War in Afghanistan will continue for 30 years if insurgency supply line is not broken: Report
27 Jun 2008, 1632 Hrs

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Ottawa (Canada), June 27 (ANI): Unless the supply line for insurgency, which is young men, is not broken, the war in Afghanistan will continue for the coming 20 or 30 years, says a report prepared by the Senlis Council.

The Council is an international think tank that has operated for several years in Afghanistan, paying particular attention to the illegal narcotics trade.

Thursday's report noted that three arenas of the Western war on terrorism - Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - have large "youth bulges," or high proportions of the population between the ages of 15 and 29. In Afghanistan, 47.9 per cent of adult males fall within this range, it states, providing both an opportunity and a point of concern.

The report warns that, in a country with a 40-per-cent unemployment rate, Afghan youth become angry and therefore easily recruited by anti-NATO forces.

The Globe and Mail quoted Almas Bawar Zakhilwal, a director of the council, as saying that a larger focus on education would keep many youth in school and engaged. Finding productive avenues for youth who are beyond school age is harder, he said, because there is no obvious industry in which they could be trained to work. (ANI)