consular services next year through its consulate general.

Mr Holbrooke said the steps were being taken to strengthen bilateral ties and facilitate Pakistan’s access to international markets, especially the US.

He said the measure would be a major step in strengthening relations between the city of Karachi, the business community and the people of Pakistan and the US.

On his first visit to Pakistan’s economic hub, Mr Holbrooke underscored the ‘deep ties’ that bound the two countries and US support for the business community.

The US diplomat also focused on the energy crisis and the situation in Afghanistan.

He said the US had great confidence in Pakistani people and its resilient economy, which promised opportunities for the future. The US was working with the private sector to support policies envisaging innovation, employment opportunities and growth, Mr Holbrooke added.

Focused on the ‘plague of blackouts,’ he said energy shortfall presented a clear crisis for Pakistan.

He said the needs of Pakistani people must be addressed and assured that the US was prepared to help.

‘We also seek to engage the energy crisis of Pakistan which is a complex problem and cannot be solved through quick-fix measures. It needs a mix of resources and plans on appropriate use of fuel and generation capacity.’

As a first step, the US government is organising a Pakistan emergency energy task force to explore all possible means of engagements. In the short term, the US will hold a meeting with Pakistani officials in October in Islamabad.

A team of energy experts will arrive on Thursday to evaluate the situation and seek technical details, the US envoy said, adding that Washington was engaging many international financial institutions, including Exim Bank and the US Trade and Development Agency, the IMF, the ADB and the World Bank. The private sector would be critical in all the efforts, he said.

‘We have made a major turn in our relationship with Pakistan under President Obama by focussing on the needs of Pakistani people,’ he said.

AFGHANISTAN

In reply to a question about Afghan elections, Mr Holbrooke said: ‘There are 17 million people registered as voters in Afghanistan — five million more than the previous election. I can’t say how many polling stations will be closed tomorrow during elections. It is very difficult in Afghanistan to see perfect elections.’

On the possibility of negotiation with Taliban, the US envoy said: ‘This is not like World War II. This is a different war in which there is an equal threat to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States. We are fighting against a common enemy.’

Mr Holbrooke was pleased with the success of Pakistan Army in Swat and other parts of the northwest.
He acknowledged that a purely military solution was neither likely nor desirable.

He said the Taliban were fighting for many reasons -- some for guns, some for money and some for revenge.

Mr Holbrooke vowed to ‘continue to make efforts to succeed in Afghanistan’ and claimed to have made a lot of progress lately both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said there was room for anyone supporting Taliban to reintegrate into Afghan life after leaving Al Qaeda, laying down arms and starting life in accordance with the country’s constitution.

In reply to a question, he said: ‘Balochistan is a concern for all of us as tension seems to be rising, adversely affecting Pakistan and Afghanistan.’ But he declined to go further, saying it was for the government of Pakistan to deal with the issue.

He said the US had no presence in Balochistan nor were its troops present in Pakistan.

US negotiations with Russia for an alternative route for Nato supplies to Afghanistan would not affect the importance of Karachi.

Asked why the US could not create conditions for 2.5 million Afghan refugees to return home, he promised that it would be Washington’s priority after the Afghan elections.

He also talked about plans to set up economic opportunity zones along the Afghan border.

To a question about his reported remarks regarding President Asif Ali Zardari completing his term, Mr Holbrooke said the US wanted democratically elected representatives to complete their term.

‘We support the democratically elected government of Pakistan.’

Earlier, the US envoy met Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad Khan and an MQM delegation and discussed development works.

A delegation of the PPP, led by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, also met him at the Governor’s House.

Mr Holbrooke termed development works carried out in Karachi unbelievable. Talking to journalists after visiting a city government school near the City Railway Station, he said measures taken by District Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal had surprised him.

North Korean diplomats to meet US Governor Bill Richardson

Times Online
In a further sign of a possible thaw in relations between Pyongyang and Washington, two North Korean diplomats are to meet Bill Richardson, the Governor of New Mexico, today.

The meeting is being held at the request of Kim Myong-Gil, a minister at the North Korean mission at the United Nations, and will take place "for most of the day" in Santa Fe, a spokeswoman for Mr Richardson said.

She said that the diplomats had expressed interest in clean energy solutions being developed in New Mexico and stressed that Mr Richardson was not representing the administration of President Barack Obama.

But the meeting will inevitably be seen as a sign that Pyong Yang may be willing to be more conciliatory in its relations with the US and South Korea.

It comes just two weeks after former President Bill Clinton met North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in his successful mission to free two US journalists and after further conciliatory signs to South Korea.

Kim Jong Il sent a message of condolence to the family of Kim Dae Jung, the former President of South Korea, amid media reports from the South that a delegation from Pyong Yang would attend his funeral. Earlier this week the North also announced that it would restart several tourism ventures with South Korea.

The meeting comes as the first details emerge of Mr Clinton's visit to Pyong Yang this month, where he met a surprisingly fit-looking Mr Kim. According to the New York Times the men enjoyed "chit chat" during a long dinner together, with an "unexpectedly spry" Mr Kim suggesting that the two men stay up afterwards.

According to the New York Times, Mr Clinton's meeting with the Dear Leader was also at Pyong Yang's behest.

Officials in Washington told the newspaper that Mr Clinton had not asked to see Mr Kim, asking only for a meeting with "appropriate officials".

But his meeting has given the first substantive insight into Mr Kim's health and that of his rule.

After suffering a stroke last year, Mr Kim has looked increasingly frail in official photographs, leading to suggestions that he was about to stand down in favour of one of his sons. However officials accompanying Mr Clinton said that they were surprised at his apparent fitness and at the presence of two long-standing aides who were thought to have been pushed aside.

The men's conversation, however, did nothing to change the US perception of North Korea's nuclear ambitions, the newspaper said.

Mr Richardson, a veteran diplomat who served as US ambassador to the United Nations under Mr Clinton, has had a long relationship with the North.

He twice visited the country in the 1990s to secure the release of US citizens held prisoner there and has also met with diplomats from the North Korean UN mission twice before, in 2004 and 2006

In 1996, he negotiated the release of US citizen Evan Hunziker, an eccentric missionary who had been detained for three months on suspicion of spying after swimming the Yalu river.

Two years earlier, he helped free a US military helicopter pilot, Bobby Hall, who was shot down after straying into North Korean airspace.

Any warming in relations could be set back as South Korea prepares to launch its first rocket, just four months after Pyong Yang's own missile launch, which was punished with UN sanctions

The North has warned that it would "closely watch" the international response to South Korea's launch, scheduled for today.

South Korean officials have said that their rocket launch, carrying an observation satellite, is peaceful, and they hope that it will boost the country's aim to become a regional space power.

Yeom Ki-su, a Science Ministry official, said that the two-stage rocket, called KSLV-I, will carry a domestically built satellite aimed at observing the atmosphere and ocean.

Gunmen Battle Police in Kabul

newyorktimes.com
KABUL, Afghanistan — In another violent episode a day before the Afghan national election, three gunmen seized control of a commercial bank branch in central Kabul on Wednesday morning, engaging in an extended firefight with police before they were killed, police and witnesses said.

