Refugees Daily - Internal Global Press Review

Afghanistan's Helmand province could fall to the Taliban after months of heavy fighting, with 90 members of the security forces killed over the past two days, the deputy governor of the volatile southern province warned on Sunday.

Mohammad Jan Rasulyar said unless President Ashraf Ghani took urgent action, the province, a center of opium production and a Taliban heartland that British and American troops struggled to control for years, would be lost.

"Your Excellency, Helmand is standing on the brink and there is a serious need for you to come," he wrote on Facebook.

The highly unusual public plea from a serving official painted a picture strikingly similar to the situation that led up to the fall of the northern city of Kunduz in late September, when Taliban fighters seized and held on to for several days before government troops regained control.

If Helmand were to fall, it would deliver a blow to government claims that Afghan security forces, fighting largely alone since international troops ended combat operations last year, are controlling the insurgency, in spite of setbacks such as the fall of Kunduz.

Army spokesman Mohammad Rasool Zazai said he had no comment on the post, but said Helmand would never collapse, while police chief Abul Rahman Sarjang said: "We have strong forces in Helmand. In some places, we leave areas for tactical reasons, but all forces are working together well and very soon we will have major achievements to report."

Ghani's government, backed by billions of dollars in international aid and training assistance from thousands of NATO troops still stationed in Afghanistan, is pushing to re-open talks with the Taliban

Over the past six months, Helmand has been the scene of battles between insurgents and security forces that have complained of being abandoned by the U.S.-backed government.

FOREIGN FORCES

"We don't provide food and ammunition to our forces on time, do not evacuate our wounded and martyred soldiers from the battle field, and foreign forces only watch the situation from their bases and don't provide support," Rasulyar wrote.

Since Thursday, there had been 90 casualties near Gereshk, a junction on Highway 1 near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, and in Sangin district to the north, a level of losses which was "an everyday issue", Rasulyar added.

He said Sangin was "on the verge of collapse" with 44 casualties overnight.

The Taliban, which has not let a bloody internal leadership battle interrupt its campaign in Helmand, posted statements on its website detailing attacks on checkpoints as well as other operations including a suicide attack against the Gereshk police chief.

With army and police units badly weakened by desertions and lack of supplies, the Taliban has seized the districts of Musa Qalah and Now Zad in the north of the province and has threatened Lashkar Gah.

Government forces said they had recaptured the district of Khanishin on Friday, but by Sunday, the Taliban said it had won back the center.

Underlining the gravity of the situation, U.S. Special Forces have been reported to have taken part in fighting in Helmand in recent weeks. NATO headquarters in Kabul has not confirmed the reports.

A Pentagon report to Congress last week highlighted major shortcomings with Afghan security forces, despite billions of dollars of foreign aid and training.

(Writing by James Mackenzie)
 

Bishkek, 17 December 2015 – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugeesmarks five years of peace and stability in the Kyrgyz Republic, as this week it closesField Offices in Osh and Jalalabad cities.

"The closure of our offices in the Osh and Jalalabadis a testimony to the determination of the Kyrgyz government and the people to achieve peace and maintain stability," UNHCR's Representative Maki Shinohara said. "While we may not have a permanent presence in the southern provinces, UNHCR will continue to support the authorities and partners there, particularly in addressing statelessness, border management and emergency preparedness."

UNHCR re-opened its offices in Osh and Jalalabad in 2010, initially to help reconstruct over 1,500 houses and restore thousands of documents as up to 400,000 people were driven out of their homes. In the latest intervention, the Refugee Agency has completed its two year UN peacebuilding program coined, "Building Trust and Confidence among People, Communities and Authorities,"enabling 107 small-scale projects and resolving 200 legal cases related to land allocation, social welfare or registration. According to the final survey of UNHCR's peacebuilding project, there was a substantial increase in people's perception of trust between communities and local authorities.

"I leave Osh with a sense of satisfaction that UNHCR, together with its government and non-government partners made a difference in the people's lives," said Mr. Igor Ciobanu, outgoing Head of UNHCR Sub-Office Osh.

"UNHCR is grateful to the local authorities, government agencies and non-governmental partners for their excellent collaboration and friendship, which enabled such positive results. I am hopeful that the people themselves, together with the authorities, can continue to solve future disputesthrough administrative and legal means before they escalate into a larger conflict."

The UN Refugee Agency will continue to support the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in improving access to asylum, finding durable solutions for refugees as well as in the reduction and prevention of statelessness and emergency preparedness.

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The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees leads and co-ordinates humanitarian action to protect refugees, asylum-seekers, and stateless people in the Kyrgyz Republic. UNHCR provides assistance to the state authorities in establishing fair and efficient asylum systems, preventing and reducing statelessness.
 

Police fired at ethnic Madhesi protesters who tried to storm a police station in southern Nepal on Sunday, killing one, officials said, as violent protests against the new constitution entered a fourth month.

More than 40 people have been killed in clashes with police since Nepal adopted its first post-monarchy constitution in September, hoping the document would usher in peace and stability after years of conflict.

The Madhesi protesters do not want the southern plain region, Nepal's bread basket and business hub, to be split into more than two federal provinces, saying they will be dominated by other ethnic groups.

A group of protesters hurling stones and petrol bombs attacked the police post at Gaur, 72 km (45 miles) southeast of Kathmandu, forcing the sentry to open fire in "self defence," police official Rajendra Pokharel said.

"One person was killed. More than a dozen police were injured," he said.

Some ethnic Madhesi people have been on strike since September in the country's southern plains and blockaded key border crossings with India, saying the first republican constitution failed to address their concerns.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Malini Menon and Raissa Kasolowsky)