Afghanistan Updates

[Contrarian]

Kashif, why aer you happy about the situation deteriorating in Afghanistan.
It is so much in our interests to see a new afghanistan, with a democratically elected govt. We have invested so much in Afghanistan!
The old Afghanistan was so much closer to Pakistan and did Pakistan's bidding, provided manpower to be trained and sent into India. The new Afghanistan is so much closer to India and is against Pakistan. They constantly have some probem with each other, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

They would provide a good base for Indian companies, provide raw materials, etc. It is completely in our interests to see, the new Afghanistan. To see, the Karzai govt suceed there, in making reforms. To see, people enpowered there. Remember the weird laws and moral police of the Taliban.

They are also a strategic investment, if things go as planned there.

 

[KashifAsrar]

It is never good untill NATO is there and a true representative government emerge there. You are talking about raw material and like that, so much about the Afghan-Pak relationship, but did you bothered a single time how Afghans are living under occupation. Your logic seems to side by those who claim that India was so good a place to live under imperical raj. Pity you recognize only about your own gains and not the pains of Afghans. If Taliban were not good then, was it the way to bomb entire Afghanistan out to get rid of Talibans. Devastation of any level can never bring peace and progress, only sufferings. Why it is that when there is a change required in western countries they run after a democratic process where as for a change in the third world carpet bombing and co-lateral damage are pre-requisite?
Kashif

 

[Contrarian]

No mate, all im saying is that now atleast there have been developments to put democracy back in place. The karzai govt is an example of that. Im saying it is in India's interest that situation there normalises, so that pepole can choose their leader and Afghanistan starts progressing towards greater prosperity for its people. THAT is what is in India's interest. If there is continued violence and civil war, it will bring more NATO troops there. There were plans for the occupation forces to get out of Afganistan, but such deteriorating conditions will only make them stay longer.

All im saying is that sometimes, thingsa have to be raised down to bring up something afresh. Do you think had this war never happened, the Taliban would have gone? Agreed things are not gd presently, but sooner or later, the NATO and US troops will go, then Afghanistan begins its true journey. For now we must support things to normalise and help in anyway possible.

 

[KashifAsrar]

Two NATO soldiers killed in suicide bombing in Afghanistan

Kabul - A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vaninto a NATO vehicle Monday, killing two soldiers and wounding anAfghan civilian in the latest violence in southern Afghanistan,officials said.

Daoud Ahmadi, spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, said the bomber hit a NATO convoy in Kandahar city. He added that the injured civilian was a nomad passing by, and more than a dozen of the nomad's camels were also killed in the attack.

Major Luke Knittig, spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), confirmed the attack had occurred but refused to identify the two soldiers killed or give their nationalities.

A majority of the NATO forces stationed in volatile Kandaharprovince are Canadians.

Knittig said the soldiers were involved in an 8-million-dollar reconstruction project in the Panjwaii district that is being funded by NATO member Germany.

The attack came a day after another suicide bombing in arestaurant in south-eastern Paktika province, which left 15 civiliansdead and at least 24 people wounded, including two seniorgovernment officials.

A day earlier, one NATO soldier and more than 50 suspected Talibaninsurgents were killed in four separate incidents in Kandahar province and neighbouring Uruzgan province.

Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest phase since the ouster of its fundamentalist Taliban regime by a US-led invasion at the end of 2001.


http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1226457.php/Two_NATO_soldiers_killed_in_suicide_bombing_in_Afghanistan

 

[blain2]

Britain will never win in Afghanistan: Aurakzai



By M. Ziauddin


LONDON, Nov 26: The British will never win in Afghanistan by military means and should open negotiations with the Taliban, the Sunday Times has quoted NWFP Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai as saying.

In an interview given to Sunday Times reporter Christina Lamb, the governor said: "Bring 50,000 more troops and fight for 10 to 15 years more and you won't resolve it. The British with their history in Afghanistan should have known that better than anyone else."

He said Nato was ignoring the realities on the ground. The reason Taliban numbers had swelled was because moderates were joining the militants, he added.

"It is no longer an insurgency but a war of Pashtun resistance exactly on the model of the first Anglo-Afghan war," he said.

