Herat, the 'pearl' of Afghanistan

Herat, the 'pearl' of Afghanistan

The city of Herat in western Afghanistan would be a huge gain for the opposition National Alliance if it was captured from the ruling Taleban.

The ancient oasis, 150 kilometres (100 miles) from the Iranian border, is one of Afghanistan's five largest cities.

It is also a vital transit and goods route and home to one of the largest military airfields in Afghanistan.

Retaking it would open the way for the opposition to approach the southern city of Kandahar, the power base of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taleban's supreme leader.

 
Breadbasket
Herat, the city considered to have the most fertile soil in central Asia, was first settled 5,000 years ago.
The ancient Greek historian Heroditus called it the breadbasket of the region.
"The world is like an ocean," it was said in ancient times, "and in the ocean is a pearl, and the pearl is Herat."
When Alexander the Great came to Herat in the 3rd century BC, the city was already a prosperous place.
Later it became the greatest of the cities of the ancient Persian kingdom of Khorasan.

 
Florence of Asia
The golden age of Herat was the time of the Timurids, in the 14th and 15th centuries, when the city was known as the "Florence of Asia".
The best painters, the best architects, the best musicians, all came from Herat.

"In Herat if you stretch out your feet you are sure to kick a poet," said Ali Sher Nawai, a statesman who was himself a poet and artist.

It was at this time that the beautiful palaces and mosques which still adorn the city were built.

 

Notable among these are the Musalla complex, built in the late 1400s by Queen Gawarshad.

The city is the burial place of Afghanistan's greatest mystic poet, Khaja Abdullah Ansari.

Herat was formerly also renowned for its bazaars - the city is a major carpet-making centre.

 

Violent past

It is also famous for its military history.

Herat's ancient fortress was fought over by Persians, Turks, Mongols and Uzbeks.

The city came under very heavy bombing by the Soviets shortly after their invasion in 1979, when Herat's population rose up in an unprecedented revolt, killing Soviet officers, advisers and their families.

With continuing US air raids and renewed fighting in the region, there are growing fears about the preservation of one of the most exotic cities in the world.

 
Anti-Taleban feeling

The opposition troops fighting at Herat are said to be led by Ismail Khan, a Northern Alliance warlord and the city's former governor.

Mr Khan said last month that there was little admiration for the Taleban in Herat.

 

 

Mr Khan's forces had been driven out of Herat by advancing Taleban fighters, and he spent three years in prison before escaping to join the Northern Alliance.

"For nearly a year now, people have hated the Taleban because of their cruelty," he said.
"Also, they've failed to come up with any coherent policy. They have failed to rebuild or improve anything in Afghanistan, and they have abused Islam to abuse their own people.

"People have grown very wary of them - and I can say that about 80% of people have turned their backs on the Taleban."

Suicide Attackers Assault U.N. Office in Afghanistan

Suicide Attackers Assault U.N. Office in Afghanistan

  

KABUL, Afghanistan –  A suicide car bomber and three armed militants wearing explosives vests and burqas attacked a United Nations compound Saturday in western Afghanistan, but Afghan security forces killed the attackers and no U.N. employees were harmed, officials said.

The Afghan Ministry of Interior said three guards working at the compound were injured.

"The situation is now resolved," said Dan McNorton, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. "All U.N. staff have been accounted for."

The brazen attack began when four militants drove up to the U.N. compound in a car laden with explosives, said Dilawar Shah Dilawar, deputy police chief of Herat province. From the car, they fired a rocket toward the entrance, he said.

The militants tried unsuccessfully to blow up the gate with the rocket so they could drive the car inside the compound, he said. When that didn't work, three of the militants got out of the car and the fourth blew up the vehicle, killing himself. The explosion destroyed the gate, allowing the three to get inside.

"The three attackers were wearing police uniforms covered with burqas," Dilawar said, referring to the long, flowing garment that many Afghan women wear in public. "All of them had suicide vests and AK-47s."

Militants sometimes wear burqas or police uniforms as a disguise. The Interior Ministry denied the attackers were wearing police uniforms.

Guards at the U.N. compound and Afghan policemen who responded to the site engaged in sporadic gun fights with the three attackers, who were killed by Afghan security forces. Initial reports indicated that NATO forces also responded, but that could not be immediately confirmed.

