radio station destroyed by taliban

Radio Yawali Ghag of Sayedabad district was burned down by Taliban last night.

A large number of Taliban fighters attacked the southern district of Sayedabad in Wardak province at around 02:00 AM today. A fierce battle broke out between police and Taliban using small arms and RPGs. The fight continued for three hours until the dawn, Taliban fled when Army reinforcements arrived from Kabul. A talib fighter body is left at the scene; however the accurate number of casualties from both sides is not yet confirmed.

In the first hour of attack, a group of ten or twelve came to the radio station, tied up and beaten the guard. “they took one computer and the guard with them, but burned down everything else” said Hazratuddin Nosrat manager of yawalighag radio station. The guard was later found alive in the mountains.

Radio Yawalighag is a community radio station and an affiliate of Salam Watandar network. The station was broadcasting around ten hours a day, including four hours of salam watandar. The radio station board adopted an editorial policy inline with the local culture. “we had appropriate programs. In sayedabad we have to strictly adhere with Islamic principles” said Hazratuddin Nosrat. The radio station since its establishment has managed a good community relation. it was never threaten by Taliban or any other group. The destruction of the station wasn’t a deliberate target but rather an opportunistic sabotage action. According to radio station guard, the Taliban could have been local, they had a wardak accent.

IFJ condemns abduction of Kabul reporter Kamran Mir Hazar

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is shocked to learn of the detention under murky and suspicious circumstances of Kamran Mir Hazar, chief editor for a popular news website in Kabul and reporter for Salam Watandar Radio.
According to information received from IFJ associates in Afghanistan, Mr Hazar was picked up outside his office by gunmen who identified themselves as personnel of the Afghanistan National Security Directorate (ANSD). A professional colleague’s eyewitness account reports Mr Hazar being threatened and coerced, before being taken away to an unknown location.

IFJ associates the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA) and the Committee to Protect Afghan Journalists (CPAJ) have since made a number of inquiries with the ANSD, only to be met with a flat denial that the agency has anything to do with Mr Hazar’s abduction.
The Ministry of Information has yet to either confirm or deny his arrest.

The IFJ learns that Mr Hazar was taken for “questioning” one month back by the ANSD, following a number of media reports critical of high-ranking Afghan government officials. Following his release after four days of detention, he was reportedly living inside the Kabul office of an international media development organization.

Journalist organisations have referred that particular detention to the empowered body under Afghan media law, for an advisory opinion about its validity under law. The IFJ understands that no official determination has yet been made and the reasons for his first detention remain unaccounted.

“We have heard from reliable sources that the program Salam Watandar, or ‘Hello, Citizen’, has been making a significant contribution to enriching the public discourse in Afghanistan”, said Jacqueline Park, IFJ’s Director for the Asia Pacific.

“We stand as one with the community of journalists in Afghanistan in demanding his immediate release and a complete accounting by the government for his continuing harassment”.

The IFJ lends its unconditional support to the AIJA, the CPAJ, and the emergency committee formed in defence of Kamran Mir Hazar.

A global body representing over 600,000 journalists in 114 countries, the IFJ fully endorses the demand made after a meeting of the emergency committee that Mr Hazar be released immediately, and that the men responsible for his abduction be identified and brought to account at once.

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0919
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 114 countries

Korshied Samad on Sounds Like Canada

… I caught most of an interview of Khorshied Samad.

I have to say up front that when she was introduced as "Khorshied Samad, the wife of Afghan ambassador to Canada Omar Samad", it made me feel a little odd. I knew nothing of this woman, but surely if she is being interviewed on the radio then she has done something more important than just being "husband to" somebody. At least I hope so.
http://bradgagne.blogspot.com/2007/06/korshied-samad-on-sounds-like-canada.html

And then after a lengthy interview detailing the struggles of women in Afghanistan, how they are mistreated, belittled, and marginalized... wait for it.. Kevin Sylvester goes on to conclude the interview just as he started it: summarizing this woman's life experience and accomplishments as "Khorshied Samad, wife of Omar Samad, Afghan ambassador to Canada."

Great work there CBC.

Pak-Afghan Jirga: Draft Declaration

At the ongoing grand peace jirga in Kabul, Pakistan has proposed formation of a joint tribal council to open negotiations with Afghan resistance groups and work for a ceasefire to create necessary conditions for peaceful resolution of the conflict, an official document made available to Dawn reveals.

The six-page document — titled “Pak-Afghan Jirga: Draft Declaration” — says that Pakistan would call for durable institutions to guarantee the unity and stability of Afghanistan and underline the need for peace as a ‘critical prerequisite’ for the prosperity of the Afghan people.

The document, which was distributed among the delegates of the jirga, said there was no military solution to the current conflict in Afghanistan.

It calls for the creation of a tribal council or a peace and reconciliation jirga, comprising 25 representatives each from Pakistan and Afghanistan, authorised by the grand jirga and also by the government of Afghanistan, “to immediately undertake to open negotiations with the resistance on how best and how soon to end violence in the country.”

The tribal council, it says, shall comprise only tribesmen and will not include any government representatives from the two sides.

The council, says the document, would solicit the response of the resistance and engage with the government in Kabul on how best to find common ground between the positions held by the two sides, keeping in mind the imperatives of the unity of Afghanistan, its territorial integrity, sovereignty and its fundamental character as an Islamic, democratic country.

It says that the tribal council would address all issues which impact on the impasse as far as negotiations between the government and resistance are concerned and seek a comprehensive resolution to the conflict within the framework of a united Afghanistan free of militancy and extremism and address the root cause of the conflict and violence including the question of the presence of coalition forces in that country.

The document says that as soon as the peace and conciliation jirga begins its consultations with the resistance, including the Taliban and the Hezb-i-Islami (Hekmatyar), a ceasefire should come into effect between the resistance and Afghan/coalition forces for a period to be mutually agreed upon.

“This would give a respite to both the resistance and the (Afghan) government to consider coolly and dispassionately the grave situation confronting the nation and the likely options on how best to resolve the conflict,” it says.

According to the draft declaration, Pakistan would also seek the Grand Jirga to call upon the resistance to show vision and maturity and respond positively in order to achieve a breakthrough in ending violence and creating an environment in which they too can join the mainstream Afghan institutions.

Pakistan would also seek the Grand Jirga to resolve that a key component for peace in Afghanistan is the security and stability of the Pak-Afghan border.

“All possible measures, therefore, must be adopted to ensure that this becomes a border of peace and friendship bringing the two countries closer together” and those crossing the border with ulterior motives must be confronted by institutions and systems rooted in the culture of the area.

Pakistan will be seeking the establishment of border peace monitoring committees, on both sides of the border, comprising tribesmen living across the Durand Line to be assisted by officials concerned from both sides to undertake to monitor movement of people across the border, identify the main routes and bring tribal pressure to bear on people involved in sabotage.

The draft declaration also seeks to call upon the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to draw up a comprehensive Border Infrastructure Development Project in cooperation with the international community for speedy uplift of the tribes along the borders.

According to the draft declaration, Pakistan would also be seeking the creation of a Pak-Afghan Peace and Friendship Commission, as a permanent institution mandated to not only implement the decisions of the Grand Jirga but also carry forward the task of building bridges of trust and cordiality, accommodation and tolerance.

From DAWN