The Afghanistan Aggregator, August 20-26

Get Smart and Thanks Due:
First off, Afghanistanica has a great post on Afghanistan scholars to watch, read, and learn from.  Thank you, C. !
Another article on the mystery of not-enough translators for Afghanistan, also at Afghanistanica.  Read it and weep.  Then get mad.
Mr. Foust at Registan.net on basic flaws in reconstruction aid .  A good start on the issue, with links for more.

Diplomacy:
— After Mr. Karzai and Mr. Hu left the executive SCO summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, bilateral meetings were held between China's VP Mr. Zheng and Aghanistan’ Foreign Minister Mr. Spanta in Beijing.
— Lower-key jirgas, as opposed to the Peace Jirga, appear to be bearing fruit across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
–The UN requests that a  Pakistan refugee camp for displaced Afghanistanis remain open.

Hostage, Inc.:
–In an article already linked above, the mayor of Gereshk, Mr. Dur Ali Shah, was abducted along with two of his sons and another man.  All but Mayor Shah were freed.
–A German hostage is freed and her kidnappers arrested.  Not all the German hostages are free yet.  In a recent video, Mr. Blechschmidt appears to be in some difficulty and explains that he is being held with five Afghanistani hostages.
–The Republic of Korea sees no progress in retrieving the remaining 19 South Korean hostages.

Military:
–The governor of Khost, Mr. Arsala Jamal, was attacked Wednesday while in convoy: three of his bodyguards were killed. Two more Afghanistani soldiers were killed, and eleven U.S. soldiers wounded, in Nuristan.
–Two Canadian soldiers have perished in Afghanistan this week.  An Afghanistani interpreter was also killed, and two Canadian journalists have been injured in the same roadside blast.
–The Polish military is reviewing actions of August 16 that resulted in civilian casualties.

Ordinance:
–Montenegro is sending surplus weapons to Afghanistan to help Afghanistan's government arm its military against the Taliban:  1500 automatic rifles, 100 machine guns, and 250,000 bullets.
–British soldiers are getting new weapons that are, according to who talks about them, either thermobaric or not thermobaric.  Defence officials call it a “light anti-structure munition” and more accurate than an anti-tank munition.  A thermobaric weapon sort of sucks all the oxygen out of the air, or something like that, which would possibly cause more civilian casualties if used inappropriately.  Read more here at the Guardian and about Thermobaric Weapons at Wikipedia.
–New Zealand soldiers have destroyed 1200 pieces of weaponry in the last 4 months, mainly due to citizen information leading to their discovery.  This dangerous work helps ensure less injury to civilians and is dangerous work.
–Both Wired and The Conjecturor have been discussing EFPs–can't keep up with the acronyms–Explosively Formed Penetrators–and their increased incidence in Afghanistan.  This would include IEDs–ah, Improvised Explosive Devices.

Terrorism:
–Turkey arrests two hijackers, one trained in Afghanistan terror camps, in a foiled plane hijacking to Tehran. 
–Afghanistan arrests the bomber who killed three German nationals last week: he is 15 years old.

The “Add a burden” department:
–Earlier this week, I posted upon Marked Increases of Opiate use in Afghanistan.  In related news: Yesterday, Relief Web posted an interview with Health Minister Mr. Fatemi, who announced a fourfold increase in AIDS incidence in Afghanistan.  He sounds very proactive, which is a good thing indeed.
–Rumours of killer telephone calls are making the rounds in Afghanistan.  Supposedly certain phone numbers, if answered, will emit a screech that causes brain hemorhages to the listener.  The rumor already caused trouble in Nigeria, Kuwait, India, and in Pakistan, where it was seen as by some religious leaders as a “sign of the wrath of God.”  Now the rumor is complicating life in a state with enough complications already.  Nothing to fear but fear itself . . .
–On the other side, Taliban insurgents are tapping into soldiers’ cell-phones and harrassing military families, according to the London Telegraph.

There's more: Of course there is.  I wish everyone of all nationalities who has worked to rebuild Afghanistan's civilization the most peaceful weekend possible.