The gunmen were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, police officials said.

Sayed Abdul Ghaffar, head of the criminal department of Kabul police, said the men were “terrorists” and had entered the five-storey building of the commercial bank and started shooting at police as they approached from the street below.

The incident came as the Taliban stepped up efforts to disrupt the nationwide presidential election on Thursday with suicide attacks, roadside bombings and other actions. On Tuesday, a bloody suicide car bombing in the capital killed eight people and wounded dozens more.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s bank attack and said 20 insurgents had been sent into Kabul to carry out suicide attacks. Zabihullah Mujahid a spokesman for the group, claimed that five men had seized the bank and killed a number of policemen. “The rest of the suicide bombers are looking for the targets elsewhere in Kabul city,” he said by telephone.

Mohammad Omar, 58, owner of a small tea shop close to the bank, saw two of the men enter the bank. He said they were young men with AK-47 rifles and hand grenades, with ammunition strapped to their chests. When police arrived they started shooting, he said.

“I saw two of them with guns and grenades” Mohammad Omar said “I told them there is no one in the bank but then I realized they were armed with weapons,” he said.

“They were ordinary good looking men dressed in Afghan clothes,” he said.

A police officer at the scene who declined to have his name published said three officers with the Afghan counterterrorism police were wounded during the firefight. Government officials did not confirm the injuries of the policemen.

Most Afghanis stayed home on Wednesday as the country observed the national holiday marking independence from Britain; government and big commercial buildings were closed.

Officials reported further violence around the country, in particular from roadside bombs and mines.

The District chief of Registan, Najibullah Baloch, and a tribal elder were killed when their vehicle struck a mine in the road in the southern province of Kandahar, the deputy provincial police chief, Fazli Ahmad Shizad, said. Two policemen were injured in the blast. Three policemen were also killed in another explosion on the highway between Kandahar and Oruzgan provinces Wednesday morning, he said.

A number of election workers also have been killed in the last 24 hours. Two election workers were killed by roadside bomb on their way to Shorabak district in Kandahar on Tuesday, the regional director of the election commission, Abdul Wasi Alokozai, said. Four other election workers were killed in the northern province of Badakhshan on Tuesday while transporting election materials to one of the districts, the election commission in Kabul said.

US General Petraeus meets COAS

ISLAMABAD : General David Petraeus, the commander of US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, arrived here on Wednesday on a surprise visit, Aaj News reported.
Soon after his arrival in Islamabad, Petraeus visited the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi where he met with Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.
The two military officials discussed war on terror, the security situation of Pak-Afghan border area and ways to enhance defence cooperation between Pakistan and US.
Petraeus is also likely to meet with the top political leadership of the country along with his scheduled meetings with other military brass to discuss Pakistan’s recent achievements in its war against local Taliban militants in northwest of the country, it was reported.

BJP expels Jaswant Singh for praising Jinnah

SHIMLA : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday expelled senior leader Jaswant Singh from the party, in the wake of him praising Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his recent book. The BJP top brass took the decision to sack Jaswant Singh at the party’s chintan baithak (introspection meeting) being held in Shimla. The development came even as Jaswant Singh stayed away from the opening session of the three-day meeting which began here today. The BJP had yesterday distanced itself from Jaswant Singh’s remarks on Jinnah in his new book, "Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence", with party president Rajnath Singh saying that his views were against party’s ideology. Stating that the book did not represent the views of the party, Rajnath said that the BJP completely disassociates itself from the book. He further said Jinnah’s role in partition was well known and “we cannot wish way this painful part of our history”. Rajnath also took exception to Jaswant’s comments on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and said that he played an important role in the unification of India. In his book, Jaswant recalls the events leading to partition as well as the "epic journey of Jinnah from being the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, the liberal constitutionalist and Indian nationalist to the Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan”. In the book, Jaswant remarked that Mohammed Ali Jinnah did not win Pakistan as Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel "conceded" Pakistan to the Quaid-e-Azam with the British acting as an ever helpful midwife. The remarks did not go down well with the BJP and it was evident by the fact that no BJP leader on Monday showed up at a function in which Jaswant Singh's book was released.
Like Jaswant Singh, senior party leader LK Advani too had praised Jinnah in 2005 which drew criticism from within BJP and the Sangh Parivar, including the RSS.
When asked if RSS agreed with Singh's view that Jinnah has been "demonised" in India, RSS leader Ram Madhav said, "I have only read excerpts of the book. But I am constrained to say that it is far from the truth to state that Jinnah was not responsible for partition."
Jaswant Singh had however said that his book was purely an academic exercise and not an attempt to malign or glorify anyone.

Millers carry the day, allowed to sell sugar at Rs55

ISLAMABAD: Acceding to pressure of powerful sugar millers, the government allowed on Tuesday the sale of sugar at over Rs55 a kg in the open market and suspended a crackdown on millers and traders.

Although the government fixed the ex-mill price of sugar at Rs48 per kg in Sindh and Rs49.75 in Punjab and the NWFP, the retail price will be Rs55.68 in Sindh and Rs57.71 in Punjab and the NWFP after levying 16 per cent general sales tax (GST).

The price for consumers will further increase to about Rs60 after inclusion of the wholesale profit margin and transportation cost.

The decisions were taken at a six-hour meeting of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) with the ministry of industries.

The price of sugar two months ago was Rs36 a kg. Industries Minister Manzoor Wattoo told a press conference that provinces had been asked to stop action against millers and hoarders which, according to him, disrupted the supply chain.

He said the provinces had been asked to help millers restore supply of sugar in the
market.

He said imported sugar would cost Rs65 a kg. The minister did not mention the ex-mill price for Balochistan.

Under an agreement, millers would provide 10,000 tons of sugar to the Punjab government at Rs40 a kg, he said.

He said the federal government would appreciate similar arrangements by other provinces with millers.

It was agreed that millers would offload 200,000 tons of sugar in the open market in Ramazan.

Mr Wattoo said the Tandlianwala and other mills had started supplying sugar to the Trading Corporation.

Presiding over a meeting on hoarding of essential commodities earlier, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered the industries ministry to ensure availability of sugar in the market.

He called for stern action against hoarders and profiteers of essential items, including sugar.

The prime minister suspended the 25 per cent regulatory duty on import of potatoes.

It was decided that 300,000 tons of raw sugar would be imported to meet the shortfall in the next season.

The meeting was told that all provincial governments had appointed special price magistrates.

The prime minister ordered monitoring of prices on a weekly basis during Ramazan.

The economic coordination committee (ECC) had approved the waiver of the duty on import of potatoes on the directives of the prime minister.

ID CARD WAIVER
At a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, the committee also waived the condition of presentation of national identity card for purchasing items from utility stores.

It approved an increase in the Utility Stores Corporation’s quota of essential commodities.

It was decided that the USC would sell 100,000 tons of sugar at Rs38 per kg during Ramazan instead of the normal 40,000 tons per month. It will be equivalent to one-third of the national consumption.

