URUZGAN NEWS: LATEST AFGHANISTAN NEWS

Uruzgan / Afghanistan news headlines

2008-05-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Afghanistan news

Netherlands pledges five million euros for Afghan human rights

2008-05-11T15:30:00.001-07:00

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen began a short visit to Afghanistan on Thursday. The trip will include meetings with President Hamid Karzai and Dr Sima Samar of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC). Mr Verhagen is to continue discussions with Mr Karzai on the death penalty, media legislation, and the shortage of police in the province of Uruzgan. With Dr Samar he will discuss human rights issues and the treatment of prisoners.

Mr Verhagen admits that conditions in Afghan prisons are appalling. However, he maintains that no serious abuses are now taking place, thanks to an agreement with Afghanistan about the treatment of prisoners captured by Dutch troops and handed over to the Afghan authorities. His remarks come in response to recent Dutch media reports of complaints by prisoners, which have led to questions in parliament. The Foreign Minister wants to ask AIHRC to extend its prison visits from the capital Kabul to Uruzgan, and is prepared to offer the organisation logistical help to do so.

"Because we want to prevent any semblance of abuse, independent monitoring is important."

Women's rights and justice
During his trip Mr Verhagen will be accompanied by his Slovakian counterpart Jan Kubis and the Slovakian minister of defence Jaroslav Baska. Slovakia is a new partner of the Netherlands in Uruzgan and recently agreed to send 250 troops.

At the start of his visit Mr Verhagen announced that the Netherlands would be providing 2.5 million euros for the improvement of women's rights in Afghanistan. The United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM, is to receive one million euros for projects to combat violence against women. The rest of the money will go to the Asia Foundation, which is active throughout the country in improving women's access to justice. The Netherlands is also to grant 1.5 million euros to the International Center for Transitional Justice, which promotes the national reconciliation programme in Afghanistan.

radionetherlands.nl

Minister assured on Afghan prisoners

2008-05-08T15:10:00.001-07:00

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has assured Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen that the country’s moratorium on carrying out the death penalty will be upheld, news agency ANP reports on Thursday.

The two met for talks during a short visit to Afghanistan by Verhagen. Some 100 people were sentenced to death in Afghanistan last year and human rights groups say 15 executions were carried out.

Verhagen was also given assurances on the treatment of prisoners handed over to the Afghan authorities by Dutch soldiers, and discussed prisoner treatment and human rights with Sima Samar of the independent Afghan human rights organisation AIHRC.

ANP says Verhagen offered to fly AIHRC observers to Uruzgan to check up on prisoner welfare. ‘We want to avoid any possibility of abuse and independent monitoring is vital,’ he told ANP.

During the trip, Verhagen announced the Netherlands is to provide €2.2m for the construction of police stations and control posts in the Afghan province of Uruzgan. The money will provide eleven police stations and six control posts in Tarin Kowt, Deh Rawod and Chora where 1,700 Dutch soldiers are currently stationed.

A further €2.5m has been allocated to help boost women’s rights, some of which will go on building up contacts with mullahs. And an extra €1.5m has been donated to help with the reconciliation process involving people convicted of serious crimes during the 1979 to 2001 wars.

*Dutchnews

NATO-led military kills 2 militants, captures 4 in Afghanistan

2008-05-06T13:34:00.001-07:00

KABUL, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops have cleared a suspected improvised explosive device (IED)-making factory, captured four insurgents and killed two others in Uruzgan province of southern Afghanistan, the military said Monday.

The ISAF soldiers came under fire from insurgents during a routine patrol in Tarin Kowt district of Uruzgan Saturday, the NATO-led ISAF said in a statement.

"When they reacted, troops discovered the building containing numerous IED-making materials," it said.

The NATO-led military said no ISAF members were injured during this attack.

A total of 47,000 multi-national NATO-led troops are deployed with U.N. mandate in Afghanistan to help with stabilization and reconstruction.

xinhuanet.com

95th British soldier dies in Afghanistan

2008-05-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

A British soldier has been killed and three others injured after their armoured vehicle hit a mine in Afghanistan.

The four members of the Household Cavalry were in the Nowzad area of northern Helmand province when their vehicle was blown up on Friday afternoon. The blast also injured an Afghan national.

The men, who belong to the same regiment as Princes William and Harry, were protecting a routine patrol in their Spartan armoured reconnaissance vehicle.

They were taken to a field hospital at Camp Bastion, the British headquarters in Helmand, where one man was pronounced dead on arrival. His three fellow soldiers are described as walking wounded.

The soldier is the 95th member of the armed forces to have died in Afghanistan since Britain began fighting there in 2001. His family have been told.

The men are understood not to have been deployed with Harry, who had to cut short his tour of Afghanistan as a forward air controller in February after news of his mission was leaked.

The previous soldier killed in Afghanistan — Trooper Robert Pearson, 22, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, a soldier in the Queen’s Royal Lancers — also died when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.

.timesonline.co.uk

U.S. may increase Afghanistan force by 7,000

2008-05-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has begun planning to send as many as 7,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year to make up for a shortfall in contributions from NATO allies, senior Bush administration officials said.

They said the step would push the number of U.S. forces there to roughly 40,000, the highest level since the war began, and would require at least a modest reduction in troops from Iraq.

The planning began in recent weeks, reflecting a growing recognition of the fact that NATO was unable or unwilling to contribute more troops despite public pledges of an intensified effort in Afghanistan from the presidents and prime ministers who attended an alliance summit meeting in Bucharest last month.

The shortfalls in troop commitments have cast doubt on claims by President Bush and his aides that NATO was stepping up with more help in Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai's government faces a resurgent threat from the Taliban and remnants of al-Qaida.

The increasing proportion of American troops, from about half to about two-thirds of the foreign troops in Afghanistan, would be likely to result in what one senior administration official described as "the re-Americanization" of the war.

Two more brigades
"There are simply going to be more American forces than we've ever had there," said the official, who spoke anonymously because he was discussing future military planning.

A dozen NATO countries have pledged a total of about 2,000 troops, according to senior NATO officials. Senior alliance commanders in Afghani-stan have said they need about 10,000 new forces.

Only one country so far has actually begun preparing more troops to deploy: France, which is sending 700 troops to Afghanistan, NATO officials said.

Few of the additional troops are expected to materialize any time soon, the officials added.

Officials stressed that no formal new U.S. deployment plans for Afghanistan had been presented to the Pentagon or the White House, and that the decision could be left to the next president, though they would not rule out the prospect that Bush would order a troop increase.

Bush has long faced criticism that the Iraq war distracted the country from confronting the al-Qaida threat in Afghanistan, and Democrats as well as Republicans have expressed general support for shifting more attention to Afghanistan.

The initial planning under way would send about two additional brigades of U.S. forces, or about 7,000 troops, to Afghani-stan next year.

That would meet two-thirds of what commanders have portrayed in recent months as a shortfall of three brigades, or about 10,000 troops, including combat forces, trainers, intelligence officers and crews for added helicopters and troop carriers.

Bush administration officials initially argued that NATO should fill that void, because the U.S. military was overextended in Iraq. And publicly, the administration has remained mostly supportive of the alliance effort, with the national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, declaring at the NATO summit last month that in addressing the problems in Afghanistan, "NATO's answer today is help is on the way."

The weeks leading up to the summit meeting included intense lobbying to increase troop commitments and lift some restrictions on how national troops operate and where. Over a private dinner in Bucharest, Bush and other leaders listened to their counterparts make their pledges.

Only France announced its pledge publicly.

According to NATO officials, Georgia, whose application for a fast track to membership was rebuffed, pledged 500 troops. Poland pledged 400 more troops and the Czech Republic pledged 120.

Italy, Romania and Greece made promises for military or police training teams. Azerbaijan and New Zealand also promised increases.

The results of the NATO session disappointed commanders in Afghanistan. A NATO military spokesman issued a diplomatically worded statement this week. "In the run-up to and during the Bucharest summit, nations added extra contributions," the statement from Kabul said. "However, shortfalls still exist."

Julianne Smith, director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonpartisan policy institute, said the summit meeting did not live up to the expectations or the public celebration during the session.

"If you look at what the NATO commanders got, it's hard to see the silver lining," she said.

3,200 Marines deployed
As with previous shortfalls in NATO commitments, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates could be prompted to fill the void, perhaps deploying other U.S. forces to replace the 3,200 Marines who arrived over recent weeks in what was described as a one-time, seven-month stop-gap deployment.

Gates did say publicly last month that the United States was prepared to commit additional forces to Afghanistan in 2009, but he put no number on the anticipated increase.

A senior Pentagon official said Gates made the announcement after consulting with Bush, arguing for a public statement that would prove to NATO allies that the United States remained wholly committed to the Afghan mission despite strains of the war in Iraq.

Senior officials said the 7,000 troops were about the most the U.S. military could add to Afghanistan in 2009.

chron.com

Soldier dies in Afghanistan

2008-05-03T13:27:00.002-07:00

KABUL (AFP) - A British soldier serving with the NATO force in Afghanistan died in an explosion that wounded two other troops, the alliance's International Security Assistance Force said Saturday.

The soldier was killed after the vehicle he was travelling in hit a mine during a routine patrol near southern Helmand province's Naw Zad district on Friday, British Lieutenant Colonel Robin Matthews told AFP.

Two other British soldiers were wounded in the explosion, Matthews said without further detail.

Similar incidents have been blamed on the Taliban who often use roadside bombs in their ongoing insurgency against the Western-backed government and foreign troop presence in the country.

The soldiers were serving with the 40-country ISAF force which earlier confirmed the death but not the soldier's nationality.

Helmand, the main source of Afghanistan's opium output, is in the grip of a Taliban-insurgency launched after it was toppled from government in a US-led invasion in late 2001.

Most ISAF soldiers in Helmand are British, and were joined by US Marines last week in a push to remove the Taliban from around southern Garmser district.

The latest fatality takes to 48 the number of international soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year, most while fighting the Taliban.

On the Afghan border, U.S. troops await the rockets

2008-05-03T13:27:00.001-07:00

By Luke Baker

KHOST, Afghanistan, May 2 (Reuters) - In the beginning, Specialist Jose Ortiz and his partner Private Pedro Velez were not even told which way Pakistan was.

"They didn't tell us a thing," says Ortiz, a 22-year-old American soldier based at a small camp on the eastern edge of Afghanistan, around 20 km (13 miles) from the Pakistan border.

"We figured it out from the rockets," he says, putting down a pair of binoculars in his observation post and pointing to the jagged Hindu Kush mountains in the middle distance, shimmering in the heat haze. He knows just where Pakistan is now.

"They basically rocket us from over there," he says. "From the other side of those mountains. We never see them. They're basically the invisible enemy."

The camp where Ortiz and Velez have spent the past 4-ÃÂÃÂ½ months on watch has been dubbed Rocket City for the number of missiles that rain down on it from the border region.

Although numbers have tapered off in recent weeks to just one or two a week, 'Rocket City' t-shirts are still in demand at the military shop on the base, a dusty collection of tents and low-rise buildings on the edge of a gravel air strip.

"One landed right there," says Ortiz, pointing to the camp's perimeter about 25 metres from the observation post, up a steep hill on the edge of the camp. "That made a pretty big noise, but most of the time they're way off target."

Velez, 21, drags on a cigarette and concurs.

"They're not really aiming. It's just fire and hope for these guys. They don't strike me as the smartest people."

That may or may not be the case, but the Taliban are still very much a threat. A much-vaunted winter offensive may not have occurred, but now spring has arrived and the passes through the mountains are more accessible, a renewed push is expected.

And with the possibility of a peace deal between Pakistan's new government and the Taliban-allied militants of Baitullah Mehsud on the northwest frontier of Pakistan, the U.S. military is braced for a fresh onslaught from over the border.

UPSURGE IN ATTACKS

"When I look at the map...my area of interest, the area that I'm concerned about, is on the other side of the border as well as on the Regional Command East (of Afghanistan)," U.S. Major General Jeffrey Schloesser told reporters on April 24.

"I would predict that we will see some level of increasing incidences of violence," he said.

In recent days there has been a minor upsurge in attacks in eastern Afghanistan, with a suicide bomber killing more than a dozen people south of the city of Jalalabad and a roadside bomb killing a U.S. soldier northeast of the capital, Kabul.

U.S. forces have also launched a major offensive in the south, where British troops are based, with Marines retaking the Taliban-controlled town of Garmsir, in the restive province of Helmand.

Khost and the surrounding province of the same name were once labelled "red" in as much as they were considered widely unsafe, with frequent attacks by the Taliban or militants allied to them.

Stepped-up U.S. activity in the area, along with the improving ability of the Afghan National Army and better local governance, have helped lift Khost onto President Hamid Karzai's 'green' list, but the risk of backsliding remains.

U.S. forces are hoping the arrival of around 700 French troops by August will help them maintain order along the long, jagged and unpredictable frontier.

In the meantime, Velez and Ortiz are keeping their eyes peeled.

Afghanistan urges Pakistan to stop 'terrorists'

2008-05-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

KABUL: Pakistan should stop "terrorists" from using its soil to attack Afghanistan if it makes deals with Taliban militants along the troubled border, the Afghan defence ministry said Saturday.

Islamabad has been trying to reach a peace deal with a Taliban commander on its side of the frontier. The militant halted talks last week because the government refused to withdraw its troops from his area.

The Afghan defence ministry said it was concerned any such deal would not result in a cessation of violence in Afghanistan by militants said to be based in Pakistan and to cross the border to attack.

The ministry cited media reports that a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban vowed to continue the "real jihad (holy war)" in Afghanistan even if a peace deal was reached with Islamabad.

"Afghanistan supports any action resulting in peace and stability in the region but only if such actions do not cause further terrorist activities in Afghanistan," it said.

The ministry described a now-defunct 2006 deal between Pakistan and pro-Taliban militants in its Waziristan area as a "bitter experience."

It had allowed militants "sufficient time to regroup, re-equip and moblise themselves and take the lives of hundreds of children, women and men," it said, referring to a wave of extremist violence in both countries.

"Afghanistan's biggest hope from the brotherly and friendly country of Pakistan is that its land be not used by terrorists against Afghanistan," it added.

The Taliban were removed from government in Afghanistan in a US-led invasion in late 2001 for harbouring Al-Qaeda, which it allowed to operate training camps.

Many rebels fled across the border to Pakistan from where they are said to be plotting an Al-Qaeda-backed insurgency that has left thousands of people dead in Afghanistan, including civilians and international troops supporting Kabul.

The US State Department said last week that Al-Qaeda is rebuilding itself in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas and North West Frontier Province, both on the border with Afghanistan.

Kabul favours peace talks with rebels to halt the unrest, but only with those who agree to accept the new government and renounce violence.

.indiatimes.com

NATO soldier, 8 civilians killed by roadside bombs in Afghanistan

2008-05-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

Nine people are dead and 10 were wounded after roadside bombs hit a NATO patrol and two other vehicles in Afghanistan, officials said.

An alliance soldier was killed and four others injured when an explosion rocked a NATO patrol in Logar province, south of Kabul, Wednesday, according to a statement from NATO. The nationalities of the soldiers were not released.

Meanwhile, roadside bombs struck two civilian cars on a road regularly used by Afghan and foreign troops in southern Kandahar province Wednesday. Eight people were killed and six wounded.

About 2,500 Canadian troops are participating in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in and around Kandahar province.

More than 1,200 people, many of them militants, have died in war-related violence this year in Afghanistan, according to a tally by the Associated Press.

cbc.ca

Report: Taliban strengthens in Afghanistan

2008-05-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Taliban in Afghanistan -- whose government was toppled by U.S.-led forces after the September 11, 2001, attacks -- has strengthened its military and technical capabilities even while suffering heavy combat losses, says a State Department report.

"The Taliban-led insurgency remained a capable, determined, and resilient threat to stability and to the expansion of government authority, particularly in the Pashtun south and east," according to the "Country Reports on Terrorism 2007."

The report's release on Wednesday coincided with multiple attacks. A blast targeting a NATO patrol south of Kabul killed an alliance soldier and wounded four others, The Associated Press cited NATO as saying. Roadside bombs also hit two civilian cars in southern Kandahar province, killing eight civilians and wounding six others, the provincial police chief said, according to AP.

The Taliban's information operations have become "increasingly aggressive and sophisticated," and their ability to obtain al Qaeda support and recruit soldiers from the Taliban base of rural Pashtuns is "undiminished," the report says.

But new civilian-military counterinsurgency approaches in the east, particularly Nangarhar, have begun to yield successes, the report says.

The Taliban is funding its terror activities with money from supporters in neighboring Pakistan and from narcotics trafficking and kidnappings. Kidnappings of foreigners have increased, the report says.

The group also has increased its use of improvised explosive devices, and suicide bombings have become more frequent and more deadly, it says. Quoting U.N.-compiled figures, the State Department said terrorists launched about 140 suicide-bomb attacks in 2007.

The number of terror attacks in Afghanistan increased from 969 in 2006 to 1,127 last year, and the number of people killed, injured or kidnapped as the result of terrorism rose from 3,557 in 2006 to 4,673 in 2007, the report says.

In the face of attacks by the Taliban and related groups on coalition forces and others, Afghanistan has struggled to build a stable, democratic government. However, it has taken steps to build strong relationships with neighboring Pakistan and address problems such as poverty that help fuel terrorism, the report says.

The Program for Strengthening Peace and Reconciliation has persuaded more than 5,000 Taliban members and other insurgents to stop their lives of violence, it says.

The shifting situation in Afghanistan prompted the top U.S. military officer to say in early April that he is "deeply concerned" about the situation there, and that maintaining troops in Iraq is harming overall U.S. military capabilities.

"The Taliban is growing bolder, suicide attacks are on the rise, and so is the trade in illegal narcotics," said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the United States needs more troops to hold areas of southern Afghanistan -- the region of highest concern -- and to train local army and police personnel.

The two men testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The United States recently sent an additional 3,500 troops to Afghanistan, but commanders in the region would like 10,000 to 12,000 more, Gates said. He said he doubted NATO would make up the difference.

Although 25 NATO allies and 13 other countries have contributed forces, the bulk of the recent fighting in Afghanistan has been done by U.S., Canadian, British and Dutch troops. Canadian troops are based in the southern province of Kandahar, once a Taliban stronghold.

*CNN

At least 425 US military deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan

2008-05-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

As of Wednesday, April 30, 2008, at least 425 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Saturday at 10 a.m. EDT.

Of those, the military reports 292 were killed by hostile action.

Outside the Afghan region, the Defense Department reports 64 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, two were the result of hostile action. The military lists these other locations as Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Jordan; Kenya; Kyrgyzstan; Philippines; Seychelles; Sudan; Tajikistan; Turkey; and Yemen.

There were also four CIA officer deaths and one military civilian death.

The latest deaths reported by the military:

_ No deaths reported.

___

The latest identifications reported by the military:

_ Air Force Senior Airman Jonathan A.V. Yelner, 24, Lafayette, Calif.; died Tuesday near Bagram, Afghanistan, when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device; assigned to the 28th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.

_ Army Sgt. 1st Class David L. McDowell, 30, Ramona, Calif.; died Tuesday in Bastion, Afghanistan, of wounds from small-arms fire; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash.

iht.com

Another Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan

2008-05-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

Lance Corporal Jason Marks, 27, was killed on Sunday during the preparations for an Australian assault on a stronghold of anti-occupation Taliban insurgents in the southern Afghanistan province of Uruzgan. He is the fourth Australian military fatality in the Afghan war since last October and the fifth since the conflict began in November, 2001.

Marks leaves behind a grieving family and two children—a four-year-old son and a baby daughter. His wife, Cassandra, has not directly spoken with the media. A press release issued in her name stated: “All Jason ever wanted to do was join the Army.... Becoming a commando was a dream of Jason’s, he was proud of who he was and what he did.... Our family is devastated at the tragic loss.” His uncle, who was tracked down by journalists seeking comments, said: “He was a great young bloke and it’s a shame that he was over there. I’m too upset to say more.”

The young soldier was born in the mining town of Broken Hill and grew up in the northern Queensland tourist town of Yeppoon. He enlisted in the army in 1999, at the age of just 18. After serving for a number of years as a medic, he transferred in 2005 to the army’s commando battalion, 4RAR (Royal Australian Regiment). A company from the battalion has been stationed in Afghanistan since mid-2007, working with elite Special Air Service troops to hunt down and kill Afghans in Uruzgan province who are resisting the US-led occupation of their country.

Marks lost his life as a result of the latest search-and-destroy mission. His company reportedly only arrived in Afghanistan several weeks ago, presumably to replace a unit that had completed its tour of duty. They were deployed on the weekend to assault an alleged Taliban camp about 25 kilometres south-east of the city of Tarin Kowt, where the Australian and Dutch troops occupying Uruzgan have established their main base. According to military accounts, Taliban fighters ambushed the commandos as they were moving into position for their attack. They were barraged with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Marks suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died in the field. Four other soldiers in his platoon were wounded. Air strikes by Dutch helicopter gunships and F-16 fighters had to be called in to drive back the Afghans and extricate the Australian troops.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd responded to the death of Lance Corporal Marks by combining condolences to his family with the cold prediction that more Australian troops will be killed this year in Afghanistan. For the soldiers his government has put in harms way, Rudd said that the rest of the year would be “difficult, dangerous and bloody and the Australian nation needs to prepare itself for further losses”. In response to journalists’ questions, he twice stressed that the death toll would rise. “Let’s accept that reality and prepare ourselves for it,” he declared.

The Rudd Labor government has made the deployment of over 1,000 Australian troops to the Afghanistan war a cornerstone of its foreign policy since its election last November. Rudd has utilised it to reassure the Bush administration that Labor is just as committed to supporting the neo-colonial US agenda behind the so-called “war on terror” as his conservative predecessor. While the prime minister restated on Monday that there were “no such plans” to send more troops, there remains the possibility that the 500-strong Australian combat unit being withdrawn from southern Iraq in the next several months will be re-deployed to Afghanistan before the year is out.

Rudd, with the backing of the media establishment, justifies the war with the claim that Afghanistan, unlike Iraq, was invaded for legitimate and just reasons. He repeated on Monday that the only motive for the war was the Taliban’s “succour and support” for Al Qaeda and the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. More than six years later, Australian troops in Uruzgan province are purportedly fighting a “good war” against demonic terrorists and Taliban fanatics who want to re-impose hell on earth on the long-suffering Afghan people.

The reality is that the invasion of Afghanistan was an integral aspect of broader US plans to dominate the resource-rich regions of Central Asia and the Middle East. The September 11 attacks were the pretext for US efforts to subjugate the country and transform it into a US client state. Over the past years, the US military has constructed a massive base at Bagram airport, which allows American air power to deploy within minutes to Iran, Russia and China—three geo-political rivals and potential targets. Changing the terrible conditions confronting the Afghan people is not even a consideration in Washington. Nothing is being done to alter the oppression, abject poverty and malnutrition that afflict the vast majority.

As for the Australian government, its motivation for participating in the US-led occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq is utterly mercenary. Within both the Liberal and Labor parties, the media, and the ruling elite in general, support for US militarism in Central Asia and the Middle East is viewed as the necessary down-payment for the continuation and strengthening of the US alliance. Canberra needs Washington’s backing to assert itself as the regional strongman in the South Pacific, against efforts by China and other powers to develop their economic and political influence in the region.

The Labor government is not only continuing Australian participation in the current US wars. It is also supporting the campaign of threats and provocations being waged by the Bush administration against the Iranian regime that may well escalate into another conflict. An Australian frigate is deployed off the Iranian coast alongside US warships and would immediately be involved in any hostilities that break out.

