Download President Ghani arrives in Kandahar to assess security situation

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Ministry of defense
PAO
Media Analysis section
Media Analysis Executive Summary for
10- June – 2015
Almost 1,000 Civilians Killed In Afghanistan So Far This
Year: UN
Tolo news
The United Nations this week reported that almost 1,000 civilians have been killed in the
Afghan conflict in the first four months of the year, while 1,989 were injured.
"As of 30 April, 1,989 Afghans were injured as a result of the conflict and 978 Afghan
civilians killed, throughout the country," said Mark Bowden, the UN Secretary-General's
Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, at a conference this week.
He said the number of wounded at the Emergency Hospital in Kabul illustrates the
devastating impact of the conflict. "The doctors there told me that they are seeing a 50
per cent increase in the number of civilians injured this year compared to the same period
last year."
Speaking at the Second Independent Media and Civil Society Forum in Kabul, the UN
envoy, who is also the deputy head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
(UNAMA), said the intensifying conflict in 2015 is taxing humanitarian capacities.
"At this period of increased need, it is particularly disturbing to note that humanitarian
aid workers are increasingly becoming targets themselves," he said, while calling
attention to the crucial role civil society plays in holding non-state actors accountable for
their actions.
"It is through its engagement with the media that civil society can advocate more
strongly about the conflict and the resulting humanitarian situation," he stressed. "The
relationship between civil society, media and humanitarian action is strong."
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UNAMA is mandated to support the Afghan Government and relevant international and
local non-governmental organizations to assist in the full implementation of the
fundamental freedoms and human rights provisions of the Afghan Constitution and
international treaties to which Afghanistan is a state party, in particular those regarding
the full enjoyment by women of their human rights.
Despite high death toll among civilians in the first five months of this year, TOLOnews'
May security report illustrates a 40 percent decrease against last month in civilian
casualties amid a spike in the death toll of insurgents.
Compiled monthly on the basis of reports from security agencies, the roundup noted a 87
percent increase in insurgent fatalities, mostly from anti-insurgent operations which
reportedly rose by 37 percent as compared to April's report. However, unlike in previous
month's statistics, the civilian casualty toll decreased by 40 percent, leaving 153 people
dead as a result of insurgents' armed attacks and bombings.
This comes as the Taliban are reportedly engaged in large-scale attacks and bombings
across the country as part of their summer offensive, which began in April.
Last month, based on the report, over 1,000 insecurity incidents took place around the
country – with the highest number recorded in southern Kandahar province.
The report continued that a total of 4,672 insurgents were killed during the month, a
sharp spike in the causality toll as compared to the past few months.
In addition, the security forces also suffered a 33 percent increase in its casualty toll
against April, recording a total of 331 soldiers killed across the country.
Overall, a total of 60 bombings and IED explosions occurred in May, the report reads.
Furthermore, the report also attributed 47 incidents of abductions and other violence to
insurgents. 124 people were reportedly abducted by insurgents during the month.
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Local Police Commander and 4 Family Members Killed in
Faryab Blast
Tolo news
A local police commander and four of his family members were killed when a mine
exploded at his home, local officials said on Tuesday.
Two of his sons were also injured in the blast.
The incident took place in Grezwan district of the province after a mine exploded at his
home," District Governor, Abdul Razaq Kakar said.
"The police commander, his wife, a son, a daughter and his son's wife are among the
dead," he said.
A witness said the commander had been keeping the mines at his home after having
discovered them.
Police have started investigations into the incident.
Three soldiers martyred, 31 militants killed in newest
military operations
Khaama press
Three soldiers have embraced martyrdom while 31 soldiers killed in newest military
operations across the country, ministries of defense and interior said on Tuesday.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Defense states that the three soldiers embraced
martyrdom in enemy fire and landmine explosion in past 24 hours. The statement does
not specify the exact location of the incidents.
In the meantime, a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior states that military killed
31 militants in separate actions in 10 provinces in past 24 hours.
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The operations were conducted in Khost, Paktiya, Ghazni, Nangarhar, Takhar, Kunduz,
Badakhshan, Jawzjan, Oruzgan and Kandahar provinces where security forces also
defused 18 different types of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), planted by
insurgents.
IEDs are considered the second biggest cause behind the raising number of civilian
casualties in Afghan war.
A recent report by UN shows that the war left almost 1,000 civilians killed and nearly
2,000 others wounded in the first four months of this year in Afghanistan.
President Ghani arrives in Kandahar to assess security
situation
Khaama press
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has arrived in southern Kandahar province to assess
the security situation there.
President Ghani is expected to meet with police and military commanders and other local
officials and have discussions with them over the security and local administration in this
province.
He is also expected to meet with local elders and listen to their problems.
After the increase in militant attacks and mouth broken answers to these assaults by
security forces, President Ghani started to visit security forces and thanked them for their
best performance and sacrifices.
Before Kandahar the President visited western Herat province where he met commanders
of Afghan National Security Forces and thanked them for suppressing insurgent attacks
and sacrifices.
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Obama: Need to Speed Training for Iraqi Forces to Battle
IS
VOA news
President Barack Obama stressed the need to more quickly train Iraqi troops in order to
succeed in fighting against Islamic State fighters, saying Monday that Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi agrees on the desire for more security forces who are "trained, fresh,
well-equipped and focused."
The two leaders met Monday in Germany in the latest high-level effort to strategize
against the militant group that swept through large areas of Iraq a year ago and has
persisted in some of its biggest cities despite a U.S.-led campaign of airstrikes backing
Iraqi ground forces.
Obama said the Pentagon is working on plans to boost the training effort, and that those
who have been trained are operating "effectively." But he said recruiting, particularly
from Sunni tribes, needs to be a priority.
