Afghanistan Updates

[Neo]

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Excellent cooperation’ in fighting terrorists:
Pakistan receives NATO applause

* Richards says most Afghan problems internal
* Waziristan deal ‘could set an example’
* Pakistan committed against Taliban: Musharraf

By Rana Qaisar

ISLAMABAD: General David Richards, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, on Tuesday praised Pakistan’s “excellent cooperation” in the fight against terrorists, an official statement said.

Gen Richards said this in a one-hour meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. The official statement quoted the commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) as saying that the primary purpose of his visit to Pakistan was to thank the president, the government, armed forces and security agencies of Pakistan for their “excellent cooperation” in the fight against terrorism.

“The ISAF wants to build on this and further expand cooperation to defeat the Taliban and terrorists. The ISAF fully appreciates that a vast majority of problems of Afghanistan are emanating from within the country, having deep roots due to the fact that the country had remained highly unstable for over two decades,” the statement quoted him as saying.

The British general said it was believed that the Taliban were being funded through the narcotics trade and other criminal activities.

Gen Musharraf assured Gen Richards that Islamabad was fully on board to fight the Taliban. “Pakistan is assisting Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism and extremism, besides hosting over 2.5 million Afghan refugees,” the president told the British general.

Amidst reports that the international coalition wants Pakistan to do more in the war against terrorism, the president briefed the NATO commander about the steps Pakistan has taken and referred to the agreement in North Waziristan, which was aimed at checking the activities of terrorists and militants. “Pakistan is extending considerable assistance to Afghanistan for its reconstruction and provided various incentives to boost trade relations between the two countries,” he said.

Gen Musharraf also briefed him about his recent meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul and in Washington, where they discussed ways to expand cooperation in various fields including counter-terrorism.

Earlier, Gen Richards denied a report in the Sunday Times that he would “confront” Gen Musharraf with evidence of the alleged support of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies for Taliban. “That is not the reason for one moment that I came here,” he told a private TV channel. “I come here to further develop our relationship with the Pakistan Army.”He praised Pakistan’s actions, but added it could still work even harder. “I don’t know of many countries that could possibly be doing more. Could it do more still? Yes, we all want to do more because we still have a problem,” he said.

He also defended the North Waziristan deal. “I think played rightly, with luck and good judgment ... this could set an example how we should deal with these problems.”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\10\11\story_11-10-2006_pg1_1

 

[Neo]

Monday, October 16, 2006

French special forces will withdraw from Afghanistan

PARIS: France plans to withdraw around 200 special forces from southern Afghanistan at the start of next year following a recent surge in violence, reported the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday.

The French Defence Ministry was not immediately available for comment. The French military is participating in various missions in Afghanistan, and the small special forces team has been under US control since 2003 as part of operation Enduring Freedom.

Nine French troops have died fighting in Afghanistan, and Le Journal du Dimanche said the relatively high death toll had played a part in the decision to withdraw the forces.

The US was also downscaling its Enduring Freedom operation, the newspaper said, adding that some 1,000 French troops deployed around Kabul under NATO control would be staying put. Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest phase since US-led troops drove the Taliban from power after the September 11, 2001, attacks, and NATO has called on its member countries to send in more soldiers to help combat the upsurge in violence.

France, however, declined to dispatch more troops last month, saying it already had its hands full with the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, where it has committed some 2,000 soldiers.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\10\16\story_16-10-2006_pg1_2

 

[Neo]

Monday, October 16, 2006

‘UK troops in Iraq be sent to Afghanistan’

LONDON: British defence chiefs warned the government to pull up to half of the country’s troops out of Iraq to help boost its campaign in Afghanistan, reported a newspaper on Sunday. In a message delivered six months ago to then defence secretary John Reid by the then head of the British army, General Mike Jackson, military chiefs warned that soldiers in Iraq should be withdrawn by May 2007, said The Observer weekly. The warning followed a detailed analysis by strategic planners — they concluded that the army could cope with military engagements in both Iraq and Afghanistan in the short-term. A British Defence Ministry spokeswoman denied John Reid was advised to withdraw troops.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\10\16\story_16-10-2006_pg1_3

 

[Neo]

UN warns of Afghan food shortage

Poppy farming is being blamed for food shortages

Nearly two million people in southern Afghanistan will need food aid this winter because of drought, the UN and Afghan government have warned.
They have appealed for more than $40m in emergency funds, in addition to an earlier appeal for $76m.

Afghanistan is facing a shortfall in its wheat harvest just after beginning to recover from an earlier drought.

The crop failure comes as fighting continues in the south between Nato-led troops and the Taleban.

The food shortage is being blamed on intensified fighting against Taleban insurgents in the troubled southern provinces and expanding cultivation of opium poppies instead of food.

In July, UK charity Christian Aid warned that millions of people in Afghanistan faced starvation after a drought destroyed crops.

A survey of 66 villages suggested farmers in the worst affected areas had lost all their produce.