The additional sugar will be released from imported stocks. As part of the Ramazan package, the quantity of flour to be sold at a discount of Rs2 was increased from 100,000 tons to 150,000 tons. Sale of ghee and oil at Rs91 per kg — a discount of Rs20 — will be increased from 30,000 tons to 50,000 tons.

It was decided that a third-party inspection team would conduct random checks at utility stores for prices, availability and quality.

Services of the National Logistics Cell will be acquired for transporting the commodities.

The meeting was informed that the price of sugar in India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Iran was Rs50, Rs57, Rs52 and Rs56, respectively.

It decided that the federal and provincial governments would evolve a joint mechanism for stabilising prices and keeping a check on hoarding.

The federal and provincial governments will hold Sunday, Friday and Ramazan bazaars and the USC will set up mobile outlets there.

The ECC also approved the implementation of a combined cycle project at Guddu by Genco-II under the management of the Pakistan Electric Power Company at the engineering, procurement and construction cost of $602 million.

Flash floods in Pakistan kill at least 27, U.N. says

- At least 27 people have died in northwestern Pakistan and nine are missing in flash floods since the weekend that have also destroyed houses, crops and livestock, the United Nations said Tuesday."The final toll could be higher," Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), told a news conference in Geneva.Much of the maize, rice, sugarcane and tobacco crops in the Swabi and Mardan districts of North West Frontier Province have been submerged by heavy rainfall which has affected some 80,000 people in Swabi alone since Sunday, she said.Food insecurity is expected in coming months as most farmers store six months of wheat or dry rations in their mud homes, an estimated 400-450 of which have been swept away, Byrs said.Medicine, shelter material and drinking water was needed, OCHA said. U.N. agencies are sending items including tents.The Pakistan military went on the offensive in the Swat valley northwest of the capital in late April to drive out Taliban militants.The offensive forced nearly 2 million people from their homes but many have been returning in recent weeks since the army said most militants had been cleared from the valley.OCHA said Swabi and Mardan are the districts with the largest number of people displaced due to military operations in Malakand Division, an area of North West Frontier Province that includes the Swat valley. Swabi hosted displaced persons from Buner district, while Mardan took in those from Swat."Unfortunately this bad weather is seriously complicating aid operations, notably for the displaced population coming back to Buner district in Malakand," said Jean-Philippe Chauzy, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Afghanistan Imposes News Censorship on Election Day

KABUL, Afghanistan — Unnerved by another wave of deadly pre-election attacks by Taliban insurgents including a rocket assault aimed at the presidential palace, the Afghan government on Tuesday ordered unusual restrictions on all news organizations, banning them from reporting suicide bombings and other violence during the Thursday vote.

At least eight people were killed in one of the attacks, a suicide car bombing, including a soldier of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, and two Afghans working for the United Nations mission, and 53 people were wounded, officials said. Of the rockets that hit Kabul early Tuesday morning, one landed on the grounds of the presidential palace and another hit a police station. No one was hurt by the rockets, officials said, but the audacity of the attacks in the heart of the capital demonstrated the power of the insurgents to disrupt and intimidate.

Even as the government, and United States and NATO forces have worked hard to secure polling centers in violence-prone southern Afghanistan, they find themselves increasingly locked in a propaganda battle with the Taliban, as it wages a campaign of fear to deter voters.

The Taliban has issued repeated warnings in statements to the press — the most recent emailed to reporters by a spokesman Monday — and carried out two massive suicide car bombings and rocket attacks on the capital in two days, to create a sense of fear to keep voters at home.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing when contacted by telephone.

In another attack on Tuesday morning, in the southern province of Oruzgan, a suicide bomber walked up to an Afghan National Army checkpoint and detonated his explosive vest, killing three soldiers and two civilians, according to the provincial police chief, Juma Gul Himat.

The government meanwhile has urged people not to be deterred and to come out and vote on Thursday in presidential and provincial council elections. No one was hurt in the rocket attacks and President Hamid Karzai had started work half an hour before the rocket hit at 7 A.m., presidential spokesman Homayoun Hamidzada said.

“Such kind of attacks shows that the enemies want to disrupt the election process, but we ask people to exercise their right of participation in the elections with strong will,” he said at a news briefing.

“They will try to attack polling stations and intimidate people, but we are working hard in close coordination with ISAF and other international security forces, as well as with the Independent Electoral Commission to maintain security,” he said.

Later the Afghan Foreign Ministry issued a statement asking all domestic and international news agencies to refrain from broadcasting any incidence of violence between 6 A.M. and 8 P.M. on election day. The National Security Council had made the decision “in view of the need to ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people in up-coming presidential and provincial council elections, and prevent any election-related terrorist violence,” the statement said.

The government is concerned that a show of force by the Taliban and low turnout will undermine the credibility of the elections. Low turnout, especially in the war-torn south, would affect Mr Karzai’s results in the election, since the ethnic Pashtuns who populate the south are the base of his support.

Yet the Taliban has been stepping up its campaign against the elections. In an emailed statement Tuesday, sent by spokesman Zabiullah Mujahed, the movement denied that any agreements had been made with the government to allow elections to take place. It described talk of peace deals as a “cunning trick” by the enemy.

“The Islamic Emirates now makes clear to the people that the result of this election will never be acceptable,” the statement said. “The world community and our fellow countrymen must not see this process as flourishing and as an Afghan process,” it said.

The propaganda seems to be working. Local television stations were reporting Tuesday that shop owners were already closing their shops in Kabul, and in the eastern city of Khost, in fear of attacks or other violence over the elections.

The toll from the suicide bombing in Kabul, the second in two days, was also high. One eye-witness said he saw a white saloon car race after a British military logistics convoy and explode as it slammed into it.

“Suddenly we heard a very loud bomb and a big cloud of dust rose from where the

attack happened,” said Ghulam Muhammad, 22, who saw the car from his vegetable store. “Six to seven people were wounded and we tried to help and take them to an ambulance but then the security forces stopped us,” he said. “The explosion was huge and I could see many people lying on the road,” he said.

Seven people were killed and 51 wounded, all civilians, the head of the police criminal investigation department, Sayed Abdul Ghaffar said at the scene. Eighteen cars were set on fire by the explosion and shops and stalls damaged, he said.

The attack occurred just off the main road leading east out of the capital to Jalalabad. A statement from ISAF said one foreign soldier was killed and two others wounded in the attack. A statement from Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said seven civilians were killed and 50 wounded.

The United Nations confirmed that two of its Afghan staff members were among those killed.

Shortly before the explosion NATO-led forces said they would suspend offensive operations on election day, only deploying coalition and Afghan troops to protect voters, election monitors and polling stations.

“In support of the Afghan National Security Forces who lead the security efforts during the electoral process, only those operations that are deemed necessary to protect the population will be conducted on that day,” they said in a statement.

Pakistan Captures Top Taliban Aide

NEWYORKTIMES.COM
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan has captured the chief spokesman of the Pakistani Taliban, security officials said Tuesday, dealing another blow to the militant network two weeks after its top commander was apparently killed in an American airstrike.

