Afghan leaders welcomed the US military handover of its only prison in Afghanistan to the Afghan government, but are questioning what it now means for the British to continue to detain prisoners under its own jurisdiction.

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An Afghan civilian has been killed and six others including two police officers have been injured in a bomb blast in southern Helmand province Tuesday, local officials said.

The incident took place in the Nad Ali district of the province Tuesday afternoon when an improvised explosive device was detonated in a crowded area, provincial police chief Omar Aqmal said.

The victims have been taken to a nearby hospital.

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

Nad Ali district is considered insecure in the province with an active insurgency frequently using improvised explosive devices to target government and Nato forces.

The Export Promotion Agency of Afghanistan (EPAA) on Tuesday said that the ban on the export of medical herbs has reduced the value of the country's exports.

The ban has been in place since January when the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance's customs department to stop the export of the medical herbs in order to stop the unprofessional collection of liquorice and so to protect the environment.

"It's been more than two months since the environmental (protection) office sent a letter to the finance ministry's customs department about the export of wild animals. In which the word 'plants' as well is mentioned along with animals. Therefore, over the past two months there has been no export of medicinal plants, and this is a big issue for the country's economic progress," said Sayed Azim Mustafa Hashimi from the EPAA's Raisins, Fruits and Vegetables department.

The NEPA said that some of the medicinal plants were being collected unprofessionally and there was a chance they would become extinct in Afghanistan.

"We were distressed about the collection of some of the plants, especially liquorice. There may be other plants where the responsible departments have not been able to specify how much of which plant they have and which plant can be used. [But] that was the intention. We sent a letter to the customs department aiming to eradicate the unprincipled collection of liquorice," said Abdulwali Modaqqeq, NEPA deputy head for policies and international relations.

According to the officials of the EPAA Raisins, Fruits and Vegetables department, Afghanistan will experience a greater drain on its export potential and eventually its economy if the ban on the export of medicinal plants is not removed.

The Afghan national cricket team on Tuesday beat Oman in the Asian T20 championship by 44 runs, its first match for the World Cup 2015 qualifiers.

Afghanistan started the match with strong a batting lineup, setting the run target for Oman at 150. Karim Sadeq proved the strongest batsman in the match, putting 46 runs on the board for the Afghans.

However Oman was out of overs by with only 106 runs on the board. The Gulf nation struggled at the start of its batting as Afghan skipper Mohammad Nabi Esakhel bowled four out in four overs. Esakhel was named man of the match.

Afghanistan will next face Bahrain in the T20 championship on Thursday.

The Asian T20 which is hosted by Nepal this year has 10 teams competing. The top two teams will head to the 2015 World Cup.

The Afghan team playing in Nepal includes Mohammad Nabi Esakhel, Karim Sadiq, Shapoor Zadran, Nasim Briz, Najibullah Zadran, Fazal Niazi, Gulbodin Naib, Samiullah Shinwari, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Mohammad Nasim, Mohammad Sami Agha, Aftab Alam, and Hamza Hotak.

The cricket coach Mohammad Nabi Esakhel said yesterday that the players were in good form and were ready for the Asian T20.

The team has won three Asian T20 championships - in 2007 (equal with Oman), 2009 and 2011.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Higher Education has established a new curriculum which it says it will roll out to universities across the country soon.

The old curriculum was always being criticised as not being up to date with today's methods and standards, but ministry officials said they hope this is addressed with the new outline.

"Through a lot of effort, we with some experts revised the curriculum and brought some innovations to all the universities that are able to remove the problems. Soon we will implement it in all higher education institutes," Higher Education Minister Obaidullah Obaid said Tuesday.

Meanwhile the Ministry said that 40 Turkish students including boys and girls have enrolled in the science, literature and Islamic faculties of Kabul University. It has been hailed as a sign of improving relations between Afghanistan and Turkey.

"This is an historical day. For the first time , a number of Turkish students are studying in Kabul University and the Afghan-Turkish schools will continue to help Afghan children in the education field," director of the Afghan Turkish Schools Numan Erdogan said.

Obaid said that the priorities for the Ministry this year are the creation of joint universities with foreign countries in order to improve the quality of teaching and increase capacity, the creation of an independent institute to solve the problems related to the university entrance exam Kankor, and the implementation of a credit system.

Afghanistan will choose Iran for its trade transit purposes if Pakistan does not change its economic practices towards Afghanistan, the Minister of Commerce and Industries warned in a TOLOnews debate, broadcast Tuesday.