The attack was similar to one in July in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. Taliban suicide attackers used a car to blow a hole in the wall of a compound of a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development in an attack that killed a Briton, a German and two Afghans. Five men wearing suicide bomb vests poured into the compound and fought a five-hour gunbattle with Afghan security forces before being killed.

Separately, NATO forces killed two civilians, including a teenage boy, during a fight with insurgents Saturday in Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan, according to Mohammad Halim Fidai, the governor of the province. He condemned the killings, which prompted hundreds of residents to stage a demonstration that blocked a highway for nearly an hour.

The coalition could not confirm the two civilian deaths. NATO said that after insurgents attacked a patrol with a homemade bomb, the troops stopped to investigate the explosion and clear any other bombs in the area. After they stopped, they received fire from an unknown number of insurgents, the coalition said in a statement. During the fighting, the coalition said two Afghans fell off a motorcycle and were taken away by villagers so their conditions could not be verified.

Also in the east, U.S. special forces, NATO troops and the Afghan army killed more than 10 insurgents and recovered four weapons caches during a four-day operation that ended Wednesday in Dara-i-Pech district of Kunar province, NATO said Saturday.

In southern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up before reaching a checkpoint in Kandahar, killing two civilians and injuring two others, said police chief Sardar Mohammad Zazai. Three other bombs -- two in cars and one in a motorbike -- were defused around the city after bombers left them on main roads and suspicious citizens called the police, said the provincial governor's spokesman, Zelmai Ayubi.

NATO troops and Afghan forces began flooding into Kandahar in July as part of a push to wrest back control of the south from Taliban insurgents. Some pockets of control have been established in Kandahar and neighboring districts but roadside bombs are still extremely common.

A Danish soldier was killed in southern Helmand province after insurgents attacked his patrol on Saturday, the Danish army said.

In a separate incident, a photographer for The New York Times was seriously injured when he stepped on a mine Saturday in Kandahar province.

Joao Silva, 44, received leg injuries from the blast, which occurred while he was accompanying American soldiers on patrol in the Arghandab district. Silva was evacuated to Kandahar Air Field where he was receiving treatment, according to the newspaper.

No U.S. troops were wounded in the morning explosion.

A group of minesweepers and bomb-sniffing dogs had just moved over the area and were several steps ahead of Silva when the bomb went off, the newspaper said. Homemade bombs and mines cause the majority of deaths and injuries among U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Bombs made with small amounts of metal are difficult to detect.

Silva and a New York Times reporter were embedded with a unit of the 101st Airborne Division.

Silva, who has received several awards for his work, has photographed wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, southern Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East. He is the author, with Greg Marinovich, of "The Bang-Bang Club," a chronicle of a group of four photographers covering the violence in South Africa in the 1990s. The other two were Kevin Carter and Ken Oosterbroek.

"Joao is the state-of-the-art war photographer, fearless but careful, with an amazing eye," said Bill Keller, executive editor of The Times. "We're all waiting anxiously and praying for his quick recovery."

In August 2009, CBS Radio News correspondent Cami McCormick was seriously injured when the Army vehicle in which she was riding struck a bomb south of Kabul. That same month, two journalists for The Associated Press -- photographer Emilio Morenatti and videographer Andi Jatmiko -- were wounded along with two U.S. soldiers by a bomb -- also in Kandahar province.

'Afghanistan ban' violators face sanctions - Binay

'Afghanistan ban' violators face sanctions - Binay

MANILA, Philippines – Vice-President Jejomar Binay is looking at imposing sanctions against overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and recruiters who violate the employment ban in Afghanistan.
Binay, the Presidential adviser on OFW concerns, expressed alarm Thursday over the continued entry of Filipinos in Afghanistan despite the employment ban.
"Buhay nila ang nakataya. We are concerned with that, kung hindi nabibigyan ng sufficient na penalty di napipigilan gawa ng gawa ng hindi tama," he said.
He is also looking at blacklisting recruitment agencies who are facilitating the entry of Filipinos in Afghanistan.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, who is supporting Binay's proposal, said Filipinos must be responsible for their actions.
Conejos, however, said cancelling the passports of OFWs proven to have violated the ban would be difficult as under the Foreign Service Act of 1991 that includes the passport law, the right to travel is guaranteed by the constitution and there are specific reasons why a person's passport can be cancelled.
He said it might be up to Congress to pass a law that would address the problem.
Conejos said the DFA plans to send a mission to Afghanistan to find out if there is a security threat against Filipinos working under the US military bases.
If there is no threat, the Filipinos there would be allowed to finish their contracts and be immediately repatriated once these expire.
This is similar to what the DFA did in Iraq where there is also an existing ban.
The government allowed Filipinos working for companies contracted by US military bases to stay and finish their contract only until next year as the war in Iraq is already winding down.
"We might have to do a similar thing for Aghanistan. Ngayon na nagwind-down military operations sa Iraq, lipat naman sila sa Afghanistan so we have to address the problem. In spite of the ban, there are some who continue to go find a way to go there," Conejos said.