Media cover-up

In the wake of Jason Marks’s death, the media has once again stepped forward to block any examination of the real geo-political reasons behind the war in Afghanistan. The propaganda of the “good war” has been repeated ad nauseam. The Adelaide Advertiser, for example, editorialised that Marks’s death “reinforces to all Australians the individual sacrifices which have to be made to preserve democracy and freedom and suppress world terrorism”. The ABC’s “Lateline” program, which presents itself as the cutting edge of current affairs journalism, crudely labelled the Afghan guerillas who fought Australian troops on the weekend as “terrorists”. That Afghans are conducting a legitimate war of resistance against a foreign occupation—as they did against earlier British and Soviet attempts to occupy the country—is never countenanced.

Rudd has not faced a single question over the Australian deployment. Instead, Sydney Morning Herald journalist and international editor Peter Hartcher gushed that his response to the young soldier’s death was evidence that the Labor prime minister was beginning “to emerge as a credible wartime leader”. Hartcher, a liberal commentator who has, in the past, criticised the Iraq war, had nothing but praise for Rudd’s declaration that more Australian soldiers will be killed. It proved, he declared, that Rudd would not “go wobbly” under the “pressure of casualties”.

The lives of more Australian soldiers are likely to be squandered by the Rudd government sooner rather than later. Jason Marks was killed the same day that six Taliban partisans successfully infiltrated through tight security in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and opened fire on a military parade being presided over by US-backed President Hamid Karzai. (See: “Anti-Karzai attack in Kabul shakes US puppet government”)

The near assassination of Karzai is the sharpest indication of the hostility and growing resistance to the 70,000 US and NATO troops occupying Afghanistan. The number of attacks on US and NATO forces has increased by 40 percent compared with the first three months of last year in the southern provinces and by more than 70 percent in the area surrounding Kabul. After a harsh winter, followed by severe flooding, the spring weather is allowing thousands of Afghan fighters to move from their bases in the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to conduct guerilla operations. Uruzgan province, and the Australian forces based there, will be a prime target.

wsws.org

State Department: Terror Attacks Up in Afghanistan as Al Qaeda Gains Strength

2008-04-30T14:10:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is reporting a 16-percent increase in terrorist attacks in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2007 due to resurgent extremist activity there and in neighboring Pakistan.

A State Department report shows a corresponding rise in the number of people killed, wounded or kidnapped by terrorists last year in Afghanistan. It says that Al Qaeda has rebuilt to some of its pre-Sept. 11 capabilities in Pakistan's remote tribal areas.

The report also says attacks in Iraq dipped slightly between 2006 and 2007 but they accounted for 60 percent of worldwide terrorism fatalities. More than 22,000 people were killed by terrorists around the world in 2007 — 8 percent more than in 2006, although the number of actual attacks fell.

foxnews.com

More than 100,000 sign petition to save journalist held in Afghanistan

2008-04-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

The Independent's petition to save the Afghan student Sayed Pervez Kambaksh from the gallows has collected a staggering 100,000 signatures as the 23-year-old languishes in a cell in Kabul awaiting appeal.

Mr Kambaksh was arrested for distributing a pamphlet about women's rights, and tried and convicted without a defence lawyer, in a closed court in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. His case led to international protests, led by the UN human rights chief, Louise Arbour, and Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State.

Last night, Mr Kambaksh's brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, thanked The Independent's army of readers around the world. "If it wasn't for the petition we would be alone. There are a lot of pressures inside Afghanistan from the fundamentalists. They are trying to execute my brother," he said. "Fortunately, against them, there is pressure from the international community, and The Independent petition. I really believe it will help us."

Mr Kambaksh was recently moved to Kabul's notorious Pol-i Charki prison, where last year guards dragged 15 men out of their cells, without warning, and executed them. The prison holds Afghanistan's worst criminals, but Mr Kambaksh was moved there at his own request, after fears about his safety in Mazar.

Originally he was in a cell with convicted murderers who attacked him because they believed he had offended Islam. He is currently being held in isolation.

"Everything is going very slowly," said Mr Ibrahimi. "We are both looking forward to the time of the appeal, but the judiciary hasn't given us an exact time. Everything is done, but my brother is still in prison."

The students from Balkh University's Sharia faculty, in Mazar, also circulated a blacklist of other journalists they accused of blasphemy, forcing friends of Mr Kambaksh to flee.

Fears over his fate have remained high, after the Supreme Court approved 100 death sentences, which are simply awaiting the President's signature. A moratorium on capital punishment ended last year when President Karzai ordered a mass execution.

The Independent's campaign to save the Afghan student Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has attracted an astonishing 100,000 signatures. You can still add your voice to the campaign to
save him. Sign our e-petition at www.independent.co.uk/pervez

independent.co.uk

Blast kills 15 Afghans, wounds 25

2008-04-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

KABUL (Reuters) - At least 15 Afghans were killed and 25 wounded on Tuesday in an explosion in eastern Afghanistan, close to the border with Pakistan, a spokesman for NATO-led forces said.

"Initial reports are that 15 local nationals were killed and another 25 were wounded in an explosion in Nangarhar province," the spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

Residents in the district, south of the city of Jalalabad, said Afghan forces and civilians were among the dead, which they said could total as many as 31.

One resident, reached by phone from Kabul, said the dead included 11 members of the Afghan security forces and two children.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion but suicide bombers have carried out attacks in the area in the past.

The eastern region of Afghanistan, along the border with Pakistan, is the scene of frequent clashes between U.S.-backed Afghan forces and Taliban militants.

(Editing by Bill Tarrant)

Twenty-six Taliban killed in Afghanistan

2008-04-29T13:33:00.001-07:00

KABUL (AFP) — Around 26 Taliban have been killed in military action in Afghanistan, officials said Monday, including a dozen when troops repelled a mass attack on several US and Afghan bases.

Australia meanwhile announced earlier it had lost a soldier in a Taliban attack in the southern province of Uruzgan on Sunday. The country is one of about 40 with troops in Afghanistan to fight back the extremist Taliban.

Between 30 and 40 insurgents attacked five bases in the eastern province of Kunar on Sunday with artillery, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, the US-led coalition said in a statement.

The military forces responded, including with military aircraft, and a dozen insurgents were killed and a dozen more wounded, it said.

Another six rebels were killed Monday when security forces fought back a Taliban attack on a coalition and Afghan army convoy in the central province of Ghazni, provincial government spokesman Zia Wali Zadran told AFP.

Six more were killed and 18 wounded in a military operation in a different area of the same province late Sunday, Zadran said.

The coalition also announced that two insurgents were killed in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Sunday when international and Afghan troops fought back after being attacked during an operation.

A member of the Afghan security forces was also killed, it said in a statement. Four suspected insurgents were arrested. The operation was to track down a man involved in suicide attacks.

Militants had also attacked a high-profile military parade in Kabul Sunday, missing President Hamid Karzai but killing a tribal chief and a parliamentarian. A 10-year-old boy was also killed.

Authorities said Monday that investigations were continuing into the daring attack and people rounded up afterwards were being questioned.

Food crisis is grave in Afghanistan, one of world's poorest countries: UN

2008-04-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghanistan may have to face several more months of high grain prices, a United Nations official warned Tuesday as a global food crisis added insult to injury in a country already battered by war and stricken by poverty.

Tony Banbury, the regional director for Asia with the World Food Program, was in Kandahar for a first-hand assessment of the UN's ongoing effort to stave off starvation among those for whom soaring grain prices have put simple staples out of reach.

"I don't think any agricultural economist could sit here and tell you what the price of wheat will be in Kandahar in three months' time, and I certainly won't pretend to," Banbury told a news conference.

"But we do need to be prepared for the at least real possibility of sustained higher prices over the medium term."

The good news is this: the price of wheat that recently soared as a result of high fuel prices, drought and demand from India and China, has fallen off its highs by about 30 per cent in Afghanistan. This was brought about by government intervention and international aid.

canadianpress.google.com

However, it remains nearly three times as high as it was four or five months ago, said Banbury, who spent his day meeting with teachers, political leaders and students who described the indignity of discovering the diminished purchasing power of their hard-earned wages.

"For the poor segments of society who were barely getting by before, it puts them in an untenable situation," he said.

"For people who were on the margins, getting by on a dollar a day, a $1.50 a day, who had some limited ability to pay for modest health care and education costs, they all of a sudden are not able to do that."

Banbury's visit coincided with word from the UN that it would be establishing a task force to tackle the global food crisis, which has sparked violent protests in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who will lead the task force, said its first priority will be to meet a US$755 million shortfall in funding for the WFP, and also to go beyond the usual approach of providing emergency food relief when crises hit.

Ban said there were a number of causes of the food crisis - including climate change, long spells of drought, changing consumption patterns in major developing countries and the planting of crops for biofuel.

The UN and the Afghan government issued an urgent appeal in January to raise $77 million in emergency food aid; Canada - the second-largest donor - was the first to contribute, providing $10 million on top of a $25 million commitment to WFP late in 2007.

"Canada is an extremely important and generous partner and donor to us, and we would not be able to do our work here in Kandahar and in the southern region without the support of the Canadian taxpayer," Banbury said.

That money is now providing sacks of wheat across some of the poorest parts of Afghanistan's southern region, including more than 1,000 tonnes of wheat in Kandahar province, 600 tonnes of which have gone to city residents.

All told, the plan is to assist more than 317,000 of the poorest people in southern Afghanistan, including 152,000 people in Kandahar province.

The UN is primarily concerned with two categories of people, Banbury said: the utterly destitute and those in a newly discovered state of "precarious vulnerability" - wage earners who now no longer make enough money to eat or provide for their often sprawling families.

"They stop buying vegetables or meat, and they start living on bread and tea," he said. "It's these two groups of people that the government and the World Food Program now are most concerned with."

Not far from Camp Nathan Smith, the Canadian military outpost where Banbury spoke, UN volunteers called out names and catalogued fingerprints from dozens of Afghan men, women and children who waited in a dusty alleyway to take home a sack of wheat.

"If they did not give this wheat to me, my children would die from hunger," said Ghulam Muhammad, 37, who was for the first time forced to take advantage of the UN's food aid program.

A single sack of flour currently costs about 4,500 afghanis in Kandahar, or nearly C$100, he added.

"It is very costly for a man working on daily wages," said Muhammad, who lives with his extended family under a single roof - 17 mouths to feed in all. "It is very difficult to survive with the things here."

Zarif Jan, 27, said he would have to pay 450 afghanis to have the wheat ground into flour - but he was no less grateful for the help.

"I am working on daily wages," he said. "I earn 180 afghanis per day and spend all of them on my family I can't save a single penny."

Banbury said the additional aid program was concentrating on four specific categories of the needy: single female heads of household, disabled male heads of household, families with nine or more children and families displaced by the ongoing violence.

And he warned that the WFP will soon be forced to confront another reality: what to do when the current $77 million aid program comes to an end in June.

"Fortunately, we have seen a decrease in the price of wheat already," he said.

"It's still almost three times as high as it was four or five months ago. It's still a big issue. But already, as a result of this intervention and other steps by the government ... we've seen the prices start to drop back down."

Digger killed, 4 wounded in Afghanistan

2008-04-29T13:29:00.002-07:00

An Australian special forces commando has been killed and four others have been wounded in a firefight with Taliban militants near the Australian base in southern Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province.

Defence Force head Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said 27-year-old Lance Corporal Jason Marks was killed early this morning during an attack on a "substantial number" of Taliban militants around 25 kilometres south of the Australian base at Tarin Kowt.

Lance Corporal Marks was a married father-of-two who was born in Broken Hill in the far west of New South Wales and was raised in Yeppoon in Queensland.

Air Chief Marshal Houston said Lance Corporal Marks was part of a Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) platoon which was leading a company-level "deliberate assault" at the time of the firefight.

He said they were attacked while they were out in the open and preparing for their own assault on the Taliban.

"The engagement in which he died was characterised by a heavy exchange of small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades," he said.

"Four other soldiers were wounded by small arms fire in the same action."

The four wounded Australians, whose injuries are not life-threatening, were flown to a Coalition military hospital for treatment.

Air Chief Marshal Houston said it was not yet known how many Taliban fighters were killed and warned this is the start of the traditional fighting season in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Marks enlisted with 4RAR as a gunner in 1999 and later served in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps as a medical assistant before joining special forces in 2005.

His family says it is distraught at the news of his death.

His parents in Yeppoon have appealed for privacy and are expected to release a statement later today. His aunt and uncle in Broken Hill say he was a family man and a dedicated soldier.

*abc.net.au

Push for 1500 more troops in Afghanistan long haul

2008-04-29T13:29:00.001-07:00

THE Rudd Government would need to deploy an additional 1500 troops backed by tanks and military jets if Australia took over from the Dutch in Afghanistan's war-battered southern Oruzgan province.

On Monday Kevin Rudd committed to the "long haul" in the Afghanistan conflict, expressing support for a rejuvenated NATO-led combat mission in which Australia is part of a 57,000-strong international force.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Raspal Khosa said Canberra had some tough decisions ahead if the Dutch made good on their pledge to withdraw from Oruzgan by 2010.

The Australian Defence Force has 700 Diggers, including a 300-strong special forces task group, serving in Oruzgan under a 1600-strong Dutch provincial reconstruction task group based at Tarin Kowt.

Mr Khosa, a respected Afghan analyst, said southern Oruzgan was the birthplace of the Taliban's spiritual leader, Mullah Omar, and was among the most violent and unstable provinces in Afghanistan.

Seven years after the overthrow of the Taliban regime, corruption is rife, government institutions remain weak and a booming opium economy is helping to fuel the re-energised insurgency against the NATO-led forces.

The Dutch military will stay in the province until 2010, but are expected to draw down their forces after then to focus on civil reconstruction.

If Canberra opts to provide the main overwatch role in Oruzgan, the ADF would need to deploy a brigade-strength force (2500 troops) backed by military jets, troop lift helicopters, tanks and heavy artillery, Mr Khosa said.

"We've only got six Chinooks (twin-rotor medium-lift helicopters), and when two of them are deployed that is a significant capability that's gone," he said. "You would also need artillery. The Dutch have got self-propelled guns and they've got tanks there as well, Leopard 2s. So you would need all of that organic fire support if you were to deploy in that capacity and take possession of the province."

A bigger provincial security role for the ADF would mean the risk of more combat deaths. The low number of Australian fatalities in Afghanistan - five so far, most recently Lance Corporal Jason Marks on Sunday - is due to the Government's emphasis on using special forces to carry the brunt of the combat missions rather than infantry battalions, military analysts told The Australian.

It is understood some ADF commanders are increasingly uneasy about the continuing use of the special forces in this role, rather than the regular infantry.

Along with the US, NATO members Canada, Britain, Denmark and The Netherlands have borne the brunt of fighting in the volatile south and east of the country. They have suffered more than 600 combat deaths since December 2001.

Canberra has ruled out sending more troops to Afghanistan unless other NATO countries reinforce the combat mission in the dangerous south.

*theaustralian.news.com.au

Afghans say were beaten by Afghan authories -Dutch govt

2008-04-29T12:58:00.001-07:00

AMSTERDAM, April 29 (Reuters) - Three Afghan prisoners have told Dutch authorities they were beaten by Afghanistan's intelligence services last year, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.

Three men said they were beaten while in custody of the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) after Dutch forces in Afghanistan had handed over the men to Afghan authorities, a spokesman for the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

A fourth man said he had been beaten during an interrogation by Dutch forces. The incident was reported to Dutch prosecutors. An investigation has been started, the spokesman said.

Human rights group Amnesty International in November urged NATO troops in Afghanistan to suspend transfers of detainees to Afghan authorities, saying that prisoners faced the risk of being tortured, but NATO said there was no evidence of systematic Afghan torture.

"He has been beaten on the head three times by the NDS," the Dutch embassy in Kabul said about a visit to an Afghan detainee in documents released by the Dutch ministries of defence and foreign affairs.

Two other Afghan prisoners held by the NDS told Dutch officials they were also beaten, said the documents, which were published on the website of Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad, and confirmed by the Dutch Foreign Affairs spokesman.

He said every complaint by prisoners was one too many but there was no evidence of serious abuses in Afghan prisons and Dutch forces would continue to hand over detainees to Afghan authorities.

The Netherlands, like some other countries whose soldiers operate in Afghanistan, has an agreement with Afghanistan to safeguard fair treatment of prisoners, and can visit detainees after they are handed over to Afghan authorities, the spokesman said. (Reporting by Gilbert Kreijger, editing by Myra MacDonald)

1 NATO soldier killed, 4 wounded in S. Afghanistan

2008-04-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

KABUL, April 28 (Xinhua) -- One soldier serving the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed and four soldiers were wounded in an engagement with insurgents during a patrol in southern Afghanistan Sunday, an ISAF statement issued here Monday said.

Without elaborating, it said the wounded soldiers were transported to an ISAF hospital to receive treatment.

The ISAF did not release the casualty's nationality, quoting a policy.

"Next of kin have been notified," it added.

A total of 47,000 troops contributed by 40 nations are deployed in Afghanistan to help with stabilization and reconstruction under the flag of NATO-led ISAF with an UN mandate.

xinhuanet.com

Australia Warns of 'Dangerous and Bloody' Year Ahead for Troops in Afghanistan

2008-04-28T09:43:00.001-07:00

The Australian prime minister has warned his country to expect more combat casualties in Afghanistan following the death of a Special Forces commando. He was killed in southern Uruzgan province in a gun battle with Taliban insurgents. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says that 2008 in Afghanistan will be fraught with danger and that more lives will be lost.

His grim assessment was made Monday after the death of Australian Lance Corporal Jason Marks.

The 27-year-old Special Forces soldier died during an attack by militants in southern Afghanistan, where the majority of Australia's one thousand troops are based.

Five Australian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002, and Mr. Rudd says it is likely that there will be more casualties.

"This is a sad day for the nation," Mr. Rudd said. "It is a sad day for the Australian Defense Force. It is a tragic day for the family. 2008 will be difficult and dangerous and bloody, and the Australian nation needs to prepare itself for further losses."

Army chiefs warn that Afghanistan is entering its so-called fighting period, when the melting of winter snow heralds an increase in activity by Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists.

Mr. Rudd says Canberra remains committed to the U.S.-led campaign against the Taliban but has no plans to increase its military presence in Afghanistan. Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor to the international force trying to bring stability to Afghanistan.

The Taliban government was ousted in a U.S.-led invasion because it was providing a haven for al-Qaeda leaders after the September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. Taliban and al-Qaeda militants continue an insurgency across the country.

The death of the Australian commando came after militants attacked a parade in the Afghan capital Kabul - attended by President Hamid Karzai - with rockets and gunfire. Three people died.

Despite his support for the Afghanistan mission, Mr. Rudd's government is pulling its combat troops out of Iraq later this year. The Iraq mission is unpopular among Australian citizens.

voanews.com

Pakistani official says peace talks snagged as Taliban demand army pullout

2008-04-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Talks aimed at ending militancy in Pakistan's tribal regions have hit a snag over Taliban demands for the army to withdraw from the area, a Pakistani official said Monday.

But Mohammad Adeel, a leader of a party in Pakistan's coalition government, insisted the negotiations were not over despite the "minor delay."

Pakistan's new government has been pursuing talks with militants in a bid to end the extremism that has led to suicide attacks and other violence in the country.

It is a change from the more forceful tactics of U.S.-allied President Pervez Musharraf, who deployed tens of thousands of army troops to the tribal and border regions. The areas are considered havens for Taliban- and al-Qaida- linked militants who stage attacks in Afghanistan.

One of the deals Pakistan's government is pursuing is with the Mahsud tribe in the South Waziristan region. The tribe includes the country's top Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud.

On Monday, Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar claimed that Mehsud had ordered a stop to the talks.

"The basic reason was that the army should be withdrawn from all the regions," Umar said. "The government did not accept that demand and told the (tribal council) that we cannot do that."

Adeel, however, said the Taliban had demanded an early withdrawal of army forces from parts of the tribal regions as a "symbolic" gesture, leading to the hiccup in talks.

Mehsud heads an umbrella group called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which last week distributed a flier urging followers to observe a cease-fire. Umar said Monday that the Taliban will "still maintain" the cease-fire.

Umar has said militants have other demands, including an exchange of prisoners with the government.

Officially, the government insists it is talking to tribal elders, not "terrorists," though militants insist the elders are little more than go-betweens.

The United States has expressed concern that peace accords could ease the pressure on extremist groups and allow them to plan fresh attacks in Afghanistan and the West.

It has agreed to equip and train locally recruited security forces for the tribal region and co-fund a massive development program, though those efforts are still in their infancy.

iht.com

US military: 14 insurgents killed in clashes in eastern Afghanistan

2008-04-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

US and Afghan troops fought off coordinated insurgent attacks in eastern Afghanistan, leaving a dozen militants dead and a dozen more wounded, the US military said Monday.

As many as 40 insurgents attacked five military outposts Sunday in the Korangal Valley of volatile eastern Kunar province, using small arms fire, rockets and mortars, the military said in a statement.

The joint force returned fire and called in airstrikes that left 12 militants dead and 12 others wounded, the coalition said. No US or Afghan soldiers were hurt.

The Korangal Valley is one of the most volatile areas in Afghanistan. Korangal's high mountains - densely wooded and riddled with caves - are used by militants to launch near-daily attacks on remote US bases.

*jpost.com

Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan

2008-04-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

An Australian commando is killed and four others injured in southern Afghanistan, as Taliban militants attack their patrol with grenades.

The Special Forces soldier, Lance Corporal Jason Marks, 27, was killed in a heavy exchange of small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades in south Uruzgan, Australian Defense Forces Chief Air Marshal Angus Houston said on Monday.

The latest death brings to five the number of Australian troops killed in Afghanistan since 2002.

"2008 will be difficult and dangerous and bloody, and the Australian nation needs to prepare itself for further losses in the year ahead," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told a news conference later on the same day.

Rudd also added Australia had no plans to increase the number of its troops deployed in Afghanistan, noting that it was the largest contributor among non-NATO members.

Australia has around 1,000 troops in Afghanistan, mostly assisting a Dutch-led reconstruction operation in Uruzgan, a former Taliban stronghold.

presstv.ir

Afghanistan wary of Pakistan-Taliban 'peace deal'

2008-04-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

KABUL (AFP) — Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said that any peace deal between Pakistan and Taliban fighters would only fail and terrorism should instead be tackled globally.

The United States has also expressed concern about a possible deal after representatives of both sides said Wednesday the new government in Islamabad had drafted an agreement with rebels along the Afghan border.

"We believe that any efforts by any country in our region to have a separate peace deal with international terrorism, such efforts will fail," Spanta told reporters.

"Past experiences have proved that such efforts will only result in those who make such efforts becoming the victims," he said.

A peace deal between Pakistan and pro-Taliban tribes in the semi-autonomous tribal regions of North Waziristan in September 2006 was criticised in Kabul, where officials said it resulted in an increase in attacks in Afghanistan.

That deal was broken after Pakistani troops stormed Islamabad's Red Mosque to evict militants, leaving 100 dead.

Spanta said the countries needed to work together with their international partners in a "clear, continued and coordinated fight against terrorism."

"Finding a peaceful way to decrease terrorism in all countries, not only in one place, is an issue that all sides should act upon," he said.

Islamabad launched talks with the Taliban soon after a new government was formed following elections in February, amid concerns that President Pervez Musharraf's military approach was spawning more violence.

The aim is to transform a month-long lull in a wave of suicide bombings into a permanent peace with the Taliban, who have fought the government since Islamabad joined the US-led "war on terror" in 2001.

Taliban hamper dam project in Afghanistan

2008-04-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

KAJAKI, Afghanistan (AP) — British Maj. Mike Shervington watches over a stunning aqua-green lake and a 50-year-old story about U.S. struggles to aid Afghanistan.

