The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread (June 2007)

[GAP]

Articles found June 13, 2007

Warning issued over deadly route
Road too risky for troops
Wed Jun 13 2007 By Tom Blackwell
Article Link 

SHAHWALI KOT, Afghanistan -- A vehicle commander who watched as a roadside bomb killed a young army driver says he warned his bosses days ago that the route where the blast took place is too dangerous and should not be used by Canadian troops.
The dirt track to a remote base for U.S. and Canadian forces is full of narrow ravines and high points on either side that would be perfect for Taliban ambushes, said Master Cpl. Richard Breen.

In fact, in a report on his last convoy there, Breen urged higher ups to stop trucking supplies into the base and fly them by helicopter instead.

"Maybe now they'll take a look at it," he said a day after the death of Trooper Darryl Caswell, driver of the lead vehicle in Monday's convoy. "I've been telling them the road isn't fit. They'll have a hard time getting me back on that road."

Caswell, 25, from Bracebridge, Ont., was driving a Coyote armoured car when it hit what appears to have been a powerful mine. Two other crew members suffered non-life threatening injuries.

A member of the Royal Canadian Dragoon's reconnaissance squadron, he was the 57th Canadian to die by accident or enemy attack in Afghanistan since 2002.
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Improvised bombs have deadly impact on Canadians in Afghanistan
Stephanie Levitz Canadian Press Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - As yet another roadside bomb claimed the life of a Canadian soldier, military leaders in Afghanistan say they are doing all they can to mitigate the effects of these crude explosive devices.

But the bombs, responsible for the deaths of almost one-third of the 57 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, are throwing up deadly roadblocks to Canada's push for security throughout Kandahar province.

Trooper Darryl Caswell, 25, died Monday in the lead vehicle of an elephantine supply convoy plodding its way toward Canadian troops fighting alongside the Afghan National Army and coalition forces in a northern district of Kandahar province.

Part of a reconnaissance squadron, Caswell was riding in a Coyote armoured vehicle when it struck the improvised explosive device - known by its acronym IED - on a dusty secondary road en route to Khakriz district, about 40 kilometres north of Kandahar City.
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AFGHANISTAN: Police casualties high due to lack of training, equipment
12 Jun 2007 15:15:01 GMT Source: IRIN
Article Link


KABUL, 12 June 2007 (IRIN) - Under-equipped and poorly trained Afghan police are paying a high price in their fight against an intensifying armed insurgency.

In the last three months alone, over 210 police officers have been killed and 330 wounded, according to Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior (MoI). In such circumstances it is difficult for humanitarian aid workers to feel secure as they go about their jobs.

Afghanistan has one of the highest police casualty rates in the world, Zemarai Bashari, a spokesman for MoI, told IRIN in Kabul, on 12 June.

A large number of attacks on police occur in the volatile south and southeast of the country where Taliban insurgents have been hindering rebuilding and development efforts and have indiscriminately used force against whomever they perceive as an enemy.
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Friendly fire kills seven in Afghanistan
By GRIFF WITTE AND JAVED HAMDARD | Washington Post June 12, 2007
Article Link

Coalition forces, police mistake each other for insurgents

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — U.S.-led forces killed seven Afghan police officers and injured four others during a firefight that broke out after each side mistook the other for a group of insurgents, Afghan officials said Tuesday.

The battle, which occurred overnight Monday, began when Afghan police officers manning a checkpoint saw an approaching contingent of U.S. soldiers, misidentified them as Taliban and opened fire, said Karim Rahimi, spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The incident took place in a remote, mountainous area of Nangahar province in Afghanistan’s east. It ended with a U.S. helicopter attacking the police post.

Rahimi, speaking at a news conference in Kabul, blamed the incident on poor coordination between Afghan and international forces, a common concern of Karzai’s government
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Dozens of Taliban reported wounded or killed in southern Afghanistan
The Associated Press Tuesday, June 12, 2007
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KABUL, Afghanistan: A battle in southern Afghanistan killed or wounded dozens of militants, the Afghan Ministry of Defense said Wednesday.

The ministry said the joint Afghan-NATO operation took place in Helmand province on Tuesday, though a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force said he had no information to confirm such a battle.

The ministry also said 15 "terrorists" had been captured and three killed in the last 24 hours. It released no other details.

In Zabul province, Taliban fighters attacked a police checkpoint overnight, sparking a battle that left three of the militants dead, said Mohammad Younif, the chief of Mizan district.

Violence has spiked in Afghanistan in recent weeks. More than 2,300 people have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count based on U.S., NATO and Afghan figures.

The battle in the south came one day after Afghan police and U.S.-led forces apparently mistook each other for the enemy, sparking a nighttime friendly fire battle that left eight of the Afghans dead.

President Hamid Karzai's office labeled the deaths "a tragic incident" caused by a lack of cooperation and communication.

U.S. officials have said they are wary of telling Afghan forces about nighttime raids by U.S. Special Forces, the kind of operation apparently being conducted early Tuesday, out of fear the target might be tipped off.
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[MarkOttawa]

U.S.: Iran sending weapons to Taliban
AP, June 12
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070612/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_taliban_7

A senior U.S. diplomat accused Iran on Tuesday of transferring weapons to Taliban insurgents in
Afghanistan — the most direct comments yet on the issue by a ranking American official.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, speaking to reporters in Paris, said Iran was funding insurrections across the Middle East — and "Iran is now even transferring arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan."

