Afghanistan's National Coalition party Thursday accused President Hamid Karzai of demagoguery risking the good of the country with his thoughtless speeches against the US.

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A centre for religious studies has been opened in eastern Afghanistan in the hope that more Afghans will stay inside the country for such an education instead of going to Pakistan.

The senator who on Thursday opened the centre in eastern Nangarhar province said that Afghan children are going to Pakistan to get their religious education but they come back as insurgents and suicide bombers.

"With every day bringing suicide attacks and explosions, we decided to build a religious center here in order for our children and youth to get an Islamic education instead of going to neighboring countries where insurgency and military education was being taught" senator Lotfullah Baba said.

Lack of religious centers in the country obliges Afghan children to go Pakistan, he said.

Baba built the centre worth around Afs 15 million in the Hesar-e-Shahi district of the province.

"The centre already has 300 students... in the future we aim to attract 2000 students here ," Baba said.

Nangarhar shares a border with Pakistan which is why so many residents go there for a religious education.

Local officials have said that the residents wouldn't go to Pakistan if the government helped with more learning opportunities inside Afghanistan.

Abdul Latif Ibrahimi, former governor of Kunduz and brother of Parliament House speaker Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi, on Thursday called for a re-evaluation of government policy towards those who plan suicide attacks after the funeral of his father and two other brothers who were killed in Wednesday evening's suicide bombing in Kunduz.

"The government should have a clear policy -- it should change its policy. People do not know what we're doing [about attackers]," he said. "Every village knows who the enemies are."

MP Raouf Ibrahimi was not present at the funeral in northern Kunduz province because of the security threats, officials told TOLOnews.

The Ibrahimi's father, two brothers and a nephew were killed along with six others in a suicide bombing at a buzkashi match in the Imam Sahib district.

Kunduz governor Mohammad Anwar Jegdelik linked the attacks to foreign circles.

"The attackers come from abroad and it has global roots, so we will be always face these disasters if they are not completely destroyed," he said.

Kunduz provincial police chief Khalil Andarabi said that eight people have been detained in connection with the attacks.

Several officials have been killed in northern Kunduz and Takhar provinces by suicide attack during the last two years.

Kundoz former governor Eng Omar, the commander of north police Gen Daoud Daoud, former lawmaker Abdul Motalib Big, former Takhar police chief Shah Jahan and former Kunduz police chief Abdul Rahman Sayed Khili were all targeted in suicide attacks.

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Residents and security forces in Wardak, known as the "gateway to Kabul" express fears about a Taliban insurgency after U.S. troops leave.

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Afghan intelligence discovered and defused a truck bomb packed with nearly eight tonnes of explosives in Kabul last week, the biggest of its kind discovered in the capital, officials said Friday.

The intelligence forces discovered the explosives on Wednesday in Al Walkhil village in Kabul's district 16, wired and ready for detonation, spokesman for the Afghan National Security Directorate (NDS) Shafiqullah Taheri said at a press conference Friday.

The area was raided by the security forces and five Haqqani Network insurgents were killed in a resulting firefight, Taheri said.

"Two others were arrested during the raid, he said.

"This truck bomb could have destroyed an area around 1.5 km. Now can you imagine that what kind of catastrophe this would be?" Tahiri added.

According to the NDS, the militants had been planning to target a military facility in the capital. There are several foreign and Afghan military bases in Kabul, housing thousands of soldiers.

In the past two months, several suicide attacks have been launched in the Afghanistan's capital city.

The truck bomb was discovered on Wednesday two days after US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel left the capital. On the first full day of Hagel's visit, a suicide bomber struck about a kilometre away from his morning meetings at a Nato facility.

Most of the attacks against the US bases in Afghanistan are believed to have been launched by the Haqqani Network.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced plans on Friday to bolster U.S. missile defenses in response to a growing nuclear threat from North Korea, adding 14 interceptors to a missile defense site in Alaska by 2017 and deploying a radar tracking system in Japan.

The decision to add 14 new anti-missile interceptors at Fort Greely in Alaska amounts to a reversal of an Obama administration decision in 2010 to stop expansion of the missile field there at 30 interceptors. The Bush administration had planned to deploy 44 total interceptors.

Hagel said the decision to deploy all 44 interceptors came as a result of the growing threats from Iran and particularly North Korea, which tested a third nuclear device last month and launched a rocket that put a satellite in orbit in December.

"The reason that we're doing what we're doing ... is to not take any chances, is to stay ahead of the threat," Hagel said.

He said the additional interceptors would be deployed by the end of 2017, but did not say when their deployment would start.

Hagel also said the United States would move forward with a plan announced by his predecessor last year to deploy a second missile defense radar in Japan.

Hagel's announcement came a week after North Korea threatened the United States with a pre-emptive nuclear strike.

Experts say North Korea is years away from being able to hit the continental United States with a nuclear weapon despite a decades-long push toward a nuclear capability.

But its fiery rhetoric and aggressive testing have increased tension with the United States and South Korea.

"North Korea's shrill public pronouncements underscore the need for the U.S. to continue to take prudent steps to defeat any future North Korean ICBM," or intercontinental ballistic missile, James Miller, the Defense Department's policy chief, told the Atlantic Council on Tuesday.