The spokesman, Maulvi Said Muhammad, who also goes by the name Maulvi Omar, was captured by local Pakistani tribesmen in Mohmand Agency, a Taliban stronghold in western Pakistan, and turned over to Pakistani forces, security officials said.

The officials, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the arrest publicly, said Mr. Omar confirmed the death of the top commander, Baitullah Mehsud, during an interrogation.

It was impossible to verify their accounts.

One security official said Mr. Omar, who was captured along with two bodyguards, had indicated there were “problems” within the movement over leadership.

“Omar was unnerved in the beginning but later broke up and started singing,” the official said.

Security officials said Mr. Omar told them that he wanted to go to the Orakzai tribal region for consultations over a successor to Mr. Mehsud, but that he was forced to try to return to his native Bajaur tribal region because of fighting between two militant factions along the route.

He was captured by pro-government tribesmen, turned over to the paramilitary Frontier Corps and then airlifted to Peshawar, the main city in western Pakistan.

Televised images showed a prisoner believed to be Mr. Omar being bundled into a helicopter. One senior military official said Mr. Omar had apparently been beaten by the tribesmen, though it was impossible to verify that account. “He is being treated for wounds,” the official said. “He seems grievously injured. We will subject him to interrogation when he recovers.”

We will never forget help, support of China

PESHAWAR: The NWFP(PUKHTUNKHWA) Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani has said, modern China has brought with it economic development, prosperity and peace in its neighbour, and in Pakistan, having historical bonds of relationship with it, we consider this development a great and valuable change. Talking during a reception arranged by NWFP Chapter of Pak – China Friendship Association; a volunteer organization, at Frontier House, the Governor said, “for us rising China as economic power has been a very pleasant phenomena, which, he remarked, is indeed an historical one”. Ambassador of China in Pakistan Lu Zhauhai accompanied by owners and senior officials of a number of Chinese companies working in Pakistan attended the ceremony, besides the office bearers of the association. Referring to the help and contribution of China in the economic development of Pakistan, the Governor especially referred to certain institutions including Heavy Mechanical Complex, Taxila, and said, “all these are the great gifts through which we have benefited a lot and through which we have made further industrialization and established a number cement and sugar factories and manufactured heavy construction machineries. The Governor also mentioned the recent wave of terrorism and extremism and said, despite facing many difficulties and critical problems, including the loss of precious lives, the Chinese engineers continued their services in different parts of the country and we really appreciate their sacrifices in this respect. He also pointed out, the situation in NWFP is improving and we have started focusing on other pressing issues of rehabilitation and socio economic development of the people. “We hope, things are developing positively and we would have more significant contribution of Chinese friends in economic development of our country, especially in this province”. On the diplomatic front, the Governor said, China has always stood with us in every hour of test and we will never forget the help and support our Chinese brothers. The Governor also appreciated the role and services of the Pak – China Friendship Association in developing people to people relationships between both the countries. The Chinese Ambassador Mr. Lu Zhauhai also spoke on this occasion and appreciated the efforts of the Association in developing better understanding at people to people level between both the countries and bringing them more closer to each other. Earlier Tasleem Advocate, President and Ali Nawaz Gilani, Secretary of the Association welcoming the guests highlighted the aims and objectives as well as achievements of the Association since its creation in 1971. “People of both the countries have great respect and regards for their friendship”, they said. Later the Governor formally cut a cake to mark the ceremony. Ambulances, medical equipment handed over to Fata Secretariat The NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani on Tuesday handed over ambulances and state of the art medical equipment worth Rs.500 million to the Additional Chief Secretary FATA at a simple ceremony held here at Governor’s House. These Ambulances and equipment would be supplied to different medical facilities in FATA including Frontier Regions. Earlier, the Governor inspected the huge lot of equipment including medical, electro-medical and surgical as well as stationery and electronic items and furniture and fixtures. Seven Ambulances fully loaded and equipped with state of the art machinery and facilities also comprised the lot. Director Health FATA Dr. Fawad Khan briefed the Governor about the importance and usage of different diagnostic and treatment equipments. The Governor expressed the hope that provision of these equipment to FATA hospitals would further improve and augment the Medicare facilities for the tribal people. He reiterated the govt.’s commitment to the provision of state of the art medical facilities to the tribal populace at their door steps and urged the medical staff posted in the Agencies and FRs to work honestly and devotedly to mitigate the sufferings of tribesmen particularly in the health sector. Secretary to Governor Arbab Mohammad Arif besides heads of health institutions in tribal Agencies and FRs and officials of Health department FATA attended the ceremony. Meanwhile, Peshawar based Principal Officer of US Consulate Ms. Lynne Tracy had a farewell call on NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani at Governor's House, here on Tuesday. She remained with Governor for some time and discussed matters of mutual interest. The Governor appreciated her role and services in fulfillment of her responsibilities and wished her success in future as well. He also presented a shield as memorandum of her visit to the Governor's House.

Richard Holbrooke and Nawaz Sharif

Holbrooke and Nawaz
M Waqar New York
Once again, Obama’s US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke met Nawaz sharif and made a statement that,’’ Distancing from Nawaz to hamper US interests”... I think it will be disastrous for Obama administration if, Washington thinks that Nawaz Sharif can be a reliable partner of Washington in fighting Taliban. Nawaz Sharif has sympathies with Osama bin laden, al-Quaeda and Taliban. According to a former ISI official, Nawaz Sharif met Osama bin Laden and received funds from him, he met Osama three times and desperately asked for financial assistance. Bin Laden, who had offered him money to topple the Pakistan People’s Party government of Benazir Bhutto in 1990. Al-Qaeda head wanted the “secular” PPP government overthrown to ensure that Pakistan continued supporting the Afghan “jihad” and Laden was against a woman ruling Pakistan. Nawaz met Osama thrice in Saudi Arabia, these meetings were arranged by former ISI official Khalid Khawaja. Nawaz Sharif was hoping for a grant of Rs 500 million. Although Bin Laden gave a smaller amount, Khawaja said that he arranged for Sharif to meet the Saudi royal family, which pledged political support for him and kept its word until he was dislodged by President Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Nawaz has been an ardent supporter of Taliban. I am afraid that his coming to power at this critical juncture will be bad news for Pakistan, because Pakistan is already facing Taliban mutiny. Sharif is on record stating he would prefer Pakistan to be run like the Taliban ran Afghanistan, and we all know how well that turned out. Sharif’s reckless embrace of religious extremism led him to try and impose Sharia (Islamic law) on Pakistan in 1998 and declare himself “Amirul Momineen” (Leader of the Faithful). Sharif’s desire for power is even greater than his respect for innocent life. Convicted for hijacking, he put the lives of 198 people on a plane in jeopardy by refusing to allow it to land. At the time of his removal from office, Nawaz Sharif had looted approximately $60 million from people of Pakistan, via personally owned companies.
Saved from: http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=le&nid=864&ad=19-08-200
Dated: Wednesday, August 19, 2009, Sha'ban 27, 1430 A.H.

