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	CIAO Focus, December 2001: Afghanistan and Terrorism
	A new, interim government for Afghanistan has been created under the auspices of the United Nations. The anti-Taliban Pashtun commander Hamid Karzai, a relative of the former king, is expected to be chosen prime minister. And in a widely hailed anti-terrorism development, 55 nations adopted the U.S. plan to increase police cooperation and freeze terrorist assets, among other goals. In Afghanistan heavy fighting continues, centering now on caves 30 miles outside of Jalalabad. Intelligence sources believe Osama bin Laden may be hiding in a region known as Tora Bora, which means Black Widow in Pashto. While bombers continue their raids, and news reports of civilian casualties mount, many military analysts are calling for the use of ground troops to pursue bin Laden and the Al Qaida network. Finally, on the U.S. domestic front, analysts have suggested that Al Qaida may have a so-called dirty bomb in their possession. Unrelated to the concerns over nuclear devices, Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge issued the third warning since September 11 of possible terrorist attacks, warning Americans to "be on the alert." This month CIAO highlights the issue of terrorism and the crisis in Afghanistan. From CIAO's database: Afghanistan - War Aims Diffusion of Landmines in Afghanistan The Soviet War in Afghanistan: History and Harbinger of Future War? Beyond bin Laden - The Tempations of a Wider War Russia and Central Asia: Problems and Prospects Pakistan and the Taliban: Flux in an Old Relationship Afghanistan: Ethnolinguistic Groups, 1997 (map) Pakistan - Afghanistan Border ("Pushtunistan"), 1988 (map) Outside Links*: From the United Nations http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/afghan/afghan2.htms From Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/afghanistan/ From the US Department of State http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2001/index.cfm?docid=6303 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/index.cfm?docid=5902 From the US Department of Defense http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2001/t12042001_t1204cbs.html * Outside links are not maintained. For broken outside links, CIAO recommends the Way Back Machine [http://www.archive.org/].