ChristiansUnite Forums

Record for Afghan poppy planting
Southern provinces are the source of most Afghan poppy production
Dr Marvin Weinbaum

Opium poppy production in Afghanistan reached another record high last year and Kabul must do more to stop it, a US State Department report says.

The report says that the poppy cultivation helps Taleban insurgents obtain money and weapons.

The drug trade hinders progress towards economic stability and democracy, the report adds.

Afghanistan grows nearly all of the world's opium poppy crop in an illegal trade worth billions of dollars.

"Eliminating narcotics cultivation and trafficking in Afghanistan will require a long-term national and international commitment," said the State Department.

"The Afghan government must take decisive action against poppy cultivation soon to turn back the drug threat before its further growth and consolidation make it even more difficult to defeat."

The report says production of the poppy was up more than a third on 2006 and good weather helped increase the yield of land already under cultivation.

In a report published at the beginning of February, the UN estimated that the amount of opium poppy cultivated in the volatile southern provinces would increase this year.

But the UN's assessment also predicted the overall harvest would be "similar to or lower than" last year's record-breaking level.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) based its findings on interviews in almost 500 villages.

Afghanistan says it is making progress on curbing poppy cultivation by persuading farmers not to plant and through destroying poppy fields.

Acting counter-narcotics minister General Khodaidad, in an interview with Reuters news agency, said he was optimistic.

"We are doing better than last year and will have more poppy-free provinces this year," he said.

The growth in Afghanistan's opium crop began in earnest after the overthrow of the Taleban by US-led and Afghan forces in 2001.

Deadly blasts hit Pakistani city


At least 24 people have been killed and 100 injured in two suspected suicide car bombings in the city of Lahore in eastern Pakistan.

A majority of the victims died in a car bomb attack that hit a federal police building in the heart of the city.

Another bomb in a suburb killed three, including two children, police say.

Shortly after the blasts, the Australian cricket team announced the cancellation of their forthcoming tour of Pakistan over security fears.

The police said the first explosion hit the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) at 0925 (0425 GMT) in Lahore.

It demolished part of the building, where about 250 people work, just as employees were beginning their day.

The remainder of the building was evacuated as rescue workers struggled to remove the wounded from the debris.

The second, near-simultaneous blast hit an office in a residential district of Lahore several miles away, killing three people, including two children.

President Pervez Musharraf said: "Acts of terrorism cannot deter government's resolve to fight the scourge with full force."

One witness who was inside the police building at the time of the blast described what he saw.

"There was a huge explosion and I fell down senseless," said FIA employee Ali Ahmed.

"For a moment, I didn't know if I was dead or alive. When I finally came to my senses, I was able to locate a window and crawl out."

A man who works within walking distance of the building described the intensity of the explosion.

It "was so huge that nearby buildings were shattered and we witnessed huge clouds of smoke and dust rising to the sky", Muhammad Raza told the BBC.

"It felt like the aftershocks of an earthquake."

At least 12 of the dead were FIA officials, says the head of the FIA's investigation wing, Tassaduq Hussain.

Many of the injured included children from nearby schools.

At the time of the bombing, military officials in the building were investigating a 4 March suicide attack at a nearby naval college, the head of the FIA in Lahore, Mian Manzoor, told the BBC.

The country has been hit by a wave of suicide bombings in the past year, most against security targets, says the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad.

It is rare for groups to claim responsibility for the attacks, but they are usually blamed on pro-Taleban militants and on elements of now banned jihadist groups nurtured by the intelligence agencies.

They are believed to be in response to army and police operations against the militants.

Most take place in the north-west of the country near the Afghan border, but many of Pakistan's major cities have also been hit.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi in December.

Until recently Lahore had escaped the violence, but there have been three attacks there now in the last two months.

Four people died in last week's attack on the naval college. And in January, 19 people were killed in a suicide bombing near the High Court.

More than 500 people have been killed in the country since the beginning of the year in a campaign of attacks and bombings blamed on Islamist militants.

Many killed in Pakistan clashes
By Syed Shoaib Hasan
BBC News, Islamabad

Some 40 people are reported to have been killed in sectarian violence in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that began on Wednesday.

The violence follows rising tensions between the Sunni Muslim Orakzai tribe and the minority Shia Katchai tribe.

Heavy weapons were used in the clashes in the Lautang area of Kohat district, a local official told the BBC.

Separately five people were killed in an attack on an ambulance in the Kurram tribal agency.

Sectarian violence has killed thousands in Pakistan over the years.

In the north-west, traditional rivalries have been exacerbated by an army operation against pro-Taleban militants.

'Helicopter gunships'

Mehtab Khan, a senior administration official in the Kohat district, told the BBC "heavy weapons" had caused "massive damage" to houses in the Lautang area.

Mr Khan said many of the dead were women and children and their bodies had not been recovered because the violence had yet to abate.

Seventeen more people were killed in Lautang on Thursday, after more than 20 people were killed on Wednesday, officials say.

The violence began at the weekend when members of an Orakzai tribal council were attacked in an area controlled by the Katchai tribe. That clash left nearly 20 people dead.

Locals officials say at least 10 branches of the Orakzai tribe are surrounding the Katchai region in response.

They say they fear a massacre if the government does not intervene.

The authorities initially tried to negotiate an end to the issue after the attack on the tribal council.

Reports now say the army has sent helicopter gunships in the area.

'Grenade attack'

In a separate incident, five people have been killed in an attack on an ambulance in the Kurram tribal agency close to the Afghan border.

The authorities say the attack near the town of Tall is also sectarian in nature.

"The ambulance was coming from Parachinar, when it was attacked," local police chief Mirzaly Khan told the BBC.

"Several men armed with grenades and heavy weapons attacked the vehicle," Mr Khan said.

Five people, including a security guard and a woman, were killed, he said.

Parachinar and Tall are located in the Kurrum tribal agency, which has a long history of sectarian violence.

____________________________________________

Friday, March 28, 2008

Rajasthan State Assembly Tries Anti-Conversion Bill Again

Gospel for Asia
For Immediate Release

RAJASTHAN, INDIA  (ANS) -- There are more than 175 Gospel for Asia missionaries serving in Rajasthan, India. Today, there is an increasing possibility their service to the Lord could earn them jail time.

The Rajasthan State Assembly has passed a new anti-conversion bill after a previous attempt failed. This second bill, however, is shrouded in conflict.

Called the “Freedom of Religion Act,” the bill proposes fines and jail time for both people who change religions as well as those who are responsible for the conversion if they do not follow these steps, which the bill outlines:

    * A person wishing to convert must give a 30-day notice to a district magistrate.
    * The magistrate would conduct an inquiry into whether the person was pressured to convert.
    * Someone converting back to his “original” religion need not give notice.
    * The registration of entities involved in conversion would be revoked.

The original bill, drafted in 2007, was sent to Rajasthan’s governor. She refused to sign the bill and eventually sent it on to India’s president for consideration.

In the neighboring state of Gujarat, the government simply withdrew its anti-conversion bill when the governor refused to sign it. Rajasthan politician G. Kataria drew much controversy when, after a year of waiting for the governor to sign the bill, he led the state assembly to draft the new bill. They passed it and sent it on to the governor.

Kataria’s colleague G. Tiwari also drew negative comments when he publicly criticized the previous governor for not signing the original bill.

Making it distinct from anti-conversion laws passed in other states, Rajasthan’s new bill offers what it calls “special protection” for women, minors and members of low castes, according to zeenews.com. Those found guilty of converting people among these groups would face harsher punishment.

Kataria said these changes were “necessary to maintain communal harmony and to curb conversion activities in tribal areas,” zeenews.com reported.

The opposition party in Rajasthan’s assembly walked out of the building in protest of the second bill’s passing.

Gospel for Asia’s missionaries in Rajasthan covet prayer that no matter what happens, they will remain strong in their faith and continue to serve. Pray also that believers will not be discouraged and that many will continue coming to Christ.
_______________________________________