*Peace, Social and Emotional Health Through Music *Afghanistan's special forces are a bastion of hope

Young Afghans determined to rebuild country With foreign troops withdrawing by the end of 2014, educated young Afghans who have tasted new freedoms in post-Taliban times are determined to stay and rebuild their war-ravaged nation. Businessman and builder Jamshid Ibrahimi, 29, who started a construction company in 2003 with $3000, says: “I was not only thinking about becoming rich and making money, but also about how I can play my part in rebuilding my country.” Alka Sadat, a documentary-maker, said her work often moves her to tears but she perseveres. Afghan analyst Omar Sharifi, pointing to a sense of survival, said: “Tthis generation grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. They experienced extreme-left and extreme-right, communism and the Taliban, refugee camps.” Shaharzad Akbar, 25, who heads a political movement called 1400, a collection of 250 young people, says “In the past 10 years, a new generation of Afghans has been educated… they are capable, motivated, they want to work for Afghanistan.” However, expressing some level of apprehension, Ibrahimi said, “Iif the situation gets worse, you can’t put a lot of things at risk. It’s not only about money but also about life.” (AFP, April 19, 2013)

Taliban insurgents amputated a hand and a foot of two private security guards in Herat province. One of the victims, 25, said: "They asked us to plant explosives in the security company… but we said no; then their judges ruled that a hand and a foot be cut off." A police spokesman said the men were targeted because they worked for a private security company guarding supply convoys for foreign forces. The Taliban said the men were robbers. (TOLOnews – April 20)

Members of the Afghan parliament’s lower house formed a commission tasked to deal with reconciliation and requested that the government stop releasing Taliban prisoners. MPs suggested that many released Taliban have rejoined the insurgents. "The peace process is just a waste of time… it has been a failure," first vice speaker Mirwais Yasini said. MP Shukria Barikzai said: "High Peace Council is a political project for some circles that seek to remain in power.” MPs also suggested that on-going conflict is plotted by orders from Pakistani intelligence and that the neighboring country does not aim for a stable Afghanistan. (TOLOnews - 20 April)