Newsletter No. 1444
News-Analysis
August 29, 2009

 

JAPANESE COMPANY WAS APPARENT TARGET OF KANDAHAR BOMB

The reaction in Japan was so low-key that I almost missed it entirely, but something very big occurred in Kandahar this week. On the evening of the 25th, a truck bomb went off in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing dozens and wounding many more. That much was headline news. But buried deep in an article written by a correspondent of the UK daily The Telegraph comes the following line: “Officials said the target appeared to be a Japanese construction company that had recently taken over a contract to build a road that insurgents had stalled for several months.”

Huh? The intended target of this week’s massive bombing in Kandahar was a Japanese company? Seems like that should be pretty darn big news in Japan, right? Well, I had not seen a single report on this until I started digging into the Japanese-language media. As far as I can tell, the English-language media in Japan completely ignored this story.

The most detailed English-language account I eventually found was from AFP, which quoted Wali Karzai, the younger brother of Hamid Karzai, as follows: “It was either a tanker or a truck bomb and the target was a Japanese construction company. The Japanese were not there but Afghan and Pakistani workers may have been in the building. Doors and windows have blown out and glass broken up to one kilometer diameter and has caused heavy casualties.”

Japanese-language reports tell us that the Japanese company was “Saita Afghanistan,” which is affiliated with the Fukuoka-based construction company called the Saita Corporation. This company has been involved in the construction of highways in Pakistan going back to the 1980s. The staff at the Kandahar office was all Pakistani engineers and Afghan workers, and some of them appear to have been among the dead and injured. Two Japanese nationals had gone out to supervise the work some time ago, but they had already returned to Japan before the bombing took place.

The MOFA statement below indicates that the Kandahar bomb “damaged an office of a Japanese company in the area,” but MOFA officials seem to be denying what Wali Karzai had said—that the Japanese company was the actual target of the bombing.

For Alex Calvo’s most recent report on Japanese road-building projects in Afghanistan, see Shingetsu Newsletter No. 1430.

Statement by the Press Secretary on the Bomb Attack in Southern Afghanistan
August 26, 2009

Japan is greatly shocked and indignant at the bomb attack on August 25 (Tue) in Kandahar, a city in southern Afghanistan, which caused over 100 casualties and damaged an office of a Japanese company in the area. Terrorism cannot be justified for any reason, and Japan reiterates its firm condemnation of these atrocious acts of terrorism that victimize many innocent people.

Japan expresses its deepest condolences for those who have been killed by this attack and to the families of the victims. It also expresses its heartfelt sympathy toward the injured and prays for their earliest recovery.

To prevent Afghanistan from stepping back to a hotbed for terrorism, Japan has been actively supporting efforts to stabilize the country by addressing such various fields as political process, security, and reconstruction assistance. Japan is committed to continue providing assistance for Afghanistan in order to encourage Afghanistan’s mid-to-long term self-reliance.

APPENDIX: ASAHI EDITORIAL

Water, Not War, Will Give New Life to Afghanistan
Asahi Shinbun
August 26, 2009

Abundant water moistens land. While we take rich soil for granted in Japan, the DVD "Afugan ni Inochi no Mizu o" (Providing water of life to Afghanistan), produced by the NGO Peshawar-kai, highlights just how precious water is.

The film documents the activities of the Fukuoka-based nongovernmental organization, which has been providing support throughout one of the world's poorest countries for the past 26 years. Peshawar-kai was established to support the medical work of Dr. Tetsu Nakamura. Soon, the group began digging wells and gradually broadened its activities to provide agricultural guidance. Its members felt that "hunger and thirst cannot be cured by medicine." On Aug. 3, the group completed construction of a 24-kilometer irrigation network to feed water to parched land. The film documents the construction work, which took six years. The group employed a large number of people to dig canals and used a traditional method of piling stones to solidify embankments.

Two years ago, when about half of the canals were finished, water was discharged. Now the land along the canals is lush with wheat. It made me happy to see the smile of a village elder, who expressed gratitude to the Japanese. Afghanistan continues to be plagued by war and drought. The country could be likened to a "wasteland of man-made and natural disasters," as Peshawar-kai puts it. The devastation of one's homeland also damages the psyche of its people.

I am moved by the example of Nakamura, who continues to provide assistance while protected by villagers in a place where there is virtually no peace and order.

Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who shot a movie set in Afghanistan, makes a statement to the following effect in his book: If it were seeds of wheat and not land mines that were buried underneath the ground, I don't think millions of Afghans would have followed the path to death or become refugees. I believe the members of Peshawar-kai feel the same way.

It was a year ago Wednesday that Kazuya Ito, one of its members, was murdered. But dawn is still far away as the United States continues to reinforce its troops. I'd like to ask American politicians if they have aspirations for rebuilding Afghanistan that do not rely on the use of force alone.