In Pakistan tribal belt, female reporters get a voice

latimes.com
Radio Khyber's female journalists defy a Pashtun tenet barring women from being heard by strangers. Even so, the Taliban-wary trailblazers avoid issues such as women's rights and tribal politics.Radio Khyber airs in the heart of Pakistan's wild and volatile tribal areas, where women are bound by strict centuries-old codes of conduct handed down by generations of Pashtuns, the dominant ethnic group in northwestern Pakistan.The code's tenets are oppressive and nonnegotiable. Women should confine themselves to their homes and the sole task of raising children. When they go to markets and other public places, a male relative should accompany them. And their voices should never be heard by strangers.Asma Nawar, a 25-year-old Pashtun with wide brown eyes and a crisp, resonant voice, repeatedly breaks that last rule as a reporter for Radio Khyber."I feel good about that," she says, peering out from the maroon-and-yellow veil that covers the rest of her face. "I can't say that our cultural values are wrong, but I think women should come out and work, and get the jobs they want."Nawar and two other women hired in the last year as reporters for the radio station see themselves as trailblazers in a part of Pakistan that mires its women in old world thinking.The Taliban, which believes in keeping women away from college and work, still controls large swaths of Pakistan's tribal belt along the Afghan border. In the poverty-ravaged Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the dismal 3% literacy rate for women is far lower than the already low overall rate of 17% for the region.Additionally, the Taliban does not hesitate to demonstrate its views on education for women. This year, Taliban militants burned down scores of girls' schools throughout the Swat Valley.Nawar narrows her gaze when the subject of the Taliban comes up."We know they are listening to us," she says in a studio at the University of Peshawar, where she and Radio Khyber's other two female journalists prepare and edit their radio pieces. "Am I worried? No, because I'm doing the right job."Based in the village of Jamrud, 28 miles from the border with Afghanistan, Radio Khyber is able to employ women as journalists because its editors and producers know just how far to push the boundaries.They minimize the risks for the women by barring them from doing stories in the tribal areas. And they have Nawar and her female colleagues focus primarily on children, education and healthcare, considered here as women's issues. Subjects such as tribal politics and regional military operations are off-limits. Their editors ask them to not conduct interviews in the homes of women, a practice that Pashtun society frowns on.RadioKhyber director Taib Afridi also discourages his female journalists from delving into issues of women's rights. Stories interpreted by tribal elders as calls for women in the tribal areas to rise up could trigger a strong backlash against the station, Afridi says."The dilemma for women in [the tribal areas] is that they can go to the village water tank to get water, but to go to a hospital or a school, a wedding or a funeral, they need to be accompanied by a male," he says."These journalists must be very careful to not give advice that could be viewed as promoting women's rights or empowerment," he says. In the tribal areas, "if you give voice to the voiceless, this could be dangerous."
Pashtun women outside the tribal areas enjoy a bit more freedom. Nawar, who grew up in the town of Nowshera just outside Peshawar, took the job at the FM radio station eight months ago after graduating from the University of Peshawar with a journalism degree. Her parents supported the idea, though her younger sister, Sumaira, told Nawar that a recent spate of suicide bombings in Peshawar had made working in the city too dangerous."She said, 'One day there could be a bomb blast, and we'd be searching for you at the local hospital.' I told her, 'Everybody has to die.' "
Nawar says she sought out work at Radio Khyber because she thinks the constraints Pashtun society puts on women are outdated."It's wrong that Pashtun women are held back like this," she says, taking a break from editing a piece on children's healthcare. "It's unfair, and that's what inspired me to work here."
Her pieces have focused on a wide range of topics, from the availability of wheelchairs in the tribal areas to a segment about curfew restrictions placed on tribespeople fleeing violence in their area. Because it's too dangerous for her to report in the tribal areas, she interviews the region's residents in neighboring Peshawar and gets much of her information from Peshawar-based organizations that work in the tribal areas.Much of the feedback on the segments produced by the women has been positive, Afridi says. No one from the tribal areas has called in to decry the sound of women's voices on the air, and so far the Taliban hasn't issued any threats.
"Even the militants have women in their families, and the problems of those women are being covered by our reporters," Afridi says. "So maybe the Taliban appreciates what we're doing."

Traffic pollutants may fuel adult asthma

PESHAWAR- A new study provides more evidence that breathing in traffic-related pollutants is unhealthy -- for kids and adults. The study, report in the journal Thorax, suggests a link between asthma that develops in adulthood and increased exposure to traffic-related pollutants. Previous research linked childhood-onset asthma with traffic pollutants. In the current study, researchers looked at associations between traffic-related air pollution and "new-onset" asthma among 2725 Swiss adults. None of them had ever smoked. Over 11 years of follow up, 41 of the adults developed asthma. The results showed that adults most impacted by traffic-related particles had "50 to 100 percent higher risks" of developing asthma, compared to those living at residences with low levels of traffic-related pollutants, study investigator Dr. Nino Kuenzli noted. The association remained when the investigators allowed for other factors linked with the development of asthma such as workplace air pollutant exposures, passive smoking, family history of asthma or allergies, and whether or not participants had changed residence. These findings suggest "toxic pollutants originating from traffic play a role in the development of adult asthma," added Kuenzli, of the University of Basel in Switzerland. The current findings are in line with an increasing body of evidence indicating traffic-related pollutants are a serious health problem. Therefore, Kuenzli suggests, "strong clear air policies are a must to protect public health."

Senior Taleban officials captured in Pakistan

Pakistani security forces have captured a senior Taleban commander and a close associate of the slain militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, dealing another blow to the Islamist militant group.

Maulvi Omar, who worked as a spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan, was arrested on Monday night when driving with two associates in the Mohmand tribal region bordering Afghanistan, according to Pakistani intelligence sources. He was believed to be on his way to a secret meeting of top Taleban commanders.

Mr Omar was one of the most high profile Taleban officials, who frequently called journalists claiming responsibility for terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

He had been keeping a low profile in recent months as Pakistani security forces launched offensives in the Mohamand region where he lived. Local officials said the arrest was made possible by the help of local anti-Taleban militia.

On Monday police arrested another close associate of Mr Mehsud as he arrived in Islamabad for medical treatment.

Qari Saifullah, who was allegedly involved in several terrorist attacks in Pakistan, had been injured during a US drone strike in South Waziristan, police said. It was unclear whether it was the same US missile strike that killed Mr Mehsud on August 5.

Analysts said that the capture of such high-profile officials would further weaken the militant organisation, which was already in disarray following the death of Mr Mehsud.

Senior Taleban commanders have been engaged in a fierce power struggle following their commander's death. There have been reports of violent clashes between the supporters of the two main contenders to succeed him, Wali Ur Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud. The Taleban shura (council) has yet to choose between the two.

Afghan refugees in Pakistan yearn to vote

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Qutub-ud-din, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan, is keen to vote in this week's presidential election in his country, but cannot.

"Why not?" the 50-year-old Afghan refugee, selling vegetables in a dusty neighborhood in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, said when asked whether he wanted to cast his ballot.

Unlike the previous presidential election in 2004, Afghan election authorities have not made arrangements for about 2.5 million refugees in Pakistan and Iran to take part in Thursday's polls. Most are too poor to make the trip home just to vote.