In the televised Af-Pak debate 'Across the Border', Commerce Minister Anwarul Haq Ahadi claimed that Pakistan was not fairly adhering to the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Agreement (APTA) - freely travelling in Afghanistan but preventing Afghan goods from doing the same in Pakistan.

"Unfortunately, the Pakistani traders are an obstacle to our transit. Considering the APTA pact, Afghan vehicles are permitted to travel to Pakistani ports, but no vehicles have so far allowed to travel there.

This is distressing to us. We permit Pakistani vehicles to travel to our parts of the country... This is a lack of mutual agreement, we urge on a mutual agreement. There is much pressure on us and if there is nothing done to carry it out, we will – without a doubt – change the situation," Ahadi said.

Hamidullah Farouqi, the former Afghan Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, remarked that for decades Pakistan has used the transit route through Afghanistan for its political and military purposes.

"Unfortunately...our transit route has been the hostage of political and military issues for the last 35 to 40 years. Our Pakistani brothers have used the supply route – in contradiction with our social and economical demands – as a political and military tool," he said.

Ahadi also highlighted the problem of illicit imports into Afghanistan from Pakistan which Afghan traders are struggling to compete with.

"I can show you goods in Jalalabad that are smuggled from Pakistan... I can assure you that more than 80 percent of the goods in their shops are illicit, mostly imported from Pakistan. This is a problem for both countries. We need to work together," Ahadi said.

Also present at the debate were a number of Pakistani experts who argued that the transit issues stem from the problems between India and Pakistan.

"For a long period of time, Pakistan has had no good relationship with India. Although I think this relationship has slightly changed over the past two years. An improvement in the relationship with India will lead to the resolution of Pakistan's concerns," said Farhan Bukhari, Paksitani economics analyst.

"I have heard some Pakistanis saying that if India wants to go to Afghanistan via Pakistan, will it then let us go to Bangladesh from India and send our goods to other countries? This is not only a mutual problem,"
he added.

More than $2 billion of Afghanistan's imports - or one-quarter of its total - pass through Pakistan's territory, which demonstrates the need for solid transit agreements between the two.

Officials and experts at the debate who hailed from both sides of the border stressed the importance of there being more trust between the two countries.

This debate is being televised in Tuesday March 26 edition of 'Across the Border', aired on TOLOnews at 8:00pm, Kabul time.

Washington will not interfere in Afghanistan's upcoming presidential election nor will it support any of the candidates directly, the US Secretary of State on Tuesday told Afghan officials in Kabul.

In a meeting behind closed doors at the US Embassy in Kabul, Secretary John Kerry met with a number of top Afghan officials, MPs, political parties and the international community, some of whom told TOLOnews that they welcomed his reassurance of the US impartiality and support for a fair and transparent election.

"The United Sates Secretary of State once again pledged that his country will support Afghanistan's democratic election process. As well he promised that the Unites States will never intervene in the internal affairs of the election and does not support any specific candidate. He said this is the right of Afghans to have a transparent, secure and broad election, and the Unites States supports a transparent election," MP Shukria Barakzai told TOLOnews.

Among those present at the meeting were education minister Farooq Wardak, deputy adviser to National Security Council Rahmatullah Nabil, member of National Coalition Mohammad Yunos Qanooni, head of Independent Elections Commission's secretariat Ziaulhaq Amerkhel, parliamentary first vice speaker Mirwais Yassini, MP Shukria Barikzai, and Afghan Human Rights commissioner Nader Naderi.

The importance of a transparent, fair, and inclusive election in Afghanistan was said to be a key topic of talks between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the US Secretary of State during his two-day visit to Kabul.

Before leaving Kabul, Kerry also visited an exhibition at the US Embassy which showcased products of businesses run by Afghan women - from traditional clothes and hand crafts to dry fruits.

Some of the women traders were present and spoke to Kerry of the need for more access to international markets and funding sources, both of which are the main challenges for the women-owned business.

Kerry assured that the US will assist in ways to improve growth of these investments.

Top news in this Bulletin:

Washington will not interfere in Afghanistan's upcoming presidential election nor will it support any of the candidates directly, the US Secretary of State on Tuesday told Afghan officials in Kabul.

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Afghan Interior Minister Ghulam Mujtaba Patang on Tuesday warned that Afghanistan should expect serious challenges in 2014 if the security forces needs are not addressed.

Speaking before parliament, Patang voiced his concerns about the inadequate air force and border police and their capacity to takeover from the 100,330 foreign soldiers expected to withdraw in the next 20 months.

"Our borders are still open. We set up a delegation to examine the borders [security] and according to the delegation's assessment, we need 13,000 more police to cover our borders and also there should be Army Forces in order to support the police at the border," Patang said.