Inside a security perimeter is an old American-built dam with the potential to provide Afghanistan with 6 percent of its power. Outside the line roam enough Taliban fighters to prevent Washington's largest single aid project in Afghanistan from ever reaching that goal.

The Kajaki Dam, built in the 1950s to help Afghan farmers irrigate their fields, is in Helmand province in southwest Afghanistan, which grows more opium poppies than any place in the world. And, thanks to an influx of Taliban fighters the last two years, it is one of the most dangerous regions in the country.

Western officials say the Taliban opposes any project carried out by international aid workers — schools, clinics or, in this case, the dam — because locals might turn toward the government. Militants also are likely trying to protect their lucrative drug trade in the area around Kajaki.

A small building at the base of the dam houses one working Westinghouse turbine, one of two the U.S. installed in the 1970s. The second turbine is dismantled for repairs. In between those is a large hole where the U.S. hopes to install a third turbine.

Even a small boost in output would be meaningful in a nation where only 6 percent of the population has electricity.

But because of the swarms of Taliban fighters who control the region, the U.S. has been forced to push back the planned delivery date of needed parts — now set for mid-2009.

Shervington, who commands 200 British paratroopers at the dam, says he's still not sure when the parts can be safely delivered.

"These guys are pretty determined, pretty professional," Shervington said of the militants who surround the dam.

"Because it provides such a source of energy, the vast majority of people (Afghans) want this to succeed. It powers farm machinery, allows people to feed their family," he said. "But there are people who don't want that, who don't want this to succeed, who don't want people to feed their families."

The dam — built by the same company that constructed the Hoover Dam, Morrison-Knudsen Corp. — was beset by problems from the beginning, irrigating only 30 percent as many acres as promised.

A report by the Institute for Afghan Studies found that Afghans in the 1950s judged the Kajaki Dam project as a failure and a symbol of neglect and indifference by the U.S. government.

Still, U.S. crews returned to Kajaki in the 1970s and installed two turbines. They've been overseen ever since by an Afghan engineer named Rasool, who kept them both running until 2003.

Rasool, who like many Afghans goes by one name, oversees 36 other Afghan employees. They are qualified to maintain the turbines, but often lack the needed parts or tools.

The province's governor, Gulab Mangal, said the dam — even with only one working turbine — provides Afghans in Helmand and Kandahar with a few, vital hours of electricity a day.

"It's helping agriculture and business," Mangal said. "Soon we are planning to make the security plans to take the third turbine to Kajaki by road. We are planning to make the road secure for the long term."

Rasool said workers sometimes travel to work through barrages of gunfire between British troops and Taliban fighters, but he said the Taliban don't target his workers because "the opposition also needs electricity."

The U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. government aid arm, says the cost for refurbishing the two turbines and the purchase of the third is $51 million. But a lot of other work remains.

Officials want to raise the water level of the dam by 12 feet to better feed the turbines. That will involve relocating people who live close to the lake's shoreline.

The region also needs new transmission lines that can carry the new, increased power to Kandahar and Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. That will cost more than $77 million.

At full capacity, the three turbines together can provide southern Afghanistan with 51 megawatts of power, said John Shepard, an engineer from Tucson, Arizona, who has been working on the Kajaki project since 2004.

In total, Afghanistan has the potential to create about 770 megawatts of power on small, individual power grids that service local communities. That means the Kajaki Dam could provide more than 6 percent of the country's total electricity.

By Western standards, though, 50 megawatts is a modest amount — nearly enough electricity for a town the size of Burlington, Vermont, which has about 160,000 people.

"Afghanistan's future stability depends in large part on growth of the private sector and jobs. The Kajaki Dam is a critical element in our support for Afghanistan, because it will provide the electricity to drive private sector growth in Helmand and Kandahar," said Mark Ward, USAID acting assistant administrator for Asia.

Much of the fighting between NATO-led security forces and Taliban insurgents is centered on these two volatile provinces. Some 3,500 U.S. Marines moved into the region this spring to help bring security and train Afghan police.

Insecurity in the region has warded off investors and hindered development agencies, setting back efforts to win public support for the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

Police say bomb kills 2 officers in central Afghanistan

2008-04-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A police official says a roadside bomb destroyed a police vehicle, killing at least two officers in central Afghanistan.

Deputy provincial police chief Mohammed Zaman says the remote-controlled bomb went off in Waghaz district of Ghazni province early Saturday.

He says two police died and three were wounded.

But an Associated Press Television News cameraman saw three saw three burned, mutilated bodies at the scene and four wounded people at a hospital. All appeared to be police.

Taliban militants increasingly attack Afghan police, who are less trained and worse equipped than the national army.

Afghan Leader Criticizes U.S. on Conduct of War

2008-04-26T12:42:00.002-07:00

KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai strongly criticized the British and American conduct of the war here on Friday, insisting in an interview that his government be given the lead in policy decisions.

Mr. Karzai said that he wanted American forces to stop arresting suspected Taliban and their sympathizers, and that the continued threat of arrest and past mistreatment were discouraging Taliban from coming forward to lay down their arms.

He criticized the American-led coalition as prosecuting the war on terrorism in Afghan villages, saying the real terrorist threat lay in sanctuaries of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

The president said that civilian casualties, which have dropped substantially since last year, needed to cease completely. For nearly two years the American-led coalition has refused to recognize the need to create a trained police force, he said, leading to a critical lack of law and order.

The comments came as Mr. Karzai is starting to point toward re-election next year, after six years in office, and may be part of a political calculus to appear more assertive in his dealings with foreign powers as opponents line up to challenge him.

But they also follow a serious dip in his relations with some of the countries contributing to the NATO-led security force and the reconstruction of Afghanistan, and indicate that as the insurgency has escalated, so, too, has the chafing among allies.

Complaints have been rising for months among diplomats and visiting foreign officials about what is seen as Mr. Karzai’s weak leadership, in particular his inability to curb narcotics trafficking and to remove ineffective or corrupt officials. Some diplomats have even expressed dismay that, for lack of an alternative, the country and its donors may face another five years of poor management by Mr. Karzai.

He was quick to reject such criticism, pointing out the “immense difficulties” that he and his government faced — “What is it we have not gone through?” — while trying to rebuild a state that was utterly destroyed.

He called instead for greater respect of Afghanistan’s fierce independence, and for more attention to be paid to building up the country, than doing things for it.

“For the success of the world in Afghanistan, it would be better to recognize this inherent character in Afghanistan and work with it and support it,” he said, speaking at his presidential office. “Eventually, if the world is to succeed in Afghanistan, it will be by building the Afghan state, not by keeping it weak.”

Mr. Karzai said he was fighting corruption, a problem that is among the chief complaints heard frequently by diplomats and Afghans alike. Mr. Karzai said he had just fired an official the previous day and would be firing more soon.

Yet the president explained that Afghanistan had never had so much money and resources pouring in, or seen such disparities in salaries, and was simply not capable yet of preventing the corruption.

He admitted that “lots of things” in the last six years could have been handled better and singled out policies led by the United States, namely tackling terrorism and handling the Taliban, both as prisoners and on the battlefield.

On terrorism, he repeated a call he has made for several years, that sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan be closed off.

“There is no way but to close the sanctuaries,” he said. “Pakistan will have no peace, Pakistan’s progress will suffer, so will Afghanistan’s peace and progress, so will the world’s. If you want to live, and live in peace, and work for prosperity, that has to happen. The sanctuaries must go, period.”

The deaths of civilians in the fighting have also been a big problem, he said. “It seriously undermines our efforts to have an effective campaign against terrorism,” he said. While NATO says civilian casualties have declined in the last six months, Mr. Karzai said that was not good enough.

“I am not happy with civilian casualties coming down; I want an end to civilian casualties,” he said. “As much as one may argue it’s difficult, I don’t accept that argument.”

He added, “Because the war against terrorism is not in Afghan villages, the war against terrorism is elsewhere, and that’s where the war should go,” referring to the Taliban and Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan.

He said the issue had caused tension between him and American officials. “While those moments were very, very difficult, I must also be fair to say that our partners in America have recognized my concerns and have acted on them in good faith.”

One of the biggest mistakes of the last six years has been the handling of the Taliban, he said, and the failure of his government to guarantee former members the amnesty that Mr. Karzai promised when the movement was toppled in December 2001.

He blamed mistreatment by some warlords and American forces for driving the Taliban out of the country, to Pakistan, where they regrouped and took up weapons again.

“Some of the warlords, and the coalition forces at times, in certain areas of the country, behaved in a manner that frightened the Taliban to move away from Afghanistan,” he said. “That should not have happened.”

The weakness of his own government meant that he learned only much later of some of the things that were occurring, he said.

He gave an example of a former member of the Taliban who was quietly running a paint shop in Kabul and had been arrested three times by American and Afghan security services.

“We have to make sure that when a Talib comes to Afghanistan, that he is safe from arrest by the coalition,” he said. “And we don’t come to know when the coalition arrests them; it is a major problem for us, a problem that we have spoken about repeatedly without solution.”

Asked if he could stop American forces from arresting suspected Taliban or their sympathizers in Afghanistan, he said, “We are working hard on it, very hard on it.”

He added, “It has to happen.”

Mr. Karzai said he had not complained to the Americans about their treatment of people in their custody, despite long detentions, because he did not have details of specific cases.

Despite the many problems, Mr. Karzai expressed optimism over Afghanistan’s path, and said that the change of government in Pakistan could bring progress against terrorism. “We began on a very good note,” he said of relations with the new government, led by the party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in December.

“I am fairly confident of their good intentions,” he said. “If the current government has the full backing of the military and intelligence circles in Pakistan and with the good intentions that they have, things will improve.”

The president said he supported the Pakistani government’s efforts to make peace with Taliban there who were not a threat to the rest of the world.

“But if the deal is with those that are hard-core terrorists, Al Qaeda, and are bent upon sooner or later again causing damage to Pakistan, and to Afghanistan and to the rest of the world, then that’s wrong and we should definitely not do it.”

He said he did not know Baitullah Mehsud, the militant leader who has been accused of instigating Ms. Bhutto’s assassination, but said he would send him some advice: “All that he is doing is hurting his own people, that he shouldn’t do that.”

Roadside bomb wounds 4 including police officer in E Afghanistan

2008-04-26T12:42:00.001-07:00

KABUL, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Four persons including a police officer were injured as a roadside bomb struck their car in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province Saturday, a local official said.

"It was 8:00 a.m. (0430 GMT) when a mine planted by militants hit a vehicle in Garbaz district, wounding four persons including the police chief of the district," district governor Mohammad Akbar Zadran told Xinhua.

However, he did not say if the three others were police or civilians.

A similar incident on police in Wazi district of the neighboring Paktia province left one police and his driver dead on Friday, a local official Deen Mohammad Darvish said.

Conflicts and Taliban-related violence have left over 400 people dead so far this year in war-torn Afghanistan, where Taliban militants recently have vowed to launch the "Spring offensive" to intensify their guerrilla-style attacks on national army and foreign troops.

Air strikes leave 15 suspected insurgents dead in Afghanistan

2008-04-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

KABUL, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Air raids carried out by international troops on Taliban militants in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province have left over a dozen suspected insurgents dead, spokesman of provincial administration said Saturday.

"The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in efforts to eliminate insurgents carried out air raids on their hideout in Charbaran district yesterday evening (Friday evening) ,killing 15 armed enemies," Ghani Khan Mohammad Yar told Xinhua.

A number of arms and munitions have also been seized from the rebels, he further added.

Taliban insurgents have yet to comment.

Militancy and conflicts have left more than 400 people, mostly civilians, dead in Afghanistan since January this year.

The Uruzgan Effect

2008-04-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

This week saw the parliamentary debate on progress in Afghanistan. Or, to put it more accurately, retrogression in that country. According to reports from the UN and other organisations, 2007 was the least safe year for Afghanistan since 2001, and 2008 threatens to be still worse. The production of drugs in 2007 broke world records. With scores like these, you have to ask what we're actually doing there.

The government doesn't want to know about things going backwards. "We are going to be taking small steps forward," said the Minister of Defence. "Schools are being rebuilt, roads repaired and so on." The Americans are a little more honest. "The Taliban are becoming stronger and more brutal," a highly-placed military man said not long ago. That NATO chief Jaap De Hoop Scheffer was recently bold enough to assert that NATO "holds the winning hand", a statement beyond belief. Everything is pointing to the opposite conclusion. We are losing the fight for Afghanistan.

Against this background, and given the loss of human lives, it is not to be wondered at that there seems little enthusiasm for a military career, and even talk of mass exit. More people are leaving the Dutch armed forces than are joining them. This is referred to internally as the "Uruzgan Effect". Each time Dutch soldiers are killed, recruitment figures fall by precipitously.

Retiring head of the armed forces Dick Berlijn this week suggested that conscription should be reintroduced. This is an idiotic idea. In the Netherlands there is absolutely no support for such a move, due to the fact that there is absolutely no threat to our country. Most people, quite correctly in my view, see our presence in Afghanistan and Iraq as support for the Americans' counterproductive war on terrorism. So there will be no reinstitution of conscription, and we are stuck with the problem that the armed forces are not recruiting enough people.

For this problem there are two possible solutions, but the Cabinet is not in favour of either. You can, as the right-wing opposition party the VVD advocates, allocate more money to the Defence department and, for example, increase salaries. This would attract more people and keep them longer in the service. The other solution, is, however, the one that has my support – reduce the scope of the armed forces' ambitions. By not deciding either way, the Cabinet has gone in reality for the worst possible solution. The armed forces are coming apart at the seams. Too little money to match their ambitions is leading to fewer people in the service and inadequate equipment. This is, in the end, disastrous for the armed forces, and it will mean that the good things which they wish to accomplish will be left undone.

Harry van Bommel

Be honest: We're at war in Afghanistan, panel told

2008-04-24T05:45:00.000-07:00

OTTAWA — The Canadian government should be more frank about its military engagement in Afghanistan and call it a "war" instead of describing it in innocuous terms such as restoring "security" or offering "humanitarian assistance," a former chief of staff to two Liberal defence ministers says.

"Even today you won't see much use of the term war, insurgency or counterinsurgency on government of Canada websites. You will see more anodyne terms like security, governance and humanitarian assistance," Eugene Lang told a panel discussion on Canada's military in the 21st century yesterday in Ottawa.

"This suggests to me that we are not honest with ourselves and the Canadian public about what we are actually involved in abroad," Mr. Lang told the discussion sponsored by the Walrus Foundation, publisher of The Walrus magazine.

Mr. Lang, who served as chief of staff to former Liberal defence ministers Bill Graham and John McCallum, acknowledged the Harper government has made progress in the past 18 months in using blunter language to describe Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

But he said this problem has dogged several governments.

"A clear, consistent articulation of the why and what of war, repeated again and again from our political leaders, is essential to building and maintaining the public support necessary for engaging in wars like the current one in Kandahar, and we haven't had that," said Mr. Lang, who co-authored a book on Canada's decision to deploy to Afghanistan, The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar.

"I think there's a general consensus now, certainly among the media and informed opinion, that there's an insurgency there and an insurgency is a form of war. And we're in the middle of it."

Canada recently extended its Afghanistan mission to 2011 from 2009 after a divisive national debate. The 2,500-soldier effort in the southern province of Kandahar, where an insurgency escalated last year, is supposed to shift to reconstruction and development from combat after February of 2009, but it's generally acknowledged the sizable combat demands that remain will frustrate this move.

NDP defence critic Dawn Black said the Harper government is still trying to "sell the war" to Canadians by "using language that doesn't address the reality of what is happening on the ground."

The public remains divided over the mission, according to opinion polls that indicate between 40 and 50 per cent of respondents oppose keeping troops in Afghanistan, where 82 Canadian soldiers have died since 2002. The Tories are trying to shift public focus away from casualties, the only broadly watched benchmark currently tracked by news media, and toward other measures. They're preparing a series of benchmarks, from education levels to development work, they will use to report progress in Afghanistan.

theglobeandmail.com

Suicide bomber in southern Afghanistan kills 2 policemen

2008-04-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A regional police chief says a suicide bomber struck his convoy in southern Afghanistan, killing two officers and wounding three others.

Khairudin Shujha, a district police chief in Helmand province, says the bomber was on foot when he approached the convoy in Gereshk district.

He says guards opened fire and wounded the attacker, who blew himself up. Shujha was not harmed in Wednesday's attack.

Southern Afghanistan is the center of the Taliban-led insurgency. Militants regularly use suicide attacks in their fight against Afghan and foreign troops in the country.

Afghanistan: no way out, says serving U.S. officer

2008-04-22T14:23:00.001-07:00

NATO and coalition forces are "stumbling toward failure" in Afghanistan and no amount of military success against the Taliban will bring an end to the war without a fundamental change in political policy, says a provocative article written by a serving U.S. army officer.

Col. Thomas Lynch, contributing in the latest edition of The American Interest, a Washington-based policy journal, says the U.S. and NATO cannot win in Afghanistan without convincing both Afghans and Pakistanis that Western military and economic support is there to stay.

Only a permanent NATO force - of the kind that guaranteed the security of western Europe after the Second World War, and still safeguards the security of South Korea - can bring about peace and stability in Afghanistan, says Lynch in his article titled "Afghan Dilemmas: Staying Power."

Lynch served as special assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Kabul in 2004. For the past four years he was stationed with the U.S. army in Afghanistan, Iraq and Qatar, and is now on a temporary fellowship with the Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank.

In an e-mail interview with Canwest News Service, Lynch also says Canadian forces should consider leaving Kandahar - handing their hard, counter-insurgency role to the Americans - and taking on a new "stability" mission in the less volatile areas of northern or western Afghanistan.

"I am a longtime fan of Canadian military forces," he says. "I served with them in Europe during the Cold War in my early career, and saw them daily in their NATO-ISAF stability and security duties around Kabul in 2004 and 2005. They are good troops."

Yet, despite his admiration for Canadian soldiers, Lynch says Canada, like most European allies, lacks the equipment and resources - helicopters, close-air support, logistics and "economic support tools" -to take charge of the tough, counter-insurgency work required in southern Afghanistan.

He says the U.S. "miscalculated" when it gave NATO control of the counter-insurgency mission in southern Afghanistan in 2006, thinking that peacekeeping and stability work would follow.

Instead, the Taliban insurgency flared up, forcing Canada and other NATO members into a combat role they were not expecting. That in turn, prompted the bickering over troop commitments that now plagues the alliance.

Lynch says NATO's troop commitments are not what ails the mission.

"The mission in Afghanistan is not in jeopardy mainly because NATO members refuse to provide sufficient troops," he says. "The real issue is the transitory and uncertain U.S. military posture in Afghanistan."

Lynch says the key to success lies in the politics of Pakistan, which has long viewed Afghanistan as a source of strategic depth against India: fear of India in the east, and fear of losing control of Afghanistan on its western frontier, have been a driving force in Pakistan since independence. That is why Pakistan helped create the Taliban as a puppet government in Kabul - and why elements of the Pakistan government still support them.

Lynch says only by convincing Pakistan - and the majority of Afghans - of its will to guarantee the security and stability of Afghanistan for decades to come, can the U.S. and its allies put an end to Taliban support, both from inside Pakistan, and from ordinary Afghans.

Consider that the U.S. has abandoned each country to their fates once before, withdrawing from the region soon after the Soviets retreated from Afghanistan.

Today, "our uncertain commitment to Afghanistan has the effect of bolstering Taliban propaganda (while providing) incentives for Pakistan to hedge its bets."

NATO can claim military supremacy over the Taliban, says Lynch, but so what?

"Our focus on tactical military facts obscures the Taliban's overall political success. Sanctuary in Pakistan has enabled the Taliban to evade decisive military engagement in order to rearm, regroup and train to fight another day," he says.

Meanwhile, the Taliban spreads the message: "'America will leave Afghanistan prematurely, as it has abandoned Afghanistan in the past; and when America leaves, we Taliban shall return to power and kill all Afghans who have collaborated with unbelievers.'

"Until we find a way to make this message less than credible," says Lynch, "tactical battlefield successes against the Taliban will amount to little."

What can Canada do towards this goal? Maintain its military commitment to Afghanistan to 2011 and beyond, says Lynch, but more importantly - help convince the U.S. and NATO to guarantee the regional security of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, with long-term political and economic treaties, and a small military force based permanently in Afghanistan.

"I believe that a lasting U.S./NATO strategic presence can be the same kind of force for stability and modernization that the U.S.-led western military coalition was in Korea, and was with NATO in western Europe from 1947 to 1989," says Lynch.

"The U.S.-led coalition is not winning this war . . . now is the time to make a fundamental correction."

canada.com

Czechs may send special unit to Afghanistan

2008-04-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

Prague- The Czech government wants to send perhaps as many as 100 soldiers from the Prostejov, South Moravia, special unit to Afghanistan in May to fulfil combat tasks within special operation under U.S. command.

The cabinet decided to send the troops at its closed session on April 9 and has not officially confirmed the proposal.

However, it has submitted it to the Chamber of Deputies that must approve it. The Senate must do so, too.

The parliament is likely to decide on the mission at its session that starts today.

Members of the 601st special forces unit from Prostejov had served in Afghanistan in 2004 and 2006.

Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) said earlier the soldiers would serve within the Enduring Freedom operation in very dangerous areas of the country and would not be part of NATO units.

The parliament will decide on the deployment of the Prostejov special unit between May and end of the year.

The mission will cost some 213 million crowns from the Defence Ministry budget.

Transport costs will be paid by the USA at whose request the Czech government has proposed the mission.

ceskenoviny.cz

Soldier killed in Afghanistan named Robert Pearson

2008-04-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

A British soldier who was killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan has been named as Trooper Robert Pearson.

The 22-year-old from the Queens Royal Lancers Regiment was killed in a suspected mine strike on his vehicle.

It was providing security to a supply convoy returning to Camp Bastion when the incident happened at about 9am.

A second soldier was injured in the blast and is receiving treatment at the Camp Bastion field hospital.

Trooper Pearson, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, leaves behind his father, Paul, stepmother, Gillian, and three sisters, Terrie, Alex and Alivia.

According to his local newspaper, the tragedy came less than a year after the death of his mother, Julie, in a road accident.

His aunt Linda O'Sullivan said he had been expected home next week on a two-week "R&R" break.

"His passing out of the Army was a proud day," she said. "His mum was so proud of him that day."

But she added: "I wish they would pull the troops out."

The incident takes the number of British personnel to die in Afghanistan since 2001 to 94.

itv.com

Schools torched, teachers missing in Afghanistan: police

2008-04-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

Militants have torched two mixed-sex schools near the Afghan capital, police said, and the Taliban said it had kidnapped two teachers and a school superintendent.

Police blamed the attacks on the schools near the small town of Logar, 50 kilometres south of Kabul, on the "enemies of Afghanistan" - a phrase that most often refers to Taliban militants.

At one school, they beat and tied up the superintendent and set fire to the eight-classroom building, Logar deputy provincial police chief Abdul Majeed Latifi told AFP.

The roof collapsed and windows, doors and furniture were badly damaged, he said.

At roughly the same time, attackers set fire to a nearby school. The blaze was put out by residents and police and only the principal's office and one classroom were affected, Mr Latifi said.

"This was also a mixed boys and girls school, where girls study in the morning and boys in the afternoon," he said.

Afghanistan's education system has been under attack for years with most incidents blamed on the Islamist Taliban, which denied girls education during its 1996 - 2001 grip on power and is today fighting the new government.

Violence left 220 pupils and teachers dead in 2007, the Education Ministry said last month.

The UN's children's organisation UNICEF said Monday that there had been 236 attacks on schools in 2007, with 23 recorded so far this year.

In a separate incident, gunmen captured a school superintendent near the south-central town of Ghazni late Sunday and two male teachers, the provincial government said.

Chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said loyalists of his militia had captured the three. Police said the men were still missing.

abc.net.au

NATO soldier, 15 others killed in attacks in Afghanistan - Summary

2008-04-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

Kabul - A NATO soldier was killed and three wounded in separate attacks in Afghanistan, while six police and nine Taliban militants were killed in the same region, officials said on TuesdayThe NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier died of wounds and three others were wounded in two separate explosions in the country's southern region on Monday, ISAF said in a statement.

The statement did not disclose the nationalities of the soldiers or the location of the two explosions. Southern region is manned by the NATO-led American, British, Dutch and Canadian soldiers.

Meanwhile, Afghan police clashed with a group of Taliban fighters in Arghistan district of southern Kandahar province on Tuesday, killing nine Taliban members, Rahmatullah Khan, border police commander in the province said.

He said that the operation by more than 100 Afghan police forces came a day after Taliban rebels attacked a police checkpoint in the district and killed six police officers.

The Taliban took responsibility for Monday's attack, with a spokesman saying they killed "several policemen" in the attack, but there were no casualties on the side of their fighters.

The poorly trained and equipped Afghan forces often come under Taliban attack in the southern provinces, where Taliban militants are the most active.

More than 900 police forces were killed in Taliban-led militancy last year, while the violence last year claimed the lives of some 8,000 people - mostly insurgents.

earthtimes.org

6 police killed at checkpoint in southern Afghanistan

2008-04-22T14:08:00.001-07:00

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Police say Taliban militants attacked a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, killing six police officers.

Police commander Rehmatullah Khan says the militants attacked the border checkpoint in Arghasan district of Kandahar province late Monday and then withdrew.

Khan says some militants were wounded but had no other details.

Militants often attack the Afghan police force, which is seen as weaker than the better trained and equipped national army. Last year, more than 900 police officers were killed in militant attacks.

Foreigners kidnapped in Afghanistan

2008-04-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Two foreign nationals have reportedly been kidnapped in western Afghanistan.

Police initially said the men missing from Herat province since late Monday were an Indian and a Nepalese, but later said both were Indian nationals.

However, the Indian government later confirmed that only one of this nationals was missing.

He was said to be employed by EOD Technology Inc, a US security company, and had gone missing in Herat's Adraskan district.

Abdul Rauf Ahmadi, a police spokesman, said both men had called police on Monday and said they were "in trouble".

"After we sent our police to the area, they had gone missing. We found their vehicle abandoned," he said.

Police had not been contacted by any group that may have taken the men.

Policemen killed
Elsewhere, Taliban fighters stormed a police post overnight, killing six officers, according to a police commander in the southern border province of Kandahar.

"Armed Taliban attacked one of our police posts in Arghistan overnight. Six policemen in the post were martyred," Rahmatullah Khan told the AFP news agency.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack.

In a separate incident, Afghan police killed nine Taliban fighters, officials said.
Authorities recovered the bodies of four dead fighters after Tuesday's gun battle, while the fighters took away five more dead fighters as they retreated, Raziq said.

Checkpoint battle

The clash came a day after a Taliban attack on a checkpoint left six border policemen dead in Arghistan, officials said.

About 200 police clashed with fighters during a search operation launched following Monday's attack, General Abdul Raziq, a police commander in the area, said.

In other violence, a British soldier was killed in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when his vehicle was hit by a suspected mine explosion, the British ministry of defence said late on Monday.

The death brought the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 to 94.

Schools torched

Closer to Afghanistan's capital, fighters set two mixed-sex schools on fire, the AFP news agency said quoting Afghan police.

Police blamed the attacks on the schools near the small town of Logar, 50km south of Kabul, on the "enemies of Afghanistan".

According to Abdul Majeed Latifi, Logar's deputy provincial police chief, at one school the assailants beat and tied up the superintendent and set fire to the eight-classroom building.

At roughly the same time, attackers set fire to a nearby school. The blaze was put out by residents and police and only the principal's office and one classroom were affected, Latifi said.

"This was also a mixed boys and girls school, where girls study in the morning and boys in the afternoon," he said.

aljazeera.net

Al-Qaida Deputy Chief Issues Warning to Western Countries

2008-04-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

Osama bin Laden's chief deputy is warning that al-Qaida will target Western countries involved in the war in Iraq.

Ayman al-Zawahiri issued the threat in an audio recording released Tuesday on a militant Web site. The recording was not immediately verified as authentic.

During the two-and-a-half hour message, Zawahiri stressed that jihad (holy war) in Iraq is important.

The terrorist leader was answering questions submitted to Internet forums. It is the second time Zawahiri has responded to such questions in this manner.

Earlier this month, Zawahiri said in a message that bin Laden was alive and well.

In other news, the U.S military in Iraq says two separate bomb blasts have killed three U.S. Marines, two near the western city of Ramadi Tuesday, and one in the southern city of Basra on Monday.

Two Iraqi policemen and 24 civilians were also wounded in Tuesday's attack near Ramadi.

VOA

9 Taliban Killed in Southern Afghanistan

2008-04-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Authorities in Afghanistan say police killed nine Taliban militants Tuesday, a day after six policemen were killed in an attack on a checkpoint in the southern part of the country.

On Monday, Taliban militants attacked a police checkpoint in Kandahar province, near the Pakistani border.

A police commander in the region said 200 policemen searching for the attackers clashed with the militants, killing nine of them.

Meanwhile, in the western Afghan province of Herat, authorities say they believe militants have abducted two foreign employees of a U.S. security company.

Police say an Indian and a Nepalese worker disappeared Monday evening while traveling in the Adraskan district. Their driver also is missing.

In other news, the U.S. commander of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan says Afghan forces should be able to secure most of the country by 2011, allowing international troops to start withdrawing

In an interview published Monday in The New York Times, General Dan McNeill said Afghan army and police forces have already been managing security for the capital, Kabul, for the past year, with NATO support.

The issue of NATO involvement in Afghanistan has caused strains within the alliance. Some NATO members have been reluctant to send troops, or to allow their troops to operate in areas where a resurgent Taliban movement is most active.

VOA

Afghans Protest Skyrocketing Food Prices

2008-04-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of people angry over the rising cost of food demonstrated in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday.

Protesters blocked a key road connecting the town of Jalalabad to the capital, Kabul. They demanded action from the government to bring down skyrocketing prices.

Earlier, the Afghan government announced it is setting aside $50 million to buy wheat from other countries, including Kazakhstan and neighboring Pakistan.

Many demonstrators expressed anger with Pakistan - upon which Afghans are heavily reliant for food imports. Pakistan has recently slowed its exports due to its own concerns about rising food prices.

Elsewhere, in the western Afghan province of Herat, authorities say they believe militants have abducted two foreign employees of a U.S. security company.

Police say an Indian and a Nepalese worker disappeared Monday evening while traveling in the Adraskan district. Their driver also is missing.

voanews.com

Uruzgan

2008-04-21T12:55:00.001-07:00

Trouw's front page is more sobering, with a photo of Dutch soldiers in Uruzgan paying their last respects to two dead colleagues as their coffins pass by on the back of a truck on their way to a waiting airplane.

The soldier's bodies were flown back to the Netherlands on Sunday. After a short ceremony at Eindhoven airbase, the bodies were returned to their families. One of the dead soldiers is the son of new Dutch defence chief Peter van Uhm. The soldiers died when their vehicle drove over a roadside bomb on Friday.

Inside Trouw, US terrorism specialist Laura Mansfield says the attack was revenge for the anti-Islam film Fitna, with the Taliban having said as much on their website. Two other soldiers who were seriously injured in the attack were flown back to the Netherlands on Saturday. Military unions have called for more NATO support in the Uruzgan mission. De Volkskrant, meanwhile, asks "Are Dutch troops easy prey for the Taliban?"

radionetherlands.nl

Afghan soldiers will be trained to tackle IEDs

2008-04-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

THE NETHERLANDS - The Dutch Defence Ministry says it is pleased with a NATO announcement that Afghan troops will receive training in the dismantlement of improvised explosive devices (IED), or roadside bombs.

NATO officials announced on Sunday that ISAF troops will train Afghan soldiers - at Camp Zafar in Herat - in how to recognise and dismantle the devices at Camp Zafar in Herat.

On Friday, two Dutch soldiers were killed and two seriously injured by a roadside bomb. Among the dead was Lieutenant Dennis van Uhm, son of General Peter van Uhm, who took over as Dutch chief of defence on Thursday.

The two Dutch soldiers who were injured and the bodies of the two soldiers who were killed in the roadside bombing have now been brought back to The Netherlands.

expatica.com

Soldier killed in Afghanistan blast

2008-04-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

A British soldier has been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said.

The soldier, from the Queens Royal Lancers Regiment, was killed in a suspected mine strike on his vehicle.

It was providing security to a supply convoy returning to Camp Bastion from the town of Gareshk when the incident happened.

A second soldier was injured in the blast and is receiving treatment at the Camp Bastion field hospital.

Next of kin have been informed, an MoD spokesman said.

"The soldier was evacuated to the medical facility at Camp Bastion, but tragically was declared dead on arrival," the MoD spokesman said.

Lieutenant Colonel Sarto LeBlanc, spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), said: "We offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the soldier who died, and those who were wounded, while working to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.

"We have lost a valuable member of our team and this loss will be felt across our command."

The incident takes the number of British personnel to die in Afghanistan since 2001 to 94.

ukpress

Afghanistan spending to top $1-billion in 2008

2008-04-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

OTTAWA -- Canada's yearly cost of the war in Afghanistan doubled in 2006 and was projected to crack the $1-billion mark this year.

An internal Defence Department report of the Afghanistan mission's costs, dated this past Jan. 25, shows that the incremental cost of the Afghan mission spiked noticeably to $803 million in the fiscal year of 2006-2007, nearly doubling the $402 million from the previous year.

This sharp increase in spending coincides with the massive escalation of the Taliban insurgency in 2006, which set off a wave of unprecedented violence across southern Afghanistan.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. It shows what mission creep is really doing," said NDP defence critic Dawn Black, who obtained the new figures through Access to Information.

Nr. Black was critical of the fact the cost of the war to taxpayers was not fully debated and said that the figures should have been disclosed to the House of Commons before the Liberals supported the Conservative government motion to extend the mission to 2011 on March 13.

"It's wrong that the cost of the war has never been part of the debate. These numbers were available before this motion was passed in the House of Commons with the help of the Liberals."

The NDP opposes Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan and wants the country's 2,500 troops, mostly based in Kandahar province, brought home immediately.

The figures show that for the first nine months of this recently ended fiscal year, from April 1, 2007 to Dec. 31, 2007, the incremental cost of the war was $871 million.

Another $206 million was pegged as the incremental cost for final quarter of the fiscal year that ended on March 31, bringing the year's total to $1.007 billion.

The $1-billion-a-year price tag is expected to hold for another year. The report projects the incremental cost for 2008-09 to be $1.009 billion.

The Defence Department defines incremental cost as "the cost, which is over and above the amount that would have been spent for personnel and equipment if they had not been deployed on the task. The incremental costs include items such as the additional ammunition required, mission specific pre-deployment training, strategic transport and redeployment, and operating cost for the capability deployed in theatre."

The Canadian Forces have had to bolster the mission with dozens of armoured vehicles to counter the growing threat of roadside bombs.

An Ottawa Citizen investigation revealed this past November that the military had purchased a record amount of guns and ammunition between February and June 2007. The $54 million the government spent in that brief time frame on small arms, big guns, ammunition, explosives, grenades and other miscellaneous weapons exceeded what the military spent on those items in all of 2005 and 2006 combined.

The Citizen analysis established that for every dollar spent on a gun, at least $20 was spent on ammunition.

The Jan. 25, 2008 Defence Department report said that the incremental costs are projected to decrease by 2011, totalling just $411 million in the next two fiscal years.

But Mr. Black questioned that estimate, noting that it was prepared prior to Parliament voting to extend the mission to 2011 and before the independent panel headed by John Manley released its report calling on Canada to supply medium-lift helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles as a condition for extending the mission in Kandahar by two years.

The report said that the total incremental cost of the mission dating back to 2001 is projected to reach $5 billion by the end of 2011.

That represents an increase of $500 million over previous estimates, the report said.

The extra costs are due to a projected $337-million spending increase in "enhanced force protection assets" and another $165 million to cover the costs of vehicle and equipment refurbishment over the next two years.

During testimony before the Commons defence committee in late November, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the total Afghanistan incremental costs stood $3.1 billion since 2001.

According to the Jan. 25, 2008 report, that figure stood at $3.4 billion as of Dec. 31, about one month after Mr. MacKay testified.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked during a news conference at the recent NATO leaders' summit in Bucharest, Romania for a cost estimate of Canada's involvement in Afghanistan.

"I don't have one off the top of my head. I could get it for you," the prime minister immediately replied.

"I think the cost of our military engagement probably amounts to about a billion a year, but probably half of that would be consumed anyway."

The Jan. 25 report showed that in 2006-2007 the full cost of the mission was $1.915 billion, of which $803 million was deemed incremental. Between April 1 and Dec. 31 last year, the $871 million incremental cost was part of an overall cost of $2.076 billion.

The Defence Department's annual $18.2 billion budget is projected to increase to more than $19 billion this coming year.

In Bucharest, Harper also noted that, "we're up to several hundred million dollars already on the development front."

The federal government has pledged $1.3 billion in development spending to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2011, making it Canada's largest aid recipient. That includes $300 million added by the Conservatives to the earlier $1-billion pledge by the former Liberal government.

"So it's a big, big mission, both military and civilian, by any measure," Mr.Harper said in Bucharest. "Both No. 1 military and No. 1 civilian development mission in the world."

nationalpost.com

Afghanistan struggles to provide decent healthcare

2008-04-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

By Tan Ee Lyn

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan laborer Chaman traveled a whole day to bring his son to Kabul to have a kidney stone removed after doctors in their home province turned them away because they could not afford the fees.

The two-year-old boy, who suffered excruciating pain for three days, finally had the stone removed in a charity hospital funded by Turkey.

"The private hospitals are only for rich businessmen. Poor people have to use government hospitals and if they can't help, the children die," said the young father from Ghazni province as he unwrapped a piece of paper to show a brown pebble measuring half a centimeter in diameter. Ghazni is southwest of Kabul.

Foreign donors have given some $15 billion in aid to Afghanistan since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001, but several times more was spent per person in other conflict zones such as Bosnia and East Timor.

The U.S. military alone spends $100 million a day fighting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan while the total spending by all donors is only $7 million a day, aid groups say.

Nevertheless, the number of health facilities in Afghanistan has risen from 550 in 2001 to 1,429 now.

The government says free basic healthcare is available within two hours walking distance to 85 percent of the population, from just 9 percent in 2003. But people say they are far from adequate and decent healthcare is available only to those who can afford to pay, travel to the capital city, or go overseas.

"My friend's son died last year from pneumonia because he could not borrow enough money in time to take him to Kabul. In Ghazni (where they were living), good medicines aren't available in the public hospitals," said Afghan driver, January

Afghanistan has one of the world's highest infant and child mortality figures. Out of 1,000 live births, 128 die before they are a year old, and one out of every five children will not live beyond the age of five, according to official statistics.

Thirty-nine percent of children under five are malnourished due to poverty and 54 percent of Afghan children are stunted and 40 percent are underweight, according to UNICEF.

LOTS OF CRYING

"Every 24 hours, 10 to 15 children under five die in the pediatric ward," said Sister Mary Francis, a volunteer nurse from India who works at the 500-bed Herat General Hospital.

"They die of meningitis, infections, pneumonia or because they are premature. The children are very anemic because of malnutrition which makes them very susceptible to infections."

"There is a lot of crying (by parents). It is very sad."

Healthcare workers and NGO groups say many government hospitals are poorly equipped and often, doctors do not have the skills or equipment to perform some surgeries.

Institutions fell apart over the last 30 years of violence, leaving few facilities to train recruits with.

"There is only oxygen available in ICUs (intensive care units) and there is no equipment even to monitor heart rates," Francis said, referring to the Herat hospital.

While many seek treatment in Kabul, hospitals here are grim. At the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital, a leading pediatric facility in the country, patients need to buy their own sutures, gauze, medicines, and even surgical gloves for their doctors.

"We don't have the budget, we only provide the bed and the doctor. We don't even have enough detergents to clean the floor," said a doctor, who declined to be identified. He earns $100 a month.

Many doctors run their own private practice. The facade of tattered buildings in downtown Kabul is plastered with signs advertising the many tiny clinics inside.

Observers, however, say there has been marked improvement in Afghan healthcare compared to the bleak decades of the past.

"You have to put it in perspective, this country has just come out of 25 years of devastation and war, health facilities will take time to build up," said Eric Sinclair, chief operating officer of the Cure International Hospital in Kabul.

Cure is one of several foreign aid groups helping Afghanistan run some of its hospitals. These are to be handed back eventually with more skilful medical staff and better facilities.

(Editing by David Fox)

Pakistan frees cleric who fought US in Afghanistan

2008-04-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

By Faris Ali

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, April 21 (Reuters) - Pakistan's new government on Monday released the founder of an outlawed pro-Taliban militant group which has been involved in insurgency in both Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, an official said.

Sufi Mohammad, a cleric and leader of the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (Movement for Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law), sent thousands of followers to fight U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, who ousted the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"The government has released Sufi Mohammad. He has renounced violence and assured the government he will continue his movement through peaceful means," said Sardar Hussain Babak, minister of information in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Many of Mohammad's activists, most of whom are ethnic Pashtuns from northwest Pakistan, were killed in Afghanistan and Mohammad was arrested in 2002 when he was returning to Pakistan.

After his arrest and detention, his firebrand son-in-law, Fazlullah, took over as leader of the group and over the past year he has led an insurgency in the Swat Valley in NWFP.

Hundreds of people have been killed in fighting between the security forces and militants in Swat where Fazlullah tried to enforce Taliban-style Islamist rule. Fazlullah is still at large.

Mohammad, an elderly man with a long white beard, has been in poor health.

Analysts say his release appeared to be part of efforts by the new government to engage militants in dialogue amid widespread resentment of the previous government's support for the U.S.-led campaign against militancy.

Many Pakistanis blame President Pervez Musharraf's staunch support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism for provoking a wave of militant violence since the middle of last year.

The proposed talks with militants have raised questions about Pakistan's stand against militancy, especially with Musharraf increasingly isolated since his allies were defeated in a February general election. (Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel and Jon Boyle)

U.S. Military Seeks to Widen Pakistan Raids

2008-04-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — American commanders in Afghanistan have in recent months urged a widening of the war that could include American attacks on indigenous Pakistani militants in the tribal areas inside Pakistan, according to United States officials.

The requests have been rebuffed for now, the officials said, after deliberations in Washington among senior Bush administration officials who fear that attacking Pakistani radicals may anger Pakistan’s new government, which is negotiating with the militants, and destabilize an already fragile security situation.

American commanders would prefer that Pakistani forces attack the militants, but Pakistani military operations in the tribal areas have slowed recently to avoid upsetting the negotiations.

Pakistan’s government has given the Central Intelligence Agency limited authority to kill Arab and other foreign operatives in the tribal areas, using remotely piloted Predator aircraft. But administration officials say the Pakistani government has put far greater restrictions on American operations against indigenous Pakistani militant groups, including one thought to have been behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

American intelligence officials say that the threat emanating from Pakistan’s tribal areas is growing, and that Pakistani networks there have taken on an increasingly important role as an ally of Al Qaeda in plotting attacks against American and other allied troops in Afghanistan, and in helping foreign operatives plan attacks on targets in the West. The officials said the American military’s proposals included options for limited cross-border artillery strikes into Pakistan, missile attacks by Predator aircraft or raids by small teams of C.I.A. paramilitary forces or Special Operations forces.

In recent months, the American military officials in Afghanistan who are urging attacks in Pakistan discussed a list of potential targets with the United States ambassador in Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, officials said.

The requests by the American commanders for attacks on targets in Pakistan were described by officials who had been briefed on the discussions but who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions involved possible future operations.

The discussions are the latest example of a recurring problem for the White House: that the place where the terrorist threat is most acute is the place where American forces are most restricted from acting.

Officials involved in the debate said that the question of attacking Pakistani militants was especially delicate because some militant leaders were believed to still be on the payroll of Pakistan’s intelligence service, called the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, or another part of Pakistan’s intelligence apparatus. Among the groups thought to be targets was one commanded by Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of the legendary militant leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, as well as the network led by Baitullah Mehsud that is believed to have been behind Ms. Bhutto’s death.

For years the intelligence services have relied on a web of sources among Pakistani militant groups to collect information on foreign groups like Al Qaeda that have operated in the tribal areas.

A Pentagon adviser said military intelligence officers in Afghanistan had drawn up the detailed list of potential targets that was discussed with Ambassador Patterson. It is unclear which senior officials in Washington were involved in the debate over whether to authorize attacks.

One administration official said the internal discussions in Washington involved President Bush’s top national security aides, and took place earlier this year.

Military and intelligence officials say Al Qaeda and its affiliates now have a haven to plan attacks, just as they used camps in Afghanistan before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the C.I.A. director, said last month that the security situation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border “presents clear and present danger to Afghanistan, to Pakistan and to the West in general, and to the United States in particular.”

American officials involved in the discussions said that they had not ruled out striking Pakistani militants in the tribal areas. American forces in Afghanistan are authorized to attack targets in Pakistan in self-defense or if they are in “hot pursuit” of militants fleeing back to havens across the border.

American-led forces in Afghanistan fired artillery at what they suspected was a Haqqani network safe house on March 12 that an American spokesman said posed an “imminent threat.” But the Pakistani Army said the strike killed only civilians.

Administration officials say the risk of angering the new government in Pakistan and stirring increased anti-American sentiment in the tribal areas outweighs the benefits of dismantling militant networks in the region.

“It’s certainly something we want to get to, but not yet,” said one Bush administration official. “If you do it now, you can expect to do it without Pakistani approval, and you can expect to do it only once because the Pakistanis will never help us again.”

Spokesmen for the White House and State Department declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for Ambassador Patterson in Pakistan.

Intelligence officials say they believe that leaders of the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups have in recent months forged closer ties to the cadre of Qaeda leaders in the tribal areas. Officials have said that they thought the leader of the Taliban there, Jalaluddin Haqqani, may have died last year. But Mr. Haqqani recently released a video denying those reports and made reference to a military attack in eastern Afghanistan that happened this March. Mr. Haqqani’s son, Sirajuddin, has also made aggressive efforts to recruit foreign fighters from the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in Central Asia.

“The relationship between the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and Al Qaeda and other groups such as the Haqqani network, are stronger today than they were, and they’re primarily based on the Pakistani side of the border,” said Seth Jones, an analyst with the RAND Corporation, in Congressional testimony this month after his trip to Afghanistan.

The Haqqanis are suspected of organizing a suicide attack on March 3 that killed two American soldiers at an Afghan government office. Sirajuddin Haqqani is also suspected of orchestrating a suicide bomb attack in January at the Serena Hotel in Kabul that killed six people.

The discussions over how to combat Al Qaeda and Pakistani militant networks in the tribal areas have been going on for nearly two years, as American policy makers have weighed the growing militant threat in the border area against unilateral American action that could politically weaken President Pervez Musharraf, a close ally in the global counterterrorism campaign.

A few weeks after Ms. Bhutto’s assassination in December, two senior American intelligence officials reached a quiet understanding with Mr. Musharraf to intensify secret strikes against suspected terrorists by Predator aircraft launched in Pakistan.

American officials have expressed alarm that the leaders of Pakistan’s new coalition government, Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), are negotiating with militants believed to be responsible for an increasing number of suicide attacks against the security forces and political figures.

The new government has signaled that in its relations with Washington, it wants to take a path more independent than the one followed by the previous government and to use military force in the tribal areas only as a last resort.

