Displacement Fears Ahead of Kandahar Operation

[tekisui]

Source: IRIN Asia

KANDAHAR, 30 March 2010 (IRIN) - Mir Ahmad has decided to leave for Pakistan ahead of a much-heralded pro-government Afghan and foreign forces offensive against Taliban insurgents in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.

“I want to save my family no matter how difficult life could be in Pakistan,” Ahmad told IRIN, adding that he was a refugee in Pakistan during the Soviet invasion (1979-1989).

Kandahar Province’s estimated more than one million people, already affected by drought and conflict, could be in for a difficult and dangerous time, aid agencies say. Large-scale displacement is the most obvious risk.

The governor of Kandahar, Toryalai Weesa, has earmarked food and non-food aid for up to 5,000 displaced families, but there will be no camps.

“The government has decided that no camp will be established for the IDPs because it could attract people from everywhere and it would not be easy to close it after the military operation,” Najibullah Barith, provincial director of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, told IRIN.

Officials say any conflict-related displacement would be temporary, and IDPs would be hosted by friends and relatives in Kandahar city or elsewhere.

more: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88620

[midnight]

1. That's why surging in this area has got to be so wrong....

Officially, the government has no, or very weak, control in four of Kandahar’s 17 districts. However, people say the Taliban are present everywhere and have real authority.

A strategy of violence and intimidation deters people from working with the government: On 24 February they assassinated Abdul Majid Babai, director of Kandahar’s cultural affairs department, as he was walking to his office.

Just end this stupid war... Bring them home.

[protocol rv]

3. Stupid American General is in a trap

The American Generals are political types, therefore they conduct these colonial war actions using politics as guidance, rather than thinking about the reality on the ground and their soldiers' welfare. Evidently it's incredibly stupid to announce a move into an urban area, and do so several months in advance. This gives the urban guerrillas time to prepare the ground to receive the invasion force. The Americans seem to have a lot of confidence in their drones and we know that when pressed they will blow whole city blocks if necessary, without regards for civilian victims - those will be blamed on the Taliban.

In the end, the US forces will take Kandahar, and in the process will create hatred one can cut with a knife. And in the future, guess who will rule in Kandahar? Pashtun tribes will. The American tribe will eventually go home. And they will count themselves as the lucky ones if they survive, and if in retribution they don't suffer future attacks from Pashtun who want revenge for all the things the American forces did to them during the invasion.

[Solly Mack]

2. k/r