Provincial Council Elections

FARAH CITY (Pajhwok): Five days of clashes between security forces and insurgents have displaced hundreds of families in Khak-i-Safed district of western Farah province, officials said on Monday.
The gun battles that continued for five consecutive days forced hundreds of families in Khoshkabi, Korghan, Nawi Deh and some other areas to flee their homes and move to Push-i-Rod and Bala Baluck districts of the province, a member of the provincial council, Dadullah Qani, told Pajhwok Afghan News. He had no information about casualties in the clashes.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Dozens of youth on Saturday staged a protest demonstration against what they said growing unemployment which they termed the main reason behind insecurity, capital flight and migration.
Criticising government’s policies in this regard, the protestors who had gathered in front of the parliament house in Darul Aman area of capital Kabul demanded the government address the issue.
Unemployment has pushed many youth into drug addiction and crimes and others into migration to foreign countries.

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Fifteen Taliban, three security personneland a civilian have been killed during a clash in the Kamdesh district of eastern Nuristan province, officials said on Saturday.
The ongoing clash erupted on Friday when the Taliban attacked the checkpoints in Kamdesh district, the governor’s spokesman, Musa Shami, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Air support was provided to police last night when 15 insurgents were killed and a dozen others wounded. Some civilians were also injured, he said.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF/ASADABAD (Pajhwok): Like some other provinces, residents of northern Balkh and eastern Kunar provinces also staged rallies on Saturday to push for adding the word “Afghan” to the biometric national identity cards.
In Balkh, thousands of people coming from various parts of Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital, gathered at the Firdousdsi Square on the Kabul-Balkh highway. The protestors included Pashtun, Uzbek, Hazara, Sadat and other tribesmen.

KHOST CITY (Pajhwok): Hundreds of residents on Thursday protested in southeastern Khost province, demanding the words “Afghan” and “Islam” be mentioned in the electronic national identity cards.
A test drive for the electronic ID cards distribution was expected to begin on August 19, but it was postponed indefinitely by the Presidential Palace amid political wrangling on the issue.
Excising the two words from the new e-ID cards was a plot to divide the Afghan tribes, the protesters alleged, asking the unity government to prevent another round of bloodshed in the country.

Hundreds rally in Khost against new e-ID cards

GARDIZ (Pajhwok): Hundreds of businessmen, civil society activists and provincial council members blocked the Kabul-Gardez Highway in southeastern Paktia province for a second day on Thursday.
The protestors said the highway would remain blocked until the government accepted their demands. They accused Kabul of discriminating against the people of the province, which received little support in terms of reconstruction and security.

Protestors block Kabul-Gardez highway for a second day

GARDIZ (Pajhwok): Local security officials on Thursday said a large operation was underway in the Dand Patan district of southern Paktia province to combat militants in the region.
Last Monday, militants attacked several border police posts in the district and took control of some of them. Later, border police and commandos conducted a major operation to retake control of the posts.
Brig. Gen. Abdul Basir Khpalwak, the 202nd Border Zone commander, told Pajhwok Afghan News around 70 rebels were killed and 35 others wounded during the operation.