Provincial Council Elections

PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): Public representatives and residents of northern Baghlan province complainthe security situation on the highway between Pul-i-Khumri and Mazar-i-Sharif has sharply deteriorated.
Asking the government to ensure people’s protection, they say a number of civilians and Afghan forces had been killed in clashes and attacks on the busy highway in the past two weeks.
A week ago, the Taliban blocked the highway in Bagh-i-Shamal area and attacked a former commander of the Junbish-i-Islami Afghanistan party.

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): A number of provincial council members and residents of southern Ghanzi province say most members of the council are busy performing their personal tasks and do not attend meetings.
Under the civil servant law, government employees cannot stay absent from duty for three consecutive days without an emergency need, otherwise the absent days would be marked unpaid.

Most Ghazni PC members absent from office

PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): Some provincial council (PC) members said on Saturday the Dand-i-Ghori locality of Pul-i-Khumri, the capital of northern Baghlan province, has turned into a Taliban training and recruitment centre.
Dand-i-Ghori is two kilometres from the provincial capital with a population of 3,000 people and encompasses 30 villages. The area has been in Taliban control over the past eight months.
Back in July, Taliban fired at least 12 rockets from the area into Pul-i-Khumri, killing two people and wounding 10 others.

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Hundreds of residential plots in the Police Town have been sold illegally in the eastern province of Nangarhar, public representatives claimed on Sunday.
Work on the 500-plot housing schemes, also known as Sherzai Town, in front of the Police Training Centre, was initiated eight years ago. But the project came to a halt at a time when policemen had already paid 30,000 afghanis for each plot.

QALAT (Pajhwok): Members of the provincial council and residents of southern Zabul province say the council has been successful in timely resolving people’s problems as a result of increasing its coordination with provincial departments.
The council has performed well during the last one year and been able to develop close relations with residents, within the body and with government entities.

KUNDUZ CITY (Pajhwok): Public representatives and residents of northern Kunduz province have expressed their deep concern over the continued presence of Taliban fighters in areas around the provincial capital.
Two months back, the Taliban overran the strategic city and controlled it for three days. However, the security forces launched a clearing operation to retake the provincial capital after two weeks of fighting.

QALAT (Pajhwok): Ghazni residents on Saturday set free 14 persons they had abducted from southern Zabul province following mediation of elders, a public representative said.
The abductees, hailing from Khak-i-Afghan district of Zabul, were kidnapped by some people of Jaghori district of Ghazni last week to avenge the abduction of 30 people from their area last year.

Abducted Zabul residents freed in Ghazni

LASHKARGAH (Pajhwok): Local security officials on Sunday said ongoing clashes in central areas of southern Helmand province had come under control, but public representatives stressed the need for defeating militants comprehensively.
Some days ago, the Taliban captured a number of security posts in the Babaji area of Lashkargah, the provincial capital, and parts of Nad Ali and Greshk districts, prompting the security forces backed by foreign troops to launch airstrikes.