ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

9MIDEAST/INTERNATIONAL

Ticket to new life in Europe

Afghans pin asylum hopeon Taleban ‘threat’ lettersKABUL, Sept 19, (AFP):Stamped with the Taleban’scrossed sabres emblem, thethreat letter in AhmadziaAbbasi’s hand reads like adeath warrant — but likemany Afghans he sees thedocument as a ticket to anew life and asylum inEurope.

The Taleban widely useso-called “night letters” con-taining lurid threats of vio-lence and death, often deliv-ered by shadowy agentsunder the cover of darkness,as an effective tool of intimi-dation.

Many war-weary Afghansembarking on perilous voy-ages to Europe carry the noc-turnal missives — real andcounterfeit — in an effort tobuild a compelling case fortheir refugeeapplication.

“Anyonewho readsthis willknow thatmy life is ingrave dan-ger,” saidAbbasi, a31-year-oldsocial activist from easternLogar province, holding upa night letter he foundpinned to his front door inApril.

The Pashto-language doc-ument, bearing the signatureTaleban stamp, castigateshim for supporting the “infi-del government” and warnsthat his head will be cut off.

He said the threat wasprompted by his push to pro-mote girls’ education in hisvillage, which apparentlyangered the infamouslymisogynistic militant net-work.

“The letter is my best hope— my only hope — of gain-ing asylum,” he told AFP inKabul.

He has appealed for asy-lum to the European Unionmission in Afghanistan, butthe process is unlikely to besmooth as a record numberof Afghans flee the turmoiland war convulsing theircountry.

Afghan officials say thecountry is witnessing an“unprecedented” migrationtowards European nations.

Some 77,731 Afghansapplied for asylum in Europein the first six months of theyear, more than three timesthe figure in the same periodlast year, and higher than allprevious years since 2001,according to the UN refugeeagency.

Afghans are the secondlargest group of migrants try-ing to make Europe theirhome, behind only Syrians.

While many face genuinethreats, fabricated night let-ters are common, highlight-ing the lengths some Afghansare willing to go in order toattain asylum.

Heshmat, 24, bought hisfor $80 from a group of coun-terfeiters recommended by afriend who recently made itto Germany with a similarletter.

He said he was unsurewhether the network waslinked directly to theTaleban but the forgednight letter looks “very

real”.“The human smuggler

who will take me to Swedensays: ‘Europe is now opento migrants — and aTaleban death threat can goa long way to demonstratethe need for asylum’,”Heshmat told AFP, request-ing that his last name bewithheld.

Smuggling networks areflourishing in Afghanistan,making money from tens ofthousands of desperatemigrants undertaking dan-gerous journeys on well-trodden Mediterraneantrails via Iran, Turkey andGreece.

Statistics suggesting thescale of fraudulent cases arehard to come by but HeatherBarr, a researcher withHuman Rights Watch, cau-tions against generalising thetrend.

“Even if some letters arefake, that does not meanthat all are — and HumanRights Watch has docu-mented what we are fullysatisfied are genuine threatletters in some cases,” Barrtold AFP.

“It’s also worth remem-bering that the body count inAfghanistan is high andgrowing. I would ask anyonewho argues that the threatsare not real to explain whyso many people who saythey are under threat keepdying.”

Anecdotal evidence, how-ever, suggests that Afghans— increasingly weary ofsurging Taleban violence andrising joblessness — aregoing to lengths to bolstertheir case for asylum.

A Kabul printing press saidit has fielded more and moreenquiries about “Talebanrubber stamps”, possibly forfake night letters.

A hair salon in Kabulrevealed recent requests fromlight-haired Afghans fordarker, dyed hair to makethem “appear Syrian” — thebelief being that Syrians arebeing given priority for asy-lum.

Joining the snaking queuesoutside Kabul’s passportoffice — another testament tothe accelerating exodus —some Afghans are seen wav-ing night letters in desperatepleas to officials to expeditethe process.

“We can’t give passportsto thousands of people inone day — nobody in theworld can! Leave, justleave!” an official bluntlytold the crowd one morningrecently.

