Roadside Bomb Kills 21 Wedding Guests in Afghanistan

[TruthSeeker]

Those of you here at the Forum who parrot the irhabi libel that the US kills more civilians than does the Taliban, consider this:

Roadside Bomb Kills 21 Wedding Guests in Afghanistan

The Daily Mail - Daily News from Pakistan - Newspaper from Pakistan

KANDAHAR (Afghanistan)—A roadside bomb killed 21 Afghan wedding guests, the latest in a wave of violent attacks ahead of key elections, as the NATO chief Thursday assessed efforts to quell the insurgency.

A US soldier, five Afghan policemen and two truck drivers died in a series of other strikes, which have raised fears that violence will mar voting and damage the credibility of the August 20 polls in Afghanistan.

A bomb ripped through a trailer taking guests to a wedding and towed by a farm tractor — a common mode of transport in rural Afghanistan — on Wednesday in the southern province of Helmand, government officials said.

Most of the dead were “children and women and young boys”, interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP, adding that five more people were wounded. Bashary blamed the attack on “terrorists”.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said his militia was not involved and instead blamed US forces.“They kill civilians and blame the Taliban to defame the Taliban,” he said.

The militants, who are masterminding Afghanistan’s increasingly deadly insurgency, rely heavily on roadside bomb blasts in their bloody campaign to bring down the Western-backed Afghan government and evict foreign troops.

Provincial police chief Assadullah Shairzad said the dead were travelling between villages. “It was very difficult to differentiate between them and count how many were children and how many were women and men.”

“The bodies were in bad condition and some were impossible to identify,” he said. Garmsir district is an insurgent stronghold where US Marines have for months been trying to push out militants ahead of the landmark presidential and provincial council elections.
It was the deadliest attack in Afghanistan for a month after 25 people died in a truck bombing on July 9. Insurgent attacks are at record levels since the 2001 US-led invasion overthrew the extremist Taliban from government.

The Taliban have ordered a boycott of the poll, only the second time in history that Afghans will vote for a president, and vowed to block all roads to the polling stations.

The US soldier was killed in another roadside bombing in western Afghanistan on Wednesday, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. A similar blast in Helmand on Thursday killed five Afghan police and wounded three, the interior ministry said.

In eastern Afghanistan, another traditional flashpoint, militants ambushed a convoy of tankers transporting fuel to international forces, killing two drivers and wounding a third, the ministry said.

This year has seen a record number of attacks in Afghanistan, alarming a population tired of decades of conflict and the host of international powers on which the fragile nation relies for security and aid. The new NATO chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on Thursday continued his maiden visit to Afghanistan, which he has declared a priority since taking office. —Agencies

 

[Thomas]

"Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said his militia was not involved and instead blamed US forces.“They kill civilians and blame the Taliban to defame the Taliban,” he said.

I suppose you Taliban supporters will buy that?

 

[Righteous_Fire]

I suppose you Taliban supporters will buy that?

For argument's sake, what do you reckon "they" would achieve by it?

 

[Thomas]

For argument's sake, what do you reckon "they" would achieve by it?

Blind devotion to what they believe. Or they realize that it is true but for the sake of the cause deny it to place blame on the Allies for propaganda purposes.

I saw something similar with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah would fire rockets next to civilian houses and buildings into Israel. the civilians in the area who supported Hezbollah would deny the rockets being fired. But video footage would show plain as day the rockets being fired. then when Israel would retaliate hitting the launchers and civilians died from collateral damage. People would claim civilians were being targeted by Israel on purpose.

 

[S-2]

"For argument's sake, what do you reckon "they" would achieve by it?"

What does the taliban achieve by slipping into Mingora last week and beheading four men over that time? Aren't the IDPs being encouraged to return? Doesn't such give them pause?

Likely.

Maybe you missed this in the article-

"The Taliban have ordered a boycott of the poll, only the second time in history that Afghans will vote for a president, and vowed to block all roads to the polling stations."

Motive...

"The militants, who are masterminding Afghanistan’s increasingly deadly insurgency, rely heavily on roadside bomb blasts in their bloody campaign to bring down the Western-backed Afghan government and evict foreign troops."

...and means.

Funny isn't it that none of these roadside bombs exploding left and right in Helmand are accused of being planted by ANA/ISAF until this incident.

Next question, random and indiscriminate (i.e. pressure plate or tripwire) or command-detonated?

This, of course, is a consideration as both the U.N. and HRW have not only ascribed the bulk of those afghans killed by violence to be the responsibility of the taliban but that in too many cases the taliban have intentionally targeted such.

Did the taliban do so against their Helmand brothers and sisters here also?

 

[Xeric]

I suppose you Taliban supporters will buy that? what does the Koran say about those that lie?

Sarcasm??

A poor one, though!

 

[Righteous_Fire]

Sarcasm??

A poor one, though!

I'd say bad Taste

 

[Conscientious objector]

This, of course, is a consideration as both the U.N. and HRW have not only ascribed the bulk of those afghans killed by violence to be the responsibility of the taliban but that in too many cases the taliban have intentionally targeted such.

I'm sure you would like the Taliban to roll over and play dead but I'm glad to say that isn't going to happen.

Your arrogance never ceases to amaze, you invade a foreign country and brutally occupy it and then have the audacity to blame those who resist your oppression for the deaths of women and children.

The blame for the deaths of civilians is yours mr USA and that includes those civilians that were killed on 9/11. If you go around terrorising the world, you only have yourself to blame when someone pokes you in the eye.

 

[Conscientious objector]

KABUL – Four U.S. Marines were killed Thursday when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in western Afghanistan, driving up Western military deaths at a pace that would make August one of the deadliest months of the war.

