Kabul’s blaming game

THE heightened level of violence in Afghanistan reflects adversely on the ability of the government of President Hamid Karzai to maintain conditions of normality in the country. Last week, a US air strike killed 17 civilians, while 16 people died when the Taliban shot down a US helicopter on June 28. The civilian deaths resulted from the continued American search for a four-man squad that went missing after the helicopter was shot down. The Americans bombed a suspected militant hideout in a village in the Kunar province, and this, according to the Taliban, killed 25 civilians. Also last week, a pro-Karzai cleric and nine pro-government village elders were murdered. This is the picture in Afghanistan today more than three and a half years after the overthrow of the Taliban government.

Unlike Iraq, which continues to be under the international media’s searchlight, Afghanistan has remained relatively under-reported. For that reason, while we know that the number of non-combatants killed in Iraq has crossed the 100,000 figure, the civilian casualty toll in Afghanistan remains indefinite. Nevertheless, as in Iraq, the civilian casualties are far in excess of the number of soldiers killed on both sides. Which is a pity, because the hopes aroused by the induction of the Karzai government as a result of the Bonn accord have failed to materialize.

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri complained that Taliban based in Afghanistan and the warlords were likely to disrupt the parliamentary elections due in September. Aware of the Karzai government’s limitations in this respect, Mr Kasuri hoped the foreign troops on Afghan soil would take appropriate action to ensure peaceful elections. Last month, Pakistan gave detailed information to American and Afghan authorities about the infiltration of terrorists into Pakistan from across the western border. In fact, during talks with Afghan and US officials, the Pakistani side gave them the names of terrorists who had confessed to their activity.

Pakistan is not alone in complaining about infiltration from Afghanistan. Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the visiting Uzbek president, Islam Karimov, in Moscow that terrorists from Afghanistan were infiltrating into Central Asian states. Yet, astonishing as it may sound, Afghan authorities continue to level baseless allegations against Pakistan instead of controlling law and order in their own country. On Monday, Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said that Taliban from Pakistan were responsible for some recent acts of violence in his country. This he did while he was visiting New Delhi, accusing Pakistan of “cross-border terrorism”. Last month, Afghan Transport Minister Inayatullah Qasmi had the gumption to accuse Pakistan of harbouring Taliban terrorists while he was in Pakistan to take delivery of 23 buses donated by Pakistan. Other charges against Pakistan include an alleged plot to assassinate Mr Zalmay Khalilzad, the outgoing US ambassador in Kabul.

Blaming Pakistan for trouble has lately become something of a fad with the Afghan government. International media reports are now speaking of an Afghanistan that could dissolve into chaos because of the heightened level of violence there. Pakistan has no reason to add to that country’s tragic predicament. A stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s interest. The mountainous terrain through which the Durand Line runs is an ideal place for terrorists to hide. Islamabad and Kabul should try to step up cooperation and remove any misunderstandings that are bound to arise in such a situation. As for Afghanistan’s internal scene, the Karzai government would do well to concentrate on law and order so that the scheduled September elections could be held peacefully instead of vitiating the regional atmosphere by blaming Pakistan.

Floods: precaution & relief

RIVERS, swollen because of fast-melting snows in the mountains in the NWFP and the Northern Areas, continue to pose a threat to human life and property. On Monday, the Kabul river damaged a bridge serving as a link between Peshawar and the adjoining tribal areas. The river, which has already caused extensive damage to farmland and communication links, and caused the deaths of three people, remains in high flood and presents a danger to Nowshera. A satellite image published by Suparco on Monday also shows the Swat river in high flood. The Indus is in medium flood and its waters pose a threat to villages in Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan. While its floodwaters are expected to pass through the Guddu barrage on July 9, the river has already inundated several dozen villages which were temporarily built in recent years along its banks in Sukkur district.

So far, the federal and provincial governments, aided by the technology of flood forecasting and with valuable input from the meteorological department, have done a good job of containing at least the human cost of the flooding. However, the danger is far from over, especially since the monsoons have just begun, and are yet to arrive in some of the southern parts of the country. The NWFP chief minister’s plea on Monday that his government needs more than the Rs 100 million that the federal government has already pledged for flood relief should be considered sympathetically. The on-going coordination between the various flood forecasting, dam management and irrigation network authorities is crucial for the adoption of effective preventive measures such as evacuation and should continue right through the monsoon season. All provincial governments, especially those in Sindh and Punjab, should be particularly alert in this regard since the floodwaters will eventually affect their areas in the days to come. For now at least, since the NWFP has been affected most, its government should ensure that those in urgent need of relief get it without delay. Priority should be given to those displaced by floods in the more remote areas of the province, especially in Chitral, Swat and Mansehra districts.

Unsporting action

ONE fails to understand what could have prompted the management of the National Sports Training and Coaching Centre (NSTCC) in Karachi to allow its hockey field to be used as a venue for weddings. It’s hardly likely that the city has a shortage of marriage halls/gardens. If anything, it is sorely lacking in sporting facilities. One could digest the idea if the NSTCC was direly in need of funds and had absolutely no choice but to rent its space out for non-sporting events, but that too is not the case. One way the NSTCC gets income is by renting its track field to schools and colleges for their sports events. That they get more money from wedding ceremonies is understandable, but it does not justify renting out \space for them — a decision which should be repealed immediately. Places like the NSTCC should not lose sight of their focus — which is to provide people with training and sports facilities.

The NSTCC is not the first to stray from its objective as other sports complexes too have converted their areas into marriage halls. Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies too are guilty of occupying sports complexes and turning them into offices, depriving people of a healthy avenue of recreation and fitness training. Pakistan has produced some of the finest sportspeople in the world and there is no dearth of talent in the country. What is lacking, however, are proper sports centres which can encourage and further hone this talent. This is why the NSTCC should immediately put a stop to this practice, repair any damage done to the hockey field on account of weddings held there, and concentrate on bringing sportspeople back into the playing fields.