Abbasi says the preva-lence of “fake night letters”was affecting his EU appli-cation.

“It raises questionswhether my threat is real,”he said, adding that hiscousin, a government offi-cial, was recently shot deadafter receiving a similarthreat.

As the sun went down overKabul, he scrambled to returnto his village in Logar beforenightfall — when securityforces retreat to their bar-racks and the Taleban prowlthe streets.

No one can dispute thatthreat.

Illegal fishing off Somalia risks piracy return

12 Somalian soldiers killed in Shebab attackMOGADISHU, Sept 19, (AFP): TwelveSomali government soldiers have beenkilled in an attack by al-Qaeda-affiliatedShebab militants, officials and witnessessaid Saturday.

The attack occurred early Friday at amilitary base in the Yaq-Bariweyne areaabout 100 kilometres (65 miles) south ofthe capital Mogadishu.

“Several of the militants were alsokilled during the fighting,” saidMohamed Adan, a Somali military offi-cial.

Witnesses said the militants overranthe camp, looted military supplies andthen left.

“The Shebab fighters took control ofthe camp and looted everything. Thecommanders addressed residents of thevillage, they said the rule of Sharia lawwill be back soon,” said AbdirahmanSomow, a local eyewitness.

“The Mujahedeen fighters carried out adawn raid on the Yaq-Bariweyne militarycamp, nearly fifteen apostate soldierswere killed and a huge amount of militarysupplies have been taken,” the Shebabalso said in a brief statement posted onjihadist websites.

The Shebab, who have recently lost astring of key bases in the face of an offen-sive by the African Union’s AMISOMforce, has stepped up counter attacksinvolving hit-and-run raids on severalbases, including an attack on an AfricanUnion camp earlier this month that left atleast 50 dead.

The Shebab is fighting to overthrowthe internationally backed government inMogadishu, which is protected by 22,000AMISOM troops from Burundi, Djibouti,

Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.Also:

NAIROBI: Rampant illegal fishing byforeign trawlers off Somalia’s oncepirate-infested coastline is threateningeconomic gains in the Horn of Africanation and could push communities backto maritime crime, a report warned.

Somalia’s fearsome pirates often justi-fied their attacks because they wereunable to compete with foreign fisher-men. Piracy peaked in 2011 when 28 ves-sels were hijacked, but has since dramat-ically declined due to the use of armedguards on ships and international navalpatrols.

But the report by Secure Fisheries, apart of the One Earth Future Foundationcampaign group, warned those advancescould be reversed if illegal fishing is notstemmed.

Foreign industrial fishing boats haveresulted in “depleted stocks, a loss ofincome for Somalis, and violence againstlocal fishers” the report read, adding “italso has threatened to ignite local supportfor a return of piracy.”

At their peak in 2011, Somali piratesheld over 700 hostages, netting millionsof dollars in ransoms and threatening keymaritime trade routes, including thesouthern access to the Red Sea and SuezCanal.

‘Without a fight’

Mali ex-rebels retake control of northeastern townBAMAKO, Sept 19, (AFP): Fightersfrom Mali’s former rebel alliance, theCoordination of Azawad Movements(CMA), took control of the northeast-ern town of Anefis Friday after loyalistfighters who seized it last month with-drew, officials said.

“CMA rebels have retaken control ofthe locality of Anefis today,” a securityofficial in MINUSMA, the UN peace-keeping mission the west African coun-try, told AFP. “But without a fight. Severalof their vehicles arrived in the city.”

The news was confirmed by AlmouAg Mohamed, a CMA spokesman.

“Anefis is under our control,” hesaid. “In violation of the ceasefire,militias took the town. Under pres-

sure, they left.”The Platform coalition of loyalist

fighters seized Anefis in deadly clash-es in August that left at least 10 dead.

They agreed to pull out, though,and MINUSMA welcomed the com-pletion of their withdrawal on Monday.

On Thursday, however, CMA fight-ers clashed with pro-government mili-tias in northeastern Mali, with the twosides accusing each other of startingthe fighting, breaching a peace dealsigned this year.