DFA admits 'lapses' in enforcing labor ban on Afghanistan

DFA admits 'lapses' in enforcing labor ban on Afghanistan

The death of six Filipinos in a plane crash in Afghanistan showed lapses by government in enforcing a labor deployment ban on the war-torn country, the Department of Foreign Affairs admitted Friday.

DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya said at least one of the six fatalities started working there only last year, even if the ban has been in effect since early 2005.

"We obviously want to see a greater observance of the ban, pursuant to the Migrant Workers' Act. Under the law, if the government cannot assure the safety of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), it can impose a labor deployment ban," Malaya said in an interview on dwIZ radio.

He said the Philippines imposed a travel and labor deployment ban on Afghanistan in 2005. It has not been lifted.

But he said initial information reaching the DFA showed one of the fatalities, co-pilot Rene Badilla, retired from the Philippine Air Force only last year.

"Probably in his case, medyo fairly recent ang kanyang serbisyo (At least in Badilla's case, his stint in Afghanistan was fairly recent)," he said.

On Thursday, the DFA confirmed six Filipinos died aboard a cargo plane that slammed into a mountain east of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital.

The fatalities were identified as pilot Henry Bulos, co-pilot Badilla, and crew members Nilo Medina and Ibelo Valbuena. Two were identified only as Castillo (mechanic) and Padora (avionics).

On the other hand, Malaya said the six are likely to get added benefits since they worked for a firm contracted by the US military.

"If they are working for or on behalf of the US military, they can receive added benefits under US law, in addition to the benefits they will get from their employer," he said.

Citing information from the Philippine Embassy in Islamabad, he said the relationship of the six with the US military was "layered," since they worked for a firm contracted by the military.

Malaya said the Philippine Embassy in Islamabad is coordinating with the fatalities' employers in Afghanistan while the DFA's Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs is working in Manila to assist the six's families.

He said the Department of Labor and Employment's Overseas Workers Welfare Administration is also working to grant financial assistance.

"We do not want to think they are undocumented because they are professionals working for reputable companies, although their mission in a war-torn country does not agree with Philippine policies," he said. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV

High pay lures OFWs to Afghanistan despite ban

High pay lures OFWs to Afghanistan despite ban

Despite the existing deployment ban and the volatile situation in Afghanistan, Filipinos continue working in the war-torn country due to offers of high salaries and benefits, such as insurance.

A report by GMA News’ Jiggy Manicad on “24 Oras" said majority of the Filipinos who land jobs with private security contractors in the Islamic republic are former police and military officers who easily get admitted due to the nature of their previous work.

The US government hires these private security contractors to assist the US military, which has established its presence in Afghanistan in the last nine years.

According to the report, those who are admitted as enlisted personnel stand to receive at least US$2,500 (about P108,000), but the salary can reach as much as US$10,000 (about P432,000), depending on the Filipinos workers’ previous rank when they were still working in the Philippines.

Reporter Jiggy Manicad was able to interview Lando (not his real name), previously deployed in Afghanistan, who said it is the generous insurance benefit offered to him that made him risk working in the war-torn country.

“Ang insurance namin, kayang bumuhay ng pamilya namin saka ng mga apo namin (The insurance we get can give our families, including our grandchildren, a decent life)," Lando disclosed.

Lando likewise revealed he knew the six Filipinos who died when a cargo plane crashed east of Kabul on Tuesday.
According to Lando, he and the plane’s pilot Rene Badilla previously applied for the same company in Afghanistan.

Due to the higher salary offer, however, Badilla and several others chose to work for the logistics company which operated the plane that crashed.

Lando added he believes the plane crashed not because it hit a mountain, but perhaps due to a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fired by the Taliban, an insurgency movement in the country.