Afghanistan's top security officials went before parliament Tuesday to outline the security situation for the lawmakers as the US-led foreign forces wind down after more than a decade of war.

Chief of Army Staff Shir Mohammad Karimi also complained about the lack of equipment faced by the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), in particular the lack of an air force.

"We lack vehicles. Some of our army units don't have cannons... And we must supply oil but we don't have tankers and a store," Karimi told the lawmakers.

The security officials concerns come even as other Afghan government officials insist that the ANSF is ready to take on the responsibility of defending the country after the international forces leave.

Meanwhile, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) representative Hasamoddin Hasam told the parliamentarians about the decision to delay the withdrawal of US Special Operations Forces (SOF) from Maidan Wardak province.

"We went to Maidan Wardak and visited the people. Most of the residents want the special forces to be in the province. We sent our findings to the National Security Council. After that the President called the governor and provincial council and decide that the US Special Forces should be expelled only from the Narkh district, but in the other districts they should stay until the completion of transferring responsibilities to the Afghan Forces," he said.

President Hamid Karzai on February 24 had ordered the US SOF to leave the province within two weeks. However three weeks later he came to an agreement with US and Isaf Commander Gen Joseph Dunford that the SOF will only leave Narkh district - one of eight districts in the province - and only when the ANSF were ready to take over from them.

At least one Afghan civilian and a foreigner residing in Kabul have been injured in a bomb blast in Kabul city, local officials said Wednesday morning.

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A rampaging mob set fire to a mosque and homes in a central Myanmar town, a police official said Wednesday, the latest outbreak of violence in communal unrest that has left at least 40 people dead.

A week after Buddhist-Muslim clashes erupted, a mosque was torched in Nattalin town, 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of the country's commercial hub of Yangon, a police official who did not want to be named told AFP.

A Nattalin resident said police were overwhelmed as a mob arrived in the town, setting fire to the mosque before leaving.

"About 200 villagers came to the town last night. But the police could not control the mob... they destroyed the mosque and some houses. Then they left," the resident told AFP on condition of anonymity.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed on three other towns, state media reported, as authorities tried to quell the violence, which flared last Wednesday in Meiktila, 130 kilometers north of capital Naypyidaw.

Since then rioting has crept closer to Yangon, prompting the United States to warn against travelling to parts of the country.

The clashes are a stark reminder of the challenge that Muslim-Buddhist tensions pose to Myanmar's government as it tries to reform the country after decades of iron-fisted military rule ended two years ago.

UN envoy Vijay Nambiar, who recently visited Meiktila, told reporters on Tuesday that Muslim homes had been targeted "brutal efficiency."

His comments chimed with the views of witnesses across the riot-hit area, who said the violence appeared to be organized.

The clashes began on March 20, apparently triggered by an argument in a gold shop in Meiktila that turned into an escalating riot during which mosques were burned, houses razed and charred bodies left lying in the streets.

Since then dozens of people have been detained in connection with the violence, which saw armed rioters - including Buddhist monks -- roam the streets of Meiktila, threatening visiting journalists.

It is the worst sectarian strife since violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the western state of Rakhine last year left at least 180 people dead and more than 110,000 displaced.

A British soldier has died from wounds sustained in an insurgent attack on a patrol base in southern Helmand province, officials said Tuesday.

Isaf released a statement Tuesday that one of its troops died a day after an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, but did not provide any further details.

The UK Ministry of Defence later confirmed the soldier was a British troop who was wounded in the insurgent attack on the joint Afghan and Isaf patrol base in Helmand's Nad Ali district on Monday.

The soldier, whose name was not revealed, was one of 10 UK troops injured in the blast on Monday evening, it said.

Five insurgents were killed during the same attack, which Isaf said involved a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device and small arms fire.

Members of the Afghan national security force were also injured.

The death brings the number of British soldiers killed in the Afghan war this year to three and the total killed since 2001 to 441.

North Korea's military put its "strategic" rocket units on a war footing Tuesday, with a fresh threat to strike targets on the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam, as well as South Korea.

The move came as South Korea marked the third anniversary of the sinking of its naval vessel "Cheonan" by what Seoul insists was a North Korean submarine.

"All artillery troops including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units are to be placed under class-A combat readiness," the Korean People's Army (KPA) supreme command said in a statement.

The units should be prepared to attack "all US military bases in the Asia-Pacific region, including the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam" and South Korea, said the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

Despite a successful long-range rocket launch in December, most experts believe North Korea is years from developing a genuine inter-continental ballistic missile that could strike the mainland United States.