"It's a country that's trying to flex its muscles, but in a way that's injurious to the interests of just about everybody else in the world," he said. "I think it's a major miscalculation."

In Afghanistan last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Iranian weapons were falling into the hands of Taliban fighters, but stopped short of blaming the government itself.

Iran's possible role in aiding insurgents in Iraq has long been hotly debated, and last month some Western and Persian Gulf governments charged that the Islamic government in Tehran is also secretly bolstering Taliban fighters.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, U.S. Army Gen. Dan McNeill said Taliban fighters are showing signs of better training, using combat techniques comparable to "an advanced Western military" in ambushes of U.S. Special Forces soldiers [emphasis added].

"In Afghanistan it is clear that the Taliban is receiving support, including arms from ... elements of the Iranian regime," British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote in the May 31 edition of the Economist.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 14, 2007

Troops still waiting on helicopters
By DANIEL LEBLANC AND GRAEME SMITH  Thursday, June 14, 2007 – Page A8
Article Link

OTTAWA, KANDAHAR -- No relief is in sight for Canadian troops in Afghanistan who are hankering for more helicopters to fly them over the country's deadly roads.

As it stands, soldiers in Afghanistan rely on U.S. and Dutch helicopters to travel to forward operating bases, but officials acknowledged yesterday that there is a "high demand and a limited supply" of coalition aircraft in the country.

The next possible option for Canadian troops would have been the delivery of 28 Sikorsky maritime patrol helicopters. Federal documents show that in late 2005, the federal government changed its contract with Sikorsky to ensure that the new Cyclones - replacements for the aging Sea Kings - could be transformed into troop carriers with 22 seats.

However, a Sikorsky official said yesterday that the fleet of Cyclones will not be suited to transport troops in hot and high-altitude regions such as Afghanistan, where dozens of Canadian soldiers have died on the roads.

"If you really want to employ it in that environment predominantly, you probably want to look at giving it more capability," said Lloyd Noseworthy of Sikorsky.

"You could upgrade the engine, more powerful engines, and you could upgrade the rotor system, through a more lift-capable rotor system."

In addition to the Cyclones, the Canadian government is buying transport Chinook helicopters, but they are not scheduled to be delivered for duty in Afghanistan until 2011 or 2012.

This week, Trooper Darryl Caswell died when his Coyote vehicle hit a roadside bomb on a dangerous road.
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'Dramatic' Taliban resurgence detailed
By ALAN FREEMAN  Thursday, June 14, 2007 – Page A1
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OTTAWA -- An analysis of the situation in Afghanistan last fall prepared for top levels of the Canadian government warned that the country was becoming "two Afghanistans" with the situation in the fractious South and West continuing to deteriorate and the position of President Hamid Karzai "weakening to a new low."

This grim assessment of Afghan reality was prepared last November by the International Assessment Staff of the Privy Council Office, which effectively acts as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government department.

A series of heavily censored documents prepared by the PCO were obtained by The Globe and Mail after Access to Information requests by information expert Jeff Esau.

The briefing notes, with the author's name, were apparently intended for Gregory Fyffe, executive director of the 60-strong assessment unit, and were prepared after Canadian NATO troops based in Kandahar in the volatile southern region had suffered several bloody months of combat.

"The Taliban resurgence has been dramatic," stated a document dated Nov. 9, 2006.

It describes how the faltering insurgency was given a huge boost by support from sources in Pakistan, the Gulf states and "Jihadi-minded groups and individuals."
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Death of Canadian stoking speculation in Pakistani media
A Pakistani daily reports that the woman may have been pregnant when she died
By OMAR EL AKKAD  Thursday, June 14, 2007 – Page A15
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The death of a Canadian businesswoman in a Pakistani minister's house last week is fuelling a speculation frenzy, as one major Pakistani newspaper reported yesterday that Kafila Siddiqui may have been two months pregnant at the time of her death.

Citing unnamed "sources," the Pakistani daily Dawn printed rumours that the 39-year-old was pregnant when she died. But the paper added that police could not confirm anything until an examiner's report was completed.

The pregnancy rumour is just the latest in a string of speculations that have surrounded the high-profile case. In the past week, rumours have also swirled about everything from Ms. Siddiqui's financial situation to her relationship with Muhammad Shahid Jamil Qureshi, who, until his resignation Monday, was Pakistan's minister of state for communication.

Another Pakistani media outlet reported yesterday that Mr. Qureshi had applied for - and received - "bail before arrest," a form of anticipatory bail prevalent in the Pakistani legal system. However, those reports could not be independently confirmed.

