IEC announces schedule for Lower House of Parliament elections; 16 new cabinet nominees appear before Wolesi Jirga; UN chief urges better international coordination; At least 50 militants killed in three separate operations;
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    • The Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced the schedule for elections to the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Parliament on January 7. While the candidate registration process would start from January 16, polling and counting will occur on May 22 and final results will be announced on July 30.1 The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has urged the IEC to remove and replace "those officials who were complicit in the fraud" committed in the August 2009 presidential and provincial council polls.2

    Meanwhile, President Karzai's 16 new cabinet nominees including three women candidates appeared before the Wolesi Jirga for approval on January 9. The Wolesi Jirga had earlier rejected 17 of the 24 cabinet nominees. None of the rejected candidates were among the new nominees.3

    In his latest report to the UN Security Council, UN chief Ban Ki-moon stressed that Afghanistan was at a critical juncture and urged the need for reinforced international coordination.4 Kai Eide, the departing UN envoy to Afghanistan warned the Security Council that an emphasis on security matters over social issues would lead to a failure of international efforts to stabilize the country.5

    At least 50 militants were killed in three separate incidents in operations carried out by Afghan and international security forces in the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, and Kunduz.6 3 Chechens were among those killed in the Kunduz operation. A suicide bomb attack at a market in the eastern city of Gardez killed at least nine people, including four children.7

    In other developments, Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, during a meeting with visiting British foreign secretary David Miliband on January 9 in Islamabad called for the creation of an Afghan Resettlement Fund to support the return of refugees.8

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