"Then too (in 1839-42) initially there were celebrations. The British built their cantonment and brought their wives and sweethearts from Delhi and didn’t realise that in the meantime the Afghans were getting organised to rise up. This is exactly what Afghans are doing today and what they did against the Soviets," said Mr Aurakzai.

"The British should have known better. No country in the world has a better understanding of the Afghan psyche, and very little has changed there in the past couple of centuries," he added.

Rather than fighting, he said, the only answer was to talk to the Taliban.

Over the past few months, he has negotiated a series of peace deals in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

"This is the only way forward," he said, adding: "There will be no military solution, there has to be a political solution. How many more lives have to be lost before people realise it’s time for dialogue?"

According to the Sunday Times, Nato commanders have questioned Pakistan’s commitment to the war on terror, claiming it is providing a safe haven and training for Taliban. Aurakzai dismissed the criticism.

"We are doing far more than the whole coalition put together," he said.

Pakistan had 80,000 troops in border areas, more than twice as many as Nato, and had lost about 750 soldiers, more than the entire coalition, he added.

"It pains me to hear people accusing us of allowing border crossing," he said.

"We're physically manning the border; our troops are sitting there on the zero line ... Damn it, you also have a responsibility. Go sit on the border, fight like soldiers instead of sitting in your bases.

"The Americans say they can see even a goat on a hillside with their electronic surveillance, so why don’t they tell us where crossings are taking place and we will plug those gaps and kill those people?

"Either they (Nato) are trying to hide their own weaknesses by levelling allegations at Pakistan or they are refusing to admit the facts."

The NWFP governor said that Nato had failed to achieve any of its objectives."Why did the coalition come to Afghanistan? To find Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, Mulla Omar and the Taliban; for democracy, reconstruction and development, and (to) leave a stable Afghanistan which wouldn’t be vulnerable to terrorists.

"All very noble, but tell me which one of those objectives have been achieved? I went to Kabul in September and they are all living in a big bunker with no control over Afghanistan. There's no law and order. The insurgency has become far worse ... is that a success?"

 

[Neo]

Afghanistan may destabilise Pakistan, India: Armitage

SINGAPORE: November 27, 2006: Failure to restore peace to Afghanistan may jeopardise stability in neighbouring Pakistan and have a knock-on effect on India, former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage said on Monday.

Calling on the international community to pay more attention to Afghanistan, Armitage said persistent violence in that country might wreck Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's efforts to defeat the forces of religious extremism at home.

"I want to call your attention to Afghanistan. The stakes in Afghanistan are actually larger in the near term than they are in Iraq," said Armitage, speaking at a seminar for conflict mediators in Asia.

Continued clashes in Afghanistan could also have knock-on effects on India, which may already perceive itself to be surrounded by failed or failing states such as Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, he said.

"The knock-on effects of a lack of success in Afghanistan will have enormous repercussions," Armitage said. The situation in Afghanistan was not "an Iran situation which is a future problem, but a problem now", he added.

 

[Janbaz]

Armitage mean's if the Taliban take over Afghanistan, then Pakistan would be destabilized. They used to provide us strategic depth during the 1990's. Why would they not now.

 

[KashifAsrar]

Two NATO soldiers killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan

Kabul - Two NATO soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Wednesday.

Another soldier and a translator were injured in the blast Tuesday in Logar province, the ISAF added without identifying the soldiers or their nationalities.

The ISAF also reported that its troops had shot and killed an Afghan civilian in the southern province of Kandahar when a car approached an ISAF patrol and failed to heed warnings to stop. The soldiers opened fire, killing the civilian, the ISAF said.

Several civilians have been killed this week because ISAF troops have taken them for attackers and opened fire on them. The ISAF has since introduced signs that they have placed on the back of their vehicles requesting that approaching Afghans keep their distance.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1227420.php/Two_NATO_soldiers_killed_by_roadside_bomb_in_Afghanistan

 

[Janbaz]

Two NATO soldiers killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan

Kabul - Two NATO soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Wednesday.

Another soldier and a translator were injured in the blast Tuesday in Logar province, the ISAF added without identifying the soldiers or their nationalities.

The ISAF also reported that its troops had shot and killed an Afghan civilian in the southern province of Kandahar when a car approached an ISAF patrol and failed to heed warnings to stop. The soldiers opened fire, killing the civilian, the ISAF said.

Several civilians have been killed this week because ISAF troops have taken them for attackers and opened fire on them. The ISAF has since introduced signs that they have placed on the back of their vehicles requesting that approaching Afghans keep their distance.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1227420.php/Two_NATO_soldiers_killed_by_roadside_bomb_in_Afghanistan

Yes, they were Canadian and where i live, ever since the Afghan mission started flags are on half mast to commemorate the killed.

 

[Keysersoze]

Hey guys. I have a link to a phenomenal documentary which shows contacts between British forces and the Taleban.

For those of you who have served the certain "zip" sound will bring back some memories..............the full documentary can be seen here...I know some of the people in the prog.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/6187660.stm

 

[KashifAsrar]

ANOTHER SETBACK

‘British soldiers fired on civilians in Afghanistan’



Sam Greenhill




Royal marines were accused of shooting civilians in Afghanistan on Sunday after three commandos were injured by a Taliban suicide bomber.
However, defence chiefs insisted the Afghans were fired on because they had tried to prevent the injured Marines being evacuated.
According to one unconfirmed report, five Afghans were killed and several others injured by the gunfire.
The violence is another setback to British efforts to win over ‘hearts and minds’ in a region plagued by a renewed Taliban insurgency.
Yesterday’s bloodbath began when a Taliban suicide bomber tried to ram his car into a Nato convoy travelling through the southern city of Kandahar.
The blast ripped through the Marines’ open-top vehicle, which was providing a security escort, scattering debris
over a wide area. As well as the British injuries, three Afghans were killed and ten hurt.
The three servicemen – from 45 Commando – were treated at the scene and then driven in two vehicles to a helicopter landing zone.
“After the attack, two British vehicles transported the casualties from the scene to a safe location where a helicopter could land and evacuate them,” said a ministry of defence spokesman.
“Several civilian vehicles began following them, including one which weaved in front of them in an attempt to block their progress.”
“Hand signals, flares and warning shots were used to keep the vehicles back so the British vehicles could leave the scene with the casualties. Despite this, some continued to approach and further shots had to be fired to disable the vehicles.” “There are reports that some civilians may have been hurt and these are currently being investigated,” the spokesman said. DAILY MAIL, LONDON

 

[Neo]

$1.1bn US training for Afghan police termed failure

NEW YORK, Dec 4: A joint report by the Pentagon and the State Department has found that the American-trained police force for Afghanistan is largely incapable of carrying out routine law-enforcement work.

The report says that managers of the $1.1 billion training programme cannot say how many officers are actually on duty or where thousands of trucks and other equipment issued to police units have gone.

The report, published in the New York Times on Monday, said that in fact, most police units had less than 50 per cent of their authorised equipment on hand as of June.

The report was issued two weeks ago but is only now circulating among members of relevant Congressional committees.

In its most significant finding, the report said that no effective field training programme had been established in Afghanistan, at least in part because of a slow, ineffectual start and understaffing.

Police training experts, who have studied or had first-hand experience with the American effort in Afghanistan, told the newspaper that they agreed with the report's findings, and some said they had warned for years that field training was the backbone of a strong programme.

But they also told the Times that additional problems needed to be investigated, including the quality of private contractors and the cost and effectiveness of relying on them to train police officers.

http://www.dawn.com/2006/12/05/top15.htm

 

[KashifAsrar]

2 Americans, 4 Afghans Killed in Bombing
By NOOR KHAN 12.06.06, 1:25 AM ET

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a compound for security contractors in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two Americans and four Afghans, a company official and witnesses said.

The bomber attacked on foot as the men left the Kandahar city compound of the Houston-based security company USPI, said Rohullah Khan, an official with the company. Three others were wounded, he said.

The blast, the sixth suicide attack in Kandahar province in nine days, went off opposite the offices of the Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team, a military team charged with rebuilding efforts in the area.

A Canadian military spokesman earlier said that one foreigner and two Afghans were killed. He could not be reached to confirm the new toll.