"I am earning a meager living for my five children by selling these onions and potatoes. If I go to Afghanistan to vote, who will feed my family?" said Qutub-ud-din.

Of an estimated 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan, about 45 percent would be eligible voters, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

Afghanistan is facing its worst violence since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and the militants have threatened to disrupt the vote, raising the fear that security will have a major impact on turnout and perhaps the outcome.

Polls show President Hamid Karzai is likely to win but not with the outright majority required to avoid a second round.

Karzai is an ethnic Pashtun, as are most Afghans in Pakistan. He is facing a tough challenge from former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who is believed to have little support among the refugees.

Most Afghans in Pakistan asked this week said they would have voted for Karzai, so in the event of a very close first round, refugees' support could have been crucial for the incumbent.

But with Karzai widely seen as winning a second round, if one is held, refugees' votes would have been unlikely to have had a bearing on the final result.

Nevertheless, the exclusion of refugees could add to questions about the legitimacy of the vote if turnout is low.

"WHY SHOULD I BOTHER?"

Abdul Hadi Fazali, an Afghan who runs an English-language school in Peshawar, said it was unfair that he and his countrymen in Pakistan had been excluded.

"They're very unhappy as they are Afghans too. They think the organizers didn't give them their basic right," he said.

Zekria Barakzai, deputy of the government-appointed Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan, said a lack of funds was the major reason for barring the refugees.

It would have cost about $50 million to make polling arrangements in Pakistan and Iran, Barakzai told Reuters.

"We asked the international community for funding but it was not accepted," he said.

Worries about security in Pakistan, where militants allied with the Afghan Taliban have stepped up attacks, was another major reason for not giving refugees the vote, he said.

Unlike the previous time, when candidates ran lively campaigns in Pakistan, there is nothing in Pakistani refugee camps and neighborhoods inhabited by Afghans to give any hint of the vote.

Nor was there any sign of efforts by candidates to encourage refugees to go home to take part.

"I saw on television that elections are taking place but I don't know who is running," said Maria, a 20-year-old student wearing a black scarf and a long gown at a school in a poor Afghan neighborhood in Peshawar. "If they are not interested in my vote then why should I bother about them?"

Several refugees said they were not interested because whoever won would not be able to end decades of violence.

"We want peace but those running cannot bring peace. Security in Afghanistan is worse than it was four years back," said Sher Ali, a laborer from the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.

"They can't provide security in Afghanistan so how can they give us security if we go to vote. That's why I am not going."

Two schools torched in Lower Dir

TIMERGARA: Militants set fire to two government schools in Lower Dir’s Maidan area, while security forces blew up two houses of a militant commander in Maidan’s Gogarkoto area.The militants escaped from the scene after setting fire to schools in Maidan early Tuesday, local officials told DawnNews.Security forces cordoned off the area and started a search operation.More than 50 government schools have been torched by militants in the area since the operation began in April, 2009.

Pakistan needs ‘months’ for Waziristan push, says army

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani troops will need months to prepare for a ground offensive against the Taliban in their South Waziristan stronghold on the Afghan border, an army commander said on Tuesday, citing equipment shortages.

Visiting US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said that the United States is scrambling to get the equipment the Pakistani army needs and that the timing of any ground operation was up to the army and government.

‘It's going to take months,’ Lieutenant-General Nadeem Ahmed told a small group of reporters after briefing Holbrooke, when asked how long it would take the army to move into South Waziristan.

Pakistani forces have bottled up Taliban fighters in their tribal lands in South Waziristan, a rugged region on the border with Afghanistan. Pakistani warplanes have attacked Taliban positions and US drone aircraft have launched several missile strikes like the one that apparently killed militant leader Baitullah Mehsud.

Ahmed said the Pakistani military was now trying to create the right conditions for launching a future ground offensive by imposing a ‘tight’ blockade around the area.
He said attack planes, helicopters and artillery were being used to hit militant targets.

‘Once you feel that the conditions are right and you have been able to substantially dent their infrastructure and their fighting capacity, then you go in for a ground offensive,’ Ahmed said. ‘That may happen in winter, or even beyond, probably.’

Ahmed said the army was currently short of ‘the right kind of equipment’ to mount a large-scale ground operation, and urged Holbrooke to help Pakistan obtain Cobra attack helicopters and other equipment.

Ahmed said many of the military's helicopters were still being used in an offensive against militants in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, and that they needed maintenance before being sent into Waziristan.

A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon was ‘very aware of the counter-insurgency needs of the Pakistani military’.

‘We know they have shortfalls and we're working hard to get them the equipment as soon as possible,’ the official said.

US weighs bolstering combat troops in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON — The US military was looking at freeing up more troops for combat in Afghanistan as President Barack Obama warned there would be no "quick" victory in the war.
With Afghans heading into crucial elections Thursday, US defense officials said the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, was weighing cutting back desk jobs and other support staff to free up more soldiers for combat.
"The idea is use troops more effectively," a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Monday.
Reducing non-combat positions would mean "doing more with what you've got versus asking for more" troops, the official said.
McChrystal is taking a hard look at the war against Taliban insurgents amid widespread speculation he may soon ask Obama for additional US forces -- a politically-charged issue at home and abroad.
Cutting the number of support staff could mean the US general would make a more modest troop request, possibly easing pressure on Obama who faces rising anxiety over the war within his own party.
As candidates held rallies at the close of campaigning in Afghanistan, Obama defended the war as a necessary mission but warned of a difficult road ahead.
"The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight," Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars service organization in the southwestern state of Arizona.
"We won't defeat it overnight. This will not be quick. This will not be easy," Obama said.
The US president said the war was "fundamental" to defending Americans by depriving Al-Qaeda of a safe-haven to plot follow-on attacks to the September 11 strikes in 2001.
Although he acknowledged an upsurge in "fierce" fighting in Afghanistan, he vowed to adapt US tactics and ensure the troops have the tools they need to do the job.
He did not, however, offer detailed insight into the evolving war strategy, which has seen thousands of troops and billions of US dollars pour into the country since Obama took office in January.
US troop levels, currently at 62,000, are set to reach 68,000 in coming months, more than double the number in place at the start of the year.
Obama has already ordered an additional 21,000 servicemen to the country ahead of Thursday's elections, in line with his vow to turn the US focus from Iraq to Afghanistan -- which he says poses a greater security threat.
As campaigning ended in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would remain impartial in the election and would work with whomever voters pick.
"Like the Afghan people we want to see credible, secure and inclusive elections that all will judge legitimate," she said.
"We look forward to working with whomever the Afghan people select as their leaders for the next five years," she added.
President Hamid Karzai, who has ruled Afghanistan since the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime in 2001, is the frontrunner but a strong campaign by former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah could force a run-off.
Obama has adopted a cooler approach to Karzai compared to his predecessor George W. Bush, who heaped praise on the Afghan leader and frequently spoke to him by video link.
Obama administration officials have been critical of corruption plaguing the Kabul government and alarmed by Karzai's alliance with a notorious warlord, General Abdul Rashid Dostum.
If Karzai wins, analysts say Washington will likely take a tougher line and demand Kabul do more to fight corruption in return for generous aid.
The elections have been overshadowed by threats from the insurgents, who have warned that Afghans who take part will face reprisals.
Kabul and the NATO-led coalition were planning elaborate security measures amid concern that poor turnout, due to fears of violence, could jeopardise the legitimacy of the elections.