Ms. Siddiqui was living in the same Islamabad house as Mr. Qureshi at the time of her death late last week. Her relatives say Mr. Qureshi was holding Ms. Siddiqui captive in the home for several months. Mr. Qureshi, who faces charges of "wrongful confinement," denies those allegations, saying that financial stress and pressure exerted by her own family is what caused Ms. Siddiqui's death.
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Air force to beef up its helicopters
TheStar.com June 14, 2007 Bruce Campion-Smith OTTAWA BUREAU
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Existing Griffons will be refitted with machine guns, rockets until gunships arrive

OTTAWA–Canada's air force wants to buy a fleet of gunship helicopters to protect its new transport choppers as they haul troops and equipment in enemy zones.

But until these new attack choppers arrive, the air force plans to outfit its existing Griffon helicopters with machine guns and rockets to do the job.

The danger facing the big transport helicopters was driven home last month when insurgents downed a U.S. Chinook chopper in Afghanistan, killing all seven people onboard, including a Canadian military photographer.

"We have officially recognized that there is a requirement to have a helicopter that would accompany the medium- to heavy-lift helicopter ... in a battlefield type environment," said air force spokesperson Capt. Jim Hutcheson.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor last summer unveiled the Conservatives' $4.7 billion plan to buy 16 medium-to-heavy lift helicopters, likely the Boeing Chinook.

While the twin-rotor Chinooks will have their own anti-missile gear and other defensive aids, air force officials say they're still too valuable an asset to fly around a battlefield unguarded.

The Chinooks are about the size of a transport truck and can haul more than 30 soldiers.

"They're obviously an attractive target and you want to do everything you can to protect it and its occupants," Hutcheson said.
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Hundreds gather to bid farewell to slain Canadian soldier in Afghanistan
Canadian Press Wednesday, June 13, 2007
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Slain Canadian soldier Trooper Darryl Caswell is on his way home.

International troops lined the tarmac tonight at Kanadhar Airfield to honour the 25-year-old. The pain of his loss was clear in the eyes of his fellow soldiers, who tightly gripped his casket and each other as they slowly marched toward the Hercules aircraft that brings fallen soldiers back to Canada.

Major Malcolm Berry remembers Caswell as a pratical joker with a "great sense of ha-ha" and says his influence and standards will live on for all who knew and loved him.
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UAE security guard goes missing in Afghanistan
(AFP) 13 June 2007
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ABU DHABI - An Emirati security guard working with a United Arab Emirates humanitarian mission in Afghanistan has gone missing there, a UAE official said on Wednesday.

‘A member of a security team in charge of a UAE humanitarian mission in Afghanistan has been reported missing,’ the official said, without saying when and where he disappeared.

The official said the man was an Emirati, but did not give his name. He promised a fuller statement later in the day.

He was speaking following rumours that a doctor from the UAE had gone missing in the Sangin district of the volatile southern Helmand province.

The official said the mission was involved in the building of a field hospital, schools and mosques in Afghanistan.

Earlier Wednesday, the US-led coalition said it was investigating reports that a soldier was missing in Afghanistan, as the Taleban claimed to have captured a foreign trooper.

Taleban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said the movement had captured a foreign soldier in uniform in Sangin on Tuesday.

‘One NATO force soldier with a uniform and gun was captured by our mujahedeen (holy warriors),’ Ahmadi said
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[MarkOttawa]

Chechen, Arab fighters create insurgent 'sanctuary'
Broad support for Taliban feared in south
Ottawa Citizen, June 14
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=503f4d66-9bb7-4729-8592-907f00bcb724

Chechen and Arab fighters have flooded into the latest hotspot for Taliban activity in southern Afghanistan, helping turn it into an insurgent "sanctuary," a senior Canadian army officer said yesterday.

Unknown numbers of foreign militants have infiltrated the Shahwali Kot district north of Kandahar City in recent weeks, said Lt.-Col. Rob Walker, who commands the Canadian battle group.

A soldier from Bracebridge, Ont., Trooper Darryl Caswell, was killed Monday while trying to bring supplies to Canadian and American forces battling those fighters in the upper part of Shahwali Kot.

"The insurgents decided they are going to mass within that area, and there are a lot of foreign fighters there -- Chechens and Arabs," said Lt.-Col. Walker. "It's a bit of a sanctuary, so ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force) has decided we need to go up there to confront them, so that's where the fighting is."

Soldiers of the U.S. 82nd Airborne and American special forces have already been combating insurgents in the district. They have been aided by Canadian artillery units, whose M-777s are the most advanced big guns in the Afghan theatre, capable of hurling shells up to 30 kilometres.

The NATO troops are having an impact on the imported fighters, said Lt.-Col. Walker, adding that reports suggest the gunmen "are taking some pretty good losses over the last couple of weeks since they've been there."

Reports of Arabs and other foreign combatants in Afghanistan always strike an ominous note, suggesting there is broader support for the insurgency, at least outside the country. It is not the first time that NATO has reported such sightings.

The Canadian army maintained it faced off against Arab militants during fierce combat in the Panjwai district west of Kandahar last year. And al-Qaeda has released videos it claims show Arabs battling alongside insurgents in Afghanistan.

Lt.-Col. Walker could not say exactly how many of the foreign gunmen may have gathered in Shahwali Kot. Canada had a presence there last spring and summer, but then pulled out.

