Authorities have found the wreckage of an airliner missing in Afghanistan since Thursday. VOA:
Security officials say the Kam Air Boeing 737 was found Friday near Kabul, the Afghan capital. It was not immediately clear if any survivors were found.Airline officials say the plane was carrying 104 people, including a number of foreigners. Nine of the passengers are believed to be Turkish nationals, and three were American women working for a health services agency. Six Russian crew members and two Afghan staff were also on board.
The plane was traveling from the western city of Herat to Kabul, but was turned away from the capital’s airport because of a severe snow storm. Officials say the pilot had contacted an airport in neighboring Pakistan seeking permission to land, but that the plane never arrived there.
The folks at Inside Defense have created an Afghanistan Reading Guide (a nice compliment to their Iraq Reading Guide). It’s all you need to know.
President Hamid Karzai swore in his new Cabinet on Friday, hailing the body as the best hope for this war-ravaged nation and saying he would sack any minister who doesn’t work hard to bring a better life for Afghanistan’s people.“The Cabinet that we swore in will be loyal to Afghan law and the national interests,” Karzai said after a closed-door ceremony in which he gave the oath to 25 of the 27 new ministers. “I have chosen the ministers, and if they don’t perform I will ask them to leave.”
Two ministers not present will be sworn in later.
Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. This Regional Briefing focuses on Central Asia & the Caucasus, courtesy of Nathan Hamm of The Argus. Nathan served in Peace Corps Uzbekistan from 2000-2001.
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U.S. Army Sgt. Caleb Wines is returning to Afghanistan with luggage filled with children’s eyeglasses.
Wines, who is an optical laboratory specialist, has been taking part in military-sponsored humanitarian missions to help the elderly Afghan population get proper eye care and eyewear. Wines has also met with young patients in need of glasses.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Wines had few options for those youngsters — the only frames available to him to distribute were large, military-issued frames:
“The main focus were the elderly who could properly wear the glasses,” he said. “We saw the kids who had eye injuries from, like, mine incidents.”
His problem was featured in a military publication that Wines distributed to family and friends via e-mail, including colleagues at the Eye Clinic of Texas in League City.
Details of Wines’ trying to fit youngsters with the large, clunky military frames inspired his co-workers to find frames for the Afghan children.
Dr. Allan Fradkin, an ophthalmologist at the clinic, persuaded the Safilo Group, one of the clinic’s main vendors, to donate 50 pairs of frames to help. The clinic pulled additional frames from its inventory to increase the donation to more than 150.
[. . .]
“I am always amazed by the generosity of my fellow Americans to help the less fortunate,” Wines said. “This donation will help our cause and the Afghan people more than I can express.”
Wines will perform eye exams on Afghan children and then custom-cut the lenses to the donated frames based on individual prescriptions.
Wines is an Army reservist called to duty in February. He was trained as an optician in the military and is a semester shy of earning an engineering degree from Texas A&M University at Galveston.
From California Yankee.
Hamid Karzaiwas sworn in Tuesday as Afghanistan’s first popularly elected president, calling for sustained help from the international community to bolster a young democracy that still faces the twin threats of terrorism and drugs.The U.S.-backed leader, wearing a traditional green robe and a black lambskin hat, took the oath of office in a solemn ceremony in a restored hall of the war-damaged former royal palace.
Vice President Dick Cheney, the highest-ranking American official to visit Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld were among those who gave Karzai a standing ovation when he arrived.
Afghanistan’s TV networks are in trouble over pop videos, Bollywood movies and even Charlton Heston’s “The Ten Commandments.” According to the Associated Press, an appeal from Afghanistan’s top Islamic judge this week prompted the Cabinet to order television networks temporarily off the air.
Saad Mohseni, director of Tolo TV, predicted more restrictions would follow:
He accused officials of trying to silence increasingly sophisticated media coverage of Afghan politics.
“Ministers will come and go. But the free media should be here to stay to serve the nation and its public,” he said. “This is a time for people to take a stand.”
From California Yankee.
Reuters reports that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has vowed to regain control of Afghanistan.
A message from Omar was sent to newspaper offices in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, the Afghan Islamic Press said:
“America and its puppets should know that we are determined to free and regain the sovereignty of our country.”
Omar said Eid was coming at a time when Afghanistan and Islamic values “remain plunged into horror and Crusader vengeance” and Taliban and mujahideen (holy warriors) continued to be imprisoned by the United States in Cuba and Afghanistan.
“America…is trying to impose its puppet administration,” the message said. “Moral decadence, desecration of Islamic values and crime are increasing in Afghanistan. Every ploy is being used to mislead women.”
From California Yankee.
The Associated Press reports that Counting in Afghanistan’s presidential election concluded Tuesday, with Hamid Karzai the clear winner:
Investigators were still examining about 100 ballot boxes to clear up lingering fraud allegations, but the election’s chief technical officer said the count was effectively “over and done.”
“It’s just these last dribs and drabs to be approved,” David Avery told The Associated Press. “It’s really nothing that can affect the outcome.”
From California Yankee.
Agence France-Presse reports that Hamid Karzai has won outright victory in Afghanistan’s first presidential election according to preliminary results, the interim leader’s supporters, and his chief rival.
From California Yankee.
The Australian reports that Iran has threatened a preemptive strike against US troops:
“We will not sit (with arms folded) to wait for what others will do to us,” Iran’s defence minister, Rear-Admiral Ali Shamkhani told Al-Jazeera TV yesterday when asked if Iran would respond to a US attack on its nuclear facilities.
“Some military commanders in Iran are convinced that preventive operations which the Americans talk about are not their monopoly, “America is not the only one present in the region. We are also present, from Khost to Kandahar in Afghanistan; we are present in the Gulf and we can be present in Iraq,” said Rear-Admiral Shamkhani.
From California Yankee.
About 90 percent of the Afghan electorate is registered to vote in October’s presidential election. The Associated Press reports :
According to the latest U.N. figures, 8.7 million of an estimated 9.8 million eligible voters have collected ID cards that will allow them to cast a ballot when polling begins Oct. 9 in Afghanistan’s first-ever direct national vote.
[. . .]
“The participation is amazing,” U.N. spokesman David Singh said. “There was a lot of skepticism about this process at the beginning, but the targets have been fulfilled.”
From California Yankee.
Poll: Afghans Optimistic About Recovery (AP)
Two-thirds of Afghans say they are optimistic about the future but remain worried about insecurity and the ravaged economy, according to a survey released Tuesday.A majority also approved of interim leader Hamid Karzai, the favorite in landmark presidential elections set for Oct. 9, according to a poll that claims it is the most extensive yet on Afghan public opinion.
Of those questioned, only 13 percent favored the ousted Taliban regime, saying they favored governance of the United Nations. Two-thirds approved of the United States involvement which ousted the repressive Islamic militia in late 2001.
The poll was conducted by The Asia Foundation and the complete results can be found on their website.
AP: Infighting Delays Afghanistan Elections
Historic Afghan elections scheduled for September will be delayed because of wrangling among officials and political parties, a senior government official told The Associated Press on Thursday.Farooq Wardak, a senior member of the country’s election management body, said the group would not be able to reach a decision by Friday, the deadline for setting a vote in September.
Under Afghan law, polling day must be set at least 90 days in advance. That makes Friday the last chance to announce a Sept. 30 election.
“Much more consultation is required,” Wardak said as he hurried to a meeting with the top U.N. official in Afghanistan, Jean Arnault. “I’m hopeful that next week we’ll have a decision.”