Mali was shaken by a coup in 2012that cleared the way for Tuareg sepa-ratists to seize towns and cities of thenorth, an expanse of desert the sizeof Texas.

Pakistan bombs Taleban hideoutsafter deadly raid on military base

Dozens arrested in connection with air base attack

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sept 19, (Agencies): Pakistani jets killed16 suspected militants in bombing raids near the Afghan borderon Saturday, and police arrested dozens of people, security offi-cials said, the day after Taleban militants killed 29 people in anattack on an air base.

The attack on the base on Friday was the deadliest ever militant attack on aPakistani military installation and is likely to undermine already rocky ties withAfghanistan.

Hours after the attack, Pakistan’s military spokesman pointedly noted that communicationsintercepts showed the Pakistani Taleban gunmen were being directed by handlers in

Afghanistan.Saturday’s air force raids targeted militant bases in the Tirah Valley, which straddles the

Afghan border and is a main smuggling route between the two countries, two Pakistani secu-rity officials said.

“All those killed in the bombing were Pakistani militants,” said one security official in thenorthwestern city of Peshawar.

On Friday, 13 gunmen stormed the Badaber air base, about 10 kms (6 miles) south ofPeshawar in an attack a Pakistani Taleban spokesman said was retaliation for bombing raidson their bases along the Afghan border.

Police said they picked up around 50 residents living near the base on suspicion of helpingthe militants organise the attack.

Shafqat Malik, head of the Peshawar bomb squad, said the attackers carried enough fire-power to occupy the base, but that some oftheir weapons had malfunctioned. Each manhad an assault rifle, two improvised explo-sive devices, and several rocket propelledgrenades, but some of the grenades misfired,he said.

“Their mission was occupation of the airbase,” he said.

For decades Pakistan nurtured Islamistmilitants as allies against old rival India, andto fight Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the1980s.

But it has been fighting some militant fac-tions since after it sided with the UnitedStates following the Sept 11, 2001, al-Qaedaattacks on US cities.

Pakistan launched an offensive to dis-lodge Pakistani Taleban from their north-western stronghold of North Waziristan in2014 and there has been fighting in variousplaces, including the Tirah Valley, sincethen.

For years Pakistan and Afghanistan havetraded accusations of not doing enough tostamp out insurgents on either side of theirlong, porous border.

Each country has a separate but alliedTaleban insurgency fighting to overthrowthe government and install strict Islamistrule and security cooperation is seen as vitalto defeat militancy.

Last month, Afghanistan blamed Pakistanfor not doing enough to counter militantswho carried out a series of attacks in theAfghan capital, Kabul.

Meanwhile, twenty-two suspects havebeen detained in connection with a deadlyattack on a Pakistan air force base claimedby the Taleban, officials said Saturday.

Pakistani Taleban militants dressed inofficial uniforms attacked the air force basenear the northwestern city of Peshawar onFriday, killing at least 29 people, most ofthem soldiers, the group’s deadliest assaultin months following a major military offen-sive against them.

All 14 attackers were also killed, the mil-itary said.

“At least 22 suspects including eightAfghan nationals have been detained fromdifferent parts of the city since Friday afterthe attack, and are being thoroughly interro-gated,” a senior local police official ShakirBangash told AFP.

He said some of the suspects were set freeafter an initial interrogation while others,including the eight Afghans, are still in cus-tody.

A senior security official told AFP evi-dence was still being collected from the siteof the attack to find more clues about howthe incident happened and how the attackersentered the camp.

The insurgents entered the residentialcompound at the base, attacking a mosquewhere they killed 16 air force personnel asthey were about to offer dawn prayers.

Another seven air force personnel werealso killed in a barrack adjacent to mosque.Three from the army and three civilians werealso killed.

The TTP claimed responsibility forFriday’s attack in an e-mail sent to journal-ists, saying their “suicide unit” carried outthe attack.

Military spokesman Major General AsimBajwa said Friday the attackers belonged toa splinter group of Tehreek-e-TalebanPakistan (TTP) and came from Afghanistan.

