Daily Security Brief: March 4, 2012

KABUL: A primary court of the Criminal Justice Task Force (CJTF) has sentenced a foreign citizen to 20 years in jail on the charge of smuggling alcoholic beverages, an official said on Sunday.

Ahmad Khalik Mowahid, a spokesman for CJTF, told Pajhwok Afghan News the smuggler was a Tajikistan citizen, who was arrested with 2,911 liters of alcoholic beverages at the Sher Khan Port in Kunduz province.

He said the convict was smuggling the alcohol in a container to the northern province. The foreigner, who had a defence lawyer, could appeal the verdict, Mowahid added.

Last year, the spokesman recalled, 500 people, including two Iranian women, one Tajik and one Pakistani, were convicted of smuggling drugs and cultivating poppies.

–Khwaja Basir Ahmad

mds/mud

KABUL: An Afghan woman was allegedly stabbed to death by her fiancee inside a guesthouse in the Indian capital, New Delhi police said on Sunday.

The 22-year-old woman, Paimana Khanjar, was in a relationship with a man named Umaid, who murdered her in the Jangpura Extension area on Saturday night.

Umaid killed Khanjar after she refused to marry him, the Indo Asian News Service quoted an unnamed police official as saying. The killer was detained by law-enforcement personnel.

A student in the United States, the victim arrived in New Delhi on February 21 and had since been living with her relatives. Umaid, who is studying in Russia, was staying in the guesthouse.

According to the police official, the two were engaged. “Last night the duo had an argument following which she refused to marry him. In a fit of rage, he stabbed her.”

–Pajhwok Report

PAN Monitor/mud

KANDAHAR: Narcotics weighing nearly 39 tonnes were set afire in southern Kandahar province on Sunday, officials said. Seized this year, the drugs included heroin, morphine, crystal, opium, hashish, chemical material and alcoholic beverages. 

Deputy Interior Minister Lt. Gen. Baaz Muhammad Abid, 404th Maiwand Zone Police Commander Gen. Salim Ihsas and other high-ranking officials were present on the occasion.

Abid told Pajhwok Afghan News 129 smugglers had been detained in connection with the drugs during 144 operations. He praised counternarcotics officials for the confiscation of drugs.

Governor Toryalai Weesa renewed his administration’s commitment to eradicating the poppy crop and preventing drug smuggling. Security forces had created problems for smugglers, who were the source of income and fund-raising for militants, he said.

Haj and Auqaf Director Maulvi Noorul Aziz said prayer leaders had been involved in counternarcotics campaigns. The imams asked people during sermons to avoid cultivating the illicit crop, he added.

—Bashir Ahmad Naadem

mas/ma/mud

KUNAR: Kunar Governor Syed Fazalullah Wahidi on Sunday escaped unhurt in a gun attack on his vehicle in the eastern province, bordering Pakistan’s lawless tribal region of Bajaur and Mohmand.

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, Wahidi said he came under attack from gunmen in the Patang area of Noor Gul district at around 3pm. “My guards returned fire, forcing the assailants to retreat.

His guards and he escaped unhurt, said the governor, who has previously survived several attempts on his life. The latest attack came from anti-government forces, a reference to the insurgents, he concluded.

–Khan Wali Salarzai

mas/ma/mud

Visits: 5