Afghanistan's lack of a national transit strategy is complicating the more regional problems related to transport, ultimately impacting businesses and the economy, the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) said Thursday.

ACCI officials called for more resolution from the government to enforce a national policy, saying that the regional transit problems cannot be addressed without it.

"The government has not solved our transit problems with the neighboring countries in the last 11 years - we still face problems," ACCI Deputy Director Khan Jan Alokozai told TOLOnews.

"At least facilitate a way for trade through Aqina Port," he added.

Aquina Port is based in northen Faryab province on the border with Turkmenistan. The ACCI sees it as a viable alternative to trading through Pakistan – which has been plagued with problems for some time – because of its proximity to China, Russia, and Europe.

Afghan traders have accused the government of silence on the matter of Pakistan's latest measures against Afghan traders in Karachi port which has included fines on top of lengthy delays.

"Just as we need Pakistan, they also need us. So there should be similar action against Pakistan's transit goods," trader Mohammad Hassan Hasam said.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industries spokesman Wahidullah Ghazikhil told TOLOnews the government is aware of the problems and is working on a solution.

"We are searching for alternative ways and also our customs are ready to take similar action against the neighboring countries," he said.

Afghan analysts have previously said that Afghanistan's lack of strategy and policy in transit issues makes it easier for other countries to impose unreasonable demands on Afghan traders.

The controversial comments of Pakistani cleric Tahir Ashrafi in support of suicide bombing indicate that the insurgency has religious backing, the National Coalition party said Thursday, warning that Afghanistan must adjust its policies accordingly.

Speaking at a gathering in Kabul, National Coalition member Mohammad Yunus Qanuni said the Pakistan-appointed cleric had proved that terrorism enjoys religious as well as political support.

"The words by the head of the Pakistan Ulema Council indicate that terrorism in Pakistan has political and religious support. We strongly condemn the statement," Qanuni said in a gathering in Kabul to observe International Women's Day on March 8.

The Coalition said the Afghan government must react, beginning with changes in policy such as that of releasing Taliban prisoners.

Last week, Ashrafi said in an interview with TOLOnews that Muslims were justified in "sacrificing their lives to Allah" as long as Afghanistan was "occupied" by US forces.

The statement was widely condemned, and Ashrafi later said he had been misunderstood.

The Pakistan Embassy in Afghanistan released a statement saying it was Ashrafi's personal opinion and not one condoned by the government. But the damage has been significant.

"It (Ashrafi's statement) has proven that terrorism enters Afghanistan from Pakistan," Qanuni said.

The release of Afghan Taliban prisoners from Pakistan's jails was a deal struck two months ago between the governments in an apparent hope that freedom would encourage the Talebs to negotiate for peace with the Afghan government.

Its impact appears to have fallen flat with most of the prisoners disappearing upon their release.

"Releasing these Taliban has no justification to us and will only be a cause of trouble," political analyst Mahmood Saiqal said Thursday.

National Coalition spokesman Sayed Aqa Fazel Sancharaki said Afghanistan needed a stronger, single policy towards Pakistan or it would continue to be pressured by outside forces.

"The lack of a focused policy by Afghanistan has allowed Pakistan to force its demands onto Afghanistan," he said.

Afghan women continue to face serious threats and injustice despite massive efforts at both a countrywide and international level to improve their situation.

There has been substantial progress in women's rights, but there is still a long way to go, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in Afghanistan said.

"We are concerned with the very high levels of violence against women and the fact that many women are in prison for moral crimes," UNHCR director Georgette Gagnon told TOLOnews on the eve International Women's Day, March 8.

"Now the government has attempted to address this by passing the Elimination of Violence Against Women law. And while we have seen some improvement... we haven't seen strong enough action taken by the government to actually prosecute people for violating this law. So we would like to see stronger implementation of this."

"We're also concerned about women's participation in political sphere, in the public sphere... They still often face discrimination and violence," Gagnon added.

Women have gradually moved into working in jobs across most sectors of society, including the military and law enforcement, which is hoped will help respect and equal justice in the years to come.

Around 25 women are even working in Afghanistan's Special Police.

"If the men, our brothers, come here to serve to secure the country then the girls and our sisters can also serve the country," Afghan special forces officer Lida Ebdali told TOLOnews.

Special Forces commander Jalaludin Yaftaly said the women who fight have to be even more tough than the men.

"If a heroes medal is given to anyone, I think it should be given to the female special forces officers because they face a lots of problems and they really are champions who are carrying out difficult things," he told TOLOnews.

Afghanistan's first female district governor Sahira Shakib said she feels happy to serve despite the challenges.

"When the people come to my office [for help] it makes me to feel good. I have had from before until now the desire to serve my family, my tribe, and my nation," she said.

The government law seeking to eliminate violence against women focused on eradicting things such as child marriage, forced marriage, and rape. But these issues, and more continue.

