DUBAI, 19 March (IRIN) - 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.

IRIN news