Near-daily attacks plague Afghanistan's lawless southern provinces - the former stronghold of the hard-line Taliban regime where the central government wields little power.

Taliban militants have launched a record number of suicide and roadside bombs this year. The growing insurgency, especially in the country's south and east, has left close to 4,000 people dead.


Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed


http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/12/06/ap3231348.html

 

[Owais]

Two Americans among eight killed in Afghan violence


KANDAHAR (updated on: December 06, 2006, 16:32 PST): A suicide bomber killed two Americans and five Afghans outside a US security firm's office on Wednesday and a British soldier died after a gunbattle with Taliban guerrillas.

The blast in southern Kandahar city -- the ninth suicide attack in Afghanistan in two weeks -- and the clashes in troubled Helmand province came amid a recent upsurge in attacks by the ousted militants.

The bomber approached the USPI (US Protection and Investigation) compound in Kandahar, the Taliban's birthplace, and detonated explosives strapped to his body, blowing himself to pieces, officials and the company said.

Two Americans and three Afghans, all employees, were killed by the blast, the company said in a statement. It would not comment on claims that a regional USPI chief was among the dead.

But an interior ministry spokesman said two Afghan interpreters linked to the firm were also killed, bringing the death toll to seven. The local hospital confirmed that it had received the bodies of five Afghans.

Texas-based USPI is one of the biggest security firms working in Afghanistan, where it has operated since 2002. It employs 45 expatriates and hundreds of Afghans.

In July, Taliban gunmen ambushed a USPI convoy in the western province of Herat, killing two local security guards.

The blast in Kandahar was the third in three days and the latest in a string of suicide attacks, mostly in and around the city, that have shattered a lull in Taliban violence.

Two Canadian soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in Kandahar on November 27 while two more Canadian troops and four Afghans were wounded in a suicide car bombing in Kandahar on Tuesday.

A British soldier was killed and another wounded on Tuesday when British and Afghan forces launched an operation to dislodge Taliban fighters from Garmsir town in Helmand province, Britain's defence ministry said.

The Royal Marines were both wounded in battle on the outskirts of the desert town bordering Pakistan, which has twice been taken over by insurgents this year, in July and September.

Both were airlifted to a hospital at Camp Bastion, the main British military base in Helmand province, where one of them later died of his wounds and the other was in a stable condition after surgery, a ministry spokeswoman said.

The ministry later confirmed that the dead marine was from 45 Commando, based at RM Condor in Arbroath, Scotland, bringing to 42 the number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since US-led forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.

About 120 foreign soldiers have died in combat in Afghanistan in 2006, up from 70-plus last year. There are about 40,000 in the country, more than three-quarters of them with NATO and the rest with a US-led coalition.

This year has been the bloodiest since the fall of the Taliban, with about 3,700 people dying in the unrest -- four times more than in 2005 -- according to an official report.

About 1,000 civilians are among the dead, according to campaign group Human Rights Watch.

 

[Neo]

Pakistan grants $10 million for Afghan University

MAZAR-I-SHARIF: December 10, 2006: The government of Pakistan will construct new building for the Engineering Department at Balk University.

This was disclosed by Deans of the Balkh University Habibullah Habib while speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News.

The building will be constructed at the cost of 10 million US dollars.

Habib said that it would be a five-storey building, which would accommodate about 2,500 students. He said all preparations had been completed while construction work on the building would start shortly.

He hoped the building would be ready in the coming 18 months. It would solve problems of students, who are studying in the old building at the moment.

He said they had selected a new site for the university, which is situated in the Shar-i-Naw area of the city. The new building of the university, including the building for the Engineering Department, would be constructed at 600 acres of land at the cost of $250 million.

Habib informed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had donated $8.5 million for construction of the Economics Department. The rest of amount, he said, would be provided by the international community.

Students of the university hailed the support pledged by the international community for construction of the new building. Mohammad Jamshid, student of the Engineering Department, said the existing building could not accommodate the students. "I hope the problem will be solved soon."

Ahmad Walid Obaidi, another student, also expressed the same feelings and appreciated the support by the international community. About 6,000 students - 4,000 male and 2,000 female - are presently studying in various departments of the university.