Weekly Round-Up - IRINAS-115: 18-Mar-07
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 115
12 - 18 March 2007
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: New bird flu cases confirmed
AFGHANISTAN: New contract to curb child marriages
AFGHANISTAN: Taliban blocks polio vaccination
AFGHANISTAN: Rights watchdogs urge regulation of US-led military
operations
AFGHANISTAN: Taliban threatens attacks
KAZAKHSTAN: Emergency workers braced for ice jam floods
NEPAL: Madhesi group calls off strikes to allow aid in
NEPAL: Clashes flare up in south
PAKISTAN: Bad weather besieges quake zone
PAKISTAN: Quake survivors lead bleak life in camps
PAKISTAN: Dengue threat lurks over Karachi
PAKISTAN: Lawyers clash with police
AFGHANISTAN: New bird flu cases confirmed
Thirteen new cases of bird flu have been detected in Afghanistan over
the past week, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the country to
17 for this year, health officials said. According to the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) - which has set up a bird flu diagnostic
laboratory in Kabul - four other cases were identified in backyard
poultry in the capital. Prior to this, four cases of the H5N1 strain of
the virus were reported on 24 February in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces,
which border Pakistan. Afghanistan's first bird flu case was reported in
March 2006.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70643
AFGHANISTAN: New contract to curb child marriages
The Supreme Court of Afghanistan has approved a new marriage contract
which is expected to help stop child and forced weddings in the country.
The new 15-page formal marriage contract, the 'Nikah Nama', has been
welcomed by women's rights NGOs in a country where 60 to 80 percent of
marriages are forced, according to the Afghan Independent Human Rights
Commission (AIHRC). According to the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF), 57 percent of marriages in Afghanistan involve girls below the
legal age of 16.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70684
AFGHANISTAN: Taliban blocks polio vaccination
For polio vaccinators working on the frontlines of an emerging Taliban
resurgence and earning just US $50 per month, travelling to outlying
towns and villages in restive areas is too much of a risk to take. The
World Health Organization estimates that in 2006, vaccinators were
unable to access an estimated 125,000 children in the south and
south-eastern regions of the country due to insecurity.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70721
AFGHANISTAN: Rights watchdogs urge regulation of US-led military
operations
An international rights watchdog and Afghanistan's leading rights group
have called on the US and Afghan governments to create a legal framework
to regulate US-led military activities in the country. The calls come as
a result of an increasing number of civilians being killed in military
operations. No official data is available on the number of ordinary
Afghans who have been killed or wounded in US-led military operations in
Afghanistan since the Taliban was ousted in October 2001. According to
HRW, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed or injured in
insurgent-related violence since January 2006.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70749
AFGHANISTAN: Taliban threatens attacks
Top Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah told the BBC that its fighters
were "fully prepared" for an offensive against foreign forces in
Afghanistan. He said 1,800 suicide bombers were ready for action, the
BBC reported on 15 March. He also said Taliban finances were much better
than last year. Neither claim could be independently confirmed. Suicide
bombings in Afghanistan have soared since late 2005. Foreign troops have
warned for months of a planned spring offensive by the Taliban. Mullah
Dadullah was a member of the Taliban's 10-man leadership council before
the US-led invasion in 2001.
KAZAKHSTAN: Emergency workers braced for ice jam floods
Emergency workers are bracing themselves for possible flooding in
southern Kazakhstan as an anticipated cold snap is expected to further
aggravate an ice jam blocking a major river. In February this year, more
than 2,000 people were evacuated in the area after the Syrdarya burst
its banks in several places and flooded nearby houses. This is not the
first year that local residents have been evacuated because of flooding.
While there was no serious flooding in 2006, floods in 2005 led to the
displacement of more than 500 people from areas around the Syrdarya
River and the previous year 2,000 people were evacuated after 600 sq km
of land was flooded.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70691
NEPAL: Madhesi group calls off strikes to allow aid in
A Madhesi political party on Tuesday called off its indefinite strike
and road blockades in Nepal's southern Terai region after considering
the severe impact it was having on civilians. Since 6 March, the MPRF
has been spearheading an indefinite strike in the Terai. They have been
protesting against the government's failure to meet their demands for
greater autonomy and more political rights for the Madhesi community,
who make up nearly 50 percent of Nepal's 27 million inhabitants.
Protesters had blocked roads with logs and rocks while the government
imposed a 12-hour daytime curfew, which meant many people from villages
in the area were unable to reach hospitals for treatment.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70663
NEPAL: Clashes flare up in south
More than 50 people have been hurt in clashes between rival political
groups in two southern towns in Nepal, the BBC reported on Sunday. The
violence took place on Saturday between established political parties
and a group that is campaigning for regional autonomy. Clashes have also
broken out in two eastern towns between parties favouring a republic and
those wanting to keep the monarchy.
Many of those injured on Saturday were members of the youth league of
the Maoist former rebels. Reports say they and people from other parties
were attacked by the Madhesi People's Rights Forum, which has been
demonstrating for the rights of the relatively marginalised southern
Nepalese for more than two months. On Thursday and Friday it was
pro-royalists who came under attack as their small party tried to hold
meetings in two eastern towns.
PAKISTAN: Bad weather besieges quake zone
Shelters for 35,000 Pakistani earthquake survivors have been
"winterised", but supplies to mountainous areas are threatened by rain
and snow, which are cutting off key communication links, aid workers
say. In preparation for winter conditions, aid agencies strengthened
tents by covering them with wooden structures and a combination of
plastic sheeting and corrugated iron sheets on the roofs. But keeping
the roads clear of snow and landslides remains a key challenge for local
authorities and the international aid community 17 months after the
disaster. Many quake survivors in remote mountain villages largely rely
on supplies from low-lying areas.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70661
PAKISTAN: Quake survivors lead bleak life in camps
Nearly a year and a half after a devastating earthquake ripped through
northwest Pakistan, survivors say that living in shelters, whether
tented or pre-fabricated, can be unbearable at times. According to the
United Nations, about 35,000 of them continue to live in 48 tented camps
across Pakistani-administered Kashmir, the hardest hit region, as well
as parts of the adjacent North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of
Pakistan.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70695
PAKISTAN: Dengue threat lurks over Karachi
With recent hotter weather in Karachi and rain creating small pools of
still water all over the city, there has been a new outbreak of dengue
fever in the city, home to at least 14 million inhabitants. In 2006,
4,600 patients were admitted to hospitals in Karachi, a city of at least
14 million people. Of these patients, 1,600 were confirmed to be
suffering from dengue fever. There were at least 52 dengue-related
deaths last year in Sindh province, almost all of them in Karachi. It is
thought other deaths may have gone unreported, with patients not being
admitted to hospitals, especially if they lived in remote villages or
towns.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70718
PAKISTAN: Lawyers clash with police
Police in Pakistan fired teargas and used batons to disperse hundreds of
lawyers in Lahore rallying against the suspension of the country's top
judge, the BBC reported on Saturday. Lawyers said more than two dozen
people were injured in the north-eastern city. Last week's removal of
Supreme Court Judge Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry for alleged abuse of
office sparked protests in several cities. In Islamabad, at least 14
policemen were suspended for raiding a private TV station during
Friday's rallies. The judge's supporters say the move by President
Pervez Musharraf to suspend him was aimed at muzzling the
judiciary.
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