Traffic police establish polio points in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: National Programme Manager of Expanded Programme for Immunisation (EPI) Dr Altaf Bosan has said that cooperation of traffic police in polio vaccination drive is a unique initiative, which will help in eradication of the disease.

Dr Bosan expressed these views while inaugurating the polio points established by the Peshawar Traffic Police in a ceremony held at the Police Lines. Constables of traffic police will administer polio drops to children at these points. He said the NWFP and Fata were high-risk zones for polio infections because of the law and order and inaccessibility to the deserving and needy children.

The polio points administering vaccines to the children at various entry and exit points of the city would help immunise the children of the far-flung and remote areas of NWFP, he added. Dr Bosan reaffirmed the resolve and commitment of EPI to eradicate polio saying that it is the right of every child to get immunised and be protected against the crippling disease. He said due to concerted and well-coordinated efforts of EPI, zero cases of polio had been reported so far in Peshawar district this year.

Dr Abdul Jabbar of the World Health Organisation said that during 2009, only 16 cases of polio had been reported in NWFP and Fata of which 9 cases had been in unreachable areas of Bajaur Agency.

Feroz Shah, DIG traffic police, assured full cooperation and support for the polio drive. He also announced prizes worth Rs25,000, Rs15,000 and Rs10,000 for the best police teams in the immunization drive.

Unregistered IDPs suffering at Jalala

MARDAN: A penny-less family spent a rainy night in the open at Jalala camp near Takhtbhai town as it had sold its tent to buy food a day earlier.

Bakht Shahzada, whose name means ‘the prince of luck’ even though he is a pauper, told ‘The News’ that he was displaced from Khwazakhela, Swat along with his family and initially settled in Kund Park, Nowshera with other internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Recently, he and his family including children moved to Jalala camp where he was denied registration on the grounds that he had come from another camp.

Being unregistered at the Jalala camp meant that he was not entitled to provision of free food and other essentials. “Having no money and being on the verge of starvation, we had no option but to sell the tent in which we had been living,” Bakht Shahzada argued.

The family was staying in the open when rain started on Sunday. The family remained soaked for several hours after some kind-hearted IDPs shifted the family to a tent, made for them temporarily. Due to exposure to rain during the night, the family members were suffering from fever.

Bakht Shahzada is now trying to procure a tent where he could lodge his shelter less family, however, he isn’t the only one at the camp with a tale of misery. There were two women, who wailed and wept while narrating how all the male members in their family were killed when their house was shelled by a military helicopter.

“We were denied permission to depart for our homes in Swat because we were brought to Jalala from other small camps and were yet to be registered,” one of the women complained. It was painful to find out at the Jalala camp that a large number of displaced families, who could not be registered due to one reason or the other, were neither given food nor cash assistance to buy essentials.

Hasan, a student from the US, while visiting the camp, was shocked to see the miseries of the IDPs and hear their tales of sorrow. “I didn’t realise the situation for these IDPs until I came to this camp,” he remarked.

The Jalala camp, which is quite big, has received 421 displaced families from the Yar Hussain camp, 128 from Kund Park, 89 from Shah Mansur, 21 from Sheikh Yasin, 10 from Sheikh Shahzad, 10 from Mazdurabad and 18 families from Aman camp No 1 and 2, Swabi. These families haven’t been registered yet. Until they are registered, they cannot get the compensation amount Rs25,000 or become eligible to return to their homes in Swat.

Now brutal warlord holds key to Afghan poll

www.independent.co.uk
As campaigning ended yesterday for elections that could determine both the future of Afghanistan and the role of British troops there, the outcome threatened to hang on the impact of renewed Taliban intimidation and the return to the fray of a former warlord, notorious for savage acts of brutality and violence.

The Taliban warned that anyone whose fingers were stained with indelible ink, the tell-tale sign of having voted, risked having their digits chopped off. Hundreds of letters have also been sent out in the old Taliban capital Kandahar, warning people to stay away from the polling stations or face a wave of suicide attacks and "new" unspecified tactics.

But on the side of President Hamid Karzai, the pro-Western incumbent, there are equally worrying signs. The return of General Rashid Dostum, a politically treacherous ex-warlord, has heightened fears of yet another vicious cycle of bloodshed and lawlessness. Forced to flee Afghanistan last year after claims that he brutalised a political rival, General Dostum is – to the horror of Western diplomats – now emerging as a key player who could be instrumental in delivering an election victory for the President.
Best known for allegedly overseeing a massacre of 2,000 Taliban prisoners following the US-led invasion in 2001, General Dostum controlled large swaths of northern Afghanistan for years. He remains the de facto leader of the country's ethnic Uzbeks and his return is likely to consolidate their vote behind Mr Karzai. But the warlord's triumphant return from Turkey on Sunday has exposed Mr Karzai to renewed accusations that even if he wins the election he will remain in hock to thugs and human rights abusers.

At least 204 British troops have died trying to defend Afghanistan's government from the threat of the Taliban, but Western diplomats fear the patchwork of alleged war criminals in a future administration will make it nigh on impossible for Nato troops to garner support for the Kabul government.

President Karzai, who has made a series of backroom deals with unsavoury mujahedin leaders to secure the votes they control, gave General Dostum carte blanche to return last week, in exchange for his support. General Dostum is said to have once strapped a soldier accused of theft to the tracks of a tank and driven him around until the man's body was reduced to shreds.

The US embassy issued a statement expressing "serious concerns" about General Dostum's role in today's Afghanistan. President Barack Obama last month warned that the US may investigate the massacre of the Taliban prisoners, locked in sea containers and baked in the desert, in the wake of the US-led invasion in 2001 which is blamed on the warlord.

Opinion polls are still putting President Karzai in front with around 45 per cent of the vote, but unless he wins 51 per cent in the first round, there will be a run-off with his closest challenger, likely to be his former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Mr Karzai's chief critic over human rights abuses is the third-placed candidate, Ramazan Bashar Dost. The French-educated philosopher said: "It is time for the international community to see that it is not acceptable that war criminals stay in power."

Voter turnout in the Pashtun south and east of the country will be critical in deciding the outcome of Thursday's poll. In 2004, President Karzai swept to power with 80 per cent of the Pashtun vote. In places like Helmand and Kandahar, he claimed up to 90 per cent. But it is here, where the Taliban now hold sway, that the new threats of intimidation might be most effective.

And even among those who do turn out to vote, Mr Karzai is unlikely to enjoy such strong support now. "In the rural areas people won't be able to vote at all," said Naqib, a 26-year-old working for a Western company in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. "In Lashkar Gah it's safer. Most people will vote for Karzai."

Even Kabul is not immune from Taliban violence. On Saturday a suicide bomber killed seven people and injured more than 90, outside Nato's headquarters in the city.