Since then, insurgents have filled the vacuum...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[midget-boyd91]

Keep up the good work, and keep safe.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C06%5C15%5Cstory_15-6-2007_pg7_63

ISAF kills 27 Taliban in Afghanistan

KABUL: Afghan and coalition soldiers killed 27 militants in southern Afghanistan as part of new operations to defeat a Taliban-led insurgency, the government and the US-led International Security Assistant Force said on Thursday.

Twenty-six were killed in two separate battles on Wednesday in the southern province of Kandahar, the birthplace of the extremist movement. One other militant was killed in a Thursday raid in eastern Paktika province.

In the first of the two Kandahar battles, soldiers spotted and attacked “enemy fighters” on a ridgeline in the volatile district of Shah Wali Kot, the coalition said in a statement. “A search of the ridgeline resulted in the discovery of several dead enemy fighters, several rocket shells and clothing,” it said.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said, “20 enemies were killed and eight more of them were injured.”

Six more were killed in an operation in Zhari district, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) west of Kandahar city, the ministry said.

The coalition announced separately that soldiers killed a suspected militant and detained three others in a raid early on Thursday on what was believed to be a Taliban safe house in Paktika province.

A search of the compound, believed to have been used by militants working to facilitate suicide bombings, found a video camera and various tapes of “martyr” operations, it said.

The Taliban has claimed capturing a foreign soldier, which would be a first in its insurgency that was launched soon after the movement was forced from government by a US-led coalition in late 2001.

The coalition said meanwhile it was still investigating reports that a soldier had disappeared, but referred queries to the United Arab Emirates, which said Wednesday one of its security forces was missing in the south. afp

 

[GAP]

Explosion hits Canadian convoy in Afghanistan, no soldiers injured
Canadian Press Friday, June 15, 2007
Article Link.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Witnesses to an attack on a Canadian convoy in Afghanistan today say the explosion was the work of a suicide bomber.

No Canadians were injured in the blast, which sent an unspecified number of Afghans to hospital.

A Canadian military official in Kandahar says the cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, saying only that it's an improvised explosive device.

Suicide attacks can fall under that category.

The convoy was coming into Kandahar city from the Zhari and Panjwaii districts to the west when the bomb went off.
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[GAP]

Small contingent of soldiers from Quebec active in Afghanistan since December
Stephanie Levitz Canadian Press Friday, June 15, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - They sing and tell jokes over their vehicle intercoms, but since they landed eight months ago there's been a lot of hard work and little play for the small company of Canadian soldiers from Quebec who are already in Afghanistan.

Though much is being made of the 2,000 soldiers from Valcartier, Que. arriving in August, a hardy band of 156 have been in Kandahar since December. And watching the attention bestowed on those about to arrive hasn't been easy for them.

"It's a bit of frustration from the French guys, to be honest," said Maj. Richard Collin, the commanding officer of C Company of the Royal 22nd Regiment, known as the Van Doos.

"They know when the next (rotation) is going to arrive there's going to be coverage all over the news in Quebec, and they'll say: 'I was there for nine months - I did that'."

The coverage is already happening in Canada.

There was the anti-war letter campaign last week asking the upcoming rotation to refuse to serve in Afghanistan. Then came word that military officials are planning a major public relations blitz to shore up public support.

It won't matter, said Capt. Michel Tousignant, 32, who commands a platoon of Canadian soldiers protecting the Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Kandahar city.

"It doesn't matter if it's a big group or a little group, the media gets tired easily," he said.

"If there is nothing extraordinary, like deaths, wounds or combat, immediately they aren't interested."

That rankles for the troops of "Crazy Company," as it's known, as the majority of their efforts have centred around what Tousignant calls the "less sexy" side of Canada's work in Afghanistan.

The 200-plus people at the PRT were hamstrung by a risky environment delaying development efforts before the Van Doos arrived to provide convoy protection and camp security.

Eight months later, the soldiers say they are extremely proud of what the security they've provided has accomplished.

Tousignant rattled off a list: a school in Sperwan Gar, canals, irrigation channels - all things that have helped win the support of Afghans and ensure stability.

But he admits it wasn't a job he was trained to do at first.
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[GAP]

Articles found June 16, 2007

British paper: Troops in Afghanistan lack equipment
(Agencies) Updated: 2007-06-16 14:26
Article Link

A British newspaper charged Saturday that the country's troops in Afghanistan were suffering severe shortages of equipment, but the defence ministry said the soldiers had the tools to accomplish their mission.


The Daily Telegraph newspaper said that just half of the Apache helicopter gunships were working and only 70 percent of the Chinook transport helicopters were available.

But the Ministry of Defence insisted that British forces, who are mostly based in the restive southern Helmand province fighting insurgents, had the helicopters required for the job.


British soldiers in Afghanistan. A British newspaper charged that the country's troops in Afghanistan were suffering severe shortages of equipment, but the defence ministry said the soldiers had the tools to accomplish their mission.[AFP]

One garrison was down to its last 200 mortar rounds because there were no helicopters to supply it, the broadsheet said.

Meanwhile just 16 of 96 promised new armoured vehicles have been delivered, engineers were travelling in lightly-armed trucks while transporting high explosives and some soldiers had bought their own binoculars to replace Army sights, it said.

British troops had to borrow a truck from the small Estonian contingent, said the newspaper.

Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged in October that commanders on the ground in Afghanistan would be provided with whatever equipment they thought was necessary in order to take on the Taliban.

The MoD acknowledged that helicopters were crucial in the fight against Taliban rebels and said that more were on the way to Afghanistan.

"Our military commanders have the helicopters required to provide combat and medical support for our troops in combat," a spokeswoman said.

"These helicopters have proved vital to the success of our operation in Afghanistan which is why we are spending 230 million pounds (455 million dollars, 340 million euros) making 14 additional aircraft for deployment over the next two years.
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US convoy targeted by suicide bomber in Afghanistan
Associated Press - June 16, 2007 5:23 AM ET
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Officials in Afghanistan now say it was an American convoy, not a NATO convoy, that was targeted by a suicide bomber today.

They report at least four civilians were killed in the blast. And a soldier killed one civilian when he opened fire on a crowd after the attack.

A US spokesman says the convoy had US contract workers and military personnel.

The attack in western Kabul damaged one military vehicle and seven civilian vehicles. At least five people were wounded.

It's not clear yet whether any of the casualties are Americans.
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Ten dead in Afghanistan car bombing
Associated Press - June 15, 2007 6:23 PM ET
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - At least ten people have been killed in southern Afghanistan in the suicide car bombing of a NATO convoy.

The dead include five children, four Afghan men and a Dutch soldier.

Another member of the coalition was killed in eastern Afghanistan.

Officials say a fresh wave of violence has also left more than 24 militants dead.

Purported Taliban spokesmen have warned civilians to stay away from military convoys, but suicide bombings commonly kill or wound far more civilians than the intended military targets.
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NATO Soldier Killed in Afghanistan  
Article Link
 
KABUL, Afghanistan, June 15--A soldier with the US-led occupation died of wounds suffered in combat in eastern Afghanistan Friday, the force said.

The killing took to 82 the number of foreign troops killed in the country this year.

The occupation said in a statement that its forces were engaged in combat operations in Paktika province when the service-member sustained the fatal wound.

The occupation includes about 13,000 US soldiers and a few hundred troops from other nations.

Most of the foreign soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan this year were US nationals and died in combat.

Meanwhile, an attacker rammed his car into a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan Friday, killing five children and wounding five adults including two soldiers, an official said.
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[MarkOttawa]

Des soldats francophones frustrés de ne pas se battre
Presse Canadienne, June 16
http://www.matin.qc.ca/articles/20070616180033/des_soldats_francophones_frustres_pas_battre.html

Des soldats francophones de l'Armée canadienne étaient un peu frustrés de participer à une mission de reconstruction et auraient préféré combattre à leur arrivée en Afghanistan, d'après le major Richard Collin.

Selon le commandant de la compagnie force protection, les jeunes recrutés par les Forces canadiennes ont été attirés par des publicités télévisées montrant des scènes de combat. En entrevue à la Presse Canadienne, le major Collin a ajouté que les soldats ont été entraînés au combat et que leur plus gros défi a été de s'adapter à ce rôle plus passif.

Richard Collin affirme que les soldats s'attendaient à une mission où il n'y a que des ennemis et où les armes sont employées. Selon le commandant, la différence est énorme avec les travaux d'observation et de protection effectués depuis l'arrivée des 156 militaires de la compagnie C du Royal 22e Régiment, à Kandahar, en décembre dernier.

Le major Richard Collin conclut qu'il est difficile de voir, à court terme, le bon côté d'un mission de reconstruction. Il n'y voit rien de concret alors que, par opposition, une mission de combat peut se mesurer en termes de dommages et de morts.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 18, 2007

Canadians to step up training
TheStar.com - June 18, 2007  Stephanie Levitz CANADIAN PRESS
Article Link

Hillier visits Kandahar, outlines strategy for the months ahead with focus on strengthening Afghan security forces


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan–With Canada's top military brass feeling comfortable with their tactics on the ground in Afghanistan, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said his first priority now is to bolster the country's national security forces.

Hillier and the top leadership of the Canadian forces met over the weekend in Kandahar for discussions on the state of Canada's military efforts in Afghanistan as the clock ticks toward the February 2009 deadline for the mission.

"What we said is: `What can we do right now, we've still got a long way to go in the present mandate, as you know more than 18 months here, and we can accomplish a heck of a lot in that time frame,'" he said yesterday.

"Our focus was how much can we actually accomplish and put our shoulder behind, so that's what we focused on, what are we doing right now, summer, fall, early winter to put the Afghan security forces specifically in a much better position."

Hillier arrived in Kandahar on Friday night, forcing him to miss the repatriation ceremony in Trenton, Ont., that night for Trooper Darryl Caswell, killed earlier last week by a roadside bomb. The general apologized for missing the ceremony and expressed his condolences to Caswell's family

Two full battalions of Afghan National Army soldiers are already at work in Afghanistan, and a third is set to graduate in July.

It's a marked improvement from this time last year, Hillier said, when the strength of the Afghan National Army was virtually zero.

He said he is heartened by what he is hearing from Canadian soldiers who work with and train the Afghan troops.

"My soldiers told me when I was here ... in early May and back in March, this battalion is doing extremely well," he said.

