The head of the Baghlan Provincial Council along with 13 others, including his guards, were killed in a suicide bomb attack today in Pul-i- Khomri City.

According to security officials in this province the suicide bomber was wearing a military uniform when he exploded himself near the entrance gate while the head of Baghlan Provincial Council, Muhammad Rassoul Mohsini, was about to enter his work office.

Baghlan Province Governor Sultan Muhammad Hadi reported that 13 were killed and 9 others wounded; but the Baghlan Province Police chief said that 14 had been killed and 11 others wounded.

Mostly civilians were the victims of the blast incident.

Taliban Group has claimed the responsibility of the incident and this group’s spokesperson Zabi ullah Mujahid in a phone conversation stated there were more causalities than the declared number.

Some are saying that the blast incident was planned in Pakistan.

House of Representatives member Muhammad Farhad Sediqqi tied the blast incident to the Pakistanis and said, “In fact Pakistan is behind all these incidents and Pakistan would never want peace to prevail across the country.”

Mr. Sediqqi said that in the near future the Presidential office would reveal evidence that will indicate the facts behind these recent bombings.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticized the incident through a statement and addressed this action as inhumane and anti-Islamic.

In addition the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs (MOI) criticized the incident in a memorandum and said the Taliban is behind the blast.

The Afghan Presidential office released a report stating that President Karzai would be visit Indian President Parnab Mukherjee and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his two-day visit to Delhi.  He also plans to visit some other higher officials in India to discuss both countries’ widespread relations in different fields especially to strengthen the Afghan Civil and Military organizations.
Pakistan, India’s real rival in the region during the past 10 years, has often attempted to dampen Indian-Afghan relations to curb the development of strong ties.  Also, they have attempted to restrict the number of Indian’s living in Afghanistan.
Some members of the National Council referred to Baghlan Province’s Monday morning blast as Pakistan’s sign of sensitivity of President Karzai’s trip to India.
Senator Dawood Asas believes that during Karzai’s visit to India there may be other blasts in different cities of Afghanistan.
The House of Representatives member Ahmad Behzad said, “Afghanistan’s and regional security is in a major progress and cooperation does not mean to open your front line to the other country in the region.”
Prior to this, Indian Foreign Ministry officials declared that they were observing Afghanistan’s demands to increase widespread political and security relations, and that they would focus on continued improvement to Afghan and Indian relations.

Officials of the Afghan Ministry of National Defense (MoD) report that Afghanistan’s intelligence has found some evidence suggesting that Pakistani Madrasas have been preparing students to accelerate attacks in Afghanistan.
The National Defense Ministry’s spokesman spoke at a joint press conference with NATO and spoke about the concerns, saying,  “The Afghan Forces are capable now to response against any types of threats from across the borders.”
National Defense Ministry’s spokesman Zahir Azimi said, “Our evidence indicates that all the religious Madrasas in Pakistan have closed and the manpower will now be used for suicide attacks.”

According to Mr. Azimi, Pakistan still thinks about bringing changes in Afghanistan after the international forces leave Afghanistan end of year 2014.Mr. Azimi applauded the Afghan Security Forces capabilities and added, “The Afghan forces are bravely stating to Afghanistan’s enemies that their threats will not bring any changes in Afghanistan.  The Afghan National Army (ANA) has an iron fist protecting the Afghan nation and are capable of resolving any sorts of threats and will control the situation.”
Lately, Afghanistan has seen several different Taliban-planned bomb blast incidents in various parts of the country. The vast majority of the victims of the incidents were children and women.

A number of the economic experts have said that not only does the Afghan Government not have a method of keeping currency exchange values stable, but neither does the Central Bank.

Most experts believe that without support for internal production and business balance of trade measures, it will not be possible to keep the Afghan currency value balanced at reasonable exchange rates against foreign currencies, especially the US dollar.

The Afghan Currency has recently lost its value against foreign currencies and especially the US dollar.  This exchange rate erosion against the Afghani has caused huge concerns in people’s minds across the country.

The Lower House of Parliament, the Wolesi-jirga, asked the head of the Central Bank, Noorullah Delaware, to answer their questions regarding currency exchange issues.

Mr. Delaware had said in the Wolesi-jirga that the issue of the Afghan currency losing value against the US dollar was due to the increasing strength of the US dollar values in World money-exchange markets.

He had said that the Euro’s value had lost 19.5% against the dollar; the Indian Kaldar had lost 31.,48%;  the Pakistani Kaldar had lost 62.5%; the Russian Ruble had lost 17%; and the Afghan currency had lost 17%.