The question of how long British troops will have to remain in Afghanistan remains contentious meanwhile, after the next head of the Army, General Sir David Richards denied yesterday that there was a split with Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth. General Richards stressed that when he had stated that the UK may be involved in Afghanistan for up to 40 years he was talking about the time international help was needed, and not the duration of British military presence.

But last night the current head of the Army demanded more equipment to tackle the home-made bombs which have proved deadly in Afghanistan. General Sir Richard Dannatt said countering improvised explosive devices was a "major tactical battle that we have got to win" and called for increased levels of surveillance to locate the bombs and the insurgents laying them. He added that any increase in the amount of troops would have to be matched by more kit to ensure they are appropriately equipped.

Ninety-four members of the British forces were wounded in action in Afghanistan last month – just over double the number of casualties in June.

Mr Karzai's main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, enjoys strong support in the north, where security is better and voter turnout is likely to be much higher. Low turnout in the south could help him to victory, or force Mr Karzai into a second-round run-off, if he fails to get the crucial 51 per cent.

The President's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, announced last week that he had brokered a series of local ceasefires across the south to let people vote.

victory over insurgents in Afghanistan would not be "quick" nor "easy".

PHOENIX :US President Barack Obama warned Monday that victory over insurgents in Afghanistan would not be "quick" nor "easy".

"The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight," Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars service organization in the South-western state of Arizona, ahead of Afghanistan's presidential election August 20.

"We won't defeat it overnight. This will not be quick, nor easy," Obama said, as he explained his new strategy of intensifying the fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan now taking effect.

The president defended the war as a necessary conflict, which was "fundamental" to the defense of American people in depriving Al-Qaeda of a safe-haven to plot follow on attacks to the September 11 strikes in 2001.

Obama noted an upsurge in "fierce" fighting in Afghanistan, but vowed to constantly adapt US tactics and offer the troops the tools and equipment, they need.

Obama has already ordered an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan ahead of Thursday's elections, in line with his strategy of turning the US focus from Iraq to a conflict, he says poses a greater security threat.

Afghan women to miss out on vote in landmark election

AFGHANISTAN - Millions of Afghan women will be denied their chance to vote in presidential elections this week because there are not enough female officials to staff the women-only polling stations.

A desperate shortage of female staff is threatening to undermine the legitimacy of the elections, which are the pinnacle of western-led efforts to build a peaceful democracy.

Strict cultural norms mean women cannot vote in male-run stations.

Women's activists say the Independent Election Commission (IEC) needs to recruit 13,000 more women before Thursday's elections.

The IEC refused to comment on recruitment figures, but papers leaked to The Independent suggest the shortfall is much worse, at more than 42,000.

Without female staff to operate the strictly segregated stations, and more importantly, without female searchers to frisk women voters as they arrive at those stations, conservative men across the country will ban their wives and daughters from taking part.

"If half of the population can't participate, the election is illegitimate," said Orzala Ashref, a director of the Afghan Women's Network. "Without women's votes, without women's participation, of course the election is not going to be valid."

"You need female staff," said leading women's rights activist Wazhma Frogh. "Otherwise women won't dare go out. Their families won't let them."

The problem is most acute in the south east, where there are just 2,564 women on the IEC books, less than 20 percent of the 13,400 target. In the south, they have less than half the 10,428 women required.

The IEC launched an emergency appeal through women's rights organisations last week to try to fill the staffing gap.

But in a sign of growing desperation, officials have suggested hiring old men and boys in their place.

"We are totally against this," Ms Ashref said. "The men will tell women, 'If you go and vote it will be men who search you'. Would women from the UK feel comfortable being searched by a man? It's even more sensitive here. They won't let them go."

At Nad-e-Ali in Helmand, an area recently under Taliban control, a lack of policewomen had meant that required searches of female voters cannot be carried out. Local elders have rejected suggestions that female British troops should carry out the task.

Many men in this deeply conservative area are adamant that they will not let women from their families vote in mixed stations. Niamtullah Khan, a 57 year old farmer, said, "we are very concerned about this. Most of my neighbours are against letting women go to these places where anything can happen. I, and a few others, think we should look ahead and have change, but I would not approve of my wife, sister, or daughter going into buildings with a lot of unknown men."

The lack of female staff has fuelled fears of proxy voting, where men vote for their entire families. Concerns were first raised in December when The Independent revealed "phantom" women voters were outnumbering men in the registration process.

New figures seen by The Independent show women registrants outnumbered men in five provinces, including Logar, Paktia and Khowst. "What's most alarming is that those places where the female recruitment has been most difficult are the same places where there was over-registration of women," said a senior Western diplomat.

Women's registration cards are especially prone to fraud because unlike the men's, they don't include a passport picture of the owner. Photographs of bare faced women are deemed culturally unacceptable.
- THE INDEPENDENT.COM

Car bomb blast kills six in Charsadda

PESHAWAR: A bomb planted in a car exploded at a petrol station in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing six people including children in an attack claimed by Taliban militants, police officials said.

The blast hit on the outskirts of Charsadda town, about 30 kilometres northeast of Peshawar, the capital of the troubled North West Frontier Province which has seen a wave of suicide bombings and attacks this year.

‘Six people were killed and eight injured in the explosion. It was a passenger vehicle...the bomb was planted in a pick-up truck,’ district police chief Mohammad Riaz Khan told AFP.

He said that two women, two children and two men -- who were sitting in the rigged vehicle when it blew up -- were killed.

Safwat Ghyur, another senior police official from Peshawar, told reporters however that three children, two women and the male driver were killed.

Hospital officials put the injured toll at 10.

‘It was a timed device. Somebody gave baggage to a passenger and the device was hidden in that baggage,’ Ghyur said in remarks broadcast on local TV.

Eyewitness Ali Rehman told AFP by telephone from the scene that he had been travelling in the doomed vehicle along with about 19 other people, but had stepped away for a drink.

‘I was sitting in the open portion of the vehicle when it stopped for refuelling. I went to drink a glass of water, and then there was a huge blast. I fell on the ground,’ he said.

‘I see blood and body parts everywhere. Pieces of flesh are scattered on the ground,’ he added.

Charsadda district borders the tribal region of Mohmand, where the government has tenuous control and Taliban militants are active.

The vehicle was headed to Mohmand when it blew up, and surviving passengers said they were from the district's Ambar village, where local tribesmen had raised a militia to fight against extremists.

A Taliban commander in Mohmand called an AFP reporter in Peshawar and claimed responsibility for the bombing.

‘Our target was the lashkar (militia) people. The people sitting in the vehicle were from Ambar. These people attacked Taliban,’ said Qari Shakeel from an undisclosed location.

Police would not immediately comment on the motives for the blast.

Pakistan's military launched a series of offensives against Taliban militants in the northwest in late April prompting a string of revenge attacks, but there had been a lull in deadly bombings in the past month.

More than 2,000 people have died in Taliban-linked bombings in Pakistan since July 2007, including at least nine who were killed in a devastating attack on Peshawar's five-star Pearl Continental hotel in early June.