Civilian casualties have also been sharply rising, and a southern Afghan police chief said a U.S. airstrike had killed five farmers picking their cucumber crop at night. The U.S. military said the men were insurgents, but offered conflicting accounts throughout the day of the reason an American helicopter opened fire.

Take note

Taliban kill occupation forces.

Occupation forces kill innocent civilians.

 

[S-2]

"I'm sure you would like the Taliban to roll over and play dead..."

Can you improve your discourse and explain why the taliban are responsible for most of those killed in Afghanistan? Why do they intentionally target civilians? Why do the use human shields? The U.N. and HRW have independantly documented this history of abuse on the afghans by the taliban.

Would you like links...again?

Can you explain why-from a list of NGOs, America, ISAF, foreign irhabists, and the taliban that your buddies poll less than 9% of afghans strongly or somewhat support the taliban? The worst?

Do you have anything different to offer?

Have you heard or read of the Bonn Accords, the U.N. mandate for Afghanistan or the assignment of NATO to perform that mission with the duly-elected and legal gov't of Afghanistan's permission?

If so, occupation would be a patent lie. If not, it happened in late 2001 and you're terribly slow to catch on.

Can you explain this inexplicable absence of knowledge about the political and legal underpinnings of the U.N. mandate?

In any case, the accumulated data suggests that rants by you are a poor substitute for the facts as we know them. Disparage as you will but I'm confident that you can't provide anything remotely comparable much less better.

Can you? If not, silence would be preferable and more dignified than continuing to embarass yourself with more of the same.

Thanks.

 

[Thomas]

I'm sure you would like the Taliban to roll over and play dead but I'm glad to say that isn't going to happen.

Your arrogance never ceases to amaze, you invade a foreign country and brutally occupy it and then have the audacity to blame those who resist your oppression for the deaths of women and children.

The blame for the deaths of civilians is yours mr USA and that includes those civilians that were killed on 9/11. If you go around terrorising the world, you only have yourself to blame when someone pokes you in the eye.

You prove my point from my earlier post.

 

[Thomas]

"I'm sure you would like the Taliban to roll over and play dead..."

Can you improve your discourse and explain why the taliban are responsible for most of those killed in Afghanistan? Why do they intentionally target civilians? Why do the use human shields? The U.N. and HRW have independantly documented this history of abuse on the afghans by the taliban.

Would you like links...again?

Can you explain why-from a list of NGOs, America, ISAF, foreign irhabists, and the taliban that your buddies poll less than 9% of afghans strongly or somewhat support the taliban? The worst?

Do you have anything different to offer?

Have you heard or read of the Bonn Accords, the U.N. mandate for Afghanistan or the assignment of NATO to perform that mission with the duly-elected and legal gov't of Afghanistan's permission?

If so, occupation would be a patent lie. If not, it happened in late 2001 and you're terribly slow to catch on.

Can you explain this inexplicable absence of knowledge about the political and legal underpinnings of the U.N. mandate?

In any case, the accumulated data suggests that rants by you are a poor substitute for the facts as we know them. Disparage as you will but I'm confident that you can't provide anything remotely comparable much less better.

Can you? If not, silence would be preferable and more dignified than continuing to embarass yourself with more of the same.

Thanks.

I am of the opinion that most of those on this site that support the Taliban know full well that the Taliban commit atrocities. But you will never get them to admit it. Even with all the damning evidence showing that it is true. they are no different then those that support Hamas or Hezbollah. Who they feel can never do any wrong.

 

[Thomas]

Sarcasm??

A poor one, though!

ok, point taken It was a little to overboard so I deleted it.

 

[Thomas]

"I'm sure you would like the Taliban to roll over and play dead..."

Can you improve your discourse and explain why the taliban are responsible for most of those killed in Afghanistan? Why do they intentionally target civilians? Why do the use human shields? The U.N. and HRW have independantly documented this history of abuse on the afghans by the taliban.

Would you like links...again?

Can you explain why-from a list of NGOs, America, ISAF, foreign irhabists, and the taliban that your buddies poll less than 9% of afghans strongly or somewhat support the taliban? The worst?

Do you have anything different to offer?

Have you heard or read of the Bonn Accords, the U.N. mandate for Afghanistan or the assignment of NATO to perform that mission with the duly-elected and legal gov't of Afghanistan's permission?

If so, occupation would be a patent lie. If not, it happened in late 2001 and you're terribly slow to catch on.

Can you explain this inexplicable absence of knowledge about the political and legal underpinnings of the U.N. mandate?

In any case, the accumulated data suggests that rants by you are a poor substitute for the facts as we know them. Disparage as you will but I'm confident that you can't provide anything remotely comparable much less better.

Can you? If not, silence would be preferable and more dignified than continuing to embarass yourself with more of the same.

Thanks.

do you notice S-2 that a lot of the supporters of the Taliban around here live in the UK and to some extent the U.S. as well?

 

[S-2]

"do you notice S-2 that a lot of the supporters of the Taliban around here live in the UK and to some extent the U.S. as well?"

A couple of things- Mastan Khan, Niaz (I believe), and Muse, all apparent enemies of the taliban live in England or America. Secondly, it's not uncommon to find Jews in America who are more hard-core about Israeli security issues than many Israelis.

Consider the arabs who provide so little political manuever ground for the Palestinians. Of what value are they if not as a "confrontation state"? So too Hezbollah's shias with Iran.

The need for the financial support that's derived from these distant bastions of expatriate or religious fervor requires, minimally, lip-service to the cause by those at home and in need of the aid whether, for instance, Jewish or palestinian.

Too, it's amazing how courage grows with distance.