Delaware also said that one of the major reasons causing the Afghan currency to lose its value against the US dollar was the illegal removal of money out of Afghanistan into other countries.

A number of economic experts made serious criticisms over the policy of the Central Bank.  They said that the Central Bank should know the amount of cash money which is being exchanged in the markets across the country, and this lack of awareness was preventing them from providing proper reports to the Afghan economic community.

Economic Professor Dr. Masoud said, “If there is no support for internal production and necessary steps to keep the balance of trade within a level range between Afghan businesses and foreign businesses, transactions in Afghan currency would become increasingly expensive and difficult for local businesses to manage.”

Currently the most part of the business for Afghanistan is organized by importing different products from abroad and the volume of the importation of different goods from abroad is more than the export volume in the country.

Dr. Masoud believes that with current condition of Afghan currency the Central Bank should continue with a careful management policy to keep the Afghani pegged to the US Dollar during the coming 5 years.

The estimation has shown that the Central Bank in order to keep the stability of the Afghan currency against US dollar has injected $2.4 billion in the markets across the country during the year of 1391.

Officials in the traffic department reported that 5 air filtration machines would be installed in order to protect the environment in the Capital city of Kabul.

The head of traffic Col Abdul Qaium said, “That soon air-filtration machines will be installed in different sections of the capital city of Kabul.”

According to him, the machines are able to filter certain gases which are not good for human lungs and are harmful to the environment.

The installation of the filtration machines comes after that the current weather pollution in the capital Kabul city has created huge health concerns.  Despite of a lot of efforts the problem has not yet been resolved.

The head of the national environmental protection in Afghanistan, Mustafa Zahir, said, “This department’s investigation has shown that currently about 12 million cars are using the roads and annually more than 2000 persons lose their lives due to the polluted environment and polluted water in Kabul city.”

The Ministry of Public health claimed that 3000 children are plagued with diseases of asthma and most of them lose their lives.

According to Zahir, old and rusty cars, use of low-quality fuel, poorly asphalted roads, and no green zones are contributing factors for the current polluted environment in Kabul city.

Officials in the national environmental protection department said that the current environmental condition in Kabul city was cause for much concern.  They pleaded with the people to cooperate with their Government.

A number of Kabul residents have blamed the Kabul municipality for neglecting their duties to keep the environment of Kabul city clean.

According to Kabul residents, the Kabul municipality runs the reconstruction process of Kabul city far too slowly and has not paid sufficient attention to asphalting roads and streets and establishing green zones for the residents.

Simultaneously with the imminent trip of President Hamid Karzai the Indian Foreign Affairs Ministry has said that their country would review the requests for military support to the Afghan Security Forces.

The Indian Foreign Ministry has said that their country not only will provide support for bettering the economy and helping Afghanistan to develop, but also may provide military support for Afghanistan.

The Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Akbaruddin said, “India is ready to discuss the requests of the Government of Afghanistan for military support.  Such mutual cooperation has been written into the strategic partnership agreement between Afghanistan and India.  We will discuss all the related issues based on the strategic cooperation agreement.  Currently the most focused programs for Afghanistan are to help in the development of the economic sector.  As well, we will not ignore the political and security issues for Afghanistan.”

All the comments came in conjunction with President Hamid Karzai’s visit to India to begin discussions on the issues during an official trip with Indian officials today Monday.

Earlier the Afghan ambassador to India, Shaida Abdali, said, “President Hamid Karzai during his visit to India would try his best to attract more military and non-military support for his country.”

India is the first country with which Afghanistan has signed a strategic cooperation agreement.

India has supported financially the Afghan Government with $2 billion dollars.

The close relationships between Afghanistan and India have created side-effects regarding Pakistan.  There, they have demanded that India decrease its cooperation with the Government of Afghanistan.

However, a number of the National Assembly members and some experts said that despite Pakistan’s sensitivities, the Afghan Government should always set its Foreign policy based on its National interests.

One of the Senators in the Upper House of Parliament, Hedayatullah Rahayee, said that the President’s trip to India was sensitive to Pakistan.  However, according to him, Pakistan has not truthfully fulfilled its commitments to the Government of Afghanistan.  For that reason, Afghanistan is free to choose any other countries to lend assistance in resolving its problems.

One politician, Wahid Muzhda, said that Afghanistan must observe the neighboring countries legal demands but Pakistan does not have the right to interfere in Afghanistan’s affairs.