In Congressional testimony this month, a former top American commander in Afghanistan said the need for more action was urgent. “A senior member of the administration needs to go to Pakistan and take the intelligence we have on Al Qaeda, the Taliban, the Haqqani network inside of Pakistan and lay it out for their most senior leadership,” said the retired commander, Lt. Gen. David W. Barno.

He said the American envoy should “show them exactly what we know about, what they don’t know about what’s going on in their tribal areas and say, this is not a tolerable situation for you nor for us.”

“And,” he added, “we need to sit down and think through what we can collectively do about this.”

France to deploy new Afghanistan force by August

2008-04-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

PARIS (Reuters) - France will deploy the additional battalion of troops it has promised to send to Afghanistan before the end of August, Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Sunday.

"They will leave this summer, in July-August," Morin told Europe 1 radio.

President Nicolas Sarkozy promised earlier this month to send a battalion of around 700 soldiers to eastern Afghanistan, allowing U.S. troops there to be sent to reinforce a 2,500-strong Canadian contingent in the south.

France currently has around 1,500 troops in Afghanistan as part of a 2,200-strong contingent serving in the region with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission and the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom.

Air raid, clash leave 11 Taliban militants dead in Afghanistan

2008-04-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

Kabul - Afghan and coalition forces killed at least 11 militants in separate raids that included an airstrike in southern Afghanistan, while five Afghan army soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb attack, officials said on Monday.

An airstrike by international forces in Gramsir district of volatile Hemand province on Sunday killed seven Taliban militants, the defence ministry said in a statement.

A Taliban vehicle was also destroyed in the air raid, it said.

In a separate incident on Sunday in neighboring Kandahar province, Taliban militants attacked a joint patrol of Afghan and international forces near the Posta Haji area of the province, the statement said.

The combined forces returned the fire and killed four militants, the statement said, adding that there were no casualties among the joint forces.

Five Afghan army soldiers were wounded when their Ranger was struck by a roadside bomb blast in Qalat, the capital city of Zabul province, on Sunday, the army statement said, adding the wounded soldiers were in stable condition at a hospital in the region.

Ousted from power in a US-led invasion in late 2001, Taliban militants have waged a bloody insurgency to topple the Western-backed Afghan government and expel the foreign forces.

More than 8,000 people - mostly insurgents - were killed in violence last year, while the fighting so far this year has claimed the lives of at least 1,000 people.

monstersandcritics.com

US veterans sue over 'poor care'

2008-04-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

US veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are suing the government, claiming inadequate care is leading to an increase in suicides.

A San Francisco court will hear the class action lawsuit against the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The veterans say the department has been unable to deal with the growing incidence of depression and suicides.

But government lawyers argue the department has been devoting more resources to mental health.

In court papers the two non-profit groups representing the veterans write "that failure to provide care is manifesting itself in an epidemic of suicides".

"The bottom line is that we're not taking care of the veterans and we need to change that," says lead lawyer, Gordon Erspamer

Raft of complaints

An average of 18 war veterans kill themselves each day - five of them under Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) care - according to a December e-mail between top department officials that has been filed as part of the federal lawsuit.

The Rand Corporation has recently released a study that shows some 300,000 US troops - about 20% of those deployed - are suffering from depression, or post traumatic stress disorder, after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"We find that the VA has simply not devoted enough resources. They don't have enough psychiatrists," said Mr Erspamer.

In 2006 suicide rates were reported to be the highest in 26 years, at 99 confirmed suicides.

The two organisations involved in the legal action are asking US District Court Judge Samuel Conti, a World War II army veteran, to order the VA to overhaul its system drastically.

"What I would like to see from the VA is that they actually treat patients with respect," says Bob Handy, the head of Veterans United for Truth, one of the bodies suing the agency.

Mr Handy formed the group after hearing a raft of complaints from veterans about their treatment, when he was a member of the Veterans Caucus of the state Democratic Party.

More professionals

Government lawyers say the VA has been making mental health and suicide prevention a top priority.

In court filings, the VA states that for 2008, $3.8b will be spent on mental health.

Also, more than 3,700 new mental health professionals have been hired in the past two-and-a-half years, bringing the total to just under 17,000.

The VA's lawyers have filed papers arguing that the courts have no jurisdiction to tell the VA how to operate, and no business wading into the everyday management of a network that includes 153 medical centres nationwide.

The case will be heard without a jury and is expected to last about two weeks.

Plaintiffs are hoping the judge will order broad changes in the administration of veterans' benefits, or perhaps even appoint an outside administrator to oversee changes.

BBCnews

Army unions call for reinforcements in Afghanistan

2008-04-21T12:11:00.000-07:00

The main parties in the Dutch government are against sending troop reinforcements to the Afghan province of Uruzgan. Military unions are calling for extra troops after an attack on a Dutch convoy on Friday killed two soldiers, one of them the son of the newly appointed Dutch Chief of Defence. The latest casualties also seem to be affecting public support for the Dutch contribution to the NATO mission.

Two military unions in the Netherlands think more Dutch troops should be sent to Uruzgan to combat the threat of attacks like the one that took place on Friday. The Netherlands currently has 1,650 troops stationed in Afghanistan. They include 1,200 ground troops stationed in the southern province of Uruzgan plus members of the air force, which provides F-16 fighter planes and Apache helicopters.

But the figure of 1,200 is deceptive - the majority of this force carry out support tasks and never actually leave the two Dutch bases. It's estimated that the Netherlands has around 500 troops in the province who are actually able to go ‘out of the gate', but of course they aren't on duty 24 hours a day.

Too few people
Given that there always has to be a reserve unit, or Quick Reaction Force, on stand-by to turn out in case of emergency, at any given time only about 150 soldiers are left to do the everyday work on the ground, such as making contacts with the local population, exploring, and if need be engaging the Taliban. So on the face of it the military unions' appeal for more troops doesn't seem out of place. Wim van den Burg of the union AFMP sums up the problem.

"You actually have to monitor the area, and we simply have too few people to manage it. As soon as we turn round, things go on behind our backs that we actually don't want happening, and we can't keep an adequate check on it. We really need a lot more people."

The two deaths on Friday bring the number of Dutch soldiers killed by roadside bombs to five, out of a total of 16 killed in accidents, attacks and combat. This means that ‘Improvised Explosive Devices' (IEDs) proportionally form the greatest threat. Not surprisingly then, a Dutch IED Task Force has recently been set up, and there is a constant exchange of information on the latest enemy techniques with NATO allies in Afghanistan.

Drop in public support
The threat presented by roadside bombs is evident from the fact that columns of military vehicles are often headed by engineers using metal detectors to check the road and roadside. But this method is no guarantee of safety, as last Friday's attack makes only too clear. The best means to counter roadside bombs is said to be tips and information from the local population.

The death of the two soldiers on Friday has led to an immediate drop in public support for the Dutch military presence in Afghanistan. A poll at the weekend showed that a majority of people now oppose the mission. Among army personnel too, the losses are having an effect, says chairman of the Christian military union ACOM, Jan Kleian.

"The frustration among the men is naturally increasing on this point too, because they say, 'Every week in every village, we're doing the same job,' so there's a problem of morale. But what I find much worse is that if you have evidence that it leads to casualties, you have a particular duty to prevent it [i.e. attacks, ed.]"
Probably no extra troops
It's highly unlikely that the Netherlands will decide to send any significant number of extra troops to Uruzgan. The policy is to train the Afghan army as quickly and thoroughly as possible to enable them to take on the work themselves. There is to be a review of whether the vehicles deployed in Uruzgan need adaptations, such as additional armour plating. But experience in Iraq shows that an IED can take out even the heaviest tank- it's just a matter of how many kilos of explosives the insurgents use.

radionetherlands.nl

Pentagon chief says Air Force should do more

2008-04-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

By ROBERT BURNS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday the Air Force is not doing enough to help in the Iraq and Afghanistan war effort, complaining that some military leaders are "stuck in old ways of doing business."

Gates said in a speech at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., that getting the military services, largely the Air Force, to send more unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to Iraq and Afghanistan has been "like pulling teeth."

Addressing officer students at the Air Force's Air University, the Pentagon chief praised the Air Force for its overall contributions but made a point of urging it to do more and to undertake new and creative ways of thinking about helping the war effort instead of focusing mainly on future threats.

While Gates' comments were directed mainly at the Air Force, his concern about faster fielding of unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft included a broader appeal to the entire military. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps have been expanding their fleets of drone aircraft.

"In my view we can do and we should do more to meet the needs of men and women fighting in the current conflicts while their outcome may still be in doubt," he said. "My concern is that our services are still not moving aggressively in wartime to provide resources needed now on the battlefield."

He cited the example of drone aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents without risking the life of a pilot. He said the number of such aircraft has grown 25-fold since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to a total of 5,000.

Gates has been trying for months to get the Air Force to send more surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, like the Predator drone that provides real-time surveillance video, to the battlefield.

"Because people were stuck in old ways of doing business, it's been like pulling teeth," Gates said. "While we've doubled this capability in recent months, it is still not good enough."

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates' complaint about struggling to get more drone aircraft to the battlefield was aimed not only at the Air Force but at the military as a whole.

To push the issue harder, Gates said he established last week a Pentagon-wide task force "to work this problem in the weeks to come, to find more innovative and bold ways to help those whose lives are on the line."

He likened the urgency of the task force's work to that of a similar organization he created last year to push for faster production and deployment of mine-resistant, ambush-protected armored vehicles that have been credited with saving lives of troops facing attacks by roadside bombs in Iraq.

"All this may require rethinking long-standing service assumptions and priorities about which missions require certified pilots and which do not," Gates said, referring to so-called unmanned aerial vehicles that are controlled by service members at ground stations.

The military's reliance on unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft has soared to more than 500,000 hours in the air, largely in Iraq, according to Pentagon data. The Air Force has taken pilots out of the air and shifted them to remote flying duty to meet part of the demand.

Gates, who served in the Air Force in the 1960s as a young officer before he joined the Central Intelligence Agency, urged the officers in his audience to dedicate themselves to thinking creatively.

"I'm asking you to be part of the solution and part of the future," he said.

He said the Air Force and the other branches of the military need to protect those in their ranks who are maverick thinkers, who defy convention and push for creative solutions to hard problems. He said he intended to make a similar point about the value of dissent in the military in remarks later Monday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

"Dissent is a sign of health in an organization, and particularly if it's done in the right way," Gates said.

Gates made no direct mention of a series of mistakes and missteps involving the Air Force in recent months, beginning with an episode last August when a B-52 bomber flew from an Air Force base in North Dakota to another in Louisiana with the crew unaware that it was carrying nuclear weapons.

Last month Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne announced that four Air Force nose cone assemblies designed for use with nuclear missiles were mistakenly shipped to Taiwan in 2006. The error was not verified until shortly before Wynne made the announcement, and the matter is under Pentagon investigation.

Last week the Pentagon said its investigators had found that a $50 million contract to promote the Air Force's Thunderbirds aerial stunt team was tainted by improper influence and preferential treatment. The Defense Department's Inspector General found no criminal conduct, but laid out a trail of communications from Air Force leaders — including from its top officer, Gen. Michael Moseley — that eventually influenced the 2005 contract award.

Taliban: Dutch Defense Chief's Son Killed Over Anti-Islam Film

2008-04-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

Taliban Said They Knew the Whereabouts of Lt. Dennis van Uhm

The Taliban declared the death of the Dutch defense chief's son revenge for the release of an anti-Islam film by a member of Dutch parliament.

The roadside bomb Friday that killed the 23-year-old son of the Dutch defense chief, Lt. Dennis van Uhm, also killed one other Dutch soldier. The Taliban said the explosion was revenge for the film "Fitna," released last month by the head of Netherlands' anti-immigration party, Geert Wilders.

"This great battle is one of many in revenge as promised by the Shura command council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan…," said Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yusuf. Yusuf said the Taliban knew the whereabouts of the Dutch defense chief's son, and that the attack was intended to target Dutch soldiers.

*ABCnews

Afghan, Iranian border clash kills Afghan teacher

2008-04-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

KABUL, April 20 (Reuters) - An Afghan teacher was killed and two Iranian border guards wounded in a gunbattle between Iranian and Afghan forces in Afghanistan's border province of Nimroz, the Interior Ministry in Kabul said on Sunday.

The clash broke out after four Iranian border guards crossed the Afghan border village of Pul Abreshum on Saturday afternoon and beat up a number of residents, the ministry said in a statement.

According to provincial police, the four Iranian border guards entered the village and announced that part of the area belonged to Iran. Afghan forces were sent in and the Iranian border guards began firing as they fled the area, the ministry said.

The ensuing gun battle left one teacher dead and two Iranian border guards wounded.

Earlier this month Afghan police said Iranian border guards killed 13 Afghan refugees on the Afghan side of the border.

Afghanistan's western border is generally peaceful though smugglers occasionally clash with security forces.

Iran is a smuggling conduit for drugs from Afghanistan, the world's biggest producer of opium. (Writing by Jonathon Burch, editing by Sami Aboudi)

Firefight leaves 4 Taliban insurgents dead in Afghanistan

2008-04-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

KABUL, April 20 (Xinhua)-- Four Taliban insurgents were killed in Afghanistan's southern province Kandahar as they came in contact with government forces over weekend, a local military officer said Sunday.

"The clash took place on Saturday in Panjwai district when the rebels attacked a convoy of Afghan troops, and the soldiers returned fire, killing four enemies," Shirin Shah told Xinhua.

He also said that there were no casualties on government forces.

Taliban militants have not made any comments.

Militancy and conflicts have claimed the lives of more than 400people, mostly civilians, so far this year in Afghanistan.

xinhuanet.com

Missing envoy in video plea

2008-04-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Pakistan's missing ambassador to Afghanistan appears in a video saying he is being held by Taliban militants.

Tariq Azizuddin, who vanished in February with his driver and bodyguard, is seen urging Pakistan's government to comply with the militants' demands.

Paul Chapman reports.

JAWAREPORT :Will Some One Please Kill Yousef Ahmadi Now?

2008-04-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

Long time Jawa Report readers know that we have a standing feud with the Taliban 's online spokesman Adil Watanmal who runs Qari Mohammad Yousef's (aka, "Yousef Ahmadi", aka "Ahmadi") websites. Intermittently. When they aren't offline thanks to the efforts of our loyal readers. Like right now.

Isn't it about time some one tracked down Yousef Ahmadi, gave him a waterboard bath, and had a little chat with him? If you can't capture him because he's too far inside Pakistan, could you at least do me a favor and kill him?

We know where he is. We have his e-mail address. We have his phone number. If you won't kill him for me, how about killing him for Dutch NATO commander General Peter van Uhm, who's son was killed by the Taliban today?

Ahmadi claims that Lieutenant Dennis van Uhm was killed in retribution for Geert Wilders' movie Fitna. The Taliban were so offended that Wilders linked Islam to violence, that they killed two Dutch troops over it.

Proving definitively that Islam is in no way, shape , or form an inspiration for violent actions.

Robert Spencer quotes this from the AFP:

"We knew that the son of Dutch chief of staff was in the vehicle," rebel spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP, changing his account from an earlier statement that the militant group did not know who was in the car.

"This (attack) was part of our operation against the Dutch. First it was because they have occupied our country and secondly it was in retaliation to the Dutch insult to our great prophet Mohammed," Ahmadi said.

UPDATE NOTE: Of course I know that the Taliban didn't target van Uhm, even though Ahmadi now claims this is the case.

Oh, and a special note to "Zabihullah Mujahid", the other official spokesman for the Taliban:

I know who you are, I know where you are. I know you read this blog. I'd warn you to watch your back, but when the end comes it won't come from behind.

mypetjawa.mu.nu

Taliban urge U.N. to block Afghan executions

2008-04-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents urged the international community and right groups to stop Afghan President Hamid Karzai approving the execution of about 100 prisoners whose death sentences were approved by the supreme court.

The Taliban, fighting to overthrow the pro-Western Afghan government, have executed dozens of captured troops and civilians since U.S.-led and Afghan forces ousted the Islamist movement in 2001. The Taliban also executed dozens of criminals, often in public, while they were in power from 1996 till 2001.

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday Karzai should refuse to confirm the death penalties of about 100 convicted prisoners because of concerns they had not received a fair trial.

The Taliban's leadership council said 80 percent of those sentenced to death were members of the Taliban jailed by the government and should not be executed as they had been "detained on charges of fighting for freedom".

"We ... demand the UN, the European Union, Red Cross and human rights organizations to take quick steps for stopping this barbaric act and stop the killing of innocent prisoners," said a statement posted at the weekend on the militants' Web site.

The statement said some of the 14 convicts executed last year by Kabul were also Taliban prisoners.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said the Supreme Court's recent announcement of about 100 death sentences showed a "disturbing disregard for the right to life".

Supreme Court officials said those sentenced to death had been convicted of serious crimes, such as murder and rape, kidnapping, hostage taking and armed robbery.

Human Rights Watch said legal experts and human rights organizations in Afghanistan have long expressed concern that international due process and fair trial standards were generally not met in capital cases.

The Afghan government, set up after the ouster of the Taliban, has retained the death sentence but only 15 people have been executed since 2001.

Under the Afghan criminal code, death sentences handed down by criminal courts are reviewed by an appeals court. If the sentence stands, it must be confirmed by the Supreme Court.

Confirmed death sentences must then be endorsed by the president. Karzai has commuted some death sentences.

(Reporting by Sayed Salahuddin; editing by Bill Tarrant)

Taliban hold kidnapped Pakistan envoy to Afghanistan

2008-04-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

DUBAI (AFP) — Pakistan's envoy to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin, who went missing in February, appeared on Saturday in a video aired by Al-Arabiya news channel in which he said that he was held by the Taliban.

"We were on our way to Afghanistan in our official car on February 11 when we were kidnapped in the region of Khyber... by the Mujahedeen (holy warriors) of the Taliban," said Azizuddin, according to an Arabic translation accompanying the video aired by the Dubai-based channel.

The Pakistani envoy said that he was held with his driver and bodyguard, and that they were living "in comfortable conditions and are looked after." Two men who appeared to be the other hostages sat next to Azizuddin, while three gunmen stood in the background.

"We have no problems. But I suffer health problems, like blood pressure and heart pain," said the bespectacled envoy who had a well-kept beard and appeared sitting on the ground in a hilly area dotted with shrubs.

Azizuddin called upon his government and Pakistan's envoys in Iran and China "to do all they can to protect our lives and to answer all the demands of the Mujahedeen of Taliban in order to secure our release."

Pakistan said recovering the ambassador was a top priority.

"The recovery of ambassador Tariq Azizuddin has been a matter of high priority for the government of Pakistan. All possible resources are being used to make his early return to his family possible," foreign office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said in Islamabad.

The envoy disappeared while driving back to the Afghan capital Kabul from Islamabad following a conference of Afghanistan's donors in Tokyo. Taliban militants are active in the tribal region where he went missing.

The chief administrative official in Khyber, Rasool Khan Wazir, said on the day that Azizuddin disappeared that security forces had seen the envoy's car driven at speed through a checkpost with "local people sitting in the front seat".

The day of his kidnap coincided with Pakistani security forces seizing the senior Taliban commander, Mullah Mansoor Dadullah in southwestern Baluchistan province, also bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistani forces have fought increasingly fierce battles against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in the tribal belt since 2003.

The Taliban who took power in Afghanistan in 1996 were ousted by a US-led invasion in November 2001 after refusing to hand over Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Taliban fighters are trying to topple the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and oust tens of thousands of foreign soldiers based there to fight them back.

Pakistani Taliban on Friday urged their newly-elected government to abandon President Pervez Musharraf's pro-US policy and enforce Islamic Sharia law in tribal areas of the country.

At a meeting, convened by the Pakistan Taliban Movement and attended by tribal elders, religious scholars and local MPs, senior Taliban leader Maulawi Faqir Mohammad said the Taliban were observing a ceasefire offered to the new government but they would continue their fight against US and allied forces in Afghanistan.

*afp

Afghanistan detains 68 Pakistani nationals

2008-04-19T14:51:00.001-07:00

KABUL (AFP) — The Afghan army detained 68 Pakistani men soon after they entered the country over suspected ties with Taliban-linked rebels, the defence ministry said Saturday.

Prior to the mass detention Friday near the border in the southern province of Kandahar, the ministry received intelligence that a group of Pakistanis with possible links to "terrorists" was entering the region, it said.

"The army ... detained yesterday 68 unarmed Pakistani nationals. They are being investigated," the ministry said in a statement.

General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, chief spokesman for the ministry, told AFP the army had reports that dozens of Pakistanis linked to Taliban-led insurgents were entering the troubled region.

"We had intelligence reports that a group of Pakistanis possibly linked to terrorists were entering. When our units encountered these Pakistanis, they detained them to find out if they're linked to terrorists," he said.

Authorities were trying to determine if the men were linked to the Taliban or if they were workers or Pakistani traders.

"When they were detained, they had no travelling documents," he added.

The border is porous and it is not uncommon for people to cross without documents.

Afghanistan, with the support of tens of thousands of foreign troops, is fighting a fierce insurgency led by remnants of the Taliban militia that was in government between 1996 and 2001.

Afghan authorities have long said the Islamic rebels have bases on the Pakistani side of the border that send militants, some of them Pakistanis, across the frontier to launch attack on Afghan targets.

Islamabad denies the allegations.

There are also scores of Pakistanis working in Afghanistan as labourers, engineers and road workers.

afp

Karzai condemns suicide bombers as anti-Muslim

2008-04-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has strongly condemned a suicide attack on a market in the southern city of Zarang, in which about 23 people were killed.

A statement issued by the Presidential Office quoted Karzai as saying: "The enemies of Afghan people, while carrying out the suicide attack in the market when people were busy with daily life, once again shows their anti-Islamic manner and enmity to the Afghan people."

Karzai, while offering condolences to the families of the attack, said: "Those behind such cruel activities will never escape God's punishment."

The attack on the city market in Nimruz province on Thursday, killed 23 people and wounded 31 others, mostly civilians, including several children.

The police chief of Khashroad district and the border police chief of the province were among those killed in the attack.

No group immediately has claimed responsibility for the attacks carried out by multiple suicide bombers.

Meanwhile, two Dutch soldiers were killed and two others sustained serious injuries Friday in a roadside bomb explosion in the Uruzghan province.

According to Dutch officials, the vehicle in which the four Dutch soldiers were driving was struck when driving back from a mission to Camp Holland.

One of the victims was the son of the Netherlands new military chief of staff, General Peter van Uhm.

laosnews.net

One in two Dutch oppose Afghanistan mission -poll

2008-04-19T14:39:00.002-07:00

AMSTERDAM, April 19 (Reuters) - Almost half the population of the Netherlands opposes the Dutch mission in Afghanistan, according to a poll conducted after the son of the new chief of the Dutch military was killed there on Friday.

Dutch troops have been participating in the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan since 2006. The Dutch government decided last year to extend the mission in southern Afghanistan until 2010 after a heated debate and under pressure from allies.

The survey by pollster Maurice de Hond, released late on Friday, showed that 49 percent of the Dutch were against the mission, up from 44 percent about six months ago. Support for Dutch participation shrank to 46 percent from 51 percent.

Forty-nine percent of the respondents wanted the government to pull out its troops from Afghanistan this summer, the poll showed.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said on Friday after the deaths of 23-year-old Dennis van Uhm and another Dutch soldier, killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, that the country's armed forces would not be swayed from their task.

Respondents in the latest poll were asked about their feelings after the deaths of the two soldiers on Friday.

A total of 16 Dutch soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and 1,650 troops are based there.

Van Uhm's father, the chief of joint staffs Peter van Uhm, took over command of the Dutch military on Thursday. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Charles Dick)

*reuters.com

3 killed in roadside bomb attack in southern Afghanistan

2008-04-19T14:39:00.001-07:00

Kandahar: A civilian vehicle struck a roadside bomb on Saturday in southern Afghanistan, killing three passengers and wounding another, an official said.