"What they said was `Hey sir, it's like looking in a mirror to see us doing our own skills and drills. These guys are good.'"

Hillier said in order to nurture a national security force that can maintain the stability desperately needed by Afghanistan, more work is needed.

The military plans to step up training, including assigning more soldiers from existing Canadian battle groups to work with new army grads and procuring better equipment for the soldiers.

Though the capacity of the Afghan National Army is growing, the Afghan National Police, lags behind, Hillier concedes.

The police have become the target of increased insurgent attacks in recent weeks, and yesterday a bomb ripped through a police bus in Kabul, killing some 35 people.

"What the Taliban realize is perhaps that they have (a) short window that until the police get more capable, get better trained, better leadership, better equipment, better supported overall, that they are perhaps the weaker of the security forces around and there is an opportunity to attack them and occasionally have some success.

"What we want to do is close that window as quickly as possible."
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35 Killed, 52 Wounded in Afghanistan Bomb Attack
Written for the web by Jason Kobely, Internet News Producer 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- At least 35 people are dead and more than 50 wounded in Afghanistan's deadliest insurgent attack since the U.S.-led invasion of 2001.

An enormous blast destroyed a bus full of police instructors at Kabul's busiest transportation hub.

A self-described Taliban spokesman told The Associated Press the attack was carried out by a Taliban suicide bomber.

It was the fifth suicide attack in Afghanistan in three days, part of a sharp spike in violence around the country.

President Hamid Karzai said the "enemies of Afghanistan" are trying to stop the development of Afghan security forces.

Also Sunday, a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan killed three members of the U.S.-led coalition and an Afghan interpreter. The soldiers' nationalities were not released, but most in the coalition are American.
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SURGEON SLAMS ARMY CARE
By Rupert Hamer Defence Correspondent 17/06/2007
Article Link

EXCLUSIVE George Cross hero Cpl Mark Wright was left to bleed to death in a minefield Our Army medics use anti-tank choppers instead of properly kitted air ambulances FIGHTING FOR OUR TROOPS

A SENIOR Army surgeon says British troops are dying needlessly because the standard of medical care in battle is WORSE than 40 years ago.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Parker reveals that wounded US soldiers in Vietnam in the 1960s were treated more quickly than our own injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In an explosive indictment of the shortages and cutbacks hitting medical units, he describes how a "painfully slow" air-ambulance service leads to the deaths of wounded soldiers who might otherwise live.

George Cross hero Corporal Mark Wright, 27, died last September in Afghanistan's Helmand Province after he was left with a bleeding artery in a minefield for six hours.

Senior military sources say the para's injuries should not have been life-threatening, had he been rescued within two hours. An MoD inquiry is investigating.

Sources say a "number" of soldiers have died because of the length of time it took to get a helicopter to them. In the disturbing official report seen by the Sunday Mirror, Lt Colonel Parker tells how:

Some soldiers have to wait seven hours before they are airlifted to hospital in Afghanistan - in Vietnam the time was an average 25 minutes.
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Can the war in Afghanistan be won?
Article Link

The BBC begins a week of in-depth coverage of Afghanistan by asking its World Affairs editor, John Simpson, to consider if the Afghan government and the West can win the war against the Taleban.

The Taleban have new confidence and new tactics, and their campaign against the government and its Nato backers has been increasingly successful since the beginning of this year.

In the east of the country, around Jalalabad, suicide bombings have become such frequent occurrences that the road from there to Kabul is now known as "the Baghdad road".

I have been coming to Jalalabad since 1989, but for the first time in my experience we needed a police escort to drive around there. In the countryside near the town, they urged us not to get out of our vehicle when we stopped, despite the intense heat.

"There are spies everywhere," the police explained.

The police themselves are a major target for the Taleban and al-Qaeda guerrillas who operate here now.

Outside the main police headquarters in the town, a senior policeman ran out and ordered us to stop filming in case our presence attracted the attentions of a suicide bomber.

There have been several attacks there, and an unexploded rocket is still lodged in a tree in front of the building.

Terror tactics

Until the end of last year, Jalalabad was relatively quiet. Now it is becoming a battleground.

Along part of the length of the so-called "Baghdad Road", local people point out the places where American soldiers fired at passers-by a few weeks ago, after an attempted suicide bombing.

The soldiers claimed they had come under small-arms fire from the side of the road.

The local authorities later apologised and paid compensation for the deaths.
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Blair feared US would 'nuke' AfghanistanFrom correspondents in London
June 18, 2007 12:03pm Article from: Agence France
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BRITAIN joined the US in ousting the Taliban in 2001 because it feared America would "nuke the sh-t" out of Afghanistan, the former British ambassador to Washington has reportedly said on a TV documentary.
In comments published in advance in the Daily Mirror tabloid today, Christopher Meyer said fear explained why Prime Minister Tony Blair chose to stand with US President George W. Bush in his decision to invade Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - to temper his aggressive battle plans.