Miller - also citing tensions with Iran - said the Pentagon was initiating congressionally mandated environmental impact studies for three alternative sites for deploying additional ground-based interceptors, if needed.

"These studies will allow us to shorten the timeline to build a new missile field on the East Coast or to add interceptors in Alaska, should either approach become necessary due to further future increases in the threat from Iran and North Korea," Miller said in his address.

At least three Taliban insurgents have been arrested Saturday in a security forces operation in central Logar province, local officials said.

The operation was launched in Barak-e-Barak district of the province during which Assadullah, also known as Delawar, Qari Abdullah and Qari Sayed were captured, provincial spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish told TOLOnews Friday night.

"The men were involved in several attacks against the government in the district and the security forces seized many weapons during the raid," he said.

Barack-e-Barack district is considered insecure in the province and insurgents frequently target local and Nato troops.

It comes as one insurgent was killed and 13 others were arrested in joint Afghan security force operations in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Saturday.

"The operations were conducted in Logar, Nimroz, Ghazni, Zabul, Balkh, Jawzjan and Kunduz provinces. As a result one armed Taliban was killed and 13 other armed Taliban were arrested by Afghan National Security Forces," the statement said.

Also during these operations, Afghan National Police discovered and confiscated rounds of both light and heavy ammunition, as well as two different types of mines placed by insurgents in Helmand province, it added.

In the past a week, President Hamid Karzai has twice time criticised the US over talks with the Taliban.

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Afghanistan has jumped 48 places in the international football federation's (FIFA) world rankings – the biggest mover in the latest edition of the rankings – boosted by its success in the qualifiers for the 2014 Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup.

The Afghan national team climbed to the 141 position from the 189 spot after qualifying for the 2014 Challenge Cup to be played in the Maldives next year.

Fellow qualifiers Palestine and Myanmar also improved their ranking. Palestine climbed the ladder by three spots to rank 150, while Myanmar rose nine spots to 155.
The Afghan Football Federation called the new ranking a "great achievement for the people of Afghanistan."

In the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers held in Laos, Afghanistan defeated both Sri Lanka and Mongolia 1-0 but were held by hosts Laos 1-1 to qualify for the tournament proper as Group C leaders.

It was one of the seven teams to qualify out of 20 who competed.

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

Yousuf Kargar said that with the Afghan Premiere League (APL) due to begin soon, it will help the national football team for next year's cup.

The AFC Challenge Cup began in 2006 and is held every two years.

The 2014 winners of the AFC Challenge Cup will participate in the AFC Asian Cup 2015 to be held in Australia.

Afghan bank officials warned Saturday that fake money is increasing in Afghanistan, which is likely to cause more problems for the economy.

Some Kabul residents and bankers told TOLOnews that the increase of fake Afghani currency is noticeable and will create transaction problems.

Most of the fake notes are 500 and 1000 Afs that are usually mixed in with original notes, making it more difficult to identify.

"It is making the people worried and it is really problematic," a resident told TOLOnews.

Afghanistan Central Bank chief admits the problem, saying that the money is most likely being printed in neighboring countries Pakistan or Iran.

"The fake notes are easily recognizable. They may have been printed in Pakistan or Iran, but fake money is an international problem," Noorullah Delawari told TOLOnews.

Bank officials said the way to recognise the fake currency is that it is usually printed on low quality paper, uses brighter colors and a different silver strip.

The Ministry of Higher Education will set up a commission to investigate the country-wide university admission test, the Kankor, after claims of widespread bribery and fraud in some provinces.

Higher Education Minister Obaidullah Obaid was summoned by lawmakers to Saturday's parliamentary session to answer questions about the exam after accusations from the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption of fraud and corruption in the results, and protests from Kabul students.

The lawmakers called for the exam to be reassessed and the results reannounced.

"Minister, the process was fraught with corruption and bribery – the ones who had money were those who succeeded in the exam," MP Mohammad Naaem Lalai Ahmadzai said.

Obaid rejected the lawmakers claims saying the exam was transparent and that nobody had intervened in the exam results.

However, he added that a commission comprised of MPs, civil society members, and ministry representatives will be set up to assess the exam.

"The ministry of higher education accepts your suggestion. The ministry will set up a joint commission to assess the outcome of the exam," Obaid said.

Around 41,000 students of the 175,000 who sat the exam will be offered university places.

More than 500 hundred people Saturday launched a demonstration in Kabul against the presence of US forces in Maidan Wardak province, calling for the foreign troops to leave as decreed by President Hamid Karzai.

The protest began around 9:00am local time in the Debure area of Kabul and finished near Parliament amid chants of "Death to America" and "No more Americans troops in our province."

The protesters, who said they were from Wardak, said that President Karzai had ordered the US special forces to leave by Monday last week but the deadline had not been met.

Those who spoke to TOLOnews warned that if the government does not follow through in making the US troops leave the province, they will continue to protest and "it create problems for them [the government]."

"We will block the Kabul-Kandahar highway if the government does not accept our demand," protestors said.

