...

Poll shows rise in Afghan optimism

Other News Materials 11 January 2010 17:36 (UTC +04:00)
Most Afghan people said they view the future more positively than a year ago, according to a survey conducted by three international media organisations and released Monday.
Poll shows rise in Afghan optimism

Most Afghan people said they view the future more positively than a year ago, according to a survey conducted by three international media organisations and released Monday.

Seventy per cent considered the country to be on the right track, up 30 points from a similar poll last year. The survey conducted by the German broadcaster WDR/ARD, the US-based ABC network and the BBC surveyed 1,500 Afghans, DPA reported.

In the north-eastern part of the country, where German troops are deployed, only 43 per cent of respondents responded positively about the security situation, down from 72 per cent in last year's survey.

Arnd Henze, WDR foreign editor, blamed that on the bombing of two hijacked petrol tankers in north-eastern Afghanistan last September, which killed over 140 people including many civilians.

Three out of four Afghans polled said they were satisfied with the results of election last autumn despite the widespread allegations of fraud. The same percentage said they trusted President Hamid Karzai to improve security and economic conditions, even if 95 per cent said that corruption remains an urgent problem.

About 40 per cent said the Taliban could be defeated militarily, an increase of 9 per cent from the previous year, and 33 per cent felt a solution to the ongoing conflict could be negotiated.

The results showed that "Afghans focus on very different developments than we in Europe or the US do," Henze said.

WDR chief editor Joerg Schoenenborn said an international conference on Afghanistan scheduled for January 28 in London "should not take place under the assumption that nothing can improve in Afghanistan and it's all about getting out quickly."

Latest

Latest