"Blair's real concern was that there would be quote unquote 'a knee-jerk reaction' by the Americans ... they would go thundering off and nuke the shit out of the place without thinking straight," Mr Meyer reportedly told the documentary, according to the Mirror.
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Afghanistan hopes to eradicate polio in two years
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KUALA LUMPUR: Afghanistan has set itself a target to eradicate the deadly poliomyelitis virus within two years with the support of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states, Afghan Health Minister Muhammed Amin Fatimi said here.

About 7.4 million children in Afghanistan needed to be immunized against polio and education programs on polio immunization is also needed, as few families know about vaccination, fearing the vaccine might cause harm, said Muhammed Amin on the KL-OIC Health Ministerial Conference 2007 held in Malaysia.

In order for a country to be considered polio-free, there must be no new reported cases for two years. Afghanistan reported two cases this year.

"Decades of war also affected our health care system. However, after the collapse of the Taliban regime, the new government developed a National Health Policy, which has been implemented very successfully for the good of the Afghan people", Muhammed Amin said, according to the report by Malaysian national news agency Bernama.
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Coalition airstrike kills 7 kids in Afghanistan
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S.-led coalition jets bombed a compound suspected of housing al-Qaeda militants in eastern Afghanistan, killing seven children and several militants, while clashes in the south left dozens more suspected insurgents dead, officials said Monday.
The airstrike occurred Sunday in Paktika province, hours after a suicide bomber hit a police academy bus in Kabul, killing at least 35 people, the deadliest insurgent attack in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

The jets targeted a compound that also contained a mosque and a madrassa, or Islamic school, in the Zarghun Shah district, in an operation backed by Afghan troops.

A coalition statement said "nefarious activity was occurring at the site." Spokesman Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesma, accused al-Qaeda of using "the protective status of a mosque, as well as innocent civilians, to shield themselves."

Early reports indicated seven children at the madrassa and "several militants" were killed, and two militants detained, the statement said.
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EU police mission in Afghanistan starts
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The EU police mission to Afghanistan - EUPOL AFGHANISTAN - starts today.

It will be launched at a ceremony in Kabul on Sunday, 17 June.

The mission, which is led by Brigadier General Friedrich Eichele, aims at contributing to the establishment of sustainable and effective civilian policing arrangements that will ensure appropriate interaction with the wider criminal justice system under Afghan ownership and in accordance with international standards.

It will work closely with Afghan police officers, helping them to make practical arrangements for security and law enforcement in their areas of responsibility, and achieving tangible benefits for the Afghan communities protected by these policing arrangements.

To this end it will monitor, mentor, advise and train at the level of the Afghan Ministry of Interior, regions and provinces.

It will also work towards a joint overall strategy of the international community in police reform.
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[GAP]

There's grounds for hope in Afghanistan
CRAIG CHARNEY AND ISOBEL COLEMAN Special to Globe and Mail Update
June 18, 2007 at 12:58 AM EDT
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As the Taliban and NATO spring offensives grind on, many people's perceptions of Afghanistan are pessimistic. Some say our Western efforts have changed nothing, so we will fail: The ongoing abuses against women, corruption, and warlordism are opening the door to the Taliban. Others say unless we change nothing, we will fail: Steps towards gender equality and democracy are disturbing a male-dominated, ultra-conservative society and reviving Taliban support.

These perspectives miss the real grounds for hope in Afghanistan: Afghans themselves are changing their society, with Afghan women playing a leading role. Despite the Taliban's military revival, Afghan women have won broad support for their rights to study, work, and vote, largely gained since the Taliban's 2001 ouster, and overwhelmingly reject their former oppressors. But, at the same time, Afghans are struggling to reconcile many of their Islamic traditions with the modern world, as the case of women also shows.

The stereotype of a tribal society resistant to all change does injustice to most Afghans, who want a society very different from that which the Taliban imposed. But applying unrealistic yardsticks to Afghanistan leaves us unable to see important changes taking place there. If we are to respect the Afghans' reform consensus, we must support the incremental progress under way and accept their limits to change.

Surprising as it may seem, grassroots support for women's rights — the antithesis of Taliban policy — is widespread in Afghanistan today. An ABC News survey of 1,036 Afghans last October found that 80 per cent accept women as members of parliament; 70 per cent of both sexes agree women should be able to work outside their home; and 88 per cent of the population supports education for girls. This is a sea-change from 20 years ago, when sending girls to Soviet-run schools generated widespread resistance. Indeed, opposition to girls' education under the Soviet occupation was a rallying cry of the mujahadeen. Now, polls show that Afghans see lack of education as Afghan women's biggest problem and the rights to work and study as women's most important gains since the Taliban's fall. Nor are women's rights merely theoretical: 43 per cent of Afghan girls are in school now and one woman in seven has a job — while under the Taliban, females had little place in school or the workplace. Some 60 per cent of women also voted in the 2004 presidential election, and women won 26 per cent of parliamentary seats in 2005.
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[MarkOttawa]

Taliban fighters back in caves of Tora Bora
Daily Telegraph, July 18
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=B4AZHMTIGVHDTQFIQMFSFFOAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/06/18/wafghan218.xml

Insurgents backed by al-Qa'eda have opened a new "front" on the eastern border of Afghanistan, re-occupying the Tora Bora cave complex from which Osama bin Laden escaped the closing net of US forces in 2001.

