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Wheat: The current average wheat price in main cities markets of Afghanistan (AFN 23.5/Kg) is slightly lower by 3.0% compared to the same time last year (April 2016), but negligibly higher by 3.7% compared to the last 5-year average price of the same months (Aprils 2012 - 2016).

Wheat flour (High Price) The current retail price (AFN 27.6/kg) is slightly lower by 3.7% compared to the same month last year (March 2016), and negligibly lower by 1.0% compared to the last 5-year average price of the same months.

Rice is considered as the 2nd main staple food in Afghanistan. The current average retail price of Low Quality Rice (AFN 44.1/kg) is slightly higher by 8.3% compared to the same month last year (April 2016), and slightly higher by 7.2% compared to the last 5-year average price of the same months. The current average price of High Quality Rice (AFN 81.1/kg) is slightly higher by 5.3% compared to the same month last year (April 2016), and slightly higher by 5.2% compared to the last 5-year average price of the same months.

Sugar and Pulses as important energy contributors of Afghans diet after staples and oil, prices are significantly higher from last year, 2 year back and long term average of the same month.

Originally posted here:
Afghanistan: Initial Market Price Bulletin for the month of April 2017 (Reported in May 2017) - Reliefweb

May 21, 2017 10:16 AM Noor Zahid Mehdi Jedinia

Nearly 130,000 undocumented Afghan refugees have been forced by the Iranian government to go home this year, heading to an uncertain future with the resurgent Taliban now holding more than 40 percent rural territory in Afghanistan.

Hundreds more are ousted each day from Iran, in line with Irans target of sending 600,000 back to Afghanistan by the end of the year.

Last week, 7,695 Afghan refugees returned from Iran, 60-65 percent of whom were deported involuntarily, said Hafiz Ahmad Miakhel, spokesman for the Afghanistan Ministry of Refugees and Returnees. The majority of them were young individuals, but some were families, including women and children.

Kabul says the unprecedented influx of returnees has strained post-arrival services by the government and refugee agencies, especially with Pakistan also sending Afghan refugees home.

The swelling numbers of deportees from Iran and high unemployment in Afghanistan lead to concerns that some of young returnees may join the Taliban or other militant groups. The large influx may also fuel a rising crime rate in a country already shaky from terror attacks and a high death rate among the security forces.

More than two million Afghans live in Iran, according to Afghan government estimates. Most settled there after fleeing war and conflict in their homeland. About 950,000 are classified as refugees.

Involuntary deportation

Of the 440,000 Afghan refugees who returned to Afghanistan from Iran last year, over 157,000 were deported, the majority of whom were young individuals who were residing illegally in Iran, Miakhel told VOA. The involuntary deportation is a clear violation of bilateral and trilateral agreements.

According to Miakhel, Iran has closed the main Islam Qala border crossing for the past few months for unspecified reasons, and refugees are returning through alternative border crossings, which lack facilities to accommodate high numbers.

As a result, more than 2,000 people crowd each day through Nirmorzs Malik border crossing, which cannot accommodate more than 1,000 people a day, Miakhel said.

In November 2012, Iran issued regulations allowing police and custom authorities to expel about 1.6 million undocumented foreigners by the end of 2015. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have returned or deported from Iran.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the number of undocumented returnees from Iran since New Years Day was 127,935 through May 13.

Rights violations charged

While many Afghans have been allowed to go to Iran for jobs that Iranians dont want, pressure has been rising for most to be sent home. While there, they lack basic rights and access to economic opportunities. Rights groups have accused the Iranian government of maltreating them.

The violations, according to Human Rights Watch, include physical abuse, detention in unsanitary and inhumane conditions, forced payment for transportation and accommodation in deportation camps, forced labor, and forced separation of families.

The rights group says Iranian authorities deport Afghan refugees summarily, without allowing them the opportunity to prove they have a right to remain in Iran, or to lodge an asylum application.

Some refugees claim arrests for no reason, particularly in Tehran. Police counter that most arrests are for involvement in the drug trade.

Kabul says it is trying to facilitate voluntary repatriation of refugees from Iran and Pakistan as the refugee issue is sometimes used as a leverage against Afghanistan.

Iran has sent thousands of Shi'ite Afghan refugees to Syria to fight alongside forces of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Irans elite Revolutionary Guard forces in support of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Irans army recruits them with promises of Iranian citizenship and improved living standards for their families.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last year promised the Chief Executive of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah to offer legal status to Afghan refugees instead of expelling them. But according spokesperson Miakhel, Tehran has not yet executed a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries two years ago.

Visit link:
Iran Continues Deporting Undocumented Afghan Refugees - ReliefWeb

KABUL, Afghanistan A roadside bombing killed 11 people in eastern Afghanistan on Friday as they were traveling to a wedding in the country's east, a local official said.

Also Friday, five Afghan policemen were killed in fighting with the Taliban in eastern Kapisa province. Earlier, a policeman turned his rifle on his colleagues as they slept at an outpost in eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday night, killing five.

Those killed by the roadside bomb in Logar province -- five women, five children and a man -- were all from the same family, said Salim Salleh, the spokesman for the provincial governor of Logar.

In Kapisa, the Taliban attacked a police checkpoint early Friday morning, killing five policemen, according to Qais Qaderi, the spokesman for the provincial governor. He said the assault took place in Tagab district, adding that 10 Taliban fighters were also killed, including two commanders.

In the Thursday night attack, district governor, Abdul Wahab Momand, said the policeman shot his colleagues at an outpost in the district of Ghanikhil.

