Daily brief: Violence spikes as leadership changes in Afghanistan

Shaky transition

Violence spiked Monday after leadership of the Afghan war effort formally transferred from Gen. David Petraeus to Gen. John Allen; seven policemen were poisoned and killed by suspected Taliban militants in the southern city of Lashkar Gah, militants beheaded two kidnapped civilians in Farah province, and a roadside bomb killed the police chief for Registan province and three other policemen in the southern province of Kandahar (AFP, RFE/RL, Reuters, NYT, AP, Guardian, BBC). Gen. Allen warned of "tough days ahead" as analysts looked at the mixed results from Petraeus’ year in Afghanistan, as well as the possible changes in strategy heralded by the leadership shift and continued withdrawal of foreign forces from the country (BBC, Tel, AP, NPR).

Militants attacked the capital of Laghman province, which was transferred to Afghan control Tuesday, while Lashkar Gah is set to be transferred Wednesday, after a weekend sweep of its surrounding areas by U.S., British, and Afghan forces ( AP , CNN, Reuters). The BBC looks at the property bubble in Lashkar Gah, where increased security has helped some properties sell for as high as $1 million but corruption remains endemic (BBC).

Mortars fired from Afghanistan killed four Pakistani soldiers in South Waziristan Tuesday, as Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari is due to arrive in Kabul for talks (AFP, ET). And Afghan parliamentarians lashed out at Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) Monday during a discussion of the killings of former Uruzgan governor Jan Mohammed Khan and parliamentarian Mohammad Hasham Watanwal (Pajhwok, Pajhwok). Interior minister Gen. Bismillah Khan Mohammadi also testified that the attackers received calls from Pakistan and Afghanistan prior to the attack.

Finally, the Journal reports that according to U.S. officials, al-Qaeda under Ayman al-Zawahiri may shift its emphasis to targeting American or Western interests abroad, rather than in the West (WSJ).

Shots fired

A lawyer for three Pakistani tribesmen who say they have lost family members in suspected U.S. drone strikes formally filed a complaint with Pakistani police Monday against John Rizzo, the former CIA general counsel, for approving the attacks (Reuters, ET). In London Tuesday a photo exhibit claiming to show victims of the drone strikes opened (AP). Meanwhile, the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a bill Monday that would cut funding for Pakistan, as well as Lebanon, Egypt, and the Palestinian authority, if the Obama administration cannot demonstrate steps the countries have taken to fight terrorism (AP, DT).

Late Monday night, armed gunmen kidnapped eight Pakistani employees of an American charity, The American Refugee Committee, near the Afghan border in the province of Baluchistan (AP, AFP, BBC, Reuters). A Pakistani court Monday filed charges for treason and murder against Sufi Mohammad, an alleged militant leader and father-in-law of Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah (AFP). A roadside bomb in South Waziristan killed five militants linked to Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir (Dawn, Reuters). And the Post analyzes the layered causes behind the recent increase in violence in Karachi (Post).

The Tribune reports that the car belonging to journalist Saleem Shahzad, who was found tortured and murdered days after disappearing from Islamabad, was transported inside a truck rather than driven to the site nearly 100 miles from the capital where Shahzad was discovered (ET). The Tribune also notes that Pakistan’s government has not started work on a report due in five days on the United Nations Convention Against Torture, while Oxfam says that 10,421 cases of torture in police custody have been reported in the last 10 years (ET).

Pakistani prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday accepted the resignation of Central Bank governor Shahid Kardar (Dawn, Reuters).The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has resumed cooperation with Pakistan’s ruling coalition, as Dr. Ishratul Ibad will withdraw his resignation as governor of Sindh province, originally filed after an election dispute in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (Dawn, ET, DT). As talks proceed between India and Pakistan on the disputed region of Kashmir, the Tribune and others profile Hina Rabbani Khar, tapped to be Pakistan’s youngest and first female foreign minister (AP, ET, Independent, Dawn). And in the Swat Valley’s Malakand Division, the area’s first female lawyer, Saima Anwar, has begun the sixth-month apprenticeship that marks the start of her law career (ET).

Back to school

Afghan education officials tell Pajhwok that 21 schools have been opened in the province of Zabul this year, as they try to reopen the nearly 150 schools that remain shuttered due to security problems (Pajhwok). The province boasts approximately 5,280 students, of whom nearly 1,000 are girls.

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