Many criticise the government inaction on such cases saying that the laws are merely symbolic because they are rarely enforced.

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The controversial comments of Pakistani cleric Tahir Ashrafi in support of suicide bombing indicate that the insurgency has religious backing, the National Coalition party said Thursday, warning that Afghanistan must adjust its policies accordingly.

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Chief executive of New Kabul Bank Massoud Mossa Ghazi was sentenced on Thursday to three year's prison for helping an illegal money transfer to the former chairman of Kabul Bank Sherkhan Farnood.

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Afghanistan is known for its constraints on women, both in the past and present, but for Susan Firoz, a 23-year-old Afghan rap artist, it provides material for her craft.

Firoz is pushing against the social norms and barriers built around women in Afghanistan with her talent for music and words, but it comes at a high price with threats against her and her family.

While she has not let it stop her, Firoz said that now her father accompanies her everywhere.

"Those who are threatening me, they are telling me 'We will kidnap you and we will rape you' or 'We will kidnap your brothers or a member of your family.' There is a lot of problems for me that I am facing," she told TOLOnews Thursday.

Firoz is not only challenging the social structures holding back women and girls in her country, she is financially supporting her five-member family with her success.

Firoz said she hopes that one day she will be remembered as one of Afghanistan's greatest pop stars.

"What has happened to my people, what has happened to me and what has happened in our country is the reason that I became a rapper. I want to express the problems through rap music," she said.

Rap music is a common in many other countries but is a new form of music expression in Afghanistan.

Firoz said she first heard rap music when her family were living in Iran and that despite the challenges she is happy with life, especially when she compares it with the lives of so many other girls in Afghanistan who are not allowed to even listen to music.

Afghanistan's lack of a national transit strategy is complicating the more regional problems related to transport, ultimately impacting businesses and the economy, the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) said Thursday.

ACCI officials called for more resolution from the government to enforce a national policy, saying that the regional transit problems cannot be addressed without it.

"The government has not solved our transit problems with the neighboring countries in the last 11 years - we still face problems," ACCI Deputy Director Khan Jan Alokozai told TOLOnews.

"At least facilitate a way for trade through Aqina Port," he added.

Aquina Port is based in northen Faryab province on the border with Turkmenistan. The ACCI sees it as a viable alternative to trading through Pakistan – which has been plagued with problems for some time – because of its proximity to China, Russia, and Europe.

Afghan traders have accused the government of silence on the matter of Pakistan's latest measures against Afghan traders in Karachi port which has included fines on top of lengthy delays.

"Just as we need Pakistan, they also need us. So there should be similar action against Pakistan's transit goods," trader Mohammad Hassan Hasam said.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industries spokesman Wahidullah Ghazikhil told TOLOnews the government is aware of the problems and is working on a solution.

"We are searching for alternative ways and also our customs are ready to take similar action against the neighboring countries," he said.

Afghan analysts have previously said that Afghanistan's lack of strategy and policy in transit issues makes it easier for other countries to impose unreasonable demands on Afghan traders.

Top news in this Bulletin:

Rangers conducted targeted operation in Garden area, Karachi and arrested several suspects.

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At least seven civilians and two Afghan security forces have been killed while 13 more civilians have been injured in a suicide attack outside the Ministry of Defence in Kabul city Saturday morning, officials said.

The attack took place about 09:00 am local time, shortly after the new US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Afghanistan on an official visit, chief of Kabul's Criminal Investigation Department General Mohammad Zahir said.

According to Ministry of Defence spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi, the bomber was on a bicycle and detonated his explosives at the first gate of the ministry.

"The bomber was on a bicycle, he was wearing a suicide vest and targeted the reception gate of the ministry. Unfortunately most of the casualties are civilians," he said.

Reports said a loud explosion was followed by the sound of gunfire, but there was only one insurgent attacker - the bomber.

More security forces arrived in the area and brought the situation under control as ambulances took away casualties to nearby hospitals.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast in a text message to media.

"More than 15 soldiers were killed in the attack. The attack happened during the trip of the US defence secretary, and the attack had a message for him," the Taliban said in a statement.

Earlier, Chuck Hagel, who became defence secretary last week, told reporters travelling with him that he wanted to make the trip to see for himself "where we are in Afghanistan".

There are around 66,000 US troops in Afghanistan helping over 300,000 Afghan security forces fight insurgency.

To watch the footage, click here:

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At least eight children and a policeman have been killed in a suicide attack in eastern Khost province Saturday morning, local officials said.

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Nicolas Maduro was sworn in Friday as Venezuela's acting president, using the occasion to launch blistering attacks on the U.S. as well as the political opposition, which objected that the ceremony violated the country's constitution.

Late President Hugo Chavez designated Maduro as his successor before he died Tuesday of cancer. Maduro had been Chavez's vice president.be sworn in. The constitution also says a presidential election should be called within 30 days.

