Badakhshan Provincial Council Elections

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): The chief of army staff on Sunday announced raising a1000-strong local force and deploying two commando units in the northeastern province of Badakhshan.
During his visit to Badakhshan, Lt. Gen. Qadam Shah Shaheem said they would control and clear all insecure areas of the province. Warduj district would be retaken soon, he promised.
Baharak and Warduj districts were captured by Taliban insurgents. But two days ago, the Afghan security personal wrested back control of Baharak district, with Warduj still held by the rebels.

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): Five hundreds internally displaced families were assisted with food items in the northeastern province of Badakhshanon Wednesday, officials said.
A total of 45 tonnes of food items were provided by the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) to IDPs from Yamgan, Jurm and Warduj districts.
The affected families are currently in Jurm and Baharak districts, ANDMAprovincial head Syed Abdullah Humayun, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

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.

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): Defence counsel in northeastern Badakhshan province complain they cannot properly plead cases of their clients, particularly petitions concerning violence against women, due to threats from warlords and other influential figures.
Subsequently, the attorneys allege, women’s rights continue to be trampled in the backward province. Taking up front on these powerful gunmen is fraught with dangers. Thousands of such cases have been disposed, but not without risk.

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): The Badakhshan provincial council chairman on Saturday said a base of the Afghan security forces in Warduj district remained under Taliban’s siege, but the Ministry of Interior denied the claims.
The base, which daily comes under insurgent attacks, is located in Tirgran area, around five kilometers from the district centre, Abdullah Naji told Pajhwok Afghan News.

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): “Following her death, my life has become very bitter and my mind extremely vacuous. I don’t know whether I should eke out a living for my family using a handcart or sit at home to look after my children.”
Khair Mohammad, whose house is located just three kilometres from the civil hospital in the provincial capital, lost his spouse on the way to the medical facility. Expecting a baby, the woman died of excessive bleeding.

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): After Taliban took control of Yamgan district in northeastern Badakhshan province which forced hundreds of families to leave their homes, the rest of the residents were facing acute food shortage, an official said on Monday.
The schools in the district were shut and thousands of students deprived of education, director education said.
Attaullah said the situation turned horrible as the prices of food items went up and the resident started eating grass due to lack of foods.

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): The Badakhshan provincial council head on Sunday identified acting officials running government affairs, insecurity and lack of coordination among local departments as the main challenges facing the northeastern province.
Provincial council members say the only delay in their work was when they went on strike for over 40 days to regain their oversight rights on local departments.

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): A five-year development plan in northeastern Badakhshan province has been launched amid criticism from economy department and provincial council’s that it has neglected remote districts.
The plan has been drafted in seven sections that included good governance, rule of law and human rights, education and culture, health and nutrition, social safety, natural resources and sub-soil assets, agriculture and rural development and private sector.

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): Some officials of northeastern Badakhshan province on Thursday alleged foreign spy networks, meddling by some Jihadi commanders and lawmakers were known factors fuelling spiraling insecurity in the province.
Osama Basir, a representative of the governor house, expressed this in a gathering in Faizabad, the provincial capital. He alleged internal and external factors had deteriorated law and order in the province.