Current Projects
What Tomorrow Brings for Girls in Afghanistan
Despite progress, girls in Afghanistan continue to face various obstacles as they pursue an education. Filmmaker and journalist Beth Murphy captures some of these challenges in her new documentary. https://vimeo.com/159128739#at=41 The documentary premiered this past May at the 2016 HotDocs film festival. Making its broadcast debut later this month, What Tomorrow Brings depicts the experiences of students and educators at the first girls’ school in a small, conservative village outside of Kabul. Fully immersing herself in the community, Murphy provides an in-depth look at the lives of the students, educators and Razia Jan, the school’s founder. Under Taliban rule, women in Afghanistan were prohibited from attending school. When the Taliban fell in 2001, girls and young women in the region gained greater access to the education they were previously denied—but threats to women’s rights and girls’ education persist. According to a report conducted by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, 213 schools closed or were partially closed last year in response to threats, preventing more than 50,000 girls from attending school. Born and raised in Afghanistan, humanitarian Razia Jan later moved to the United States where she resided for 38 years. As a young woman, she went to school and university—and even went on to further her education in the states. After returning to Afghanistan and noticing the vast discrepancies between her experiences growing up and the reality young girls in the region face today, Jan was driven to action. She opened the Zabuli Education Center in the district of Deh’Subz in 2008. Amid pressure to turn the school into a boy’s school, Jan was persistent in her efforts to establish the Zabuli Education Center as a place to educate and empower young women and girls. “For me, to really go and open this school for girls, in an area that they never allowed their daughters to go to school, was amazing to give the opportunity to these girls,”...
Afghanistan Is A Living Testament To The US Political Madness
October 2001 made it into history as clear evidence of the reckless plans of Washington ‘strategists’ for gaining worldwide domination. It is the period when the aggressive invasion of US troops in Afghanistan under the false pretext of revenge for the sad events of 911 began. However, neither then, nor now was there any evidence that it was Afghanistan and the Taliban that were involved in the attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. Besides, it is reliably known that most of the actual players (but not the masterminds) were Saudi nationals. However, Washington and Riyadh were friends back then, and instead of Saudi Arabia, it was Afghanistan (who was guilty of nothing) that was thrown under the steamroller of the most powerful army. Since that time, 15 years of occupation of Afghanistan by the United States and its European accomplices have passed so it is possible to sum up the results already: or rather record the collapse of the state government, the destruction of industry, agriculture, basic social structure. Instead, under the supervision and control of the US Generals the bright crimson poppy fields have really blossomed and drug production has increased more than tenfold. With the help of the CIA, this poisonous stream flows extensively into Russia, Europe and America. However, this is of little interest to Washington, which is using the drug sales to fund its occupation forces in Afghanistan. If the US was promoting that its goal was the removal of the Taliban from power, the fight against terrorism, the destruction of Al-Qaeda, then it should be noted that the Taliban currently controls over ten percent of the population, and a third of the 31 million population lives in areas of military conflict. These are the disappointing results of the 15 years of war in which about 140 thousand US troops and 36,000 troops from other countries fought against the Taliban. Moreover, there is a certain trend that the Islamic State that has arrived in...
Afghanistan Opium Survey 2016
Executive Summary: The area under opium poppy cultivation increased by 10% in 2016 The total area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan was estimated at 201,000 hectares (182,000 - 221,000) in 2016, which represents a 10% increase from 2015. Strong increases were observed in the Northern region and in Badghis province where the security situation has deteriorated since 2015. In 2016, 93% of the total opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan took place in the Southern, Western and Eastern regions of the country. The Southern region accounted for 59% of the total cultivation; the Western for 25% and the Eastern for 9%. The remaining regions (Northern, NorthEastern and Central) together accounted for 7% only. Hilmand remained the country’s major opium poppy cultivating province (80,273 ha), followed by Badghis (35,234 ha), Kandahar (20,475 ha), Uruzgan4 (15,503 ha), Nangarhar (14,344 ha), Farah (9,101 ha), Badakhshan (6,298 ha) and Nimroz (5,303 ha). In 2016, the number of poppy-free provinces in Afghanistan decreased from 14 to 13. Opium poppy cultivation in Jawzjan, in the Northern region, was estimated at 409 hectares and this province lost its poppy-free status, which it had regained in 2008. All regions except the Southern region experienced an increase in opium poppy cultivation in 2016, with the largest relative increase being in the Northern region (+324), followed by the North-eastern (+55%), Eastern (+44%), Central (+24%) and Western (+15%) regions. Cultivation in the Southern region stayed practically stable (-1%). The largest absolute increases took place in the Western and Northern regions, where, respectively, 6,759 and 6,076 more hectares were under opium poppy cultivation. The main opium poppy-growing provinces showed diverging trends. Opium poppy cultivation rose in Badghis (184%), Nangarhar (+43%) and Uruzgan (+37%) whereas decreases were seen in Farah (-57%), Nimroz (-40%), Hilmand (-7%) and Kandahar (-3%). Total eradication of opium poppy...