Maduro has been picked as the presidential candidate of Chavez's socialist party.

Opposition leader Angel Medina said earlier Friday that the opposition would boycott the swearing-in ceremony, and the vast majority of opposition legislators did not attend.

Former U.S. presidential candidate, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, attended the ceremony as did Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa.

Stray fireworks exploded above the capital of Caracas as soon as Maduro was sworn in as president.

Both Maduro and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello pledged to follow Chavez's example and push his socialist-inspired agenda.

"I swear by the most absolute loyalty to comrade Hugo Chavez that we will fulfill and see that it's fulfilled the constitution ... with the iron fist of a people ready to be free," Maduro said.

He also echoed accusations he made shortly before Chavez's death that the U.S. had caused the leader's fatal cancer. On Friday night, he referred to "this illness very strange for the speed of its growth and for other scientific reasons that will be known in their moment."

He later duplicated Chavez's penchant for slamming "the empire," his term for the United States.

"We tell them: Sooner than later, the imperialist elites who govern the United States will have to learn to live with absolute respect with the insurrectional people of the ... Latin and Caribbean America," he said.

Maduro also claimed the allegiance of Venezuela's army, calling it "the armed forces of Chavez" as he pumped his fist in the air, a gesture that was reciprocated by the defense minister watching from the gallery. Critics have voiced increasing concern about the overt support the military has shown to the ruling party since Chavez's death, despite a ban on the army's participation in politics.

He later named Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza, Chavez's son-in-law, as his vice president. Arreaza had frequently been at the side of the dying president in his final weeks, sometimes providing updates about his health.

Shortly before the swearing-in, opposition leader Henrique Capriles said Maduro had used Chavez's funeral earlier in the day to campaign for the presidency. Capriles is widely expected to run against Maduro in the coming vote.

A former bus driver and union leader, Maduro had served as Chavez's foreign minister and was often seen on television accompanying the president during cancer treatments in Cuba. Chavez named Maduro his No. 2 after winning his third re-election in October.

Since the death, Maduro was seen Wednesday leading a massive funeral cortege through the streets of Caracas as well as welcoming foreign dignitaries and delivering the eulogy at Friday's funeral.

Nicolas Maduro was sworn in Friday as Venezuela's acting president, using the occasion to launch blistering attacks on the U.S. as well as the political opposition, which objected that the ceremony violated the country's constitution.

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Afghanistan's national football team coach on Saturday said that the best players of the upcoming 2013 Afghan Premier League will be selected to play in next year's AFC Challenge Cup.

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President Hamid Karzai's deadline for the US special forces to withdraw from central Maidan Wardak province comes tomorrow during the visit of US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel to Afghanistan.

Karzai's decision two weeks ago came after reports that Afghan forces subordinate to the US army were abusing civilians in the province.

A number of lawmakers have said that Karzai made a hasty decision on the issue, a decision made with the support of the National Security Council.

The lawmakers on Saturday called on the foreign forces to fight the president's decree.

"I think that in two weeks, it is technically impossible for the US special forces to withdraw their equipments from the province. The president decided on this hastily making it defective," lawmaker Humayun Humayun said.

A number of provincial officials and representatives also called for more talks over the expulsion.

"The province administration, the provincial council, and security organisations in the province and provincial representatives should discuss this based on which strategy and plans they can ensure the security of Maidan Wardak province,' Wardak's MP Obaidullah Kalimzai told TOLOnews.

More than 500 hundred students Saturday protested in Kabul city over alleged fraud in the nationwide tertiary entrance exam, the Kankor.

The students called for the government to appoint a delegation to investigate the Kankor commission over the alleged fraud in exam, highlighted by the results from Daykundi province which boasted 16 students in the top 20 mark out of 34 provinces and 175,000 students.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Daykundi results were paid for.

The protest started about 9:00am near Kabul University and ended peacefully near Parliament about 12:30pm.

The protestors chanted slogans including "We do not accept the results" and "The results must be cancelled."

"The government should appoint a new commission for the Kankor and they should also appoint a delegation to start investigating the commission and introduce them to the Attorney General's office because of the fraud," said a protestor to TOLOnews.

"If the government does not accept our demands we will continue to protest. The government should dismiss the Minister of Higher Education," said another student.

"We reject any allegations of fraud in the exam. We have already identified more than 500 students for cheating some of the whom have been referred to the Attorney General," a spokesman for the Ministry Abdulazim Noorbakhsh told TOLOnews.

"We will never cancel the result," he added.

Last week Afghanistan's anti-corruption watchdog called for the Kankor to be abolished saying that half the corruption within the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) was linked to the exam.

"This process should be cancelled and instead of the Kankor exam, those students of classes 9, 10, 11, and 12 that score more than 7 [out of 10] should be introduced to their favourite faculties directly," said Azizullah Lodin, head of High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption.

"This is my suggestion to the president, who should appoint a committee to inspect more on this suggestion, and correct possible defects. But after all, the Kankor exam should be cancelled," he told TOLOnews.

Lodin said that the Kankor's corruption included the selling of exam questions, influential figures putting pressure to change results, and general cheating.

Afghan traders Saturday said that Afghanistan will continue to lose major investments in the country because of the rampant corruption and inaction of the government to correct the situation.

The traders said that Afghanistan's government had already lost a massive amount of investment in the last 11 years because of widespread corruption, bureaucracy in state organization, insecurity, and lack of government's support.

"Corruption is a key reason for investors to take their capital from Afghanistan because no one else is present to lose his/her capital," Afghan trader Mahmood Karzai said.

Meanwhile the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption admitted the challenges ahead, saying corruption is the biggest challenge ahead of investments and economic growth in the country.

"Who will stay to invest in the face of the current challenges including the high level of corruption in Afghanistan? Nobody wants to lose capital. They will take their capital from Afghanistan," anti-corruption chief Azizullah Lodin said.

Although state officials repeatedly say the investments are growing in the country, traders believe that the obtrusive corruption and insecurity disheartens businesses from operating in Afghanistan.

The transfer of responsibility for Bagram Prison from the US military to the Afghan government was again delayed Saturday after alleged disagreements over a number of the articles in the Kabul-Washington pact.

 According to the Afghan defense ministry spokesman, the delay in the transfer of the Parwan-based military prison was a "technical problem".

Sources close to the matter told TOLOnews that President Hamid Karzai disagreed with five points in the memorandum of understanding, likely to be those related to foreign inmates and the US controlling the release of prisoners.

The transfer – one of the most controversial points affecting the relationship between the two countries in the past year – as well the expulsion of US Special Forces from central Maidan Wardak province are said to be the priorities of newly-appointed US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel in his visit to Afghanistan.

""We continue to work out the details on the transfer of the Detention Facility in Parwan to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

We remain committed to the full transfer of the facility and all Afghan detainees to the government of Afghanistan. We respect Afghan sovereignty. We intend to proceed with the transfer once we have reached full agreement," US Forces spokesperson Col. Thomas Collins told TOLOnews.

The transfer was agreed on one year ago with the complete handover to happen by September 2012 deadline, but while the US military has complied with most of the agreement, it continues to retain some control.

Karzai said at Parliament on Wednesday that today would be the day of complete transfer and also spoke of some prisoner releases.

"The president clearly stated Wednesday that a big number of the prisoners will be released after the handover of the prison to the government of Afghanistan. This makes the Americans fear that these prisoners might return to battlefields similar to the others," said Zaheer Saadat, MP.

Karzai met with Isaf Commander Joseph Dunford at Arg – the presidential palace – this afternoon to further discuss the issues within the pact and will likely release a comment on the matter, presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi told TOLOnews.

US concerns around prisoner release stem from the fact that reports of released Taliban members have often returned to the insurgency and attacking US forces.

Top news in this Bulletin:

The transfer of responsibility for Bagram Prison from the US military to the Afghan government was again delayed Saturday after alleged disagreements over a number of the articles in the Kabul-Washington pact.

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Parliament failed to select a first vice speaker for the house Saturday after no single candidate received enough votes to be appointed, among elections to install a new parliamentary administrative board.

The lawmakers began their first day back after the winter break with a number of lawmakers competing for a place on the administrative board as the first vice speaker of the house.

The administrative board also includes a second vice speaker, a secretary and a deputy secretary.

The speaker of parliament selected temporary members until another vote is taken and the new members are successfully elected.

In the vote for first vice speaker, Mirwais Yasini and Abdulzahir Qadeer competed against each other.

Qadeer received 90 votes and Yasini 99 votes - both insufficient to be elected to the post.

Out of four candidates for second vice speaker, Amanullah Paiman and Nimatullah Qafari made it to the second round of elections while Asadullah Saadati and Ahmad Shah Ramazan were omitted.

For the post of deputy secretary, Nazifa Zaki was eliminated while Farhad Azimi and Niloofar Ibrahimi acceded to the second round.

In the next vote, two more figures will be nominated for the position of first vice speaker.

Two border police have been killed and another injured in an apparent Taliban attack in western Farah province Saturday, local officials said.

The attack took place in Farah's Pasht Koh district of the province when a group of insurgents raided a border police outpost, according to the commander of border police in western Afghanistan Shir Ahmad Maladani.

"More security forces have been deployed to the outpost. The forces also supplied more weapons for the outpost. The Taliban insurgents fled from the area after the attack," he said.

No group including the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Pasht Koh district borders with Iran and insurgents frequently target the border outpost for attacks.