Hawaii and Guam would also be outside the range of its medium-range missiles, which would be capable, however, of striking US bases in South Korea and Japan.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has spent the past few weeks touring frontline military units, monitoring live fire artillery drills and making inflammatory speeches about wiping out the enemy.

Sabre-rattling and displays of brinkmanship are nothing new in the region, but there are concerns that the current situation is so volatile that one accidental step could escalate into serious conflict.

"We are closely monitoring the situation. So far there has been no particular North Korean troop movement," a South Korean defence ministry spokesman said.

Addressing a ceremony for the 46 sailors who died in the 2010 "Cheonan" incident, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye warned Pyongyang that its only "path to survival" lay in abandoning its nuclear and missile programs.

The North has always denied sinking the Cheonan, but a few months later it launched an artillery attack on a South Korean border island, killing four people.
North Korea's patron and sole major ally China was quick to urge calm from all sides Tuesday.

"We hope that relevant parties will exercise restraint so as to ease the tension," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have been at an elevated level for months, following December's rocket launch and the North's third nuclear test which it carried out last month.

Both events triggered UN sanctions that infuriated the North, which has spent the past month issuing increasingly threatening statements about unleashing an "all-out war" backed by nuclear weapons.

It was particularly incensed that nuclear-capable US B-52 bombers flying out of Andersen Air base on Guam took part in recent joint South Korea-US military exercises.

"We will demonstrate the firm resolution of our people and military to protect our sovereignty and dignity through real military action," the KPA statement warned.

The latest threat came days after the South Korean and US militaries signed a new pact, envisaging a joint military response to even low-level provocation by North Korea.

While existing agreements provide for US engagement in the event of a full-scale conflict, the new protocol addresses the response to a limited provocation such as an isolated incident of cross-border shelling.

It guarantees US support for any South Korean retaliation and allows Seoul to request any additional US military force it deems necessary.

In an open letter to troops published to mark the Cheonan anniversary, South Korea's hawkish defence minister, Kim Kwan-Jin, said there was a "high possibility" the North's threats might be translated into action.

He also reiterated that South Korea's response to any provocation would not only target the origin of the attack, "but also its supporting and commanding forces".

Late last year, South Korea deployed cruise missiles it said were capable of carrying out high-precision strikes on targets anywhere in North Korea.

A rampaging mob set fire to a mosque and homes in a central Myanmar town, a police official said Wednesday, the latest outbreak of violence in communal unrest that has left at least 40 people dead.

A week after Buddhist-Muslim clashes erupted, a mosque was torched in Nattalin town, 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of the country's commercial hub of Yangon, a police official who did not want to be named told AFP.

A Nattalin resident said police were overwhelmed as a mob arrived in the town, setting fire to the mosque before leaving.

"About 200 villagers came to the town last night. But the police could not control the mob... they destroyed the mosque and some houses. Then they left," the resident told AFP on condition of anonymity.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed on three other towns, state media reported, as authorities tried to quell the violence, which flared last Wednesday in Meiktila, 130 kilometers north of capital Naypyidaw.

Since then rioting has crept closer to Yangon, prompting the United States to warn against travelling to parts of the country.

The clashes are a stark reminder of the challenge that Muslim-Buddhist tensions pose to Myanmar's government as it tries to reform the country after decades of iron-fisted military rule ended two years ago.

UN envoy Vijay Nambiar, who recently visited Meiktila, told reporters on Tuesday that Muslim homes had been targeted "brutal efficiency."

His comments chimed with the views of witnesses across the riot-hit area, who said the violence appeared to be organized.

The clashes began on March 20, apparently triggered by an argument in a gold shop in Meiktila that turned into an escalating riot during which mosques were burned, houses razed and charred bodies left lying in the streets.

Since then dozens of people have been detained in connection with the violence, which saw armed rioters - including Buddhist monks -- roam the streets of Meiktila, threatening visiting journalists.

It is the worst sectarian strife since violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the western state of Rakhine last year left at least 180 people dead and more than 110,000 displaced.

North Korea's military put its "strategic" rocket units on a war footing Tuesday, with a fresh threat to strike targets on the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam, as well as South Korea.

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Central Bamyan province supplied about 60 percent of Afghanistan's potato demand in the past year, local official said Wednesday.

The local officials from Bamyan's Agriculture Department said that the creation of reserves for potato farming, promotion of potato cultivation and aid to farmers are the reasons for the increase of successful potato farming.

Farmers cultivated 12,000 hectares of land last year which yielded 270,000 tonnes of potato, head of the provincial Agriculture and Irrigation Department, Mohammad Tahir Ataaee.

