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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Current situation in Afghanistan |
| 2004-04-02 |
| President Hamid Karzai has increasingly asserted himself by replacing six provincial governors in the last three months: Takhar, Badakhshan, Samangan, Kunduz, Baghlan, Logar, Zabul and Kandahar have seen new governors, preceded by the deployment of the PRTs, a mix of US and international troops as well as elements from the Afghan National Army (ANA), the National Police and representatives of the central government. Despite sporadic attacks by hostile elements, the Kabul-Kandahar Highway has been asphalted within one year, bringing down the travel time between the two points from 15 to less than five hours. Law-enforcement, at least within and around Kabul, has improved in the presence of 6,500-strong ISAF contingent. Continued US expression of support for the government has led to preparations for elections later this year. Voter registration is extremely slow with less then 15 percent voters registered so far throughout the country but the process is moving ahead despite many hurdles. The currency reform, one of the most important ingredients of economic restructuring seems to have succeeded and the value of the Afghani is holding. The Northern Alliance has gradually been disempowered and according to official sources in Kabul is not as powerful as it was just a year ago. The launching of the DDR (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration) campaign may not have done as well as expected, but it too is going ahead. Powerful warlords still pose the biggest challenge to the DDR process as well as to the authority of Karzai: Ismail Khan holds sway over Herat, Farah, Ghor and Badghis; Hazrat Ali, the major component of the US-led anti-terror war, still lords over vast stretches in eastern Afghanistan including Paktia, Paktika, Kunar, Ningarhar, Leghman and Nuristan. He commands some 20,000 people in a region suspected to be the abode of OBL, Mulla Omar and Hekmetyar; Mohammad Atta has emerged as the strongest warlord in the Balkh and Samangan provinces after the decimation of General Rasheed Dostumâs forces, who has been restricted to his native Jauzjan province; Although Gul Agha Sherzai, ex-Kandahar governor, has been neutralised through a ministerial position in Kabul, his brother is still believed to be calling the shots in the Kandahar region, and âwaiting for the appropriate time to strike back into powerâ; Marshal Qasim Faheem retains his grip over his militia, large chunks of which together with heavy guns and artillery are concentrated in Kunduz, Baghlan and Takhar; Gen Daud, officially the northeastern corps commander of Kunduz, Badakhshan, Takhar and Baghlan, the young Tajik still stands out as a regional figure that can defy the central government any time. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |