Thursday, March 24, 2011

Fears foreign aid will follow troops out of Afghanistan

Julius Cavendish, Kabul

March 24 2011

Sponsor a Child With World Vision – a trusted Sponsorship Organization.

AFGHANS fear aid will dry up when foreign troops are replaced by the country's own forces later this year.
President Hamid Karzai announced on Tuesday that Afghanistan would take responsibility for security in seven areas by the middle of the year, including Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand where British troops are operating.
''The Afghan nation doesn't want the defence of this country to be in the hands of others any more,'' he told hundreds of dignitaries, police and soldiers. ''This is our responsibility to raise our flag with honour and pride.''
Afghan forces are also due to take charge of security in Kabul and Panjshir provinces, Herat city in the west, Mazar-e-Sharif in the north and Mehtar Lam to the east of Kabul as part of the strategy to start bringing NATO troops home.
The choice of Lashkar Gah has raised eyebrows in some quarters, with civilians in the city questioning whether their security forces are ready to take on the Taliban alone.
In Bamian, one of Afghanistan's poorest but more peaceful provinces, there were fears that the departure of foreign troops would also bring an end to aid from overseas.
''Are you sure they are leaving? That's not good. They help people, they make roads, clinics,'' said Mohammad Nazuk Mir Chakaree, a 20-year-old graduate in Bamian, where a contingent from the New Zealand armed forces is based.
Bamian is desperately poor and many people live in caves. Leprosy is not unusual.
The billions of dollars Afghanistan receives in international aid has mainly bypassed Bamian and gone to provinces where the insurgency is stronger. Its people fear the departure of foreign troops will mean even less assistance.
''The worry for all these years has been that the aid goes to the south [even though] places like Dai Kundi and Bamian are poorer,'' said activist Wajma Frogh. ''When the foreigners withdraw [we worry that] we'll get even less support for development. I have met people who have said, 'Maybe they want us to take up arms,' so they get more development money.''
While Afghan forces have grown to an estimated 159,000 troops and 118,000 police, independent analysts such as the International Crisis Group question whether they are strong enough to maintain peace.
In a November report, the group said the Afghan military and police ''remain dangerously fragmented and highly politicised''.

Source,
http://www.smh.com.au/world/fears-foreign-aid-will-follow-troops-out-of-afghanistan-20110323-1c6ov.html

Women suffer with no female doctors in Daikundi

Two years ago, the Ministry of Public Health announced that an Afghan woman dies every 20 minutes in child birth or while pregnant

By Hadi Ghafari

Many women in central Daikundi province are dying unnecessarily because there are no female doctors in any of the districts.

The provincial council has accused the nongovernmental organisation contracted for the last four years to provide health services in Daikundi of not doing its job.

Women suffer with no female doctors in Daikundi

PAN, Mar. 23, 2010: For the province of 380,000 people, there are 15 nurses and midwives, two hospitals, 13 basic healthcare centres, eight public healthcare centres and 15 mobile healthcare centres. There was one female doctor in the main hospital in Nily two years ago, but she is no longer there.

Tahira Muradi, a member of the provincial council, said she had heard of at least 12 women who suffered from pregnancy-related illnesses and because they could not share them with a male doctor, the illness either got worse or the women died. The most common illnesses include uterine inflammation, bleeding and a breached birth.

Five women traveled to Nily city, the provincial capital, seeking treatment, but there was no female surgeon and their families would not let them be seen by a male doctor, she said.

She said the problem existed throughout Daikundi.

For the province of 380,000 people, there are 15 nurses and midwives, two hospitals, 13 basic healthcare centres, eight public healthcare centres and 15 mobile healthcare centres. There was one female doctor in the main hospital in Nily two years ago, but she is no longer there.

The nurses and midwives are based in the district centres, but for women in the villages, this can still be too far. There is no public transport and so many people travel by donkey. Reaching a district centre can take hours, or sometimes a whole day.

Travelling to another province is out of the question as the cost is too high and many of the roads are impassable.

There are no provincial statistics for the number of women dying either in childbirth or from complications relating to their pregnancy.

However, Muradi said anecdotal evidence suggested women either died at home or on the way to the clinic.

Two years ago, the Ministry of Public Health announced that an Afghan woman dies every 20 minutes in child birth or while pregnant. However, they claim that this number has fallen due to improved health services.

Muradi asked the ministry to pay more attention to the health of women.

Hussain Ali Muntazeri, head of the provincial council, said part of the problem was that health services provided by Bakhtar Development Network (BDN), an Afghan non-governmental organisation contracted by the government, are insufficient and of low quality.

Many people say that the clinics run by BDN have no medicine and that its management is involved in corruption. BDN is supervised by the Ministry of Public Health and Muntazeri said they had contacted the ministry to alert them to the complaints of residents.

“If this organisation cannot provide health services for people, then the ministry should give the contract to another organisation,” he said.

Dr. Mohammad Amin, a member of the provincial health department, said it was true that there was a lack of female doctors in the province. Under their contract with the health ministry, BDN is responsible for employing female doctors as well as providing health services, he said.

He said there were many families who would not let their wives be seen by a male doctor due to tradition and custom.

BDN did hire a female doctor for Tajikistan two years ago, but she stayed only one year.

Qurban Ali Uruzgani, the governor of Daikundi, said he asked the ministry to cancel BDN’s contract and give it to someone who can provide health services and employ female doctors.

However, Ghulam Ali Muhibeyar, head of BDN in Daikundi, said the governor and other officials were entitled to their personal opinions. However, he insisted BDN was making efforts to solve the health problems of people in Daikundi.

Muhibeyar did not answer a question about why his company has not hired more female doctors.

Last year, BDN officials said the problem was that female doctors were not prepared to work in the remote province of Daikundi for the low salary offered to them.

Two years ago Raihana Azad, a member of the provincial council, raised the issue of the province’s health problems with Kai Eide, then the UN’s representative to Afghanistan. She said that many surgeries were taking place in rooms lit with hurricane or hand-held lights. Nothing was done about the situation.

Suraya Dalil, the acting minister of public health, has said that within the next five years 95 percent of Afghans will have access to health services, that the mortality rate of mothers and infants will decrease 50 percent and that 450 new healthcare centres will be built throughout Afghanistan.

She did not specify how Daikundi’s health services would improve.

Let the transition begin

The Afghan president has announced the first seven regions slated for “Inteqal” – transition to full national sovereignty. But the ride could be a bumpy one.

Jean MacKenzieMarch 23, 2011 00:00

Afghan security personnel prepare for New Year's celebrations in Mazar-e-Sharif. Mazar will be one of the first cities to be fully secured by Afghan forces. (Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images)

Afghanistan has just marked Nauroz, the ancient Zoroastrian holiday hailed as the start of the New Year, celebrated by jumping over bonfires and eating a dire combination of newly-sprouted grains called somonak. Young men planning to wed are expected to bankrupt themselves buying gifts for their fiancee’s families.
Everyone consumes a great deal of dried fruits, nuts, and cake. Schools reopen after the long winter break. This being Afghanistan, Nauroz will also signal the beginning of the year’s fighting season. Welcome to 1390.
President Hamid Karzai observed the occasion by delivering his much-anticipated speech on “Inteqal,” or transition, announcing that three provinces and four cities would be handed over to Afghan security forces. Karzai has gone on record as saying that 1390 would be a “year of challenges.” That could well be the understatement of the era – no matter which century you believe it to be. Even the most optimistic assessment of the army and police put them well behind schedule, and the population is more than a bit nervous at seeing the international forces preparing to withdraw.
But the Transition List was chosen wisely – most of the areas mentioned are already among the safest in the country: Kabul, Panjshir and Bamian provinces, as well as the provincial capitals Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Mehterlam and Lashkar Gah. But even here there are likely to be hiccups. Past experience has not been felicitous.
Kabul city transitioned to Afghan sovereignty in 2008; the rest of Kabul province will now follow suit – except for Surobi district, which is where the fighting is. In the three years since the Afghan security forces assumed responsibility for the capital, they have had several notable achievements. Just last year seven attackers stormed a shopping center in downtown Kabul.
The police, army and intelligence services were called out, and a prolonged gun battle ensued. All the attackers eventually died – at least three blew themselves up. But it took the combined security forces of Kabul more than five hours to subdue the other four, which they finally did by burning down the shopping center where the attackers were holed up. Hundreds of police, army and other armed troops would not take on the four remaining insurgents in a face-to-face battle. The U.S. Embassy, the United Nations, and assorted other internationals congratulated the Afghans security forces on their handling of the situation.
I suspect that the shopkeepers who lost their livelihoods might have been a bit less enthusiastic. In October, 2009, when a UN guest house popular with election workers was hit in Kabul, the police showed up just in time to make things even worse. Of the five UN staffers killed in the attack, at least one and possibly more were shot by the police, not the Taliban fighters, according to a UN report released several months after the incident.
Mazar-e-Sharif, the booming city in the north, was a brilliant choice for transition. It is the capital of Balkh province, which is headed by a governor so strong and independent that some people refer to his fiefdom, only half-jokingly, as “the Independent Republic of Balkh.” Atta Mohammad Noor, the man in question, is not a warm friend of Karzai’s. During the 2009 presidential elections Atta opposed the president for all he was worth, delivering an impressive victory in Balkh for Karzai’s main rival. Dr. Abdullah. Karzai tried for years to remove him, but later seemed to decide to keep this particular camel inside the tent.
Atta has his own forces who are perfectly capable of dealing with the Taliban. They could also repel the central government if necessary, but that is not being openly discussed. Bamian, the lovely mountain valley that used to be home to the massive 6th-century Buddhas has not been a security problem for the past ten years. Instead, the safe and sleepy province has remained obscure and under-developed, paying what is called in the development world “the Peace Penalty.”
Squeaky wheels, like Kandahar and Helmand, get the most oil – millions have flowed into insurgent-plagues areas in a (usually futile) bid to win hearts and minds. In Bamian, the population has no love for the Taliban, having been the victims of some of the worst repressions of the Taliban era. The bearded fundamentalists were even harder on the local people, mainly Shi’ite Hazaras, than they were on the Buddhas themselves.
But the Transition may not make the people of Bamian happy. One journalist from the area, upon hearing that his province was likely to be on Karzai’s New Year’s transition list, shook his head sadly. Projects funded by the New Zealand-led Provincial Reconstruction Team, he feared, would now be discontinued. “This will mean even less reconstruction money coming to us,” he sighed.
The province has almost no paved roads, little electricity, and a rudimentary economy. The tourist industry is depressed due to the absence of the Buddhas, the presence of landmines, and a dangerous road linking Bamian with the capital, terrorized by insurgents and bandits that prey on unwary travelers. Panjshir has long been a popular day-trip from Kabul – two days if you decide to hike up into the emerald mines to try your luck at hacking a priceless gemstone from the rock walls.
It was the birthplace of the legendary Ahmad Shah Massoud, scourge of the Taliban and the Soviet forces, at least in popular imagination. Panjshiris have a reputation for fierce fighting, and an almost allergic reaction to the Taliban. Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand, may seem a bit edgier. The Taliban have attacked the city directly several times.
But surrounding Lashkar Gah are thousands and thousands of U.S. Marines, who are beating back the Taliban in Nawa, Sangin, and assorted other battle zones. The Taliban would have to cut through them to reach the city. Out-gunned and out-manned, they will most likely lie low until the U.S. troops are withdrawn. Herat, the jewel of western Afghanistan, is still reaping the benefits of its prime location and the tender attentions of its erstwhile governor, Ismail Khan.
Khan collected taxes from the ample trade running across the border from Iran and Turkmenistan and used the proceeds to make Herat one of the most developed cities in the country. Herat had 24-hour electricity when Kabul was still freezing in the dark; on one trip an Afghan journalist looked at the streetlights in wonder.
“They keep them on even during the day,” he said. “I’m moving here.” The population is mostly Dari-speaking, non-Pashtun, and opposed to the Taliban on principle. Mehterlam, the capital of Laghman province, has been relatively quiet – but it lies in a volatile area, and may be the one real test of the mettle of the Afghan security forces. Happy New Year. Let’s hope we all make it to 1391.

Source,
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/news/regions/asia-pacific/afghanistan/let-the-transition-begin

استقبال مقامات ولایت بامیان از انتقال مسئولیت‌ امنی

والی بامیان خروج کامل خارجیان از افغانستان را مشکل آفرین می داند

مقامهای محلی در ولایت بامیان از انتقال مسئولیت های امنیتی به نیروهای داخلی استقبال کرده اند، اما بر تجهیز و تقویت این نیروها تاکید نهاده اند.

حبیبه سرابی، والی بامیان، واقع در مرکز افغانستان، گفته است که نیروی پلیس در این ولایت قادر به برقراری و حفظ امنیت در این ولایت است زیرا در حال حاضر تهدیدهای امنیتی در بامیان در سطح پائینی قرار دارد.
خانم سرابی گفت:" ولایت بامیان آمادگی انتقال مسئولیت به نیروهای داخلی را دارد، به خاطر این که نیروهای آیساف قبلا هم در بامیان حضور (نظامی) نداشتنند، ما تنها پی‌ آر تی (گروه بازسازی ولایتی) داشتیم که مربوط به کشور زیلاند نو است."
او افزود: "مسلما پیش شرط‌های رئیس جمهوری مبنی بر فعالیت پی آر تی‌ها بعد از این به عنوان گروه کمک کننده، کمک می کند که حکومت محلی و مردم بامیان تقویت شوند و خود پی آرتی هم به طرف غیرنظامی شدن می رود."
والی بامیان تاکید کرد که شمار نفرات پلیس این ولایت باید دو برابر شود و تجهیزات بیشتری در اختیار آنان قرار گیرد.
در حال حاضر حدود هشتصد مامور پلیس در ولایت بامیان خدمت می کنند و نیروهای ارتش در این ولایت حضور ندارند.
همراه با ماموران پلیس، یکصد و سی نظامی از کشور زیلاند نو هم تحت فرماندهی ناتو و در چهارچوب گروه بازسازی ولایتی در بامیان فعالیت دارند.
کمک به تامین امنیت برای بازسازی در ولایت بامیان از اهداف اصلی برای حضور سربازان زیلاند نو در این ولایت است.

تهدیدهای امنیتی

بامیان در ده سال گذشته از آرام ترین ولایت های افغانستان شمرده می شده است و نیروهای امنیتی این ولایت در هیچ موردی در جنگ رو در رو با شورشیان قرار نگرفته اند.
اما در ماههای اخیر نشانه هایی از بروز ناامنی در برخی از مناطق این ولایت و از جمله شیبر، سیغان و کهمرد دیده شده است.
این مناطق با ولایت های ناآرامی مانند میدان-وردگ، پروان و بغلان مرز مشترک دارند.

بامیان از آرام ترین مناطق افغانستان است.

برخی از ناظران در بامیان این نگرانی را مطرح کرده اند که ممکن است در صورت خروج نظامیان خارجی از این ولایت، افراد نفوذی طالبان در صدد برآیند تا امنیت این ولایت را مختل کنند.
بتول محمدی، از زنان وبلاگ‌نویس در بامیان، می گوید انتقال مسئولیت از نیروهای خارجی به نیروهای داخلی هنوز پیش از وقت است و این اقدام پیامدهای خوبی نخواهد داشت.
او گفت: "هرچند بامیان یک منطقه امن است، اما با نبود نیروهای آیساف وضعیت بامیان می تواند بسیار شکننده باشد و این نگرانی مطرح است که کشمکش هایی میان گروه های قومی در بامیان به وجود آید."
خانم محمدی افزود: "من فکر می کنم که حالا برای انتقال مسئولیت خیلی زود است و به نظر می رسد در صورت نبودن نیروهای آیساف، دستاوردهای چند سال گذشته در بخشهای مختلف مدنی و فرهنگی با خطر مواجه خواهد شد."
حبیبه سرابی، والی بامیان هم گفته است که اگر نیروهای بین المللی بامیان و افغانستان را به طور کامل ترک کنند "یقیناً ما با مشکلات مواجه می شویم" و افزوده است که حضور این نیروها به شکل غیرنظامی می تواند این نگرانی را تا حدی رفع کند.
هر چند بسیاری در ولایت بامیان می گویند که گروه بازسازی ولایتی و حضور سربازان خارجی در این ولایت،در مقایسه با ولایت های دیگر، کمک چندانی به تسریع بازسازی نکرده است، اما حضور آنان از لحاظ روانی برای تامین امنیت در مناطق مرکزی افغانستان موثر بوده است.

Source,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/afghanistan/2011/03/110323_k02-bamian-seucurity-transiation.shtml

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

UNESCO: Destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas Nearly Impossible to Rebuild

Jennifer Glasse | Kabul March 22, 2011

Photo: AP

The 53-meter tall, 2,000-year-old Buddha statue located in Bamiyan, about 150 kilometers west of the Afghan capital Kabul, is shown in a November 28, 1997, photo

Ten years after the Taliban destroyed the giant Buddha statues at Bamiyan, a UNESCO meeting concluded the cultural landscape of Bamiyan must be preserved. UNESCO’s ambassador to Afghanistan says the ultimate decision is up to the Afghan government but that rebuilding the statues will be difficult if not impossible.
The two giant Buddhas, carved into a stone cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the 6th century, were one of Afghanistan’s greatest monuments and the largest example of standing Buddhas in the world until the Taliban destroyed them a decade ago.
Since the fall of the Taliban, historians and archaeologists have debated the possibility and merits of rebuilding the Buddhas.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, held a conference this month to discuss their fate. Shigeru Aoyagi, UNESCO’s ambassador to Afghanistan, says it is up to the Afghan government to decide what happens at the site, but that reconstruction may not be an option.
"Well, technically it’s very difficult, the fragments are not left in enough quantity, for example especially the surface of the Buddha is a very big problem," he said.
Aoyagi says reconstruction is not totally ruled out, but specialists are not optimistic.
"There might be some way, if the government decides, if the government wishes for the reconstruction, [but] notably, the bigger one, it’s very, very tough, difficult, almost impossible, that’s the observation of the experts," he said.
In the case of the smaller Buddha, which was about 37-meters-high, Aoyagi says there are more pieces to assemble, but still not enough to rebuild it completely.
"For the eastern part, there might be some measure to reassemble these fragments and then make something symbolize the tragic history of this destruction," he said.
He says UNESCO and Afghan officials have discussed another option.
"The possibility of setting up the Bamiyan Museum, which can preserve these fragments, rich artifacts, as well as tell the people about the [tragic] history of the Bamiyan Buddhas," Aoyagi said.
While UNESCO does not support the rebuilding of the Buddhas, it and the Afghan government do want to ensure the statues, and their cultural importance, are understood and remembered.

Source,
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/UNESCO-Destroyed-Buddhas-Nearly-Impossible-to-Rebuild-118440784.html

کریم خلیلی: باید گفتگو با طالبان را جدی بگیریم

محمد کریم خلیلی در مراسم نوروز در مزار شریف

خلیلی: "جنگ، خونریزی، کشتار، ویرانی، انفجار، انتحار همه باعث بدبختی و نابودی این کشور گردیده است."

محمد کریم خلیلی، معاون دوم رئیس جمهوری افغانستان گفته است تا زمانی که جنگ در این کشور ادامه داشته باشد، روند واگذاری مسئولیت های امنیتی به نیروهای افغان موفق نخواهد شد.

آقای خلیلی روز دوشنبه، اول حمل/فروردین در مراسم جشن نوروز در شهر مزار شریف گفت که قرار است حامد کرزی، رئیس جمهوری آغاز روند انتقال مسئولیت های امنیتی از نیروهای ناتو به نیروهای افغان را روز سه شنبه رسما اعلام کند.

قرار است این روند تا سال ٢٠١٤ میلادی به پایان برسد و نیروهای امنیتی افغانستان مسئولیت تامین امنیت سراسر این کشور را به عهده بگیرند.

معاون دوم آقای کرزی بر اهمیت روند انتقال مسئولیت های امنیتی به این نیروها تاکید کرد و گفت که برای موفقیت این روند، گفتگو با شورشیان هم باید جدی گرفته شود.

آقای خلیلی گفت: "ما زمانی می توانیم از این مرحله تاریخی سربلند بیرون شویم که روند صلح را هم جدی بگیریم. جنگ، خونریزی، کشتار، ویرانی، انفجار، انتحار همه باعث بدبختی و نابودی این کشور گردیده است."

او افزود: "تا زمانی که جنگ در افغانستان ادامه داشته باشد و کشتار در افغانستان باشد، یقینا ما در روند انتقال هم موفق نخواهیم بود."

آقای خلیلی در بخشی از سخنان خود تاکید کرد که مصالحه با شورشیان به معنای "برگشتن به تحجر و وحشتی که ده سال پیش در کشور حاکم بود نیست."

پیش از این آقای خلیلی هشدار داده بود که مصالحه با طالبان نباید دستاوردهای ده ساله این کشور را با خطر مواجه کند.

گفته می شود که شرکت کنندگان جشن نوروز در شهر مزار شریف به صدها هزار نفر می رسیده است.

ما زمانی می توانیم از این مرحله تاریخی سربلند بیرون شویم که روند صلح را هم جدی بگیریم. جنگ، خونریزی، کشتار، ویرانی، انفجار، انتحار همه باعث بدبختی و نابودی این کشور گردیده است

محمد کریم خلیلی

مراسم اصلی نوروز به طور سنتی در آرامگاه منسوب به حضرت علی در شهر مزار شریف برگزار می شود.

