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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| 50,000 Taliban disarmed - NATO |
| 2005-09-11 |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Special Civilian Representative to Afghanistan Hikmet Cetin said security conditions in Afghanistan are getting better everday since the overthrown Taliban regime. Taliban and Al-Qaeda lost their powers in recent months Cetin told Cihan News Agency during his assessments over the latest situation in Afghanistan and the parliamentary elections on September 18. Fifty thousand militants in Afghanistan were disarmed since 2001 and they returned to their normal daily lives. NATO forces have intelligence that Al-Qaeda and Taliban are preparing to sabotage the elections; however, national security teams and NATO continue their mission to provide security in the country. The elections have great importance for the future of Afghanistan, therefore security and other studies will continue during the election period in order to maintain peace and quite during the elections, Cetin said. Cetin expressing no expectation of large scale events and raids, said according to the intelligence they acquired, al-Qaeda and Taliban will, however, commit kidnapping, pressure people, and frighten deputies. The administration trains the national army and the police tactics and operational aspects, the intelligence service increased the number of its sources in rural areas, Cetin said. NATO powers also are making great efforts to provide security during the elections. "Romania sent a battalion for the elections; Spain sent a battalion for Heart and Netherlands sent an extra battalion for Mezar-i Sharif. We have placed these soldiers in strategic points in these areas." Cetin emphasized NATO does everything that is required for security without considering its cost, and added the US and France sent fighter jets to Afghanistan for emergency situations. Cetin said democratization steps in Afghanistan will speed up after the elections. With the newly appended constitutional article, two women deputies can be elected from each of the provinces he informed. "May be there will be more women in Afghanistan Parliament than any other parliament in the world. According to the constitution two women deputies will come to the parliament from all cities. The number of women deputies will be 68, which is not seen in any parliament so far." The women, who are taking an active part in the society and getting educated, have key roles in the development of Afghanistan, Cetin added. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 Replacement arm are available (Perv). |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2005-09-11 06:50 |
| #2 Agreed, but their contribution was still appreciated, especially since given the |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-09-11 00:40 |
| #1 Nice, but the serious heavy lifting is being done by US forces. The other countries are generally geared towards force protection. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-09-11 00:24 |