Taliban Uses Drones to Film Attacks In Afghanistan
The Afghan Taliban has uploaded a drone footage showing a suicide bomber driving into a police base and blowing it up in the southern Helmand province. The fighters say the footage proves that they can now deploy drones as an "addition to their sophisticated possessions of advanced technologies". The 23-minute-long video, which begins with a self-proclaimed suicide bomber speaking in front of an explosives-rigged Humvee, was released on Saturday and appears to be authentic, according to the Afghan defence ministry. "The remote-controlled drones to capture footage of their [Taliban] fighters conducting attacks is nothing but to instill fear among people and to indicate how far they can get in defeating us, but in fact using a drone is not something they can call an achievement," Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the defence ministry, told Al Jazeera by telephone. "You can get a drone anywhere, in any shop. They found or bought one, and used it." However, using camera drones near sensitive government sites was banned by the Afghan government in June. In the video, the purported suicide bomber, dressed in a black turban and white tunic says: "I am telling the Afghan stooge forces to repent and join the Taliban or we will use this equipment the foreigners gave them, against them and they can't do anything about it." A drone-mounted camera then films the Humvee speeding towards a compound and detonating in flames, blowing up the entire building. "This proves that we are well ahead in sending our messages to the people of Afghanistan in many sophisticated ways. Anything that helps us in destroying our enemies [Afghan and US forces] will be used with full force," Zabiullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, told Al Jazeera. "This video has proved to be very influential and we have many people supporting us." Mujahid said the video was of an attack on October 3, when the fighters overran parts of Helmand province. Reuters says a government official in Helmand also confirmed the...
15 years after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban are still strong
This month marks the 15th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. The war has claimed the lives of over 31,000 Afghan civilians, and over $783 billion has been spent attempting to push the insurgents out, instill a sustainable democracy, and build civic institutions. Fifteen years later, the Taliban contest or control more territory than at any point since the U.S. invasion. VICE News correspondent Ben Anderson, reporting from Kabul, spoke to people who’ve fled from Helmand, a province in on the southern border of Pakistan. This article originally appeared on www.news.vice.com, 22, October, 2016. Original link. Disclaimer: Views expressed in the article are not necessarily supported by CRSS.
Pakistan to be commended to managing Afghan refugees for 30+ years; Germany dealing with massive refugee crisis of 21st century: German envoy Ina Lepel
Pakistan has shown great solidarity and resilience in managing the Afghan refugee crisis. For well over 30 years, Pakistan has spent vast amount of resources to accommodate their neighbors, and must be commended. However, what has changed recently is surprising, and understanding the root causes would be critical to a balanced approach forward. These remarks were made by Ina Lepel, the honorable German Ambassador to Pakistan, during the closing ceremony of Pakistan Center of Excellence’s (PACE) collaborative workshop; a three day residential training program between October 22 and 24, 2016, organized by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS). She also spoke about the refugee crisis in Germany. She said that simplifiers and populists have tried to oversimplify a very complex problem by blaming the others and inciting fear into the resident population. Inconvenience or fear is no excuse for not following the rule of law, or not keeping your international commitments, she said. Germany is spending vast amount of resources not only to integrate the migrants, but also to educate the resident population to be tolerant. The more educated the person, she stressed, the easier it is for them to integrate, or be accepting of the outsiders. The resource persons and public intellectuals who interacted with the participating university lecturers and professors from different universities across Pakistan included award-winning photojournalist Ms. Sara Farid, Dr. Zubair Ghouri, Mr. Safiullah Gul, Dr. Qibla Ayaz, Dr. A. H. Nayyar and Ms. Humaira Masihuddin. The discussion themes included rule of law, tolerance, respect for diversity, fundamental human rights, equal citizenry, democracy and governance, media ethics, and perhaps most importantly, the importance of questioning the narratives that are presented before us. Mr. Imtiaz Gul, Executive Director CRSS, said that the basis of a progressive society is equal citizenry and strict adherence to the rule of law. He...
Pak-Afghan Trade Halves ‘Due To Transit Trade Glitches’
Former deputy trade minister of Afghanistan Muzamil Shinwari has said that bilateral trade with Pakistan has gone down substantially due to ‘problems’ in transit trade. “If these problems are not addressed, bilateral trade could witness further decline,” warned Shinwari, who was the chief negotiator for the 2010 Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA). “The Pak-Afghan trade volume was $2.5 billion in 2010 which has now come down to $1.8 billion,” Shinwari told The Express Tribune in an interview. He was in Pakistan to attend a two-day unofficial dialogue between MPs, politicians, ex-servicemen, civil society members and media persons. “There could be further decrease in bilateral trade if transit trade through Pakistan is not facilitated,” he said. Pakistani officials would earlier say that Afghanistan imports nearly 60% of items from Pakistan; however, diplomatic tension has badly affected trade relations. “If the transit trade is affected, it would have a direct impact on bilateral trade as both are inter-linked,” Shinwari argued. “Afghan traders, involved in transit trade, used to buy goods in markets in Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad. But now they would divert to Iran where they can buy goods in Zahidan, Mashhad and Tehran,” he said. Shinwari claimed that Pakistan had agreed during the APTTA negotiations in Islamabad to allow Afghanistan use the Wagah border with India in the presence of then US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. “Pakistan had sought time for the implementation of the agreement but assured us that Afghanistan would start imports from India via Wagah in the near future, which never happened,” Shinwari said. “We allow Pakistani goods to be transported via Afghanistan to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and even Russia and Europe. If Pakistani goods are exported to Central Asia, Afghanistan has the right to use Pakistan’s territory for trade with South Asia,” he insisted. This...