The bomb hit the car in the Shahjoy district of Zabul province, in an area frequently patrolled by Afghan and international troops, Shahjoy district chief Qayum Khan said.

Another roadside bomb hit a vehicle carrying police trainers from the American private security firm DynCorp near the Pakistan border, Spin Boldak border security commander General Abdul Raziq Khan, said. No one was wounded in that attack.

The latest violence comes a day after a roadside bomb attack on a patrol of Dutch soldiers killed the son of the Netherlands' top military officer.

*gulf-news.com

Two wounded soldiers return to the Netherlands

2008-04-19T14:37:00.001-07:00

Eindhoven - Two Dutch soldiers, who were injured on Friday in the Afghan province of Uruzgan have arrived back in the Netherlands. The two are seriously injured but stable. On arrival they were taken straight to hospital in Utrecht. The bodies of the two soldiers killed in the same roadside bomb incident will be brought back to the Netherlands this week.

Afghan President Harmid Karzai has offered his condolences to the bereaved families and telephoned the new Dutch Commander-in-Chief Peter Van Uhm, whose son was one of the two soldiers who died.

The military union, the AFMP, has warned that support for the Dutch mission in Uruzgan is waning. Chairman of the union Wim van den Burg believes the Netherlands should receive more support from other NATO countries. "If no extra support is forthcoming," he says, "we should reconsider whether the price in human lives weighs up against the objective of the mission." The union chairman believes the number of roadside bomb attacks proves that there are too few soldiers checking the area. Sixteen Dutch soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the Uruzgan mission in August 2006.

*radionetherlands.nl

Death fuels debate on high-profile soldiers

2008-04-19T14:35:00.001-07:00

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The son of the Dutch defense chief was killed Friday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, and the Taliban claimed they deliberately made the young lieutenant a high-profile target.

While the Dutch quickly cast doubt on the Taliban claim, the death underscores the danger high-profile soldiers can face and illustrates a grim reality for families, famous and not, who choose the military life.

Lt. Dennis van Uhm, 23, was one of two Dutch soldiers killed in the explosion seven miles northwest of Camp Holland, the Dutch military base in the restive southern province of Uruzgan. Two more soldiers were injured.

Van Uhm's father, Gen. Peter van Uhm, was installed only Thursday as the Netherlands' defense chief.

The prime minister called Van Uhm's death "an unprecedented tragedy," and the weekly meeting of the Dutch Cabinet was briefly stopped so ministers could reflect.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed that the militants knew in advance about Van Uhm's movements and planted a mine that killed him, but the Dutch government rejected the claim.

"Our information is that there is no indication of any link between this cowardly deed and the fact that it was the son of the defense chief," said Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

He and a military spokesman, Lt. Col. Robin Middel, would not say whether van Uhm, who began his tour of duty only about two weeks ago, had received any special protection. Earlier this year, the British military pulled Prince Harry from Afghanistan after news leaked that he was posted there; he had spent almost 10 weeks in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province, his deployment kept secret by officials and the news media.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has a son who has served in Iraq.

Lt. Col. Nathan Freier, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said there is an ongoing debate in the military about putting high-profile soldiers in the field.

Soldiers with well-known parents often come from families with a military tradition, and holding them back can become a point of contention within the family, Freier said.

"To be pulled back or given a special opportunity based on family could be considered an affront to that soldier," said Freier, noting Prince Harry's insistence that he be sent to fight.

Although soldiers move in large formations with some anonymity, there is an argument that an entire unit can be at risk if the enemy manages to track movements of a specific person.

Dutch analysts predicted van Uhm's death would boost opposition to the unpopular decision to post troops in Afghanistan.

*commercialappeal.com

Afghanistan moves to center stage

2008-04-18T14:23:00.001-07:00

Afghanistan moves to center stage
By M K Bhadrakumar

Three or four seemingly unconnected statements within the space of the past week, and the "war on terror" in Afghanistan acquires new shades of meaning. On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said during a visit to the holy city of Qom that the United States invaded Afghanistan and Iraq "under the pretext of the September 11 terror attack".

A day earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, who was on a visit to London, publicly expressed skepticism over the conduct of the Afghan war by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He warned that NATO is "courting disaster". On Monday, addressing a student gathering in Beijing's Tsinghua University, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf urged Chinese and Russian help in stabilizing Afghanistan. But in the ultimate analysis, it is

the sensational revelation by erstwhile Northern Alliance leaders about their ongoing contacts with the Taliban that makes nonsense of the battle lines of the Afghan war.

The United States' monopoly of the Afghan war is beginning to come under serious public challenge. The "lameduck" George W Bush administration in Washington faces an uphill task to gain mastery over the equations developing on multiple levels.

Meanwhile, some questions arise. Are these statements and public stances essentially more prudent and prophylactic than provocative? Do they stem from a genuine concern in the region that the US is simply unable to forge ahead in the war? Or do they signify the stirrings of a concerted regional challenge to the US mission?

Ahmadinejad's statement is the first time that Tehran has questioned frontally at the highest level of leadership the raison d'etre of the US intervention in Afghanistan. He suggests that terrorism is the pretext rather than the reason for the US intervention. The Iranian leader alleges that the US intervention was more geopolitical. Considering that Iran (under former president Mohammed Khatami) had provided logistical support for the US intervention in Afghanistan in 2001, Wednesday's statement signifies an important rethink in Tehran. Ahmadinejad has implicitly absolved the Taliban regime of any role as such in the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York.

Compared with the nuanced Iranian statement, Babacan has taken a stance from the perspective of Turkey being a major NATO power. Babacan said in an interview with the London-based Telegraph newspaper that NATO is courting disaster by relying too much on force to defeat the Taliban. He distanced Ankara from the US counterinsurgency strategy by stressing that the shift to a "more militaristic approach would backfire and ultimately undermine the Afghan government".

Babacan forcefully rejected the US criticism that Turkey has refused to deploy troops in the troubled southern and eastern regions of Afghanistan. He insisted on the continued logic of Turkey's Afghan policy, which focuses on reconstruction activities aimed at "winning their [Afghans'] hearts and minds". Significantly, he warned that Afghans could "start to perceive the [NATO] security forces as occupiers" and that the situation would become "very complicated". But he, too, avoided any criticism of the Taliban as such.

Interestingly, Babacan made these remarks in an interview in which he underlined Turkey's growing alienation from Europe. Also, on Monday, another round of Turkish-Iranian consultations were held in Ankara regarding bilateral cooperation in regional security, which is already quite substantial.

Musharraf has gone a step even further. He expressed the hope that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) could play a role in stabilizing Afghanistan. He added, "If the SCO can come along, then we would need to ensure that there is no confrontation with NATO." SCO comprises China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as full members and Iran and Pakistan as "observers".

Musharraf is famous for making impromptu remarks, but the fact that he made such a statement in Beijing merits attention. Pakistan has been seeking full SCO membership. The indications are that Beijing is, in principle, supportive of the Pakistani claim. Reports had also just appeared that Washington is pressing for an intrusive role to monitor the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

Musharraf has virtually endorsed a call by Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov at the recent NATO summit meeting in Bucharest (April 2-4) to the effect that the "Six plus Two" format of the 1997-2001 period (with the "six" being the countries bordering Afghanistan and the "two" being Russia and the US), which aimed at bringing about intra-Afghan reconciliation between the Taliban and its opponents, be expanded into a new "Six plus Three" format that would now include NATO, along with China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and the US.

Moscow and Tashkent have a coordinated approach in this regard. Washington finds itself in a quandary to respond to the Uzbek offer of cooperation with NATO, which would mean virtual abandonment of alliance's plans to expand into the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia.

However, in a hard-hitting speech on Monday at Maxwell-Gunter air force base in Montgomery, Alabama, which was devoted entirely to the US strategy in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice precisely invoked the great Cold War icons - George Marshall, Harry S Truman, George Frost Kennan and Dean Acheson. She sent a stunning message to Moscow that NATO's victory in Afghanistan is "not only essential, it is attainable".

Rice pointed out, "Successes in Afghanistan will advance our broader regional interests in combating violent terrorism, resisting the destabilizing behavior of Iran, and anchoring political and economic liberty in South and Central Asia. And success in Afghanistan is an important test for the credibility of NATO."

Rice coolly ignored the Russian-Uzbek offer of cooperation. Against the above background, this week's statement in Kabul by the top leadership of the erstwhile Northern Alliance (NA) merits close attention.

The NA leaders enjoy the support of Russia, the Central Asian states and Iran - and Turkey to an extent. Sayyed Agha Hussein Fazel Sancharaki, spokesman of these groups which now come under the umbrella of the United National Front (UNF), revealed to the Associated Press (AP) that former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani and the top NA commander from Panjshir, Mohammed Qasim Fahim (who also holds the position currently as a security advisor to President Hamid Karzai) have been meeting Taliban and other opposition groups (presumably, the Hezb-i-Islami led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar) during recent months for national reconciliation. He claimed these meetings have involved "important people" from the Taliban.

Indeed, Fahim (who was the chief of intelligence under the late Ahmad Shah Massoud) and Rabbani (who belonged to the original "Peshawar Seven" - mujahideen leaders based in Pakistan in the 1980s) would have old links with Hekmatyar and top Taliban leaders like Jalaluddin Haqqani. Rabbani told AP that the six-year war must be resolved through talks.

"We in the National Front and I myself believe the solution for the political process in Afghanistan will happen through negotiations," he said. Rabbani added that the opposition leaders would soon discuss and possibly select a formal negotiating team for holding talks with the Taliban. He found fault with Karzai for not pursuing dialogue with the Taliban. "I told Karzai that when a person starts something, he should complete it. On the issue of negotiations, it is not right to take one step forward and then one step back. This work should be continued in a very organized way."

It stands to reason that regional powers - especially Russia, Uzbekistan and Iran - will be watching closely the intra-Afghan dialogue involving the UNF and the Taliban. What gives impetus to this dialogue is apparently that the NATO summit in Bucharest came up with only small troop increments, which puts question marks on the viability and prospects of the NATO operations. But is that all?

These various strands can be expected to run concurrently for a while until some begin to outstrip others. It seems the geopolitics of energy are already taking an early lead. Musharraf last Friday aired with Chinese President Hu Jintao the topic of a gas pipeline connecting Iran and China via Pakistani territory; Iran is pressing for SCO membership; a gas cartel is about to take shape at the seventh ministerial meeting of the gas-exporting countries scheduled to be held in Moscow in June.

China's National Offshore Oil Corporation has confirmed that talks are indeed progressing on a US$16 billion gas deal involving Iran's North Pars gas field, close on the heels of the $2 billion agreement signed in March between the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation and Iran for developing the latter's Yadavaran oil field.

A prominent expert, Igor Tomberg of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations at the Russian Academy of Sciences, wrote recently, "Iran and Russia should probably not compete against each other but rather join hands on the gas market. The Iranian president has more than once suggested to his Russian colleague that their countries coordinate their gas policies and possibly divide gas markets. Moreover, there could be an agreement under which Russia will continue to supply gas to Europe, while Iran will export its gas to the East. This would undermine plans to diversify supply to Europe, which heavily depends on the United States."

Afghanistan is a key hub of resource-rich Central Asia and the Middle East. To use the words from Rice's Montgomery speech, "Let no one forget, Afghanistan is a mission of necessity for the US, not a mission of choice."

M K Bhadrakumar served as a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service for over 29 years, with postings including India's ambassador to Uzbekistan (1995-1998) and to Turkey (1998-2001).

(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

*atimes.com

Taliban claims attack was in retaliation of anti-Islam film

2008-04-18T14:19:00.001-07:00

Dutch chief's son killed in Afghanistan for 'Fitna'

The son of the Netherlands' new military chief was killed by a bomb in southern Afghanistan on Friday, in what Taliban militants said was retaliation to an anti-Islam film by a Dutch MP.

Lieutenant Dennis van Uhm, the son of General Peter van Uhm, was one of two Dutch NATO soldiers killed by the roadside attack, a day after a suicide blast took 25 Afghan lives.

General van Uhm was named top commander of the Dutch armed forces only on Thursday.

"We knew that the son of Dutch chief of staff was in the vehicle," rebel spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP, changing his account from an earlier statement that the militant group did not know who was in the car.

"This (attack) was part of our operation against the Dutch. First it was because they have occupied our country and secondly it was in retaliation to the Dutch insult to our great prophet Mohammed," Ahmadi said.

Ahmadi's claim could not be independently confirmed and the rebel spokesman has in the past made exaggerated claims.

Four Dutch soldiers were returning from a reconnaissance mission when the blast hit their vehicle in the troubled southern province of Uruzgan, Dutch defense ministry spokesman General Freek Meulman said.

The two men killed were 23 and 22 years old, said Meulman. Two other soldiers aged 20 and 25 were wounded, with one in critical condition and the other stable.

The militia had threatened to step up attacks against Dutch forces in Afghanistan if far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders broadcast his anti-Islam film, which was aired last month.

More than 1,600 Dutch soldiers are deployed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which is fighting the Taliban insurgency.

The Dutch government decided in November to extend the mission until late 2010.

The Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 in a US-led invasion following the 9/11 attacks on the United States after refusing to hand over Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

*alarabiya.net

Son of Dutch Defence Chief killed in Afghanistan

2008-04-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

Roadside bomb kills two ISAF soldiers; two hurt

General Peter van Ulm heard that his son had been killed in the Afghan province of Uruzgan less than 24 hours after he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Dutch Armed Forces. His son was one of two Dutch soldiers killed when a roadside bomb went off when they were returning to Camp Holland from a patrol.

The vehicle in which 23-year-old Lieutenant Dennis van Uhm was riding was returning from a patrol to Camp Holland when it struck a roadside bomb. It is not known if the bomb was an improvised explosive device (IED) or was set off by remote control. The other dead soldier was 22-year-old Corporal Mark Schouwink. Two other soldiers were injured. One is in a serious condition at the field hospital in Camp Holland, the most important Dutch base in Uruzgan.

'Van Uhm was not targeted'
Acting Commander-in-Chief General Freek Meulman said in a statement that the attack took place around twelve kilometres to the northwest of Camp Holland, in the Dorafshan region. General Meulman says the patrol was returning from a "large coordinated operation" whose intention was to analyse the situation in the region. General Meulman says there is no evidence that Lieutenant Van Uhm was specifically targeted. The Taliban have sent a statement to the British press agency Reuters claiming responsibility for the attack.

The region to the north of Tarin Kowt is considered particularly dangerous. Many of the local clans oppose the government of President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban are often active in the region. Some of the routes in the area are nicknamed IED Alley because of the large number of roadside bombs. Recently, eleven Dutch soldiers were injured by IEDs. One of the victims is still in an extremely critical condition at the military hospital in Utrecht.

Contrast
Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop was present when the deaths were reported this morning. During a ceremony on Thursday, he had transferred the command of the Dutch Armed Forces to General Peter van Uhm, who succeeded General Dick Berlijn. "The contrast with the festive ceremony at Parliament couldn't have been greater." The minister has asked the new commander-in-chief to take time off to deal with his own loss.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said he was shocked by the tragedy. "We are all deeply hurt," he said in the name of the Dutch government.

Since July 2006 a total of sixteen Dutch soldiers have died in Afghanistan: Five died in accidents, two in suicide attacks, two by ‘friendly fire', one by enemy fire and five by roadside bombs. The Defence Ministry says one soldier at Camp Holland committed suicide for reasons which had nothing to do with the mission.

*RNW

Dutch troops in Afghanistan get extra unit

2008-04-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

THE NETHERLANDS - Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop is sending extra forces to Afghanistan's Uruzgan province where Dutch ISAF troops are operating.

The reinforcements, about 35 soldiers, will serve as specialised guards to defend Dutch bases. This will allow the soldiers who are now guarding the camps to be deployed in Deh Rawod and the Baluchi Valley. The two areas have seen recent fierce fighting with the Taliban.

It is hoped the 35-strong guard unit will return to The Netherlands in September when their duties will be taken over by a unit of Slovak troops.

The Dutch forces in Uruzgan are also being sent 10 extra Bushmasters, heavily armoured vehicles which offer increased protection from roadside bombs.

expatica.com

Two soldiers killed in Afghanistan blast

2008-04-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

KABUL - Two NATO soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in a blast in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the alliance said.

Another two soldiers were wounded in the explosion, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

The ISAF said the wounded soldiers were transported to a NATO military hospital where they are being treated.

The statement did not disclose the nationalities of the soldiers, citing the ISAF policy that does not release the nationalities of casualties prior to the relevant national authority doing so.

It also did not say where exactly in the southern region the attack took place. The majority of the forces deployed to southern Afghanistan are Canadian, British, Dutch and US troops.

The ISAF has around 47,000 troops from some 40 countries that were deployed to Afghanistan following the ouster of Taliban regime in late 2001.

The southern provinces comprise the most turbulent region in Afghanistan, where Taliban-led insurgents are entrenched.

expatica.com

Suspected IED facilitators, militant sub-commander detained

2008-04-12T14:53:00.001-07:00

Blackanthem Military News
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - Five suspected militants were detained Monday during two separate Coalition forces operations to disrupt extremist networks in Uruzgan and Khowst provinces.

During an operation in Tirin Kot District, Uruzgan province, Coalition forces searched compounds targeting a Taliban Improvised Explosive Device facilitator responsible for several attacks in the province.

Coalition forces detained three individuals with suspected ties to the targeted Taliban IED facilitator and IED facilitation operations.

In a separate operation, Afghan National Police and Coalition forces searched compounds Nadir Shah Kot District, Khowst province, targeting a Haqqani network leader conducting foreign-fighter and weapons-facilitation operations.

The joint force detained the targeted militant and one other individual with suspected ties to the targeted militant and the Haqqani network.

Additionally, two AK-47s were found and removed.

*blackanthem.com

Afghanistan needs more troops: US official

2008-04-12T14:52:00.001-07:00

NEW YORK, Apr 11, 2008 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- -- A top US military official said Thursday that Afghanistan as of now requires 10,000 to 12,000 additional troops to fight out the increasing power of the Taliban, which the Secretary of Defense acknowledged is difficult under present circumstances.

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"We have additional force requirements, specifically for Afghanistan, up three additional brigades," said Admiral Mike Mullen, Joint Chief of Staff, during a hearing in the US Congress, convened by the House Armed Services Committee. This is on top of the some 3,200 Marines being sent by the US now, he said, adding they are there and already making a difference, but they're not enough.

"We have got a requirement for a training brigade and for up to two additional combat brigades in Afghanistan down the road," Mullen said referring to the current ground realities in the country. Essentially, he said it would translate between 10,000 and 12,000 troops.

Given the current troop situation, Mullen said: "We're not going to be able to fill that until we've got forces that are released from other obligations, principally in Iraq at the brigade size."

With the bulk of the US ground forces deployed to Iraq, Mullen said the US army as a result is unable to prepare for or deploy for other contingencies in other places.

"We are not training to full spectrum capabilities. We are not engaging sufficiently with partner militaries. We cannot now meet extra force requirements in places like Afghanistan," he said.

Mullen said he is deeply concerned about the current situation in Afghanistan. "The Taliban is growing bolder, suicide attacks are on the rise, and so is the trade in illegal narcotics. In this economy of force operation, we do what we can. But doing what we can in Afghanistan is not doing all that we should," he said.

Testifying along with Mullen, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, conceded this is difficult to fill."The desire of the commander, it's not a formal requirement at this point, in Afghanistan to have three additional brigades, in my view, is a requirement that NATO will not meet," he said.

"I think we will get additional forces from a number of different countries and I think they will have real capabilities, but I think they will not add up to another 10,000 to 12,000 troops that would be represented by three brigades," he said.

Acknowledging that getting more troops from other NATO allies, specially in Europe depended a lot on their domestic politics, Gates said, he however has been successful in getting NATO approve a strategic vision statement on Afghanistan.

The strategic vision statement, which spells out NATO goals in Afghanistan in next couple of years, Gates argued, could be used by the European governments in their domestic politics to try and educate their people about why the commitment in Afghanistan is important.

*tradingmarkets.com

NATO soldier killed, another wounded in blast in southern Afghanistan

2008-04-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

NATO soldier killed, another wounded in blast in southern Afghanistan

KABUL — An explosion has hit a NATO patrol in southern Afghanistan, killing one soldier and wounding another.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force says in a statement that the troops were patrolling Ghazni province.

No other details are available, including the names and nationality of the NATO casualties.

*canadianpress

Apology after raid on enemy of Taliban

2008-04-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

AUSTRALIAN forces have apologised to an anti-Taliban Afghan tribal leader after mistakenly raiding his house and seizing his weapons in an incident that threatened to undo efforts to unite tribal leaders against the Taliban.

It is believed the raid followed a false tip-off from children, a deliberate attempt to derail peace talks between hundreds of elders in the volatile Taliban-infested province of Uruzgan, where the Australians operate.

During a patrol in the village of Qala Ragh, about 30 kilometres north-east of their base in the provincial capital of Tarin Kowt, Australian forces were told by a group of children they had seen weapons in a nearby house. The troops raided the house of Malim Mohammed Sediq, seizing dozens of rocket-propelled grenades and machine-guns.

Mr Sediq is a staunchly anti-Taliban tribal chief who commands a private militia of more than 40 soldiers, fighting the fundamentalist insurgent movement.

"The Australians came and searched my private house and took my weapons," Mr Sediq told the Herald. "Why did the Australians take action without any proof and without analysing the information? I'm personally fighting the Taliban and my people are fighting the Taliban … If we go, the district will fall to the Taliban in one day."

The incident comes as the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, have been encouraging a stronger commitment from the allies for the war and called for renewed efforts to win the "hearts and minds" of Afghans and prevent Taliban support.

A defence spokeswoman said Australian forces had confiscated weapons from militia in the area but could not confirm whether the raid on Mr Sediq's house had occurred.

"Members of the Reconstruction Task Force could not confirm at the time whether the men were affiliated with the local governor as they had claimed, and decided to follow established practice during such incidents," she said yesterday.

"The militia are free to recover the weapons if it is determined that they are approved to hold them." The taskforce's commanding officer had met leaders to address their concerns and was advised "that they consider the issue resolved".

"The governor has confirmed that he has given no authority for civilians to carry heavy weapons in the Chora area," the spokeswoman said.

At the time of the raid, Mr Sediq was among 500 elders and politicians at a peace jirga (tribal gathering) to unify tribal leaders against the Taliban. The raid, which Mr Sediq said was the second by foreigners in the past 12 months, almost led to the talks collapsing before the governor persuaded Mr Sediq to remain.

The Taliban often cite the behaviour of foreign troops in private homes to recruit new foot soldiers. Footage of raids appears on many Taliban propaganda films. There are virtually no official police beyond the provincial capital. Security is provided by tribal elders, whose militias control their own villages.

Mr Sediq believes the false information was given to the Australians by rival factions to ensure the peace talks failed.

The Herald was in the governor's office when the commander rang to say they had apologised to him. It is understood all but the heavy weapons were returned.

smh.com.au

Taliban Irked by France Troop Boost to Afghanistan

2008-04-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

The Taliban is angered by a recent declaration by France that it would send more troops to Afghanistan.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said an additional 700 troops would be sent to Afghanistan. He made the announcement during a NATO summit in Romania last week.

The statement was a breakaway from earlier statements during his election campaign that he would consider pulling French troops out of the NATO-led force in the country.

The Taliban says France’s decision to send additional troops constitutes breaking a promise. The group said on Saturday it had freed two captured French aid workers last year because of Sarkozy’s vow to pull troops out of Afghanistan.

The Taliban said NATO members were making “baseless promises” to Afghans and to their respective nations.