These discussions with India have come after an increase in tensions between Kabul and Islamabad because of the Duran line and also the cooperation of Pakistan over the Peace reconciliation process with the Taliban.  Because of this these tensions the Government of Afghanistan has become more reserved in its expectations with Pakistan and has increasingly turning to India.

A number of the disabled and beneficiaries of martyrs claimed that the Government does not pay their salaries on time in Farah Province.

They have said that they only get paid once a year and this year the Government did not pay their salaries during the past several months in the current solar year.

A huge number of the disabled persons who have come from the remote areas of the Province have said that despite repeated visits to Labor and Social Affairs, Martyrs still have not been able to receive their salaries.

Meanwhile the Head of Labor, Social Affairs, and Martyrs, Mr. Mohammad Rasoul Barakzai, said,
that 4000 disabled and martyrs are receiving their salaries every year on a timely basis in Farah Province.

He also added that every end of the year all the disabled and martyrs inheritors are referring to his department to receive their salaries and the Government is not capable to pay all their salaries in one time that’s why it causes problems.

The Government pays 1500 Afghani to each disabled or martyr person on a monthly bases, and most of the disable and martyrs families claim that this amount of money is not sufficient for their daily living expenses.

The corruption administration has held a session by the name of “coordination” with the purpose of establishing better coordination among the internal and external NGOs in the Northern part of the country.

The head of corruption administration Shamsullah Jawed said, “If no penalties are exacted against those who conduct corruption, it will present a huge challenge to overcome corruption and eradicate it from the Northern Provinces.”

Poor understanding and awareness of the laws among the people of the Governmental staffs, and no emphasis on the issue of overcoming corruption are the main challenges which have allowed corruption to still exist in Governmental and Non-Governmental offices.

The corruption administration has had some achievements on eradicating corruptions within the 6 past months in Northern provinces.

Mr. Jawed also said that a number of foreign offices have refused to provide financial transaction information to help in overcoming the problem of corruption, and he said that he believed that because of their refusal to cooperate they were probably involved in making illegal payments that are one of the biggest problems in stemming the corruption.

Participants in the session said people as individuals can have their own effective impact on overcoming corruption in society.

The participants said that when they see corruption cases, such as giving or taking money, they do report it to the corruption administration department.

The participants also said that they understand the importance of coordinating in the fight against corruption with officials and judicial representatives to enact penalties for both those who pay bribes and those who receive them.

Often people are reluctant to speak in detail about corruption cases.  The Ariana reporter said, “We wanted to investigate more on the registered cases of corruption in the Balkh Appeals Court to get officials’ remarks, but even after making many calls to a number of contacts we could not get a hold of them.”

The NATO Secretary General said that the NATO member countries’ cooperation in supporting Afghanistan would be conditioned on Afghanistan keeping its commitments in the fight against corruption and in furthering the establishment of good governance.

The NATO parliamentary assembly held in Luxembourg was held to discuss Afghanistan’s security situation. NATO Secretary General Andres Fug Rasmussen reminded the assembly about the Afghan Forces’ capabilities and the international Forces assisting mission beyond year 2014 and praised the Afghan Forces’ recent achievements.

According to the NATO Secretary General there are still security challenges for Afghan Citizens and he said that NATO will support the Afghan Forces in the ongoing fight against terrorism.  He said that currently Afghanistan is not a threat to the west like it was 11 years ago.

He added, “Afghanistan was the starting point to significantly increased international terrorism in 2001 that caused much destruction.  However, now NATO member countries can see that the threats have deceased and the Al-Qaida network and their supporters have been weakened as well.”

Mr. Rasmussen also spoke about the decreased threats against the Afghan Forces. He said, “We have encountered serious challenges in Afghanistan; and some of those challenges still do exist.   We will keep supporting Afghanistan to build a strong future and Afghans will succeed in the fight against terrorism.”

During the past year the Afghan Government at the Chicago Conference committed to fight against the corruption and promised to establish good governance in return for the international community’s assistance.

The NATO Secretary General emphasized that Afghanistan had committed to fight against corruption, and said, “Afghanistan has promised to hold transparent elections, fight against the corruption, and create good governance.  Afghanistan has also promised to support the basic rights of all humans and especially women’s rights.  The enforcement of sovereign laws are included in the efforts that will set a platform of performance that will show that Afghanistan is committed to keeping their promises to ISAF and the International community.”