Situation In Afghanistan Dependent on Its Regional Dynamics: US
Regional dynamics does play a role in Afghanistan, the United States has acknowledged after former Afghan President Hamid Karzai's remarks that situation in the country is dependent on America and Pakistan's interest along with the two nations' relations with India. "Well, as much as you know, regional dynamics play into any country's domestic situation, there's an element of truth to that, which is why we're always working hard to push Pakistan to go after those terrorist groups that seek safe haven on their territory," State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Tuesday. "We are pushing for more dialogue between Pakistan and India, which we believe will help reduce tensions in the region. We have seen India play a more supportive role with regard to Afghanistan and support for the Afghan government," he said. Toner noted that for the conflict in Afghanistan, there's a range of different regional dynamics that play into "It's just a matter of fact. But our goal is to continue to support the Afghan military as it steps up its fight against the Taliban and pushes much needed reforms in the economy and the democratic system," he said, adding the US supports an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. Toner was responding to a question on Karzai's latest statement that America and Pakistan's interests and the two countries' relations with India determine events in the war-torn Afghanistan. "I think a combination... of the two, of the US interests in the region and Pakistani interests in Afghanistan and the nature of their relations with India has been determining events in Afghanistan - negatively, unfortunately," Karzai told RT in an interview. The deputy spokesman said America is supportive of the peace process and is not looking to engineer it, even as he refused to say anything on its role in the latest talks between the Afghan Government and the Taliban in Qatar. "I'm not going to speak about what our role may or may not be with regard to...
Officials: Taliban Brief Pakistan About Talks With Kabul
Three senior Taliban members traveled to Pakistan this week and held a series of meetings with Pakistani officials in Islamabad, mainly to brief them about the recent talks held in Qatar between the Taliban and Kabul, a senior Taliban official, an Afghan diplomat and a Pakistani official said Saturday. The Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, said he was aware of the meetings but refused to offer details. "We know about these recent meetings but we don't know what was discussed between the Taliban and Pakistani officials," he said. According to a senior Taliban official, the Taliban who were sent to Pakistan were Mullah Salam Hanifi and Mullah Jan Mohammed, both former ministers in the Taliban government, and Maulvi Shahabuddin Dilawar, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. A senior Pakistani security official confirmed the latest meetings between the Taliban and Pakistani authorities, saying Islamabad is playing its role to ensure peace in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan has repeatedly said it will support any effort aimed at bring peace in Afghanistan. "We will keep making efforts to facilitate talks between Kabul and the Taliban, as we did in July 2015, but the world knows who scuttled the peace process at the time and we do not want to discuss those bitter things," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media on the record on the issue. Pakistan arranged the first ever face-to-face talks between Kabul and the Taliban in 2015, but the peace process broke down after the Afghan government announced the death years earlier of the Taliban's one-eyed founder and leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. In the time since, a leadership struggle within the Taliban's ranks broke into the open and Omar's successor was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan. The latest development came after Taliban and Afghan government officials held new secret talks in Qatar aimed at restarting peace negotiations...
Afghanistan’s Opium Cultivation Jumps 10 Percent In 2016
Afghanistan's cultivation of opium poppy has risen by 10 percent in 2016, according to a new report released by the United Nations. According to the key findings of its annual Afghanistan opium survey, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the total area of land devoted to poppy cultivation had risen 10 percent in 2016 to 201,000 hectares. The jump in cultivation is due to the favorable weather, the government’s loosening grip on security, and a drop in international support for counternarcotics operation, the UN report said. "The survey shows a worrying reversal in efforts to combat the persistent problem of illicit drugs and their impact on development, health and security," UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov said in a statement. "Eradication has dropped precipitously to 355 hectares -- a fall of some 91 percent," Fedotov said. The report also said cultivation was also spreading to new areas, as the number of poppy-free provinces fell to 13 from 14 out of a total of 34. "It is very disturbing to see a considerable increase in poppy cultivation in the north, which may be linked with a deteriorating security situation in the region," said Andrey Avetisyan, head of UNODC in Afghanistan. The UN also said there has been a 30 percent increase in the estimated yield from poppy cultivation. Poppy farmers in Afghanistan are often taxed by the Taliban, which uses the money to fund their insurgency against the government and NATO forces. General Mohammad Ahmadi, deputy interior minister for the counternarcotics police, said his forces had conducted 1,263 operations this year, in which they arrested 1,408 opium traffickers including government employees and foreigners, confiscated just over 238 tons of opium, and destroyed at least 35 labs across the country. Billions of dollars have been spent on counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan in the past decade, including programs encouraging farmers to switch to other cash crops like wheat, fruit, and saffron. But...
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.