"Baka pinag-aralan din ‘yung mga galaw nila ng mga Al-Qaeda doon dahil yung taas ng binagsakan niya, napakababa pa, abot na abot pa ng RPG ng mga Taliban," Lando explained.

(Perhaps their movements were patterned by the Al-Qaeda there, because the plane was still flying low when it crashed, and that height could easily be reached by RPG fire from the Taliban.)

Al-Qaeda has been labeled internationally as a terrorist group with supposed links worldwide such as with the Taliban.

Despite this, Lando, who has been able to buy a car and a house using his earnings from his previous jobs in Afghanistan, said he will go back to the country despite its dangers.

“Babalik at babalik ako (I will keep coming back)," Lando said in the newscast.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had been repeatedly reminding Filipinos who are planning to work in Afghanistan of the existing deployment ban there, which has been in effect since early 2005.

"Ang advise ko sa kanila, isiping mabuti, dahil talagang high-risk ang trabaho roon. Ginagawa ng gobyerno ang lahat para malayo kayo sa harm's way," said DFA Undersecretary Rafael Seguis.

(My advice is for them to think it over, because jobs there are really high-risk. The government is doing everything to keep you out of harm’s way.)

Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs executive Director Ricardo Endaya meanwhile said the department is coordinating with the Philippine Embassy in Islamabad for the immediate repatriation of the victim’s remains.

The US Central Command earlier ordered its contractors to remove third-country nationals, including Filipinos, from US military and other facilities in Afghanistan whose domestic laws prohibit their citizens from working there. (See: US orders pullout of Pinoy workers in Afghanistan)

Government records show that there are about 1,800 Filipinos living in Afghanistan as of 2008.

Based on Philippine Overseas Employment Administration records, only four Filipino workers were deployed in the country in 2009. The nature of these Filipinos’ work is unclear. (See: DFA admits 'lapses' in enforcing labor ban on Afghanistan)—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV

DFA admits 'lapses' in enforcing OFW ban in Afghanistan

DFA admits 'lapses' in enforcing OFW ban in Afghanistan

The deaths of six Filipinos in a plane crash in Afghanistan showed lapses by the government in enforcing a labor deployment ban on the war-torn country, the Department of Foreign Affairs admitted Friday.

DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya said at least one of the six fatalities started working there only last year, despite the ban having gone into effect as early as 2005.

"We would like to see a greater observance of the ban obviously. That is pursuant to the provisions of the Migrant Workers' Act, given the criterion stated in the attack na pag hindi natin ma-assure ng Philippine government ang safety and security of overseas Filipino workers, the government can impose a labor deployment ban (We obviously want to see a greater observance of the ban, pursuant to the Migrant Workers' Act. Under the law, if the government cannot assure the safety of OFWs, it can impose a labor deployment ban)," he said in an interview on dwIZ radio.

He said the Philippines imposed a travel and labor deployment ban on Afghanistan in 2005. He said the ban has not been lifted.

According to the DFA web site, five countries are covered by the deployment ban: Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Nigeria.

But he said initial information reaching the DFA showed one of the fatalities, co-pilot Rene Badilla, had retired from the Philippine Air Force only last year.

"Probably in his case, medyo fairly recent ang kanyang serbisyo (At least in Badilla's case, his stint in Afghanistan was fairly recent)," he said.

On Thursday, the DFA confirmed six Filipinos died aboard a cargo plane that slammed into a mountain east of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital.

The fatalities were identified as pilot Henry Bulos, co-pilot Badilla, and crew members Nilo Medina and Ibelo Valbuena. Two were identified only as Castillo (mechanic) and Padora (avionics).

Malaya said the six are likely to get added benefits since they worked for a firm contracted by the US military.

"If they are working on behalf of or for the US military, may additional benefits pa under US law na matatanggap sila in addition to the package of benefits that should be due their survivors, from their employer (If they are working for or on behalf of the US military, they can receive added benefits under US law, in addition to the benefits they will get from their employer)," he said.

Citing information from the Philippine embassy in Islamabad, he said the relationship of the six with the US military was "layered," since they worked for a firm contracted by the military.

Malaya said the Philippine Embassy in Islamabad is coordinating with the fatalities' employers in Afghanistan while the DFA's Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs is working in Manila to
assist the victims' families.

He said the Department of Labor and Employment's Overseas Workers Welfare Administration is also working to grant financial assistance.