به دلیل افزایش حملات طالبان و بمبگذاری های انتحاری در هفته های اخیر در مناطق مختلف افغانستان، نیروهای امنیتی تدابیر ویژه امنیتی را برای برگزاری جشن نوروز به اجرا گذاشت.

شهر کابل، پایتخت شاهد حضور سنگین نیروهای امنیتی در خیابان ها و محلاتی است که مردم برای برگزاری جشن نوروز تجمع کرده اند.

امیر بریال خبرنگار بی بی سی در شهر مزار شریف می گوید که نیروهای پلیس و ارتش به همراه تانک ها در خیابانهای این شهر برای تامین امنیت مستقر شده اند.

محب مدثر، دیگر خبرنگار بی بی سی در مزار شریف می گوید که مردم از سراسر افغانستان برای شرکت در جشن نوروز به مزار شریف رفته اند و مردم صبح زود از خانه ها به سوی محل برگزاری جشن نوروز به راه افتادند.

گفته می شود که امسال حدود نیم میلیون مهمان از سراسر افغانستان برای شرکت در مراسم جشن نوروز در شهر مزار شریف حضور یافته اند.

در روز نوروز به طور سنتی مقامهای ارشد دولتی در میان مردم در صحن آرامگاه منسوب به حضرت علی حضور می یابند و دستور برافراشتن علم منسوب به حضرت علی را صادر می کنند.

اما جشن نوروز در مزار شریف با برگزاری جشن های حاشیه ای دیگر تا چهل روز دیگر با عنوان "جشن گل سرخ" ادامه می یابد.

از روز نوروز تا چهل روز دیگر صحن زیارتگاه سخی (آرامگاه منسوب به حضرت علی) شاهد حضور صدها خانواده از سراسر مناطق شمالی افغانستان در روزهای چهارشنبه است.

این خانواده ها ضمن زیارت کردن مزار سخی، در طول روز به تفریح و سرگرمی در باغ زیارت سخی می پردازند.

نوروز در مرکز و جنوب افغانستان

جشن نوروز امسال تحت تدابیر ویژه امنیتی برگزار شد.

اما در هزاره جات، در مرکز افغانستان مردم با برگزاری جشن های ویژه در روزهای پیش از نوروز و با حرکت "کمپیرک" از دهی به دهی دیگر به استقبال نوروز می روند.

نوروز امسال در هزاره جات در حالی فرارسیده که دره ها و کوههای این منطقه زیر برف سنگین است و هنوز در بسیاری از ولسوالی ها (شهرستانها) از بهار خبری نیست.

در مناطق جنوبی افغانستان که در سالهای گذشته نوروز با محدودیت هایی به همراه بود، امسال مردم جشن نوروز را به گرمی برگزار کرده اند.

احمد امید اخپلواک، خبرنگار بی بی سی در ارزگان می گوید که نوروز امسال در این ولایت ناآرام با حضور گسترده مردم برگزار شده است.

در هلمند، ناآرام ترین ولایت جنوبی افغانستان نوروز با اجرای کنسرت چند آوازخوان برگزار خواهد شد.

عزیز احمد شفیع، خبرنگار بی بی سی در هلمند می گوید پنج آوازخوان از کابل به شهر لشکرگاه، مرکز ولایت هلمند رفته و عصر روز نوروز در این شهر به اجرای کنسرت خواهند پرداخت.

به گفته خبرنگار ما، این نخستین بار در ده سال اخیر است که جشن نوروز در هلمند به گونه گسترده و با حضور آوازخوانها و اجرای کنسرت برگزار می شود.

او می افزاید که جشن نوروز امسال در شهر لشکرگاه با امنیت نسبی به همراه است و نیروهای امنیتی در خیابانهای لشگرگاه سرگرم گشت زنی هستند.

قرار است حامد کرزی، رئیس جمهوری افغانستان تا ساعات دیگر به مناسبت نوروز سخنرانی کند.

آقای کرزی در این سخنرانی خود روند انتقال مسئولیت تامین امنیت چند منطقه را از نیروهای ناتو به نیروهای امنیتی افغانستان به طور رسمی اعلام خواهد کرد.

Source,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/afghanistan/2011/03/110321_k02-nowrouz-afghanistan.shtml

Azaranica