Security Forces Answer in Karzai Assassination Plot

30 April 2008

Afghan officials say at least seven people were killed when security forces raided a hideout housing militants involved in Sunday's attack on President Hamid Karzai.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Mark Ostrander monitors residential traffic during a foot patrol in Charikar, Afghanistan, April 22, 2008. Ostrander is assigned to the police advisory team of the Charikar Provincial Reconstruction Team and is deployed from the 55th Security Forces Squadron, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.

Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh says government troops surrounded a house in the capital, Kabul, Wednesday and traded fire with Taliban militants. The dead included two militants, a woman and a child in the hideout, and three Afghan intelligence agents.

A Taliban spokesman told news agencies that at least one of the militants killed was involved in Sunday's attack on a military parade in Kabul, attended by President Karzai and foreign dignitaries. Mr. Karzai was not harmed in that attack, but three bystanders were killed.

Saleh told Afghanistan's Parliament Tuesday he knew of the plot to assassinate President Karzai and had warned the Afghan leader and his security advisor.

Also, coalition and Afghan forces killed two terrorists and detained four in operations April 27 targeting a known suicide-bomb and homemade-bomb handler in the Bati Kowt district of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.
One Afghan security force member was killed during the operation. Coalition forces reported no casualties.

In other operations the same day, Afghan National Army commandos and Afghan National Police, alongside coalition forces, killed an undisclosed number of insurgents in Galuch village, in Laghman province.

Separately, Eight influential Afghan women met for a women affairs seminar hosted here by the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Prominent Afghan women from Kabul, Kapisa and Parwan provinces discuss women affairs in Afghanistan with Suzie Schwartz, wife of Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz, U.S. Transportation Command commander, April 12, 2008. Photo by Air Force Master Sgt. Demetrius Lester

Business owners, government leaders, educators, multimedia and nongovernmental organization representatives from Kabul, Kapisa and Parwan provinces met April 12 with Suzie Schwartz, wife of Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz, U.S. Transportation Command commander, and openly discussed women affairs in Afghanistan.

Education, employment and security were the common themes addressed by representatives at the seminar.

“Kate,” a Kabul multimedia representative who lived in the Unites States and recently returned to Afghanistan, said health is a primary concern for Afghan women, with education being secondary.

“There are 85,000 widows trying to do everything for their families, but there is no money,” she said. “What can they do if they can’t feed themselves and their children?”

“Mary,” another Kabul multimedia representative, who has lived in Afghanistan her entire life, disagreed. She said security is the primary concern for Afghan women.

“Where there’s no security, there is no education, no health, and no employment,” she said. “The Afghan women are used by politicians to get foreign aid money, but our conditions have not improved.”

“Jan,” an up-and-coming nongovernmental organization representative, echoed both women’s comments, but said education, health, and employment are equally important and must be addressed.

“It’s circular,” she said. “Education, employment and security -- each problem feeds itself. If you have no work, you can’t get medicine. If you have no education, you can’t get work. Without security, you can’t have anything. [Afghanistan has had] bad neighbors, and if the United States leaves, we won’t have any security.”

Mary recalled how Afghanistan was before U.S.-led operations knocked the Taliban out of power in 2001.

“Three issues resulted from the Taliban era: terrorism, narcotics and women’s oppression,” she said. “Since then, measures have been taken to decrease terrorism and narcotics, but very little change has occurred for women’s rights.”

Another member of the panel voiced her agreement.

“Lots of promises were made -- to include some by the U.S.,” said “Sally,” a refugee and women’s issues advocate who has lived in the United States. “Among them was the promise to free Afghan women. That’s a big statement. There was an expectation of political and social liberation.

“Yes, we now have representation in parliament and other governmental agencies,” she continued, “but there’s been little change in the economic and education arenas. There needs to be a dramatic change in agenda by the international community.”

Although Afghanistan is a male-dominated society, thecountry’s women are sick of the conflict and want to see change, Army Lt. Col. Bill Andersen, Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team commander, said.

“I spoke to the governors of Parwan and Kapisa provinces about my plans to be personally involved in women’s affairs, and it seemed to be well accepted,” Andersen said. “My team will ensure female contractors have the opportunity to compete for projects, female entrepreneurs have access to small-business opportunities, and females have the opportunity to get an education through the development of dorms and schools and book purchases.

“This is their society and culture, and they will address theses issues at their own time and pace,” he continued. “In the meantime, we are here to help facilitate the development of a stable and secure environment for all Afghans -- men and women.”