KABUL, 23 Oct. (EP/AP) -
Los afganos consideran que la seguridad es el mayor problema que aflige al país pero admiten que la vida es mejor ahora que bajo el régimen talibán, según una encuesta que se publicó hoy en Estados Unidos.
Un 40 por ciento de los más de 6.200 adultos encuestados en el país consideran que la situación de seguridad se ha deteriorado, mientras que el 29 por ciento piensa que el desempleo es el mayor problema, de acuerdo con el estudio que fue llevada a cabo por la Fundación de Asia y subvencionada por la Agencia para el Desarrollo Internacional de Estados Unidos.
"En la encuesta de 2006, era el desempleo lo primero, seguido por la seguridad y la corrupción, y ésta vez está la seguridad como problema primordial, seguida por el desempleo y la pobre economía", señaló la encuesta.
A pesar del aumento de la violencia, casi cuatro de cada diez entervistados aseguraron que sentían que el país se encaminaba en la dirección correcta, más o menos lo mismo que en la encuesta del año anterior. La mitad de los entrevistados añadieron que eran más prósperos hoy que durante el régimen de los talibán a finales de los 90.
Afganistán está experimentado su peor combate contra la violencia. Más de 5.200 personas -- la mayoría de ellos milicianos-- murieron en hechos relacionados con la insurgencia.
Mientras que la carencia de seguridad es la cuestión nacional clave, dichos entrevistados identificaron la falta de electricidad, agua y desempleo como los problemas más relevantes en el ámbito local, concluyó la encuesta.
Afghan-Survey, HFR. HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL 0401 GMT/12:01 a.m. EST TUESDAY. THIS STORY MAY NOT BE POSTED ONLINE, BROADCAST OR PUBLISHED BEFORE 0401 GMT TUESDAY. US-funded survey: Afghans feel security is deteriorating By
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ Afghans feel that the security situation in their country has deteriorated compared with last year but say life is better now than under Taliban rule, a U.S.-funded survey released Tuesday found.
About 46 percent of more than 6,200 adults surveyed nationwide feel security is the biggest problem afflicting the country, while 29 percent think it is unemployment, according to the survey, which was conducted by the Asia Foundation and paid for by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
"In the 2006 survey, it was unemployment first, followed by security and corruption, and this time around it is security first followed by unemployment and poor economy. This further underlines the deterioration in security in the eyes of the common Afghans," the survey said.
Despite the rise in violence, about four in 10 responding to the survey said they felt the country was heading in the right direction _ roughly the same as in the 2006 survey. Half of those surveyed said they were more prosperous today than during Taliban rule in the late 1990s.
Afghanistan is experiencing its worst bout of violence since the Taliban were removed from power in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001. More than 5,200 people _ mostly militants _ have died in insurgency-related violence so far this year, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials.
"Insecurity is the main reason for the people to believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction," the survey said.
While lack of security was the top-ranked national issue, those surveyed identified a lack of electricity and water, and unemployment as the main problems on a local level, the survey found.
The foundation said the survey was conducted in all 34 provinces and was the largest comprehensive opinion poll ever conducted in Afghanistan. Some 6,263 people aged 18 years and over were interviewed in person by a team of 494 trained interviewers between June 11 and June 22, 2007. The margin of error was 2.4 percentage points, it said.
"Almost half of the people of Afghanistan (49 percent) think that their families are more prosperous today than they were during the Taliban regime," the survey found. "However more that one-fourth of the people (28 percent) think they are less prosperous today."
Over 80 percent of the respondents said they have confidence in the Afghanistan's National Army and the country's troublesome police force, while over half said they do not trust the formal justice system and would rather rely on traditional forms of justice _ decisions by local councils _ to settle their disputes.
About 80 percent of the people felt that cultivation of opium poppies was wrong, with 50 percent of these respondents citing religion as the reason, but only about 10 percent linked the trade to terrorism, insecurity and corruption in the country, it said.
Afghanistan accounts for over 93 percent of the world's supply of opium, the main ingredient in heroin, a lucrative trade whose proceeds in part fund some of the Taliban-led insurgency. The drug trade also has a corrupting influence on local government officials.
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