Provincial Council Elections

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Residents of the Qaisar district of Faryab province complain gunmen affiliated with the so-called People’s Movement are harassing civilians, looting their houses and robbing them of valuables.
They praise the security operations in the district, led by First Vice-President Gen, Abdul Rashid Dostum, but accuse the movement’s gunmen of torching civilian homes and snatching their motorbikes and other possessions.

MAHMODRAQI (Pajhwok): The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has opened its branch for the first time in central Kapisa province which would help resolve problems of businessmen there, an official said Tuesday.
The inauguration ceremony of the office was attended by deputy ACCI head Khan Jan Alokozay, Kapisa governor Sayed Khalid, members of provincial council and other local officials.
Kapisa ACCI director Haji Zahir Hakimzada told Pajhwok Afghan News that traders in the province had faced with problems due to absence of an ACCI branch.

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Lack of access to modern security facilities and coordination among security forces were main reasons behind dramatic surge in insecurity in western Herat province, an official said on Tuesday.
Abdul Rahman Pedram, security and districts committee head in Herat provincial council, expressed these views in an interview with Pajhwok Afghan News.

FEROZKOH (Pajhwok): Violence against women has doubled in the first four months of the current solar year in western Ghor province, fueling concerns among human rights campaigners and civil society activists.
Last week, three women were killed and a girl wounded as a consequence of domestic tension in different parts of the province, according to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission’s Ghor chapter.

AIBAK (Pajhwok): A total of 143 couples entered into wedlock at a mass marriage ceremony solemnised by some businessmen in this capital city of northern Samangan province on Monday, participants said.
A resident of Aibak city, Haji Abdul Qudos, told Pajhwok Afghan News the ceremony was financially supported by 34 businessmen who belonged to Samangan but currently living abroad.
Around 6,000 guests, relatives of the grooms and the brides took part in the ceremony, he said.

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): A senior Afghan military official on Monday said operations were being launched in insecure areas in eastern provinces.
Gen. Mohammad Ali Shujai, the 201 Selab Military Corps deputy commander, told this to Pajhwok Afghan News on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the country’s 96th Independence Day at the corps headquarters in eastern Nangarhar province.
The general said security forces had effectively prevented insurgent activities as a result of wisely-planned operations.

KABUL (Pajhwok): People in southeastern Paktia province have complained they were facing with serious problems while doing their official work because government employees demanding bribe.
In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Paktia provincial council member Taj Mohammad Mangal said that despite efforts to bridge the gap between people and government, people were still facing problems to do their legal work without greasing the palm of government officers.

KUNDUZ CITY (Pajhwok): Citing officials’ inefficiency after the falloff Dashti-i-Archi districts and some other parts of the northern Kunduz province to Taliban, Provincial Council (PC) members stressed that strategy should be worked out to regain control of the areas, which were under militants’ sway.
It merits mention that Dashti Archi district had fallen to Taliban last month but the government could not take back control of the district.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Provincial council members say that growing insecurity have prevented them to evaluate and observe projects’ implementations and local governance.
The Wolesi Jirga or lower house of parliament has barred provincial councils from evaluating local governance in 2014 election process.
Most of the provincial councils have closed their offices in protest against the parliament’s decision. However, the councils have regained the right based on a presidential decree.

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): Militants have blocked main route leading to Shuhada district in northeastern Badakhshan province and snatched cash and kinds from passengers and government officials traveling on the road, an official said on Sunday.
Mohammad Maroof Khairkhwa, the town’s administrative chief, said insurgents had captured dozens of villages in the district and disconnected the road leading to Baharak district.
He told Pajhwok Afghan News that Taliban search passengers and get 50,000 to 200,000 cash from individuals working for government or private organizations.