Less than half of the $76m in emergency funds sought in July have been received so far.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6075990.stm

 

[lulldapull]

NATO troops are literally months away from a catastrophic defeat. Yet again at the hands of these ruthless Taliban. 3000 is the number of killed/ injured Pakistani troops some of the sources now revealing the extent of Pakistani casualties from the fighting in Waziristan and the disastrous military operation carried out by pakistani troops.

Musharraf sahb it appears is a military genius! In Kargil he embarrassed his country down to the last minute of that withdrawl.....and in his embarrassing book he goes into a delusional denial that it was our paindoo gunjaa who asked him to withdraw?...As usual musharraf sahb......

ultee baat karnay aur bukvass karnay main sub say aagay.

He is truly our joker!

 

[KashifAsrar]

NATO is really to get a big beating in Afghanistan soon, Insha-a-allah. Talibans, it seems will defeat the largest co-olition with this time. The best way for the NATO is to declare a no-party to Uncle SAMs mis-adventures!
Kashif

 

[Neo]

Top Al Qaeda operative killed in Pakistan

Islamabad, Oct 25: An al Qaeda operative wanted in connection with the 1998 US embassy bombings has been killed in Pakistan, the foreign office said today.

FBI`s `most wanted` Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah was killed in April in north Waziristan during an airstrike by Pakistani forces near the border with Afghanistan, according to the statement.

Atwah, 42, Egyptian was indicted in connection with al Qaeda`s suicide bombings of US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The attacks killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

The US administration had announced a reward of USD 5 million for information leading to his capture.

Atwah, who also went by the alias Abdel Rahman al-Muhajer, had been a member of al Qaeda since 1990 and provided explosives training in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sudan, according to his indictment.

The indictment also charged that Atwah had been part of an al Qaeda cell operating in Somalia in the early 1990s that provided training to Somali tribesmen who attacked US forces in that country.

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=331332&sid=SAS&ssid=

 

[Neo]

Pact with Nato to be made public

Wednesday, October 25,2006
ISLAMABAD: Salient features of an Afghanistan-specific agreement that Pakistan is negotiating with the 26-member North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) would be made public, well-placed government sources told Dawn on Monday.

The agreement for transit facility was requested by Nato exclusively for its peace mission in Afghanistan early this year and it has been in the works for more than six months now.

“The salient features of the agreement with Nato would definitely be made public,” a senior military official told this correspondent on Tuesday.

Officials at the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Defence keeping a close watch on it also endorsed the view.

The thinking in official circles is that it would be the right move as it would address the likely concerns about it and counter unnecessary speculations in the public domain.

The draft agreement that basically relates to providing logistical support to Nato forces in Afghanistan is now in its final stages and may get the green light when the Nato chief visits Pakistan next month.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told Dawn on Tuesday that the two sides were “very close” to firming up the agreement and said Pakistan had already given its inputs on the draft proposal.

Earlier, the spokesperson had categorically stated that the transit facility would be confined to logistic support and was not for military operations.

Under the agreement with ISAF, Pakistan has been providing transit route facility to ISAF into Afghanistan for lifting supplies but not for military action. The airfields in Karachi and Islamabad have been used as a transit point for logistic support and Pakistan had provided the overflight facility as well.

Notably this will be Pakistan’s second agreement with Nato. Last year Pakistan entered into the first agreement in the aftermath of the October 8 earthquake. It was for the Nato Disaster Relief Mission in Pakistan for humanitarian assistance in quake-hit areas. The arrival of 800-strong Nato relief team became a major controversy, raising concerns and questions about the real motive behind the move.

However, the Nato team left in February this year at the end of the mutually agreed 90-day period of the relief operation.

Nato’s presence in Pakistan created two ‘firsts’ — it was the first Nato presence in Pakistan and it was the first-ever Nato relief operation in a non-Nato state.

Earlier this year, Nato was inducted as a full member of the Tripartite Commission comprising senior military and foreign ministry officials of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States.

http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=334942&category=Frontend&Country=PAKISTAN

 

[Neo]

'Civilians killed' in Nato raids

Villagers survey livestock killed in the Panjwayi raids

Scores of civilians have been killed during Nato operations against Taleban fighters in southern Afghanistan, local officials and civilians say.
Nato says it will help Afghan officials investigate what happened after raids in two districts of Kandahar province.

The alliance had "credible reports" of some civilian casualties, but could not confirm reports of 60 dead civilians. It said 48 militants had been killed.

Funerals have already been held for a number of those killed, relatives say.

In September Nato said it had routed the Taleban in one of their strongholds in Kandahar province after a two-week-long operation in which 500 militants were killed.

'Sorry not good enough'

Locals in Panjwayi and Pashmul districts of Kandahar province say the Nato raids began on Tuesday, during the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan, and continued into the night.

"If there are no Taleban, then why are they bombing the area?"

Bismallah Afghanmal,
Kandahar councillor

They said that several houses were hit, and civilians killed.

Villagers told the BBC Pashto service that the bodies of many locals had been pulled from the rubble of their homes after the raids and buried.

"Twenty members of my family are killed and 10 are injured," one survivor said. "The injured are in Mirwais hospital in Kandahar city and anybody can go and see them.