After the shooting, the attacker, who was only identified by one name, Nasratullah, seized all the victims' firearms and fled the scene, the governor said.

IRAN VOTES IN FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SINCE NUCLEAR DEAL

Neither the Taliban nor the Islamic State group -- the two militant groups who operate in the area -- immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Nangarhar, a mountainous province that borders Pakistan.

There was also no claim of responsibility for the attack in Logar but Salleh, the spokesman, accused the Taliban of planting the roadside bomb.

Afghanistan has the highest number of mine victims in the world, which along with roadside bombs kill or wound an estimated 140 people every month. The Taliban have stepped up their attacks since announcing their spring offensive last month.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, another roadside bomb targeted a U.S. militarily convoy in northern Parwan province on Friday, the international mission's media officer, Doug High, said.

The explosion disabled an armored vehicle but caused no injuries, High said. After recovering the vehicle, the convoy continued on its mission, he added.

Read more from the original source:
Afghanistan attacks leave 21 people dead, including 10 police officers - Fox News

Two Chicago women are on their way to making saffron the next big thingand empowering Afghani women and farmers in the process.

Spice girls: Chicago-based Rumi cofounders Kimberly Jung and Emily Miller hold the fruits of their labor: threads of Afghani saffron, which is harvested from saffron crocus flowers and transformed into products like Rumi spice blends and new saffron gummies.

While Kimberly Jung and Emily Miller were deployed with the US Army in Afghanistan defusing roadside bombs and performing night raids with Special Forces, respectivelythey couldnt escape the feeling that what they were doing wasnt working. We felt like we werent actually going to the root of the problem, which is economic empowerment, explains Jung. A few years later, while getting their MBAs at Harvard, the pair decided to do something about it and started Rumi Spice, a Chicago-based business selling Afghan saffron.

People think that only war and opium and the Taliban come from Afghanistan, admits Jung, but the nation also produces some of the highest quality saffron in the worldand until Rumi came along, it had been nearly impossible to obtain in unadulterated form. Now, nationally renowned restaurants like The French Laundry and Le Bernardin along with Chicago favorites Duseks, Naha, and GreenRiver are lining up to add Rumis productwhich this spring expands to include saffron butter, gummies, and moreto their menus. Were building bridges between Afghan farmers, who make up 80 percent of the population, and foodies, diners, and chefs around the world, Jung boasts, noting that Rumi now employs 384 Afghan women to harvest their saffron, has partnered with 94 different farmers, and is already responsible for five percent of Afghanistans annual saffron output. Now thats impact.

Original post:
How 2 Chicagoans Are Using Saffron to Empower Women in Afghanistan - Michigan Avenue Magazine

At 16 years, the war in Afghanistan is the longest war in American history, but it is a largely forgotten war.

There was virtually no mention of Afghanistan during the presidential campaign by either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. The war resurfaced in Americas consciousness briefly when U.S. forces dropped the Mother of All Bombs in April on a bunker suspected of harboring ISIS fighters, but Afghanistan quickly vanished in the chaos of news emanating from the Trump White House.

Trumps tantrums, antics and constitutional violations will continue to hold the stage, but amid the swirl and talk of Watergate and impeachment came the news that the president is amenable to the militarys request to send an additional 3,000 to 5,000 American troops to Afghanistan to assist the 8,400 or so already serving there with Afghani forces.

Hundreds of New Hampshire residents, including many National Guard members, have served in Afghanistan. As of today, 15 Granite State residents are listed as having been killed during Operation Enduring Freedom, the code name for the U.S. effort in Afghanistan. Another 72 were wounded in action.

Statistics like that, which are a tiny fraction of overall losses that include innocent Afghanis, give special urgency to the call by Concord resident, West Point graduate and Afghan war veteran Dan Vallone for Congress to debate the nations policy in Afghanistan before additional troops are committed.

Vallone, in a piece that appeared in these pages last week, wants Congress, if it decides further troops are worth putting at risk, to issue a formal Authorization for the Use of Military Force, a step short of a declaration of war.

For years, Congress has ducked its responsibility to determine military and foreign policy, which in a democracy should not be left to its chief executive and military leaders.

Gen. John Nicholson, the chief commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, calls the current situation a stalemate. That may be optimistic. The Taliban and its jihadist forces have increased the amount of territory they control and the Afghan government, which is led by a president and chief executive from rival parties, remains corrupt and marginally functional. The Afghan army, while much improved, is plagued by desertions and is said to be heavily infiltrated by Taliban members.

Past commitments of additional American troops, including the 26,000 sent in the 2009 surge under President Obama, led to only temporary improvements. Theres little reason to believe that sending one-fifth as many now will be any more successful. Its not for nothing that Afghanistan is called the graveyard of empires. The British failed (three times) to conquer its tribal fighters as did the Soviet Union and, after 16 years of trying, the United States.

If America abandons its efforts in Afghanistan, that country could again become a refuge for extremists intent on attacking the West. But its also possible that continued American presence is creating, in Afghanistan and elsewhere, more terrorists than the war effort is killing.

Is there a step short of abandoning Afghanistan that could help prevent that? A more intense effort to help Afghanistan and its rival leaders learn to cooperate and govern for the good of their people rather than their own and their relatives pockets would help. So would an increased effort to assist the people of that nation, especially its oppressed girls and women.

Any solution will be political, not military.

We urge the members of New Hampshires congressional delegation to read Vallones piece and insist that an Authorization for the Use of Military Force be debated. Otherwise, this nation will continue to blunder along, and more lives and money that could be put to better use will be wasted.

Excerpt from:
Editorial: Reassessing the war in Afghanistan - Concord Monitor