Afghanistan will take over control of the security from the International Forces by the end of this year.

Some Afghan Senators responding to the blast incidents that happened in Kabul and Kandahar said, “Those who kill Afghan citizens by ending suicide bombers should not be forgiven.”
During the past week two suicide bombs were detonated in Kabul and Kandahar City that killed innocent men, women, and children and wounded more than one hundred civilians.
The security officials in Kandahar Province stated that the blast incident was planned by the Quetta Council where Hezb-e-Islami leaded by Gulbadin Hekmatyar claimed the responsibility for the blast in Kabul. It was clear to all that there was no care given to the scores of innocent civilians who were killed or injured by the bomb. Some Senators in the Upper House of Parliament at Saturday’s General session addressed this reaction of Hezb-e-Islami as anti-Islamic and criticized Hekmatyar.
They asked the Afghan Government to find out the perpetrators of the incidents and urged them to punish them and to not refrain from holding them accountable.
Senator Hedayatullah Rahae said, “The Afghan Government negotiates with Hekmatyar and their party’s representative visits a government guest house to negotiate Afghanistan’s peace affairs, then Hekmatyar’s people plan bomb blasts when they are away from the Afghan government.  This is an unforgiveable action on their part, and in Afghanistan’s history there is no precedent for accepting this behavior.”
The head of the Upper House, Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, also seriously criticized the approach that had been taken by Hekmatyar, categorizing the bombings as a “cruelty on Afghan people.”  Senator Muslimyar asked the people to raisie their voices against cruelty.
In addition the Senators said that they appreciated the execution decree issued by the President to punish the two murderers who killed the eight year old boy after kidnapping him.
Senator Maiden Munsif said, “I believe the regular issuance of these types of directives would help the security to improve.  The court that has issued this directive should be appreciated.”
In addition Senator Zalmai Zabuli asked the Afghan President to validate Islamic and civil laws, saying that once the execution decree is validly issued on someone the implementation decree should be implemented.
The execution of these criminals was applauded not only by the Senators, but by Afghan citizens in large numbers especially all who know Ali Sina’s family and were shocked by the callous murder of the defenseless 8 year old boy.

Civil society activists said that the only reason the women’s anti-violence law draft had not been approved was because of an improper understanding by the members of the House of Representatives.

The women’s violence law draft was not approved, and members of Afghan civil society organizations rebuked its having been returned to the commissioners of the law in the House, saying they had serious concerns that the draft law had not been properly evaluated.
Some Afghan civil activists say, “There is not a single article in the women’s anti-violence law draft that conflicts with Islamic values or with Afghanistan’s constitution.”
Some Afghan civil activists believe this law has a responsibility to preserve the values for Afghan women and Afghanistan.
According to the Afghan Civil society’s spokesperson Sayed Ismail, a number of the members of the House had the incorrect understanding that the law draft conflicted with Islamic values.
Some other civil society activists said members of the House of Representatives did not approve the women’s anti-violence law draft because they did not study the law.
Civil activist Hamida Wardak said, “The only reason this law was not approved was that members of the House did not study the law professionally.”
The women’s anti-violence law draft was the hot issue at Saturday’s session of the House, causing some MP’s to angrily denounce polygamy, illegally-low marriage ages, and the need for more safe-houses to protect women from violence.  These were some of the issues in the draft women’s anti-violence law that civil society members believed were misinterpreted as being against Islam.

The Education Ministry held a joint workshop to identify the challenges that must be overcome to improve professional and technical development courses offered by Government and private schools in Kabul.

The Deputy Minister of Training in the Education Ministry, Asif Nang, has highlighted as one of the main goals for this workshop as indentifying the requirements and challenges faced by Afghanistan’s workforce.  The desire is to properly address the skill-gaps and to develop professional and technical training curricula so that the skills of all professional and technical workers in Afghanistan can improve and better meet International job-skill requirements.

He said, “The US has pledged $ 72 million and India has pledged $60 million to provide training support to advance the skills of professional and technical workers.  Many in Afghanistan need to receive more advanced education in order to meet International skill standards.”

A World Bank official stated that the World Bank would provide more support in employment and job opportunities for the Government of Afghanistan in the future.

World Bank official Baka Chakarwati said, “The World Bank has been supporting programs which have provided job opportunities and it will continue to do that in the future.”

According to recent estimates there are 93,000 students learning professions in technical schools across the country.  Those numbers will increase to 500,000 students during the coming 5 years.