South Asia Weekly | Volume X: Issue 4
Afghan National Police and Afghan Border Police officers stand in formation
Source: Wikipedia
Country Reports
Afghanistan
IS kidnaps teachers
The Islamic State (IS) kidnapped at least 12 teachers of a religious school in Nangarhar on 14 January. While no group has officially claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, IS is suspected as they have a strong presence in the region. The education department in Jalalabad released a statement saying, “We are saddened by the news and ask security departments, local elders and prominent figures in the area to help us release our teachers.”
For more information, see: “Teachers kidnapped by suspected Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan”, Reuters, 16 January 2017
US removes ‘ghost soldiers’
The US military has taken steps to remove 30,000 suspected ‘ghost soldiers’ from its payroll in Afghanistan. Ghost soldiers, or soldiers who are dead or are no longer in the army, continue to be on the payroll and senior army officials tend to their salaries adding to the high level of corruption in the country. The move is part of a broader effort by the U.S. military to take a more drastic approach to corruption in Afghanistan.
For more information, see: “U.S Military moves to clear ghost soldiers from Afghan payroll”, The Wall Street Journal, 19 January 2017
Marines back to Helmand
Over 300 US marines will return to Helmand province in the coming months to train and advise Afghan soldiers and police in the province. Helmand, which is know for its high levels on insecurity given that it is an opium rich province has seen some of the fiercest battles between international forces and the Taliban. The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Robert Neller, said Thursday that the troops have “no delusions about the difficulty and the challenges they’re going to face.”
For more information, see: “Afghanistan: US Marines headed back to Helmand province”, CNN, 13 January 2017
Bangladesh
Growth to cross 6 percent
The International Monetary Fund has projected country’s growth to be between 6.3 to 7 percent in 2017. The IMF made the new projection in the update of the ‘global economic outlook’ released this week.
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