"For God's sake, come and see our situation."

Another man said women and children were among 15 members of his family who had been killed.

"The airplanes came and were bombing until 3 am. And, in the morning, they started hitting our village with mortars and rockets. They didn't allow anybody to come to our help."


Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zmarai Bashiry told the BBC that local police and officials had confirmed more than 40 villagers killed in the Nato raids.

Other local officials put the death toll at between 60 and 85.

A statement from President Hamid Karzai said an eight-member team of tribal and community elders would investigate the reported civilian casualties during the Nato air raids.

"The team has been tasked to prepare a full and complete account of the incident and identify its causes and victims," it said.

The elders would also make suggestions on how to prevent such "unfortunate" incidents in future and ensure better co-ordination with foreign forces.

Kandahar provincial council member Bismallah Afghanmal said announcing an investigation was not enough.

"These kinds of things have happened several times, and they only say 'sorry'," he told the Associated Press news agency.

"How can you compensate people who have lost their sons and daughters?"

'Human shields'

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), Maj Luke Knittig, was unable to confirm the high death tolls.

Nato says it routed the Taleban in battles in September

But he told reporters in Kabul: "Very sadly, civilians continue to get caught up in these engagements with tragic results.

"We are helping Afghan leaders there fly over the area to make an assessment."

Nato spokesman Mark Laity told the same news briefing that Taleban fighters often used locals as "human shields", and the alliance made every effort to minimise civilian casualties.

A Taleban statement sent to the BBC said none of the movement's fighters had been killed in the Panjwayi clashes, and that any deaths were civilian.

President Hamid Karzai has been under mounting pressure over civilian deaths and has urged foreign forces to exercise more caution.

Last week, up to 21 civilians were killed in two Nato operations in Kandahar and neighbouring Helmand province.

In July 2002, a US air strike in Uruzgan province left 46 civilians dead and wounded more than 100, many of whom had been at a wedding party.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Afghanistan this year, the bloodiest since the Taleban were removed from power by US-led forces in 2001.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6086064.stm

 

[Neo]

Monday, November 06, 2006

Pakistan offers to fence Afghan border

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is willing to fence off its border with Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said on Sunday, a day after his Dutch counterpart called for greater international pressure on Islamabad to stop militants from infiltrating Afghan territory.

Kasuri renewed the offer in talks with his Dutch counterpart Bernard Bot, a ministry statement said. Kasuri also said both Pakistani and Afghan security forces should jointly monitor the border to prevent movement by militants, it said. “Bot welcomed Pakistan’s readiness to seal the border ... and said that he would discuss this with other NATO partners,” the statement said.

Pakistan has repeatedly said it is willing seal the border with Afghanistan. But officials say Kabul has rejected proposals to build a fence or mine the frontier.

Bot also praised Pakistan for its efforts in the fight against the Taliban. “Minister Bot encouraged Pakistan and Afghanistan to further strengthen and deepen their good neighbourly relations,” said a Dutch embassy statement.

Bot also told Kasuri the Netherlands was interested in stepping into development efforts in Pakistan’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Kasuri reiterated a proposal for setting up of a joint economic commission and signing of an Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Promotion of Investments Treaty to improve economic cooperation between the two countries. Kasuri also discussed the delays in issuance of family reunion visas for Pakistani-origin community in the Netherlands with Bot, and stressed the early implementation of the Export of Social Security Benefits Agreement to enable eligible Dutch citizens of Pakistani-origin to receive their social security benefits in Pakistan.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\11\06\story_6-11-2006_pg7_3

 

[Neo]

This is a good time to fence the border and get Nato countries and Afghanistan to co-finance it.

 

[niaz]

Fence the entire PAk Afghan border! US have failed to check Mexicans from entering illegally despite all the fencing and patrols. This I got to see

 

[Neo]

Pakistan-Afghanistan-Nato spy center planned


KABUL: November 11, 2006: Military commanders from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nato reviewed plans on Saturday to build a jointly staffed centre to share intelligence in their battle against extremist militants, an official said.

The commanders were in Kabul for the 19th meeting between the three forces that are together fighting unrest that spans the Pak-Afghan border and involves Islamist groups such as the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Part of their discussions focussed on a planned joint military intelligence sharing centre expected to be based in the Afghan capital, an official with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force told AFP.

The centre will be staffed by Afghan, Pakistani and ISAF officials and will "work to understand what information can quickly be shared in a mutually beneficial fashion," he said.

The meeting -- led by Pakistan's Major General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Afghanistan's General Sher Karimi and ISAF's General David Richards -- also heard reports on border security and efforts to counter improvised bombs regularly used by the rebels.

 

[KashifAsrar]

I also think that fencing the border is no practical way of sorting the problem.
It is bound to fail.
Kashif

 

[KashifAsrar]

'Shared Intelligence'? Hmmm .. Good for these battered NATO troops. They are desprate to reverse the trends in Afghanistan.
They will fail again misrebaly, Insha-a-allah.
Kashif