(Rpt YDF 17 for all needing)

Kabul, Nov 14 (UNI) In a hard-hitting assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, the Joint Coordination Monitoring Board (JCMB) has said increased insurgency threatens to reverse some of the gains made in the recent past.

In its first biannual report the JCMB also drew attention to the fact that lack of significant progress in the security environment may not only undermine efforts to stabilise Afghanistan itself, but also have much broader international implications. The increase in insurgency had resulted in a death toll that was four times that in the previous year, the JCMB stated, adding that the narcotics industry has significantly helped fuel insurgency in four southern provinces.

The report identified security, financial bottlenecks and government capacity as the major problems that need to be overcome in the process of Afghanistan's reconstruction.

The JCMB, which was set up as a joint monitoring mechanism of the international community and the Afghan government to oversee implementation of the London Compact, concluded its third quarterly session calling for strong coordinated action and international backing for the government. The session was also attended by the visiting UN Security Council mission to Afghanistan.

The report said it was necessary to strengthen Afghan development Zones, the Afghan national Army and police forces, prioritise effective governance and strategic communications.

It called for prompt action against corrupt officials and international cooperation to deny sanctuary and end support to insurgent networks. Asked about the external sources of terrorism, the join chairman of the JCMB and UN Secretary General's special representative to Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs said the cross border element in the insurgency needs attention from both the Afghan government and the international community. The Afghan government had to cooperate with neighbouring countries particularly Pakistan and the international community had to upgrade its effort to address this problem. It was not only a bilateral problem but "it may lead to insecurity in other parts of the world" he said.

The JCMB report has said that development in Afghanistan is uneven and constrained by institutional, political and security factors.

Other priority areas identified by the JCMB include the reform of the Interior Ministry, disbandment of illegal armed groups, reform of the justice sector and corruption.

UNI XC DKA Mir DS1412