France currently has around 1,100 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led forces there.

Elsewhere, the French navy is following a French luxury yacht seized off the coasts of Somalia with around 30 French and Ukrainian crew members on board.

The yacht, named Le Ponant, was seized by suspected Somali pirates near the Gulf of Aden on Friday. French officials have said there has been no contact with anyone on board.

Piracy has increased off the coasts of Somalia over the past couple of years, enhanced by Somalia’s political instability and poverty.

*themedialine.org

PM critical of ISAF in Afghanistan

2008-04-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

BUCHAREST - Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who is attending the three-day NATO summit in the Romanian capital Bucharest, has criticised the strategy of the international forces in Afghanistan.

The NATO leaders are deciding a number of issues including the possibility of extra troops being sent to Afghanistan.

Balkenende wants the 42 countries with soldiers in the International Security Assistance Force to coordinate their efforts better. At the same time, he is pushing for improved cooperation between ISAF and the United Nations, the European Union and non-governmental organisations.

He also believes the Afghan government itself, as well as neighbouring countries, could do more to create stability in the region. He says tougher action should be taken to combat both corruption within the Afghan administration and the drugs trade.

*expatica.com

Afghan Taliban say attack Dutch over anti-Islam film

2008-04-02T05:53:00.001-07:00

LONDON (Reuters) - The Taliban has said two attacks on Dutch forces in Afghanistan were in retaliation for an anti-Islamic film by a Dutch politician, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Tuesday.

In a communique posted on Web sites used by militants dated April 1, the Taliban said its Shura Council Leadership announced reprisal operations against Dutch forces because "one of the members of the Dutch parliament produced a film that hurts Islam, and he published it with bad intentions".

Dutch MP Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Freedom Party, launched the anti-Koran film "Fitna" -- an Arabic term that can mean "strife" -- last Thursday on the Internet.

The film urges Muslims to tear out "hate-filled" verses from the Koran, and starts and ends with a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb under his turban, accompanied by the sound of ticking.

It was condemned by Muslim nations as a provocation, while Dutch Muslim leaders urged restraint. The Dutch government has said the film in no way reflects its own views.

Before its launch NATO expressed concern it could worsen security for foreign forces in Afghanistan, including 1,650 Dutch troops.

The Taliban statement referred to two revenge attacks on Sunday which it said killed a large number of "occupier soldiers".

The Dutch Defence Ministry said in a Web statement dated April 1 that five Dutch soldiers from NATO-led forces were wounded in two separate incidents on Sunday.

One soldier lost both his legs in the explosion and his condition was critical but stable, the ministry said.

(Reporting by Gilbert Krieger in Amsterdam, writing by Mary Gabriel; editing by Myra MacDonald)

France may send "few hundred" troops to Afghanistan

2008-04-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

By Francois Murphy

PARIS (Reuters) - France might send a few hundred extra troops to Afghanistan, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Tuesday, clashing with the opposition Socialists who accused the government of pandering to the United States.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said last week France would boost its military presence if NATO allies accepted certain proposals at a summit in Bucharest this week, such as working on a broader strategy for Afghanistan, which they are expected to do.

France had been expected to send an extra 1,000 troops in addition to its 1,500 soldiers already serving in the 47,000-strong NATO force there, but Fillon appeared to indicate the size of the reinforcement could be smaller.

"Our armed forces in Afghanistan may invest more in the command structures, particularly in Kabul, in training the Afghan army and in the units in the Afghan provinces," he told a parliamentary debate on the Afghan operation.

"The numbers could be something like a few hundred extra soldiers," Fillon said.

But a senior diplomat told reporters Sarkozy was unlikely to announce a precise number of troops at this week's NATO summit.

"No precise figure exists because it will be the result of negotiations between military officials," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

NATO members such as the United States, Britain and Canada have urged allies to send more troops to help battle a resurgent Taliban, but the Socialists said Sarkozy was putting U.S. interests before France's.
"We oppose this decision because at the end of the day it has little to do with Afghanistan and a lot to do with President Sarkozy's Atlanticist obsession," said Jean-Marc Ayrault, head of the Socialist group in the lower house of parliament.

Sarkozy's plan was part of a "global strategic alignment" with Washington, not a partnership of equals, he said.

CENSURE

A BVA opinion poll released on Monday showed most French people opposed the plan -- 68 percent of respondents disapproved of sending more soldiers while just 15 percent approved.

Fillon said increasing the number of French troops would improve the chances of bringing peace to Afghanistan.

"Part of our security, and therefore part of our freedom, depends largely on this peace for Afghanistan," Fillon said.

Ayrault said the Socialists would submit a motion of censure against the government for not allowing a vote in parliament on whether to send more troops. Fillon said there was no need for a vote as French soldiers were active in Afghanistan.

France's constitution gives the president the power to send troops to combat zones without the approval of parliament.

In Copenhagen, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the force's commander wanted an extra three brigades for the mission, but added: "I don't think they'll be anywhere near that number. This is a challenge we'll have to keep working at." Continued...

NATO powers will meet in the Romanian capital from April 2 to 4 and Afghanistan is expected to be a main issue. French diplomats said that if France increased its contribution, it would do so on the understanding that other countries would too.

Fillon said earlier on Tuesday France would not support bids by Georgia and Ukraine to obtain a Membership Action Plan -- a roadmap to eventual entry already secured by Croatia and Albania -- at the NATO summit, putting it at odds with Washington.

Diplomats say the issue has deeply divided NATO states, which are examining alternative options for Ukraine and Georgia.

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Five Dutch military wounded in Uruzgan

2008-03-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

Kabul - Dutch military personnel in the Afghan province of Uruzgan have been the targets of attacks twice in one day. Both attacks involved roadside bombs.

In the first, three people were wounded while patrolling near the city of Tarin Kowt. The condition of one of three, who lost both legs, is said to be critical. The two other survivors are said to be doing well. The second attack came seven hours later and left two soldiers with light injuries. All five of the injured have been in touch with their families.

The Dutch Defence Minister, Eimert van Middelkoop and the commander of the Dutch armed forces, Dick Berlijn, have expressed their horror at the incident. They have also offered their sympathy to the families of the three victims. But both men stressed that Dutch military forces will continue to carry out their duties in Uruzgan with the utmost de termination.

*radionetherlands.nl

Supplier Under Scrutiny on Arms for Afghans

2008-03-30T07:09:00.000-07:00

This article was reported by C. J. Chivers, Eric Schmitt and Nicholas Wood and written by Mr. Chivers.

Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

But to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead this fight, the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur.

With the award last January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces.

Since then, the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to an examination of the munitions by The New York Times and interviews with American and Afghan officials. Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed.

In purchasing munitions, the contractor has also worked with middlemen and a shell company on a federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking.

Moreover, tens of millions of the rifle and machine-gun cartridges were manufactured in China, making their procurement a possible violation of American law. The company’s president, Efraim E. Diveroli, was also secretly recorded in a conversation that suggested corruption in his company’s purchase of more than 100 million aging rounds in Albania, according to audio files of the conversation.

This week, after repeated inquiries about AEY’s performance by The Times, the Army suspended the company from any future federal contracting, citing shipments of Chinese ammunition and claiming that Mr. Diveroli misled the Army by saying the munitions were Hungarian.

Mr. Diveroli, reached by telephone, said he was unaware of the action. The Army planned to notify his company by certified mail on Thursday, according to internal correspondence provided by a military official.

But problems with the ammunition were evident last fall in places like Nawa, Afghanistan, an outpost near the Pakistani border, where an Afghan lieutenant colonel surveyed the rifle cartridges on his police station’s dirty floor. Soon after arriving there, the cardboard boxes had split open and their contents spilled out, revealing ammunition manufactured in China in 1966.

“This is what they give us for the fighting,” said the colonel, Amanuddin, who like many Afghans has only one name. “It makes us worried, because too much of it is junk.” Ammunition as it ages over decades often becomes less powerful, reliable and accurate.

AEY is one of many previously unknown defense companies to have thrived since 2003, when the Pentagon began dispensing billions of dollars to train and equip indigenous forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its rise from obscurity once seemed to make it a successful example of the Bush administration’s promotion of private contractors as integral elements of war-fighting strategy.

But an examination of AEY’s background, through interviews in several countries, reviews of confidential government documents and the examination of some of the ammunition, suggests that Army contracting officials, under pressure to arm Afghan troops, allowed an immature company to enter the murky world of international arms dealing on the Pentagon’s behalf — and did so with minimal vetting and through a vaguely written contract with few restrictions.

In addition to this week’s suspension, AEY is under investigation by the Department of Defense’s inspector general and by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prompted by complaints about the quality and origins of ammunition it provided, and allegations of corruption.

Mr. Diveroli, in a brief telephone interview late last year, denied any wrongdoing. “I know that my company does everything 100 percent on the up and up, and that’s all I’m concerned about,” he said.

He also suggested that his activities should be shielded from public view. “AEY is working on a moderately classified Department of Defense project,” he said. “I really don’t want to talk about the details.”

He referred questions to a lawyer, Hy Shapiro, who offered a single statement by e-mail. “While AEY continues to work very hard to fulfill its obligations under its contract with the U.S. Army, its representatives are not prepared at this time to sit and discuss the details,” he wrote.

As part of the suspension, neither Mr. Diveroli nor his company can bid on any further federal work until the Army’s allegations are resolved. But he will be allowed to provide ammunition already on order under the Afghan contract, according to internal military correspondence.

In January, American officers in Kabul, concerned about munitions from AEY, had contacted the Army’s Rock Island Arsenal, in Illinois, and raised the possibility of terminating the contract. And officials at the Army Sustainment Command, the contracting authority at the arsenal, after meeting with AEY in late February, said they were tightening the packaging standards for munitions shipped to the war.

And yet after that meeting, AEY sent another shipment of nearly one million cartridges to Afghanistan that the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan regarded as substandard. Lt. Col. David G. Johnson, the command spokesman, said that while there were no reports of ammunition misfiring, some of it was in such poor condition that the military had decided not to issue it. “Our honest answer is that the ammunition is of a quality that is less than desirable; the munitions do not appear to meet the standards that many of us are used to,” Colonel Johnson said. “We are not pleased with the way it was delivered.”

Several officials said the problems would have been avoided if the Army had written contracts and examined bidders more carefully.

Public records show that AEY’s contracts since 2004 have potentially been worth more than a third of a billion dollars. Mr. Diveroli set the value higher: he claimed to do $200 million in business each year.

Several military officers and government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the investigations, questioned how Mr. Diveroli, and a small group of men principally in their 20s and without extensive military or procurement experiences, landed so much vital government work.

“A lot of us are asking the question,” said a senior State Department official. “How did this guy get all this business?”

An Ambitious Company

The intensity of the Afghan insurgency alarmed the Pentagon in 2006, and the American unit that trains and equips Afghan forces placed a huge munitions order through an Army logistics command.

The order sought 52 types of ammunition: rifle, pistol and machine-gun cartridges, hand grenades, rockets, shotgun slugs, mortar rounds, tank ammunition and more. In all, it covered hundreds of millions of rounds. Afghan forces primarily use weapons developed in the Soviet Union. This meant that most munitions on the list could be bought only overseas.

AEY was one of 10 companies to bid by the September 2006 deadline.

Michael Diveroli, Efraim’s father, had incorporated the company in 1999, when Efraim was 13. For several years, a period when the company appeared to have limited activity, Michael Diveroli, who now operates a police supply company down the street from AEY’s office, was listed as the company’s sole executive.

In 2004, AEY listed Efraim Diveroli, then 18, as an officer with a 1 percent ownership stake.

The younger Diveroli’s munitions experience appeared to be limited to a short-lived job in Los Angeles for Botach Tactical, a military and police supply company owned by his uncle, Bar-Kochba Botach.

Mr. Diveroli cut off an interview when asked about Botach Tactical. Mr. Botach, reached by telephone, said that both Michael and Efraim Diveroli had briefly worked for him, but that after seeing the rush of federal contracts available after the wars began, they had struck out on their own.

“They just left me and took my customer base with them,” he said. “They basically said: ‘Why should we work for Botach? Let’s do it on our own.’ ”

As Efraim Diveroli arrived in Miami Beach, AEY was transforming itself by aggressively seeking security-related contracts.

It won a $126,000 award for ammunition for the Special Forces; AEY also provided ammunition or equipment in 2004 to the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Transportation Security Administration and the State Department.

By 2005, when Mr. Diveroli became AEY’s president at age 19, the company was bidding across a spectrum of government agencies and providing paramilitary equipment — weapons, helmets, ballistic vests, bomb suits, batteries and chargers for X-ray machines — for American aid to Pakistan, Bolivia and elsewhere.

It was also providing supplies to the American military in Iraq, where its business included a $5.7 million contract for rifles for Iraqi forces.

Two federal officials involved in contracting in Baghdad said AEY quickly developed a bad reputation. “They weren’t reliable, or if they did come through, they did after many excuses,” said one of them, who asked that his name be withheld because he was not authorized to speak with reporters.

By this time, pressures were emerging in Efraim Diveroli’s life. In November 2005, a young woman sought an order of protection from him in the domestic violence division of Dade County Circuit Court.

The woman eventually did not appear in court, and her allegations were never ruled on. But in court papers, the woman said that after her relationship with Mr. Diveroli ended, he stalked her and left threatening messages.

Once, according to the file, his behavior included “shoving her to the ground and refusing to allow her to leave during a verbal dispute.” Other times, she reported, Mr. Diveroli arrived at her home unannounced and intoxicated “going about the exterior, banging on windows and doors.”

The woman worried that she could not ignore him, court records said, because his behavior frightened her.

Mr. Diveroli sought court delays on national security grounds. “I am the President and only official employee of my business,” he wrote to the judge on Dec. 8, 2005. “My business is currently of great importance to the country as I am licensed Defense Contractor to the United States Government in the fight against terrorism in Iraq and I am doing my very best to provide our troops with all their equipment needs on pending critical contracts.”

As AEY’s bid for its largest government contract was being considered, Mr. Diveroli’s personal difficulties continued. On Nov. 26, 2006, the Miami Beach police were called to his condominium during an argument between him and another girlfriend. According to the police report, he had thrown her “clothes out in the hallway and told her to get out.”

A witness told the police Mr. Diveroli had dragged her back into the apartment. The police found the woman crying; she said she had not been dragged. Mr. Diveroli was not charged.

On Dec. 21, 2006, the police were called back to the condominium. Mr. Diveroli and AEY’s vice president, David M. Packouz, had just been in a fight with the valet parking attendant.

The fight began, the police said, after the attendant refused to give Mr. Diveroli his keys and Mr. Diveroli entered the garage to get them himself. A witness said Mr. Diveroli and Mr. Packouz both beat the man; police photographs showed bruises and scrapes on his face and back.

When the police searched Mr. Diveroli, they found he had a forged driver’s license that added four years to his age and made him appear old enough to buy alcohol as a minor. His birthday had been the day before.

“I don’t even need that any more,” he told the police, the report said. “I’m 21 years old.”

Mr. Diveroli was charged with simple battery, a misdemeanor, and felony possession of a stolen or forged document.

The second charge placed his business in jeopardy. Mr. Diveroli had a federal firearms license, which was required for his work. With a felony conviction, the license would be nullified.

(Mr. Packouz was charged with battery and the charge was later dropped; he declined to be interviewed. To avoid a conviction on his record, Mr. Diveroli entered a six-month diversion program for first offenders in May 2007 that spared him from standing trial.)

A relative paid Mr. Diveroli’s $1,000 bail as his bid for the Afghan contract was in its final review.

To be accepted, the company had to be, in Army parlance, “a responsible contractor,” which required an examination of its financial soundness, transport capabilities, past performance and compliance with the law and government contracting regulations.

The week after a relative paid his bail, the Banc of America Investment Services in Miami provided Mr. Diveroli a letter certifying that his company had cash on hand to begin buying munitions on a large scale. It said AEY had $5,469,668.95 in an account.

AEY was awarded the contract in January 2007. Asked why it chose AEY, the Army Sustainment Command answered in writing: “AEY’s proposal represented the best value to the government.”

Eastern Bloc Arsenals

Both the Army and AEY have treated the sources of the ammunition the company purchases as confidential matters, declining to say how and where the company obtained it, the prices paid or the quantities delivered.

But records provided by an official concerned about the company’s performance, a whistle-blower in the Balkans and an arms-trafficking researcher in Europe, as well as interviews with several people who work in state arsenals in Europe, show that AEY shopped from stocks in the old Eastern bloc, including Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Romania and Slovakia.

These stockpiles range from temperature-controlled bunkers to unheated warehouses packed with exposed, decaying ammunition. Some arsenals contain ammunition regarded in munitions circles as high quality. Others are scrap heaps of abandoned Soviet arms.

The Army’s contract did little to distinguish between the two.

When the United States or NATO buys munitions for themselves, the process is regulated by quality-assurance standards that cover manufacturing, packaging, storage, testing and transport.

The standards exist in part because munitions are perishable. As they age, propellants and explosives degrade, and casings are susceptible to weathering. Environmental conditions — humidity, vibration, temperature shifts — accelerate decay, making munitions less reliable.

NATO rules require ammunition to be tested methodically over its life; samples are fired through braced weapons, and muzzle velocities and accuracy are recorded.

For rifle cartridges, testing begins at age 10 years, according to Peter Courtney-Green, chief of the Ammunition Support Office of NATO’s Maintenance and Supply Agency.

The Soviet Union, which designed the ammunition that AEY bought, developed similar tests, which are still in use. But when the Army wrote its Afghan contract, it did not enforce either NATO or Russian standards. It told bidders only that the munitions must be “serviceable and issuable to all units without qualification.”

What this meant was not defined. An official at the Army Sustainment Command said that because the ammunition was for foreign weapons, and considered “nonstandard,” it only had to fit in weapons it was intended for.

“There is no specific testing request, and there is no age limit,” said Michael Hutchison, the command’s deputy director for acquisition. “As the ammunition is not standard to the U.S. inventory, the Army doesn’t possess packaging or quality standards for that ammo.”

When purchasing such munitions, Mr. Hutchison said, the Army Sustainment Command relies on standards from the “customer” — meaning the Army units in Afghanistan. And the customer, he said, did not set age or testing requirements.

With the vague standards in hand, AEY canvassed the field. One stop was Albania, a fortress state during Soviet times now trying to join NATO. Albania has huge stocks of armaments, much if it provided by China in the 1960s and 1970s.

The quality of these stockpiles vary widely, said William D. G. Hunt, a retired British ammunition technical officer who assessed the entire stock for Albania’s Ministry of Defense from 1998 to 2002. He said a military planning to use the munitions had reason to worry: at least 90 percent of the stockpile was more than 40 years old.
“If there was any procurement made for combat purposes from that stockpile, I would be very dubious about it,” he said. “I am not suggesting that all the ammunition would fail. But its performance would tail off rather dramatically. It is substandard, for sure.”

Problems with Albania’s decaying munitions were apparent earlier this month, when a depot outside Tirana, Albania’s capital, erupted in a chain of explosions, killing at least 22 people, injuring at least 300 others and destroying hundreds of homes.

Before the Army’s contractors began shopping from such depots, the West’s assessment of Albanian munitions was evident in programs it sponsored to destroy them. Through 2007, the United States had contributed $2 million to destroy excess small-caliber weapons and 2,000 tons of ammunition in Albania, according to the State Department.

A NATO program that ended last year involved 16 Western nations contributing about $10 million to destroy 8,700 tons of obsolete ammunition. The United States contributed $500,000. Among the items destroyed were 104 million 7.62 millimeter cartridges — exactly the ammunition AEY sought from the Albanian state arms export agency.

Albania offered to sell tens of millions of cartridges manufactured as long ago as 1950. For tests, a 25-year-old AEY representative was given 1,000 cartridges to fire, according to Ylli Pinari, the director of the arms export agency at the time of the sale.

No ballistic performance was recorded, he said. The rounds were fired by hand.

On that basis, AEY bought more than 100 million cartridges for the Pentagon’s order. The cartridges, according to packing lists, dated to the 1960s.

The company also hired a local businessman, Kosta Trebicka, to remove the ammunition from its wooden crates and hermetically sealed metal boxes — the standard military packaging that protects munitions from moisture and dirt, and helps ensure its reliability and ease of transport in the field.

Mr. Trebicka, in interviews, said Mr. Diveroli wanted to discard the crates and metal boxes to reduce the weight and cost of air shipments and maximize profits. Several American officials said they suspected that the packaging was removed because it bore Chinese markings and the ammunition’s age.

The Czech Connection

As the cartridges in Albania were being prepared for shipment to Afghanistan, Mr. Diveroli began seeking ammunition from the Czech Republic to fill an order for Iraq’s Interior Ministry.

In May 2007, according to two American officials, the Czech government contacted the American Embassy in Prague with a concern: AEY was buying nine million cartridges through Petr Bernatik, a Czech citizen who had been accused by Czech officials of illegal arms trafficking.

The accusations included shipments of rocket-propelled grenades in violation of an international embargo to Congo, and illegal shipments of firearms to Slovakia.

Mr. Bernatik had publicly denied both accusations. But they were deemed credible enough in Washington that he was listed on the Defense Trade Controls watch list, according to one of the American officials.

This list, maintained by the State Department, is used to prevent American dealers from engaging suspicious traders in their business, in part to prevent legal arms companies from enriching or legitimizing black-market networks.

AEY has never been implicated in black-market sales. But the Czech government, which had discretion over the sale, asked the American Embassy if it wanted Mr. Bernatik involved in AEY’s deals, according to the two American officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to share the contents of diplomatic discussions.

The United States did not try to block the transaction, one of the American officials said, in part because equipping Iraq was in the United States’ interest, and also because Mr. Bernatik had been accused, not convicted.

On May 7, 2007, the Czech government issued an export license. Mr. Bernatik, in a telephone interview, said he arranged seven flights to Iraq for AEY last year. “We have a normal business collaboration,” he said.

The international arms business operates partly in the light and partly in shadows, and is littered with short-lived shell companies, middlemen and official corruption. Governments have tried to regulate it more closely for years, with limited success.

As Mr. Diveroli began to fill the Army’s huge orders, he was entering a shadowy world, and in his brief interview he suggested that he was aware that corruption could intrude on his dealings in Albania. “What goes on in the Albanian Ministry of Defense?” he said. “Who’s clean? Who’s dirty? Don’t want to know about it.”

The way AEY’s business was structured, Mr. Diveroli, at least officially, did not deal directly with Albanian officials. Instead, a middleman company registered in Cyprus, Evdin Ltd., bought the ammunition and sold it to his company.

The local packager involved in the deal, Mr. Trebicka, said that he suspected that Evdin’s purpose was to divert money to Albanian officials.

The purchases, Mr. Trebicka said, were a flip: Albania sold ammunition to Evdin for $22 per 1,000 rounds, he said, and Evdin sold it to AEY for much more. The difference, he said he suspected, was shared with Albanian officials, including Mr. Pinari, then the head of the arms export agency, and the defense minister at the time, Fatmir Mediu.

(Mr. Mediu resigned last week after the ammunition depot explosions; Mr. Pinari was arrested.) The Albanian government has been infuriated by Mr. Trebicka’s allegations. Sali Berisha, the prime minister, Mr. Mediu and Mr. Pinari all denied involvement in kickbacks. But Mr. Trebicka said that after he raised his concerns about Evdin with the Defense Ministry, his company was forced from the repackaging contract.

On June 11, 2007, Mr. Trebicka and Mr. Diveroli commiserated by phone about problems with doing business in Albania. Mr. Trebicka surreptitiously recorded the conversation, and later gave the audio files to American investigators.

The conversation, he said, showed that the American company was aware of corruption in its dealings in Albania and that Heinrich Thomet, a Swiss arms dealer, was behind Evdin.