The crop netted farmers a collective of 230 million Afs in the last year.

Bamyan potatoes were also exported to Pakistan and Tajikistan, he added.

Potato produce is expected to increase this year to around 300,000 tonnes, for an income of around 260 million Afs.

According to the statistics of the Agriculture Department, over 2000 potato reserves were created in the province which is able to store and protect up to 50,000 tonnes of potato in the winter.

Provincial officials also said that five centers will be built to wash and packet the potatoes.

Eight hundred people have been killed in traffic accidents on Afghanistan's roads in the past nine months, the traffic department said Wednesday, highlighting the need for more driving education.

More than 2,000 other people have been injured in the accidents. When combined with the number of deaths, it averages out to be more than 75 casualties per week.

The department said that most of the incidents are happening on the highways because "drivers don't know the traffic laws well and the highways are not standard."

"The non-standard highways, technical problems and driver neglect are the main causes of the accidents," said head of Kabul traffic department Gen. Nezamuddin Dadkhowa.

The Ministry of Public Works confirmed the highways have serious problems including a lack of signs to inform drivers.

This comes as on Sunday night, at least four people died and another person was injured when their car careened into a river in the east of Kabul province.

The incident took place in the Surbe district of Kabul when the car lost control and crashed into the river, district governor Shah Aghasi said.

The passengers were travelling from Kabul to the east parts of Afghanistan, Aghasi said, adding that he believed the incident happened because of driver neglect.

Some Afghan lawmakers have criticised the handover of Bagram prison as a hurried decision that President Hamid Karzai declared a matter of national sovereignty without sufficiently consulting the broader government.

In Wednesday's parliamentary session, some MPs accused Karzai of deciding personally to demand the US military transfer the prison to Afghan authority without a consensus from the parliament and security organisations.

"The decision-making for a Bagram prison handover was too hurried. The president did not consult with security organisations and the parliament over the matter," said Shakiba Hashimi, a member of the parliamentary homeland security commission.

"There are many dangerous prisoners in Bagram prison. There are fears they might be released as a result of the broad corruption," she added.

Another MP, Fatima Aziz said that "The people shouldn't fall victim to the behind-the-curtain policies of the government. A number of main organisers of suicide attacks are currently in Bagram prison - their return to the government armed opposition groups is very distressing."

MPs said that any trial of Bagram prisoners needs to be transparent and seriously monitored as any return of the prisoners to battlefields will further threaten Afghanistan's security.

Bagram prison, north of Kabul, was transferred by the US to the Afghans on Monday in an official ceremony after a long-running standoff between the two countries over who controls the detainees.

The handover took more than a year to finalise. Karzai deemed it a matter of national sovereignty and refused to sign any long-term strategic agreement with America until an agreement on Bagram was secured.

Kabul and Washington signed the handover agreement in March 2012, with a six-month deadline for the US to complete the handover. The Americans did hand over most of the prison in September, but retained control of at least 600 out of almost 4000 prisoners.

The matter has plagued diplomatic relations until Monday when the handover was finally completed. This month both the US Secretary of Defence and Secretary of State have visited Karzai in Kabul.

The mayor of the capital of northern Baghlan province has been arrested in Kabul for "immoral behaviour" with four other people, all of whom have been referred to an attorney general for sentencing, according to Kabul police.

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A number of Afghan diplomats in Qatar have said that the Taliban will send negotiators to the Gulf nation who are expected to be moderate and open to a deal.

According to Qatar's daily newspaper The Gulf Times, the diplomats said that they understand the Taliban is aiming to send some moderate negotiators instead of Tayeb Agha, the close aide to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The news comes ahead of President Hamid Karzai's visit to Qatar this week.

According to the Gulf Times, the diplomats said that the move is seen as a breakthrough to hold direct negotiations with Afghanistan's government.

But a number of former Taliban members said that the Taliban does not have any plans to send a new negotiator to meet with Karzai in Qatar.

"Based on my own information, the Taliban does not have any plan to replace Tayeb Agha or send a new figure to Qatar. This news is all buzz and propaganda," the former leader of Taliban's Jaish-ul-Muslimin Movement Sayed Akbar Agha told TOLOnews.

Meanwhile Afghanistan's High Peace Council welcomed the news but said it didn't matter if it was a moderate negotiator or not, but the Taliban had to clarify its position.

"Whether a moderate or hardline Taliban, it is not important to us. We ask the Taliban to show a clear position and start negotiations with Afghanistan ," HPC member Shahzada Shahid said.

The head of the HPC and head of the HPC secretariat are expected to travel with Karzai to Qatar at the end of this week, Shahid told TOLOnews.