"One of the things that we're still seeing is, in Iraq, places where we've got more training
capacity than we have recruits," the president said.
He also reiterated the need to stop the flow of foreign fighters, saying thousands of
militants are still going into Syria and on to Iraq.
"Not all of that is preventable, but a lot of it is preventable if we've got better
cooperation, better coordination, better intelligence, if we are monitoring what's
happening at the Turkish-Syria border more effectively," Obama said. "This is an area
where we've been seeking deeper cooperation with Turkish authorities who recognize it's
a problem, but haven't fully ramped up the capacity they need."
Abadi agreed on the need to keep more militants from joining the fight.
"The influx of foreign fighters that goes into Syria and into Iraq, and it creates more of
the bloodshed, more of the destruction... and blood spilling of the innocents," Abadi said
through a translator.
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The prime minister also called on the coalition to help Iraq stop the Islamic State group
from smuggling oil, which they sell to generate funds.
In Washington, Senator John McCain said he would like to see any strategy for fighting
the militants include troops on the ground in Iraq. Obama has so far ruled that out as a
possibility.
Also Monday, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said that "friendly forces"
have started moving into the town of Baiji, where Islamic State fighters are inside the
country's largest oil refinery.
Warren said the forces are rooting out the enemy, but that it is too early to say the town
has been liberated from the militants.
China's soft May inflation increases calls for fiscal
stimulus
Reuters news
China's consumer inflation eased while producer prices stayed stubbornly in deflation in
May, bolstering the case for fiscal stimulus as the world's second-largest economy shrugs
off monetary easing.
Annual consumer inflation eased to 1.2 percent in May thanks to a sharp drop in food
costs, particularly pork, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Tuesday, lower
than a forecast 1.3 percent and the previous month's 1.5 percent.
The producer price index (PPI) stayed unchanged at a negative 4.6 percent, meaning that
Chinese factory pricing power is sliding deeper into its fourth year of contraction.
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"We are basically in the midst of a balance sheet recession with Chinese characteristics,"
said Andrew Polk, economist at the Conference Board in Beijing. "Companies and banks
are busy repairing their balance sheets, and that suppresses borrowing appetite."
Polk said that the solution requires both a "dramatic" reduction to interest rates combined
with more government spending.
Economists say weak producer prices are of particular concern as commodity prices - a
major deflationary force at China's industrial heavyweights - are recovering yet producer
prices remain depressed.
"We think the reflationary pressure in China is still remote and the CPI is likely to stay
low," wrote Xie Dongming, economist at OCBC Bank, saying this offered ample room
for further adjustments to interest rates and bank reserve requirements.
China cut interest rates for the third time in six months in May - on top of two reductions
in the amount of money banks must keep in reserve, with little impact on deflation. Some
economists believe China may be headed into a "liquidity trap" in which additional cash
supply fails to translate into productive investment.
BOOM TIMES OVER
In an environment where returns on investment are usually lower than the nominal 5.1
percent lending rate for one year - and actual long-term lending rates generally far higher
- company executives say there is little incentive to invest.
Indeed, some say the only measurable impact the easings have had is in the stock market,
which has more than doubled since China began cutting interest rates in November.
Beijing has stepped up support for local governments as the economy confronts its worst
year in a quarter century. It is engaged in a 1 trillion yuan debt swap intended to shore up
finances at heavily indebted local governments, by exchanging their high-yield debt for
low yielding municipal bonds.
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The central government also has plenty of firepower left, including 1.7 trillion yuan of
fiscal deposits. But deploying those funds, in particular given China's clunky budgetary
process, will take time.
A Reuters poll suggested May indicators will do little to change the broad picture of an
economy struggling under the weight of a property downturn, widespread factory
overcapacity and local government debt.
"The heavy industrial sectors that have led the economy since the early 2000s are mired
in excess capacity, and producer price deflation is entrenched," Arthur Kroeber of
Gavecal Dragononics said in a research note.
"Clearly the boom times are over, and much more pain lies ahead."
7th Person Dies of MERS in South Korea
VOA news
The South Korean Health Ministry has announced the death of a seventh person from
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS.
The ministry said Tuesday the victim is a 68-year-old woman who had been in the
emergency room of a Seoul hospital, where previous infections have taken place.
It also said there are eight new cases of the outbreak, bringing the total number of
infections to 95.
"We confirmed that there are a total of 95 cases of MERS. But [among them] nine
patients are in unstable condition until this morning," said disease control center official
Jeong Eun-kyung.
The outbreak has led to more than 2,500 people being placed under quarantine for
suspected contact with MERS patients. Health officials say they are tracking the
quarantined people's cell phone signals to make sure they abide by the quarantine
measures.
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South Korea also has closed down nearly 2,000 schools in an effort to stop the spread of
the virus.
All cases of the infections have taken place in health care facilities.
On Sunday, the government reversed its policy and revealed the 24 health care facilities
where MERS patients have been diagnosed or treated. The revelation of the names of
the facilities follows the discovery that one location had an unusually high number of
MERS cases.
Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said Sunday that because all the MERS cases
have been hospital associated, "we think we have a chance at putting the outbreak under
total control."
Some other governments in the region have issued warnings to their citizens about
traveling to South Korea.
Japan on Tuesday said it has set up a task force to help its citizens there deal with the
spread of the virus.
"By setting up the local task forces, we are giving our utmost effort in gathering and
providing information for the safety of Japanese nationals overseas," said Foreign
Minister Fumio Kishida.
MERS, a coronavirus, is related to the one that infected thousands during the 2003
outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. It has no cure or vaccine.
MERS was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and has spread to several other
countries.
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