In the recordings, which Mr. Trebicka shared with The Times, Mr. Diveroli suggests that Mr. Thomet, called “Henri,” was acting as the middleman.

“Pinari needs a guy like Henri in the middle to take care of him and his buddies, which is none of my business,” Mr. Diveroli said. “I don’t want to know about that business. I want to know about legitimate businesses.”

Mr. Diveroli recommended that Mr. Trebicka try to reclaim his contract by sending “one of his girls” to have sex with Mr. Pinari. He suggested that money might help, too.

“Let’s get him happy; maybe he gives you one more chance,” he said. “If he gets $20,000 from you ... ”

At the end, Mr. Diveroli appeared to lament his business with Albania. “It went up higher to the prime minister and his son,” he said. “I can’t fight this mafia. It got too big. The animals just got too out of control.”

In e-mail exchanges, Mr. Thomet denied an official role in Evdin. His involvement in the Albania deal, he said, had been in introducing Mr. Diveroli to potential partners and officials. Bogdan Choopryna, Evdin’s general manager, also said Mr. Diveroli’s allegations were not true. “We listen to the words of Mr. Diveroli, and then I am responsible for what he is saying?” he said. In addition to being an official with Evdin, Mr. Choopryna, 27, markets products for a Swiss company run by Mr. Thomet.

The dispute about Evdin’s role and who owns it remains publicly unresolved. Evdin had incorporated on Sept. 26, 2006 — the week after Mr. Diveroli bid on the Afghan contract, according to Cyprus’s registrar. The company listed its office in Larnaca, Cyprus, and its general director as Pambos Fellas.

A visit by a reporter to the address found an accounting business above a nightclub. Evdin had no office or staff there. And Mr. Fellas, who was inside, said that he was not Evdin’s general director, but “a nominee director” whose sole role was to register the company.

He had registered hundreds of such companies for a fee, he said, and knew nothing of Evdin’s business.

Some signs point back to Switzerland. Mr. Pinari initially told two reporters that he worked with Evdin via Mr. Thomet. (After a reporter told Mr. Thomet this, Mr. Pinari changed his story, referring the reporter to Mr. Fellas and Evdin’s office in Cyprus.) Mr. Diveroli also said the Cyprus company was run by a “Swiss individual.”

Mr. Thomet has been accused in the past by private groups, including Amnesty International, of arranging illegal arms transfers under a shifting portfolio of corporate names. His activities have also caused concern in Washington, where, like Mr. Bernatik, he and Evdin are on the Defense Trade Controls watch list, an American official said.

Mr. Thomet said past claims that he had engaged in illegal arms trading were caused by “false statements by former competitors.”

Hugh Griffiths, operations manager of the Arms Transfer Profile Initiative, a private organization that researches illicit arms transfers, described Mr. Thomet as a broker with contacts in former Eastern bloc countries with stockpiles and arms factories. His proximity to AEY’s purchases, Mr. Griffiths said, raised questions about whether the Pentagon was adequately vetting the business done in its name.

“Put very simply, many of the people involved in smuggling arms to Africa are also exactly the same as those involved in Pentagon-supported deals, like AEY’s shipments to Afghanistan and Iraq,” he said.

Under the suspension ordered Wednesday, the Army planned to continue accepting ammunition it had already ordered from AEY. As of March 21, it had ordered $155 million of munitions, according to the Army Sustainment Command.

In Afghanistan, American munitions officers are examining all of the small-arms ammunition AEY has shipped. The final shipment, which arrived in wooden crates, included loose and corroded cartridges, according to three officers. At Rock Island Arsenal, the contracting authority said it was cooperating with investigators, who have also visited Albania and Afghanistan.

And in Miami Beach, even before the suspension, AEY had lost staff members. Michael Diveroli, the company’s founder, told a reporter that he no longer had any relationship with the company. Mr. Packouz, who was AEY’s vice president, and Levi Meyer, 25, who was briefly listed as general manager, had left the company, too.

Mr. Meyer offered a statement: “I’m not involved in that mess anymore.”

C. J Chivers reported from Nawa, Afghanistan, Russia and Ukraine; Eric Schmitt from Washington and Miami Beach; and Nicholas Wood from Tirana, Albania. Reporting was contributed by Alain Delaquérière and Margot Williams from New York, James Glanz from Baghdad, and Stefanos Evripidou from Cyprus.

*nytimes.com

Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan firefight: ISAF

2008-03-27T04:14:00.000-07:00

KABUL (AFP) — A Danish soldier was killed and another wounded in a firefight with Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said Thursday.

The Danes were on patrol Wednesday in Helmand province, a hotbed of Taliban activity, when they came under fire in the Gereshk area, said an ISAF spokesman in the province, British Lieutenant Colonel Simon Miller.

"Regrettably as a result of the firefight one Danish soldier was killed and another was wounded," Miller said.

Including the latest death, Denmark has lost 13 soldiers in Afghanistan. Two other Danes were killed March 17 in an attack on an ISAF convoy.

More than 30 international soldiers have been killed this year, most of them in hostile action.

Denmark has about 550 troops in Helmand, where most international soliders with ISAF are British.

ISAF draws its 47,000 troops from 39 countries. It is helping the Afghan government restore security in the face of an insurgency by the Taliban, who were in government between 1996 and 2001, and push development.

NATO Soldier Killed in Afghanistan

2008-03-27T04:13:00.000-07:00

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Insurgents attacked a NATO patrol in southern Afghanistan, killing one soldier and wounding another, the alliance said Thursday.

A NATO statement said the NATO soldiers were patrolling when they were hit in a "direct fire attack" Wednesday in volatile Helmand province. The nationalities of the victims have not been released. Most troops in Helmand are British, though U.S. forces and others also operate there.

Also in Helmand, militants fired a rocket at opium poppy eradication police Wednesday, killing two policemen and wounding another, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal.

Helmand is the biggest opium-producing region in the world, and has also been the front line of the deadliest fighting in recent years between international security forces and insurgents.

More than 8,000 people were killed in the insurgency last year, the deadliest year since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Helmand market bomb 'kills eight'

2008-03-26T06:18:00.001-07:00

A car bomb attack has killed at least eight people at a farmers' market in southern Afghanistan, police say.
They say the bomb in Gereshk district of Helmand province also wounded 17 people, including five children.

The bomb was left in an abandoned vehicle, police said. The Taleban has been blamed for the attack.

Nato troops frequently clash with the Taleban in Helmand - an opium production centre and insurgent stronghold.

Helmand police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal accused the Taleban of targeting civilians to "create fear in the people".

He told the Associated Press news agency that there were no security forces in the area at the time of the explosion.

Correspondents say that the Taleban frequently target Afghan and international security forces, but this year they have increased their attacks on civilians as well.

*bbc.co.uk

Afghan District Leader Stabbed to Death

2008-03-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

Local authorities in northern Afghanistan say a district chief in Jowzjan province was stabbed to death Saturday.

Police have not captured the killer, but officials suspect Taliban insurgents are linked to the attack.

In other news, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said the nation's security forces have killed three Taliban commanders and two of their bodyguards.

In a statement issued Saturday, the ministry said the clash occurred a few days ago in the southern province of Uruzgan.

Elsewhere in the south, a suicide bombing near a crowded shrine killed two policemen on Friday.

A local police official said the attacker blew himself up next to police guarding a shrine in Kandahar province's Arghandab district. Visitors to the shrine were celebrating the traditional new year.

Three other police officers and a civilian were also wounded in the blast.

Another bombing reported near a shrine in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Friday injured four people.

*VOA

IED kills two NATO soldiers in Afghanistan

2008-03-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

Two NATO soldiers are dead following a roadside bomb incident in southern Afghanistan, but coalition officials say they are not Canadians.

The incident happened in Kandahar province, where Canada's 2,400 troops are operating. The nationalities of the two have not yet been released.

They were on a security patrol with Afghan troops.

More than 200 foreign troops died in Afghanistan in 2007, while almost 30 troops from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force have been killed so far in 2008.

Meanwhile, Afghan and NATO forces claim to have killed more than 40 insurgents near the town of Deh Rawood in the Dihrawud district of Uruzgan province on Saturday, an Afghan security official said Sunday.

Uruzgan is on the northern border of Kandahar province. Dutch troops form the main NATO force in that area.

The NATO and Afghan troops were backed by air power.

The troops seized insurgent weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns.

The Afghan defence ministry would not officially give a specific casualty figure for the insurgents. However, it did say a Taliban commander was among the dead.

*ctv.ca

Suicide Bomber Strikes Busy Shrine in Southern Afghanistan

2008-03-21T15:03:00.001-07:00

A suicide bombing near a busy shrine in southern Afghanistan has killed at least one policeman.

A local police official said the attacker blew himself up next to police guarding a shrine in Kandahar province filled with people celebrating the traditional new year Friday in Arghandab district. Several other people were wounded.

Another bombing reported near a shrine in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif injured four people.

And NATO said a soldier was killed on Thursday in an explosion in the south. The alliance did not release the soldier's nationality or the exact location of the accident. But U.S., NATO and Afghan forces are fighting daily battles against Taliban and other insurgents in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

*VOA

Canadian deployments in Afghanistan won't extend past six months

2008-03-20T15:23:00.001-07:00

Matthew Fisher, Canwest News Service

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Canada's chief of the defence staff says there are no plans afoot to extend the six-month tours of duty that most of his troops now spend in Afghanistan.
"We've made no decisions to change where we are at this time," Gen. Rick Hillier said, adding that such issues are constantly examined by military planners. Some U.S. army units spend as much as 15 months in Afghanistan. The Dutch and Germans are deployed for as little as four months here, while the British generally are deployed for six months.
The Canadian Armed Forces continue to face difficulties in securing the resources to keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. Recruitment drives have been under way to boost both the regular Forces and reserve numbers, but many soldiers are returning to Afghanistan for a second and third rotation.
Parliament recently voted to extend the mission to Afghanistan for another three years.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay, in Afghanistan this week, was non-committal about extended tours earlier this week.
"We're not ruling anything out, but these are operational decisions."
Hillier also complimented the Manley panel for recommendations that if Canada is to remain in Afghanistan through 2011 at least 1,000 more NATO combat troops had to join them there. The report by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley had, the general said, helped to concentrate the minds of political leaders from other NATO countries on the issue of sending another battalion to Kandahar.
"More troops in the south, and not just in Kandahar, will allow us to do more" and to do so more quickly, Hillier said.
Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan expressed optimism Thursday that Canada will get the additional 1,000 troops it needs from NATOforces within a couple of weeks.
Arif Lalani said in a conference call from Kabul that since Canada is still at the negotiations stage with NATOallies regarding where the additional troops will come from, he is limited in what he can say.
But he insisted he is confident that other NATO countries will put forward the military backing that Canada is counting on.
"We're just in the discussions that we get what is required," he said, but added: "I am confident that we will."
Gen. Dan McNeill, the U.S. army officer commanding all 50,000 coalition forces in Afghanistan, said in an interview with Canwest News Service last week that he would ensure that Canada got the additional NATO troops that it was seeking. For his part, Hillier also said Thursday that he was "confident" that the alliance would provide the help that Canada had asked for at a meeting of NATO leaders in Romania next month, or shortly thereafter.
Canada's need for help in Kandahar is to be met in the short-term by the arrival of 3,200 U.S. marines this month. The marines, who are also likely to fight in neighbouring provinces, are deploying for only seven months, but it is expected that other marine units will follow this fall or next spring.
"The marines will make a huge difference during what is the fighting season, putting the Taliban on their back foot," Hillier said after a formal military ceremony Thursday honouring "the legendary soldiers" of the Royal Gurkha Rifles for their "elan and outstanding combat skills" while on joint operations with Canadian troops since last fall.
The Gurkhas, who been part of the British Army since 1815, had performed much the same role as the marines will since their battalion was deployed to southern Afghanistan last fall.
"It is alongside the Canadians that the Gurkhas have had some of their hardest fighting," Hillier said at the ceremony at which the 600 riflemen, who are recruited from the mountains of Afghanistan, were awarded the "Canadian Forces Unit Commendation."
"They have operated together in the volatile districts of Zhari/Panjwaii, pushing the insurgents out in order to allow Afghan police to follow and set up permanent bases.
"They are as ferocious as warriors can ever be, but when necessary they can also show a compassionate hand."
Canadian Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, Task Force Afghanistan's commander, praised the Gurkhas "for their work up north in lots of snow. Our soldiers noticed that they were tough. Even though they aren't that tall, they carry a lot of stuff."
The Gurkhas, who returned to Britain late Thursday after six months in Afghanistan, also praised the Canadians.
"It was fantastic working with them, and we worked with them a lot in very hot and very cold conditions," said 19-year-old Sgt. Belbahadur Gurung, a second-generation Gurkha who has served with them for 11 years on missions in Kosovo, Bosnia, Sierre Leone, the Falkland Islands and New Zealand.
It was the second time that Hillier had awarded a Canadian Forces Unit Commendation to a foreign force. The award was also given to the U.S. army hospital at Landstuhl, Germany, where the most seriously wounded Canadians from Afghanistan have been sent for urgent care before being transferred home.
With file from Linda Nguyen

*canada.com

At least 6 killed by U.S. force raid in E. Afghanistan

2008-03-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

KABUL, March 19 (Xinhua)-- At least six persons were killed as international troops carried out air attacks on suspected hideout of Taliban militants in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province in the wee hours of Wednesday, local police said.

"It was very early this morning when aircraft of foreign troops raided a house in Om area of Nadir Shah Kot district, leaving six persons dead," police spokesman Wazir Badshah told Xinhua.

However, he could not identify if the casualties were militantsor civilians.

Meanwhile, a statement from the U.S.-led Coalition troops said several militants including two civilians, a woman and a boy, were killed in the Coalition operation in Nadir Shah kot district of Khost province.

"Coalition forces searched compounds in the Nadar Shahkot District targeting Bismullah, a militant conducting improvised explosive device and weapons facilitation operations," the statement said.

Several armed militants were killed when they fired on Coalition forces during the search and two suspected militants were detained, it said.

Coalition forces discovered a dead woman during a post-hostilities assessment in a building from where one of the barricaded militants fired on Coalition forces and a dead child was in another building where another barricaded militant was killed, it further added.

The Coalition raid came just one day after the NATO airstrike in southern Afghan province of Helmand which, according to a local lawmaker, left more than 50 dead, including 32 civilians. But the claim was strongly denied by NATO.

Similar incidents in the past had claimed the lives of civilians in parts of the country, mostly in the southern region.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had more than once called on the international troops based in Afghanistan to coordinate military operations with local authorities in order to avoid harming non-combatants.

*xinhuanet.com

NATO Says Afghanistan Air Strike Killed Insurgents, Not Civilians

2008-03-18T11:44:00.001-07:00

NATO is rejecting claims by Afghan residents that several civilians were killed during an air raid in southern Helmand province.

In a statement Tuesday, NATO said it killed an estimated 12 insurgents in an isolated area of Helmand's Sangin district Monday. NATO said it attacked after militants riding in three vehicles fired on coalition forces.

NATO said there was no evidence of civilian casualties.

Local lawmakers and Sangin residents said at least 50 people were killed when NATO jets bombed an area where people were playing games.

They said at least half the victims were civilians.

U.S., NATO and Afghan forces are struggling to contain a bloody Taliban insurgency in the southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan.

This week, more U.S. Marines began arriving in southern Afghanistan to help fight insurgent attacks.

They were deployed after Canada threatened to remove its forces from Afghanistan unless NATO sent a 1,000 more troops.

The Canadian parliament said last week that if more troops were sent, it would extend the country's presence in Afghanistan through 2011.

In response, the United States assigned 3,200 Marines to a seven-month-long mission in Kandahar province, a Taliban stronghold.

*VOA

Czech soldier killed in suicide attack in southern Afghanistan

2008-03-17T10:40:00.000-07:00

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — The Czech army says a member of its special forces was killed today in a suicide attack in southern Afghanistan.

The military says in a statement that two other servicemen were injured in the attack and were taken to hospital.

The Czech Republic has 330 soldiers in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

The Czech parliament has approved increasing the number to 415 later this year.

The Czech soldier was the second to die in Afghanistan.

A mudslide in northern Afghanistan swept a Czech military vehicle off a road in May, killing one soldier.

*canadianpress

Seven Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan: officials

2008-03-16T14:17:00.001-07:00

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — Seven Taliban militants have been killed in Afghanistan at the weekend after two separate attacks on police posts in the south and east, officials said Sunday.

In eastern Nangarhar province, four militants were killed in an exchange of fire early Sunday after attacking a police post near the border with Pakistan, provincial spokesman Noor Agha Zwak told AFP

Three others were killed on Saturday in the former Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala in restive Helmand province, police said.

"They attacked our police post. Our guys returned fire and three Taliban were killed," provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal told AFP.

Taliban rebels stormed and captured Musa Qala early last year, making it their biggest military base from where they directed attacks on Afghan and foreign troops across the war-ravaged country.

Afghan and NATO forces recaptured the remote town in a large-scale operation involving thousands of troops in December. Two NATO soldiers were killed in the fighting.

Elsewhere, the US-led coalition, which has thousands of troops fighting here alongside a 40,000-strong NATO-led force, said it had killed "several" militants on Friday in an operation in eastern Khost province.

"A number of armed militants were killed when they posed a credible threat to coalition forces," the military said in a statement. Five other militants were captured, it added.

The Taliban, ousted from government in 2001 in a US-led invasion, are waging an insurgency to topple the US-backed government in Kabul and oust tens of thousands of foreign troops based here to fight them back.

Last year was the deadliest of their campaign, with more than 8,000 people killed, according to a report delivered to the UN Security Council this month.

About 1,500 were civilians, it said. There were about 160 suicide attacks last year, up from 123 the previous year.

Suicide blast hits NATO convoy in Afghanistan

2008-03-15T16:01:00.001-07:00

KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed a car into a convoy of NATO-led forces on Saturday in southeastern Afghanistan, but it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties, police said.

The attack happened on a road outside the town of Khost, close to the border with Pakistan. U.S. troops form the bulk of foreign forces in eastern Afghanistan.

Violence has surged in the past two years in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban government in 2001 after it refused to hand over al Qaeda leaders behind the September 11 attacks on the United States.

(Writing by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Jerry Norton)

Militants destroy another mobile telecom signal tower in Afghanistan

2008-03-15T15:59:00.000-07:00

KABUL, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Taliban insurgents fighting the Afghan government have destroyed another mobile phone tower in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, a local official said Saturday.

"The enemies of the country raided the room of guards of a mobile phone antenna late Friday night in Daman district of Kandahar and set on fire the switch board of the antenna, power generator and items inside the room," Mohammad Rasoul, police chief of the district, told Xinhua via phone.

He said that the militants tied the hands of the guards and abandoned them without harming in the area.

It is the 10th mobile phone tower that has been destroyed by the Taliban since the outfit gave ultimatum for mobile telecommunication companies to stop nighttime signals in southern Afghanistan's Taliban-held areas late last month.

The Taliban had warned all the mobile phone service firms operating in Afghanistan to shut down their signals from 5 p.m. to7 a.m. citing the ground that Afghan and foreign forces were using cellular phones signals to track down insurgents during nighttime.

*xinhuanet.com

Women and children killed in Afghanistan by British air strike

2008-03-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

Two women and two children were killed in an air strike called in by British forces in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said. It is understood that the incident in Helmand Province took place after British troops had called in air support to help extricate them from a Taliban ambush at an undisclosed location in the southern part of the war-ravaged province.

The four bodies were found alongside one injured civilian as soldiers went to inspect the area.

The MoD said in a statement yesterday: "We can confirm UK forces were involved in an operation in the south of Helmand Province. We deeply regret that this incident happened and do everything we can to mitigate this from happening. This incident is currently under investigation and it would be inappropriate for us to comment."

The tragedy highlights the responsibility on the shoulders of British forward air controllers – the role filled by Prince Harry until he was forced to return from his posting in Afghanistan less than two weeks ago.

The job involves providing air support for ground troops who come into contact with Taliban as well as carrying out aerial surveillance behind enemy lines.

The Prince spent several weeks working in the southern part of Helmand before moving to Musa Qaleh further north.

Details of the incident were revealed by a Nato spokesman, Brig-Gen Carlos Branco at a news conference in Afghanistan yesterday. But while he spoke of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf ) involvement, the MoD confirmed that UK troops were present. It is not known if the aircraft was British. Brig-Gen Branco said: "During the ensuing fight, two women and two children, part of a group of civilians who were in the vicinity of the action, were killed. We deeply regret the loss of innocent life and injuries by civilians, and we are saddened that casualties were caused as a result of a deliberate attack against Isaf forces instigated by insurgents."

He added: "On the tragic issue of civilian casualties, you will note that Isaf will inform you of such unfortunate events, events which are thoroughly investigated. This is not the case for the insurgents, whose propaganda attempts to seize every opportunity to accuse Nato troops of killing civilians, no matter what the circumstances, to create the perception that ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) or Isaf are responsible for all civilian casualties."

The MoD spokeswoman said yesterday that the British ground troops had been caught up in an intense battle after being ambushed by Taliban fighters.

Air support was called in and directed on to the area where the Taliban appeared to have been operating but the civilians were unintentionally killed.

The injured civilian has been taken to the British field hospital at Camp Bastion for medical treatment.

*independent.co.uk

41 Taliban Killed in South Afghanistan

2008-03-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan and international forces killed 41 Taliban militants in a battle in southern Afghanistan, and a suicide car bomb attack on a convoy of U.S. troops left six Afghan civilians dead in Kabul, U.S. and Afghan officials said Thursday.

None of the four American troops traveling in the two armored vehicles of the convoy was badly wounded in the Thursday attack, said Lt. Col. David Johnson, a spokesman for U.S. forces. The troops were traveling in one SUV and one truck, he said.

Six Afghan civilians were killed and up to 20 others wounded in the blast, Deputy Interior Minister Munir Mangal said. The attacker was driving a white Toyota Corolla, he said, a favorite among suicide car bombers.

In a mobile phone text message to an Associated Press reporter in Pakistan, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid identified the suicide bomber as Abdullah.

The suicide car bomb turned into a fiery hull that burned on the main airport road long after the attack, which also damaged several other vehicles.

U.S. troops and international security contractors surrounded the area after the blast.

Insurgents detonated 160 suicide attacks in 2007, a record number, the U.N. has said. Last year was the deadliest in the country since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion with more than 8,000 insurgency related deaths year, the U.N. said.

In southern Helmand province, Afghan and international forces attacked Taliban militants Wednesday morning as they traveled by motorcycle toward the Pakistan border, said Ghulam Dastagir Azad, governor of neighboring Nimroz province.

The troops employed airstrikes during the four-hour battle and killed 41 militants, including 17 from Nimroz, he said. A Taliban commander from Nimroz was among the dead.

The U.S.-led coalition could not confirm the attack. NATO said they were looking into the report, but did not immediately have any information.

In other violence, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces killed nearly a dozen suspected militants in Helmand during a clash Tuesday in Garmsir district, the coalition said in a statement. The troops had been searching compounds for Taliban traffickers of weapons and foreign fighters when they were came under fire.

In Wardak province, a remote-controlled bomb hit a police vehicle Thursday in Saydabad district, killing one policeman and wounding four others, said district police investigator Mohibullah Khan.

In Zabul province, Afghan security forces and NATO troops launched an operation Wednesday against Chechen fighters meeting in Daychopan district, said district chief Fazel Bari. The ensuing two-hour gun battle left three Chechens dead and six wounded, he said.

On Wednesday in Farah province, authorities recovered the dead body of the Pusht Rod district police chief, a day after he was kidnapped along with five other policemen, said Bariyalai Khan, spokesman for the Farah provincial police. There was no information on the fates of the five other men.