Karzai ordered the US Special Forces to leave the province which borders Kabul to the west almost three weeks ago, giving them a two-week deadline.

The order came reportedly after complaints from Wardak tribal elders of "torture and murder of Afghan citizens" by local Afghan forces subordinate to the US military.

Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi told reporters at the time that the US Special Forces and Afghan forces who are "on their payroll" and follow their instructions have become a parallel structure to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).

The order came despite Wardak being noted as one of the most dangerous provinces in the country and most crucial for its closeness to the nation's capital Kabul.

Security threats have significantly declined in Afghanistan's north, the commander of the 209 Shaheen Corps said Saturday.

Gen Zalmai Wisa, who commands the security corps covering northern regions, told TOLOnews that the local security forces have the ability to ensure the region's security and that insurgents were weakening.

He said that some 20 districts in the north which are faced with more security challenges will be subjected to Operation Oqab [Eagle] to take more control in those areas, according to the commander.

"Several armed opposition groups who are being equipped by neighboring countries are trying to make security worse in the north parts of the country but the Afghan security forces will never allow them to realise such a terrible wish," Wisa said.

He added that the security transition to Afghan security forces is expected to go well, despite the continued threats against security forces.

Northern Balkh province council chief Dr Afzal Hadid is also optimistic of the local forces ability, as long as they are sufficiently equipped.

"We ask the international community to equip our country's security forces in order for the insurgents to not succeed against our security forces," he said.

Wisa said that he believes the growth of the Afghan security forces with the commitments of the international community will mean the security situation will not deteriorate after 2014.

Afghanistan's Ulema Council Saturday said that if the US military does not hand over Bagram prison to Afghan control and withdraw from Maidan Wardak province, its continued presence will be regarded as an "occupation" of Afghanistan.

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Afghanistan's Ulema Council Saturday said that if the US military does not hand over Bagram prison to Afghan control and withdraw from Maidan Wardak province, its continued presence will be regarded as an "occupation" of Afghanistan.

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At least three Taliban insurgents have been arrested Saturday in a security forces operation in central Logar province, local officials said.

The operation was launched in Barak-e-Barak district of the province during which Assadullah, also known as Delawar, Qari Abdullah and Qari Sayed were captured, provincial spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish told TOLOnews Friday night.

"The men were involved in several attacks against the government in the district and the security forces seized many weapons during the raid," he said.

Barack-e-Barack district is considered insecure in the province and insurgents frequently target local and Nato troops.

It comes as one insurgent was killed and 13 others were arrested in joint Afghan security force operations in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Saturday.

"The operations were conducted in Logar, Nimroz, Ghazni, Zabul, Balkh, Jawzjan and Kunduz provinces. As a result one armed Taliban was killed and 13 other armed Taliban were arrested by Afghan National Security Forces," the statement said.

Also during these operations, Afghan National Police discovered and confiscated rounds of both light and heavy ammunition, as well as two different types of mines placed by insurgents in Helmand province, it added.

In the past a week, President Hamid Karzai has twice time criticised the US over talks with the Taliban.

To watch the programme, click here:

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ادامه مطلب...

Afghanistan has jumped 48 places in the international football federation's (FIFA) world rankings – the biggest mover in the latest edition of the rankings – boosted by its success in the qualifiers for the 2014 Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup.

ادامه مطلب...

Afghan bank officials warned Saturday that fake money is increasing in Afghanistan, which is likely to cause more problems for the economy.

Some Kabul residents and bankers told TOLOnews that the increase of fake Afghani currency is noticeable and will create transaction problems.

Most of the fake notes are 500 and 1000 Afs that are usually mixed in with original notes, making it more difficult to identify.

"It is making the people worried and it is really problematic," a resident told TOLOnews.

Afghanistan Central Bank chief admits the problem, saying that the money is most likely being printed in neighboring countries Pakistan or Iran.

"The fake notes are easily recognizable. They may have been printed in Pakistan or Iran, but fake money is an international problem," Noorullah Delawari told TOLOnews.

Bank officials said the way to recognise the fake currency is that it is usually printed on low quality paper, uses brighter colors and a different silver strip.

The Ministry of Higher Education will set up a commission to investigate the country-wide university admission test, the Kankor, after claims of widespread bribery and fraud in some provinces.

Higher Education Minister Obaidullah Obaid was summoned by lawmakers to Saturday's parliamentary session to answer questions about the exam after accusations from the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption of fraud and corruption in the results, and protests from Kabul students.

The lawmakers called for the exam to be reassessed and the results reannounced.

"Minister, the process was fraught with corruption and bribery – the ones who had money were those who succeeded in the exam," MP Mohammad Naaem Lalai Ahmadzai said.

Obaid rejected the lawmakers claims saying the exam was transparent and that nobody had intervened in the exam results.

However, he added that a commission comprised of MPs, civil society members, and ministry representatives will be set up to assess the exam.

"The ministry of higher education accepts your suggestion. The ministry will set up a joint commission to assess the outcome of the exam," Obaid said.

Around 41,000 students of the 175,000 who sat the exam will be offered university places.