"Ayaw natin sabihin o tukoy sila ay undocumented dahil sila ay professionals at nagtatrabaho for reputable companies although ang mission nila in a country undergoing war di naaayon sa palatuntunan ng gobyernong Pilipinas (We do not want to think they are undocumented because they are professionals working for reputable companies, although their mission in a war-torn country does not agree with Philippine policies)," he said. - HS, GMANews.TV

Kin of Pinoys in Afghanistan plane crash grieve over loss

Kin of Pinoys in Afghanistan plane crash grieve over loss

The families of the six Filipinos who died on board a cargo plane that crashed in Afghanistan on Tuesday are still reeling from their loss, even as they struggle to come to grips with the deaths of the heads of their families.

Nela Padura, wife of the plane’s avionics staff Edward Padura, said that while she is still in shock after receiving confirmation of the death of her husband on Wednesday, she is nevertheless trying to be strong for their four children.

"It’s painful but I have to accept it. If I won’t be able to deal with it, our children will be the ones who will suffer," she told GMA News-Cebu’s Vic Serna in a newscast on “24 Oras".

Padura retired from his position as second lieutenant of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) in 2004 to try his luck abroad.

Like him, two other victims were likewise natives of Cordova town in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu: mechanic Bernard Castillo and crewmember Ibelo Valbuena.

Castillo likewise previously was with the PAF before he retired to work as a mechanic in Afghanistan.

His family told GMA News that he had earlier said he will return to the Philippines in December when he finishes his six-month contract, and promised to bring them all to Boracay island, a popular tourist spot.

"I know it is hard to accept but I and my siblings, along with our mother, will have to accept what happened," said Geraldine, one of Castillo’s four children.

The family of Valbuena, meanwhile, declined to be interviewed.

Pilot Bulos was ‘full of life’
In a separate report by Marisol Abdurahman also on “24 Oras", Ingrid Bulos, wife of Major Henry Bulos who was the plane’s pilot, recalled her last conversation with her husband.

"Full of life lang siya a few days ago and masaya kaming nag-uusap… Gustong-gusto mo na siyang maabot, makausap, tapos biglang nawala," Ingrid said in between sobs. (He was so full of life a few days ago, and we were so happy talking… You’d wanted so much to reach him, to talk to him, then suddenly he’s gone.)

She likewise narrated how difficult it was for her to tell their only daughter that her father won’t be coming home.

"[I told her], you know what, Daddy's not coming back anymore. When they hit the mountain and Daddy stood up, Jesus was there and Jesus said it's time to go," she recounted.

Henry Bulos’s mother Precy likewise told GMA News how difficult it is that her son’s body may no longer be recovered.

"Ilang araw na, hindi pa kami nakakapag-[luksa]. Ano ba ang kakandilaan namin? Ano ang aasahan namin? Abo, mga body parts, pagsasama-samahin, at ike-cremate, magparte-parte na lang kami. Walo kayong magpaparte-parte. Gaano kasakit yun?" she said.

(Days have passed but we have been unable to properly grieve. What will we light candles for? What will we expect? Ashes, body parts, then gather these to be cremated? All of us eight families will have to share the ashes. How painful could that be?)

Seasoned pilots

Bulos’s co-pilot, retired Gen. Rene Badilla, was meanwhile the vice commander of the PAF when he retired in 2009.

In a text message to GMA News, former commanding general of the PAF Pedrito Cadungog expressed his sadness over the death of Badilla, whom he described as a close friend and classmate at the Philippine Military Academy.

PAF spokesperson Miguel Ocol likewise described Bulos and Badilla as two seasoned pilots of the agency.

"(Dalawa) sa mga matitinik naming C130 pilots. Across the PAF, nalungkot kami. Silang dalawa, sila ‘yung tipong pag sinabi mong C130, sila ang maiisip mo," Ocol said.

(They were two of the most seasoned C130 pilots. When you talk about C130, you’ll immediately think of the two of them. Across the PAF, we were all saddened.)

Badillo was a member of the PMA Class 1975, while Bulos graduated from a flight school in 1989.

The PAF said it will give full military honors to both Badilla and Bulos.

The Department of Foreign Affairs meanwhile said while there is an existing labor deployment ban in Afghanistan, filing charges against the six Filipinos’ employers will not be the department’s priority, as they are still working for the immediate repatriation of the victims’ remains.—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV