With only a day remaining until one of the biggest NATO summits ever, many top-level representatives have arrived in Chicago for the event that will run from May 20-21.

The NATO summit will be held with the participation of the representatives of 60 countries and international agencies to discuss funding for Afghan forces after 2014.

The summit, lasting two days, will be chaired by the US President Barack Obama.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will also attend the 25th NATO Summit as the head of the high-level Afghan delegation. President Karzai is expected to meet with President Obama during the course of the NATO summit.

After the holding of second Bonn Conference, the Chicago summit is considered one of the most important meetings of the top NATO officials.

The government of Afghanistan hopes NATO countries, especially America, will announce their commitments to a certain funding for Afghan forces after the year 2014.

NATO high-level meeting in Chicago can clarify how to fund Afghan forces for a long term as it has been one of the most concerning issues of the people of Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Friday held exams in the Kabul Police Academy for recruiting new soldiers into the ranks of the National Police Force.

About 7,500 higher school graduates attended the tests.  Only 1,100 of them will be recruited into the National Police.

Chief of the Kabul police academy Nawroz Khaliq said 500 officers-in-training will be sent to Turkey for a period of 6 months to obtain various police trainings and the remaining officer cadets will be trained for a period of 4 years at the Kabul Police Academy.

Currently, 150,000 policemen are operating throughout the country and this figure is expected to increase by another 9,000 people by the end of 2014.

The equipping and training of Afghan security forces is one of the top priorities of the Afghan government and the international community.

The Afghan government along with its allies’ supports spending a huge amount annually on the training of Afghan security forces in order to make them capable of maintaining security after the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan.

Military experts believe only by strengthening national security forces can a secure and stable Afghanistan can be ensured in the region.

Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) has welcomed Pakistan’s announcement that NATO supply routes would open.

Though transport prices may increase as NATO supply routes re-open, Pakistan’s dual policy against Afghanistan’s transit goods may be reduced to a large extent, ACCI deputy director Khan Jan Alkozai said.

He said Afghan traders had suffered over $100 million dollars in losses during the last few months due to the stoppage of Afghan goods containers under the pretext of stopping the shipment of NATO supply goods in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, ACCI officials asked the traders to contribute in the strengthening and development of Islamic Education and Heath sectors.

Pakistan had closed supply routes for the NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan following the killing of 24 soldiers in a NATO air-bombing raid on the Salala check post bordering Afghanistan last November.

Recently, some Pakistani government officials announced it will reopen its routes for NATO supplies. This decision was also welcomed by Washington.

President Karzai’s National Security Advisor Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta has urged media to avoid any defamation which cause damages to others.

In an exclusive interview with Ariana Television channel, Spanta said freedom of expression was one of the achievements of the past decade but this freedom should not curtail others’ freedoms.

He said without the freedom of media and its professionalism, freedom of expression cannot be institutionalized in the country.

Despite the current challenges in the media, he said freedom of expression was in better condition in Afghanistan than in neighboring regional countries.  He added that Afghanistan had been a pioneer in journalistic press freedoms and has moved ahead of numerous other democratic countries.

According to him, President Karzai is strongly committed to support the strengthening of freedom of expression in the country.

This comes as many of the journalists in the country say the condition of the freedom of expression has been changed and many government officials treat reporters and journalists badly.

A new report published on the situation of journalists says there has been an increase of violence against journalists that has been allowed by government officials and security forces.

The Ministry of Public Works and Social Affairs with the cooperation of Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) and Bayat Foundation launched a running competition under the name of “let’s say no to the drugs.”

The contest began Friday morning in Kabul where the participants had to cover the distance of 6 km from Habibia High School to the Amanullah Palace.

The purpose of launching the running competition was to encourage young people to exercise and create coordination among the employees of the Ministry of Public Works and Social Affairs, a ministry official said.

The head of AWCC coordinating programs, Massoud Mehdizada, announced that AWCC will launch similar programs in the future in order to encourage youngsters to participate in different sports.

At the end of the contest, AWCC distributed cash prizes to the contestants.  Umeed Fazly won First Prize while Ajmi Hafizi and Nematullah Obaidi got the Second and Third prizes.

NDS officials in Baghlan have expressed concerns about illegal Pakistanis working in different factories in the province.

Baghlan National Directorate of Security (NDS) head Hafizullah Amin said many Pakistani nationals have entered Afghanistan with tourist visas and are working without work permits in the province.

He said provincial NDS officials have detained many of the Pakistani nationals living illegally in Baghlan.

A number of factories in Baghlan have admitted that many Pakistani citizens are working in their enterprises without work permits.

The Ministry of Public Works and Social Affairs has warned about the presence of Pakistani workers in the factories—labeling them “threats for the security.”

The Ministry spokesman Ali Iftekhar says they won’t issue work permits to Pakistani nationals until theys receive invitations from the Foreign Ministry and are approved by the Interpol Police.

National Directorate of Security has long been concerned about Pakistanis working illegally in private companies.

Dr. Zalmai Khalilzad, international relations expert has written in his recent article “How to keep Afghanistan Secure”, “The Obama administration deserves credit for expanding the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. The president appeared to understand that the formula for long-term success was enabling Afghans to defend Afghanistan, with financial and other support from the United States and other friendly powers. However, in announcing the U.S.-Afghanistan strategic partnership agreement, President Obama also declared plans to reduce sharply the size of the ANSF starting in 2015, from 352,000 army and police to 230,000 by 2017. The Obama administration did not condition this reduction on positive changes in the security environment. If Washington pursues this goal irrespective of conditions on the ground, it risks repeating the mistakes of the past”.

Dr. Khalilzad believes, “Announcing Afghan forces will be reduced significantly in size further undermines the president’s goal of getting the Taliban to reconcile on acceptable terms. Part of the U.S. rationale behind signing a long-term strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan, which commits the United States to Afghanistan’s security, was to bring the Taliban, as well as their Pakistani sponsors, to the table. By conveying that U.S. forces will remain in the region, Washington hopes the Taliban and their Pakistani allies will conclude the only sensible course of action is political reconciliation. But accompanying the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO combat forces with the downsizing of the ANSF negates this message—the remaining of some U.S. force in Afghanistan, and instead will encourage Afghanistan’s enemies, who believe time is on their side, to wait for favorable conditions”.

Dr. Khalilzad also wrote, “The extent to which the planned reductions would be modified based on conditions on the ground is not clear. Administration officials have offered mixed signals. President Obama should state unambiguously that future ANSF reductions will take place only if they will not imperil U.S. national-security interests. The upcoming NATO summit in Chicago is the perfect forum for such clarification”.

In a letter to President Obama, congressmen expressed concern about the Obama administration’s plans and wrote “The United States needs to ensure that decisions on the future size and funding for the ANSF will be based on security conditions in Afghanistan at that time, and not set spending levels that could not only jeopardize the progress of the past decade or weaken the security of Afghanistan when they take effect down the road but could also send the wrong message in the interim”. 86 Congressmen have signed this letter.

There are 532 US Congressmen.

Barbara Lee, the democratic representative of California State in US House of Representatives, who also leads a group Congressmen that support the pullout of US troops from Afghanistan before 2014, told media on the eve of Chicago Conference, “86 Congressmen called President Obama to accelerate the security transition process in Afghanistan and announce the pullout of US troops in Chicago Conference”.

In a letter to President Obama regarding the earlier pullout of US troops from Afghanistan, some Congressmen said “the prolonging of war will only result the killing and wounding of more US troops”.

While most schools, roads and infrastructure in United States require reconstruction, but the government spends 10 billion dollars in Afghanistan per month, one of these representatives said.

However, President Obama has announced the pullout of US troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, but we want the earlier pullout, Congressmen said.

According to President Obama’s plans, all US combating troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and some other forces, who will remain in Afghanistan according to the strategic pact, will train and support Afghan forces against insurgents.

The US Congress has 532 members, 86 of whom want the early pullout of US forces from Afghanistan.

There have always been some in congress that want the US to leave Afghanistan–but they are far from a majority.

Four suicide bombers attacked governor house in the western Farah province on Thursday morning but were killed by the Afghan security forces. The bombers were wearing border police uniform and entered the governor’s office at 10:30 am.

The attackers were equipped with light weapons and suicide waists, security officials said. 11 people, including 4 attackers were dead in the incident, officials added.

The elementary investigation shows that the attackers were the local residents of Farah province and it is suspected that 4 fellows of these attackers still exist in Farah city, Muhammad Ghows Malyar, the head of Farah police.

14 people, including policemen and civilians have wounded in the incident, Abdul Jabar Shahiq, the head of Farah Central Hospital said.

The attackers tried to enter to the governor’s office but were killed by the security forces, one of the injured said.

Anti-government officials have taken the responsibilities of this attack.

This is the first group attack that happened in Western Farah Province during the new solar year. Local residents express concerns over the security situation and called security forces to take necessary measures in this regard.

The female representatives in the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of the Parliament) demanded President Karzai Sunday to introduce female members of the Supreme Court so that women will be included in the Judiciary panel.

The female lawmakers said although female workers are operating in legislative and administrative boards, their absence in the Judiciary showed a form of injustice in the society.

One of the main reasons that violence against women continues as such a big problem in Afghanistan is the absence of women in the judiciary, female lawmakers told the House.

The MPs demanded President Karzai to introduce the newly nominated Supreme Court members for a vote of confidence to the Wolesi Jirga.

President Karzai on last Monday nominated Mohammad Sarwar Danish, former Justice Minister, and Abdul Malik Kamavi, currently Administration Director of the Judiciary, as members of the High Council of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan.

Based on article 117 of Afghanistan’s constitution, the High Council of the Supreme Court should have 9 members designated by the President and approved by the Wolesi Jirga. Three of them should serve for four years, three others for seven years and the other three should serve for ten years.

A recent survey conducted in north and northeastern Afghanistan shows that the number of drug addicts has surpassed 29,000 in Badakhshan and Takhar provinces.

About 25,000 people in Badakhshan and 4,000 others in northern Takhar province are addicted to drugs, according to officials.

Counternarcotics officials in northeastern Afghanistan expressed concerns over the increasing number of drugs addicts and plead with the government for more serious measures to overcome this problem.

“Thousands of people are addicted to drugs in Badakhshan and Takhar. As the figure continues to increase month by month, government authorities are very concerned,” an official of Counternarcotics department in northeastern Afghanistan Abdul Jamil Hadafmand said.

He suggested that awareness programs should be expanded and large hospitals should be built for the treatment of drug addicts.

According to the officials, the people especially the villagers use opium as a painkiller which leads them to drug addiction.

Insecurity and unemployment are considered the main factors contributing to drug addiction in Afghanistan.

“Even though armed opposition groups have killed some influential people who had made important contributions to the peace process, Jihadi figures have failed to reach their goals of defeating the peace efforts,” said Salahuddin Rabbani, the Chairman of the High Peace Council.

According to Salahuddin Rabbani, who went to the Senate House on Tuesday for expressing his sympathies, the assassination of Arsala Rahmani was a big blow to the peace process.  However, he stressed that the peace trend will continue in Afghanistan.

Arsala Rahmani was shot dead by unidentified gunmen last Sunday in Dehbori area of Kabul. He was a member of Afghan Senate and a top member of the Supreme Peace Council of Afghanistan.

Some of senators expressed concerns about the changing tactics of the enemies, saying such acts of the armed oppositions were alarming for the senators, Jihadi leaders and influential figures.

The government has attempted to conduct peace talks with the armed oppositions but these efforts have been answered with suicide attacks and high-profile assassinations.

Arsala Rahmani was the third senior member of High Peace Council that was killed for trying to pave grounds for the peace talks between the government and armed opposition groups.

The ex-Chairman of High Peace Council Burhanuddin Rabbani was also killed at his home some months ago by suicide attackers who introduced themselves as Taliban peace negotiators.

The Ministry of Mines on Tuesday announced fuel extraction from the Amu River zone will be started by the next five months in Afghanistan.

Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani said in the initial stage daily 5,000 barrels of oil would be produced while the figure would be increased to 45,000.

Amu River zone is located in the north of Afghanistan. According to the estimations by the fuel extraction companies, the location has about 250 million barrels of oil.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Mines signed an agreement with a Canadian company for the exploration work of gas reserves in northern Faryab province.

According to the ministry officials, the exploration work of the natural gas reserves, covering 332 kilo meters of areas, would be completed within next 3 months. They said the project costing $6 million dollars would be paid from the National Budget.

Shahrani said the neighboring countries, who have been trying for years to interrupt Afghanistan’s economic programs, were unable to disrupt mega mining projects in the country.

He said Afghanistan seeks to use any possible way for achieving economic self-sufficiency.

Afghanistan is a country full of natural resources whose extraction can develop the economy and will provide employment for the citizens.

Pakistan has announced that it would open supply routes for NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan, according to the Pakistani officials.

The Pakistani routes for NATO supplies have been closed for the last six months after the NATO forces attacked Pakistan’s military check post, killing more than 20 Pakistani Soldiers.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said that her country has decided to open NATO supply routes. She said they had reached their goal with closing supply routes for NATO troops.

“This carries an important message to Washington that it is unacceptable to attack Pakistani troops. Opening of NATO supply routes can follow negative impacts because Washington so far has not apologized for killing our forces. But our decision shows our honesty that we are committed to the stability in Afghanistan,” Khar said.

This decision came after NATO Secretary General had told last week that if Pakistan didn’t open the supply routes for NATO forces, it would lose its place in NATO summit, which is due to be held this month in Chicago.

The United States has welcomed this action of Pakistan and it hoped to reach more agreements in this regard.

“This is good news for Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan and their relation to us, but I have said that we have not completed the negotiations in this regard,” US State Department spokesperson Victoria Noland says.

Referring to the supply routes, ISAF officials have said that if Pakistani routes were not opened, they would transport the equipments of international forces though the northern areas of Afghanistan.

“Neighbors to the north of Afghanistan; Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Russia have been invited to the NATO meeting in Chicago where they would discuss supply routes for NATO troops,” ISAF spokesman Gen. Carsten Jacobson said.

According to the Afghan experts, this is a new game by Pakistan because it always follows dual policy towards Afghanistan and has never been honest to its commitments.

More than 400 students and 3 teachers of a Boys School were poisoned in the south-eastern Khost Province on Tuesday, officials said.

So far, the main reason of the incident has not been cleared, Khost health officials said, the students might have drunk well water in the school.

Head of Khost Civilian Hospital Dr. Aminullah said the number of poisoned students was more than 400 but most of them were in good health and have been discharged.

This school was destroyed few years ago by unidentified gunmen attacking with mine explosion but it was rebuilt and opened back for the students.

Similar case had occurred few months ago in a girls school in Takhar province where nearly 400 students were poisoned after they drunk the well water located nearby the school.

Although, the motivation of the incident is not clear yet but the armed oppositions might have been involved in this case.

Many patients in Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul complain of lack of health facilities especially bed shortages.

Visitors to this hospital call bed shortages among the serious problems, saying most of the women after giving birth can’t have even a short rest due to the lack of beds in the hospital.

The hospital officials confirmed the existing problems, saying efforts were underway to enlarge the capacity of the hospital.

Head of Malalai Maternity Hospital Nasreen Uryakhail stated that during the recent years many effective steps were taken for the capacity building of the hospital staffs by the help of United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She added they had considered increasing such programs two-fold.

Malalai hospital is one of the biggest maternity hospitals in Kabul. Based on the statistics, daily 160 gynecologic patients are referred to this hospital.

The 200-bed Malalai Maternity Hospital has been operating since 1946 where 144 doctors, 145 midwives and 15 nurses are working.

Head of USAID health projects Mirwais Abdul Rahim said review of the current health services were underway in ten provinces of Afghanistan. He said they had considered expanding their services to other provinces of the country. He added, the USAID health projects would continue through 2013.

According to him, if international assistance to the health sectors of Afghanistan was reduced after year 2014, the obtained achievements might be lost.

On the occasion of book week, the Ministry of Information and Culture in coordination with Afghanistan’s Publishers Union and some other organizations have opened a 4-day Book Fair in Taimor Shahi Park, Kabul.

Deputy Minister of Information and Culture Din Muhammad Mobarez Rashidi during the opening ceremony on Tuesday said the publishing sector of Afghanistan had some significant growth during the past few years.

He said ten years ago there was only one government publication center while now more than 600 printing agencies were operating in the country.

Rashidi said Afghan book winning first position in Tehran international book fair was a great achievement for the Afghans and was a sign of progress in Afghanistan’s publications.

The International Book Fair was held recently in Tehran where one of the Afghan Books got the first place amid 77 countries participating.

Afghanistan Publishers Union officials during the ceremony expressed their concerns over the printing of the books of Afghan authors in Pakistan, saying it would drop the book market in Afghanistan.

The Union Head Ajmal Azem said the Afghan publishers have the ability of printing books in international standards. He asked the government to take serious measures for preventing the printing of poor quality books in Pakistan.

The government nominated two people to the Supreme Court’s High Council for a vote of confidence from the Wolesi Jirga after receiving ongoing criticism from the Lower House of Parliament for not introducing nominees to the Attorney General’s Office and to the Supreme Court.

Wolesi Jirga Secretary Abdul Sattar Khawasi said Mohammad Sarwar Danish, former Justice Minister, and Abdul Malik Kamavi, currently Administration Director of the Judiciary, have been nominated to receive a vote of confidence from the Lower house of the Parliament.

The administrative board of the Wolesi Jirga has received an official letter in that regard and will introduce both nominees for a vote of confidence to the House after reviewing their documents, Khawasi said.

He asked the government to nominate the remaining members of High Council of the Supreme Court for a vote of confidence. He accused the government of neglecting the House bills.

A year ago, the House of Representatives had disqualified the Attorney General Muhammad Ishaq Alko, Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi and five other members of Supreme Court High Council. Since then up to now, these people have been serving as deputies in the Attorney General’s Office and in the Supreme Court.

US Ambassador to Afghanistan warned Pakistan if it continued supporting Al-Qaeda network, it would be detrimental to its own country.

Addressing a joint press conference Monday with Nangarhar’s Governor, the US Ambassador Ryan Crocker warned that Pakistan could face the days which Afghanistan did if it didn’t leave backing rebel groups.

Addressing Pakistan and other neighboring countries, Crocker said strategic cooperation agreement between Kabul and Washington was not against any country.

According to the US diplomat, the US-Afghan Pact would help regional stability rather than harming regional countries’ interests.

“The neighboring countries to Afghanistan should have strategic minds—Pakistan should stop supporting Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other rebel groups and must know that if they harm Afghanistan of course they will suffer same problems. However, we are supporting Afghanistan,” Crocker stressed.

Calling the transition process a success for the Afghans, Ryan Crocker promised to support for the implementation of the transfer of security responsibilities from the foreign forces to the Afghans.

He told the Governor of Nangarhar that the US would create its consulate in Nangarhar for their strategic purposes and to support the residents of Nangahar.

Meanwhile during the press conference the Governor of Nangarhar Gull Agha Sherzai expressed concerns over the possibility of insecurity at the borders after the singing of a strategic accord with the US.

He also provided the proposals to the US Ambassador regarding the construction of power dams, highways and other projects in the province.

It was the first time that US Ambassador directly warned Afghanistan’s neighbors specially Pakistan for supporting Taliban and other rebels groups.

International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) officials said that with the implementation of third round of transition process, the Afghan Security Forces will be deployed in specific areas where they will lead the fundamental combat role.

ISAF spokesman Carsten Jacobson told a press conference Monday in Kabul that after the third phase of transition is completed, the ISAF forces will have a supporting role standing side by side with the Afghan troops.

With the empowerment of Afghan security forces, Carsten said, ISAF forces will be decreased gradually and will hand over the areas to the Afghans. He added, through the third phase of transition, 75 percent of Afghan population will be provided security by the Afghan forces.

“Once the third phase is completed, all the 34 provinces would have at least one area or city under Afghan security control. The center of each province includes in this transition so that, about 75 percent of Afghan population will come under control of Afghan forces,” Carsten told the press conference.

Present in the press conference NATO civilian spokesman Dominic Medley said the launch of third phase was an important step for ensuring the security of Afghanistan by its own forces.

“The start of the third phase is a big step by Afghan forces where they have shown their ability to protect their security stability. Afghans can come up with their security forces to courageously continue their duties,” Medley said.

NATO says 11 provinces and over 100 districts are included in the newly announced transition phase. In this phase, Uruzgan, Kapisa and Parwan provinces will completely come under Afghan control.

NATO spokesman said 23,000 US soldiers will leave Afghanistan by the end of this year.

This comes as 10,000 US Soldiers have redeployed from Afghanistan in 2011.