“The attackers came from Afghanistan,the attack was planned and controlled fromthere,” Bajwa said.

Islamabad and Kabul regularly accuseeach other of supporting militants who crossthe porous border to carry out attacks and ofgiving sanctuary to them.

A Pakistani soldier checks vehicles at the main entrance of an airbase that was attacked by suspected Taleban militants, Sept 19,in Peshawar, Pakistan. Suspected Taleban militants launched a brazen attack on a Pakistani military base on Friday. (AP)

Mexican tourists who survived air strike return home

Mexico demands Egypt compensation for victimsMEXICO CITY, Sept 19, (AFP): On stretchersand in wheelchairs, six Mexican tourists hurt ina mistaken Egyptian air strike that killed eightothers returned home Friday, as Mexicopressed for compensation for the victims.

President Enrique Pena Nieto visited thefive women and one man at a public hospitalin Mexico city hours after they returned onthe presidential plane with the country’s for-eign minister.

Pena Nieto told reporters that he assured

the patients that his government would“accompany them in this legal process” toobtain compensation for the attack.

In the morning, the wounded arrived inMexico City accompanied by ForeignMinister Claudia Ruiz Massieu, who hadflown to Cairo earlier in the week to demandanswers from Egyptian authorities.

Four of the wounded were brought off theplane on stretchers, one draped in the green,white and red flag of Mexico. Two others

came out in wheelchairs.The wounded, who are all in stable condi-

tion, were taken to the NationalRehabilitation Institute in a police helicopter.

Their injuries ranged from shrapnel woundsto burns, fractures and respiratory ailments,Health Minister Mercedes Juan told reporters.

Ruiz Massieu said the victims should becompensated “according to internationalrights” for what she branded an “unjustifiedaggression.”

Barr

Israel strikes Gaza: Israel carried outair strikes in the Gaza Strip on Saturdayafter Palestinian militants there fired rock-ets into southern Israel.

The overnight air strikes targeted twotraining camps belonging to the Islamistgroup Hamas, causing no injuries, officialsand witnesses said.

Late on Friday, Gaza militants had firedat least two rockets into Israel. One strucka town, damaging a bus but causing noinjuries. A second was shot down by a mis-sile defense system.

A Palestinian group that supports thegroup Islamic State claimed responsibilityfor one of the rockets fired at Israel.(RTRS)

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Floods kill 10 people in Iran: Iran’sstate TV says flash floods triggered byheavy rains have killed 10 people in thecapital, Tehran, and south of the country.

The Saturday report says the flash floodkilled six in Tehran and four in the south-

ern province of Hormozgan Friday night.At least eight people, including five

members of the same family in Tehran,were still missing. Relief and rescue opera-tions are underway.

Earlier in July, at least 11 people werekilled in flash flooding in both Tehran andthe northern province of Alborz.

Authorities attribute the rising number ofdeadly flash floods to deforestation andimproper construction near riverbeds. (AP)

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Libya peace talks get boost: Hopesfor a deal to form a unity government inwar-torn Libya by a September 20 deadlinereceived a boost Friday after UN-brokeredpeace talks had run into opposition fromboth sides.

UN envoy Bernardino Leon, announcing“very good news”, said lawmakers fromLibya’s internationally recognised parlia-ment had agreed to return to the talks withtheir rivals in Tripoli after resolving aninternal dispute.

The parliamentarians based in Tobruk inthe far east of Libya had bridged their dif-ferences and agreed to re-engage in theprocess, he said from the talks near Rabat.

“We still have to reach a final agreementon the other issues,” he said. “We have littletime, a lot of work to do and we will con-tinue to inform on the evolution.” (AFP)

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Rebels attack police checkpoint:Afghan officials say that at least eightpolice officers were found dead after theircheckpoint was attacked in southern Zabulprovince.

Mohmand Nasratyar, district administra-tive chief, said on Saturday that all eightpolicemen were killed late Friday nightinside their check point in the Arghandabdistrict.

Nasratyar said that a delegation has beensent to investigate the incident and so far itremained unclear how the attack happened.

Taleban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadiclaimed responsibility. (AP)

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