The "Tora Bora Front", as Taliban propaganda calls it, borders the province of Nangahar and has been active for about three weeks. The complex of deep caves, which proved impervious to US bombing in 2001, sits on an infiltration route from the Spin Ghar mountains between Nangahar province and Pakistan's lawless Tribal Areas, where bin Laden is still thought to be hiding.

Western officials and local government authorities confirm that Taliban insurgents backed by al-Qa'eda have reoccupied the complex.

They believe that one of the group's leaders could be Amin ul-Haq, a close associate of bin Laden. One western official also named Maulvi Anwar ul-Haq Mujahed as a commander of the group. He is the son of Younis Khalis, one of the most famous Islamist leaders in the Afghan jihad against the Soviets.

Initial estimates of the Tora Bora force by local Afghan officials put the number at between 200 and 250, including Arab, Chechen and Pakistani fighters.

"They have reoccupied the old base," said Haji Zalmai, the district governor of Khogiani, which borders the Spin Ghar mountains at Tora Bora.

"We feel the effect directly here. They want to extend this front and to establish their control in these two or three districts on this side of the border in the way that they did in parts of Uruzgan, Helmand and Kandahar."..

A Taliban propaganda blitz across southern Nangahar has led to "night letters" being dropped in villages boasting of the new front. They warn Afghans of the dire repercussions for supporting the government or western forces.

Officials in Kabul believe that the move is part of a more general strategic shift in the focus of Taliban operations away from their previous epicentre in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, where a series of offensives by British troops supported by US and other Nato forces has left the Taliban with a battered command structure and weakening morale [emphasis added].

The death of the notorious Mullah Dadullah Akhund in May was only the most high-profile success of a little-publicised campaign, largely conducted by both British and American Special Forces, to decapitate the leadership of the Taliban in the south.

There also appears to be a shift in tactics, with the insurgents turning more to terrorist tactics such as yesterday's suicide bombing in Kabul.

Al-Qa'eda has been retrenching its influence in Pakistan's tribal belt since the signing of a peace deal between the Pakistani government and Taliban militants in South Waziristan in September 2006...

One senior western diplomat in Kabul told The Daily Telegraph that Gen Dan McNeill, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, was reviewing whether to shift Nato's "Theatre Reserve", which is made up of troops from the US 82nd Airborne division, from Helmand and Kandahar provinces to areas along the eastern border [emphasis added].

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

Taleban capture Afghan district
The Taleban say they took the district after days of fighting
Taleban rebels have captured a district in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar after days of fierce fighting.
BBC, June 19
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6766495.stm

Afghan forces say they pulled out of Myanishen district as a tactical move.

Correspondents say the militants have taken a number of districts over the past couple of years but have managed to keep control of only one.

Meanwhile, dozens are reported killed or injured in fighting in nearby Uruzgan province. One official says 60 civilians died, but Nato disputes this.

Separately, a man has been injured while trying to place an explosive device outside the main US military base in the country.

The US-led military coalition and the Interior Ministry say the device exploded prematurely outside the Bagram base. They say the man is now in Afghan police custody.

Kandahar's police chief, General Esmatullah Alizai, admitted to the BBC that the Taleban were now in control of Myanishen.

He said the police had made a tactical move in withdrawing from the area but would recapture it very soon.

A Taleban spokesman said they had taken control of Myanishen after four days of fighting.

In the adjacent district of Chora in Uruzgan province fierce fighting between the Taleban and foreign and Afghan forces is reported to have continued for at least three days.

There are reported to be more than 100 wounded in the main provincial hospital...

The head of the provincial council, Mawli Hamdullah, has called on President Karzai to send helicopters to airlift the injured to hospitals in Kabul.

He says he believes some 60 civilians have died in the clashes, as well as 30 Taleban, including a key commander, and 17 Afghan soldiers.

But the Nato-led force, Isaf, says it has no confirmation of any civilian deaths, saying rather that some 60 rebels have been killed, as well as a Dutch soldier [emphasis added].

Uruzgan's police chief gave much lower figures for civilian and army deaths but estimated the number of Taleban killed at 65.

He alleged that some ordinary people were killed by what he called American bombing...

Taliban fighters seize south Afghan area
AP, June 19
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070619/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan;_ylt=Al34y2OsLIAMDJcFkgHqFiV34T0D

Taliban militants overran a district in southern Afghanistan and are pushing for control of another key area, sparking fierce clashes with NATO and Afghan forces that have left more than 100 people dead over three days, officials said Tuesday.

Hundreds of Taliban fighters launched raids on police posts near the strategic town of Chora in Uruzgan province Saturday, forcing NATO, backed by fighter jets, to respond. Fighting was continuing Tuesday, and some officials reported there have been dozens of civilian casualties.

Also late Monday, Taliban occupied Miya Nishin district in neighboring Kandahar province, said provincial police chief Esmatullah Alizai. Authorities were planning an operation to retake the remote area, he said.

The insurgent push in the south appears to be the biggest Taliban offensive of the year and marks a change in tactics [emphasis added].

Until now, militants have relied largely on suicide and roadside bombings this year as NATO forces have escalated their operations to root them out. Violence has swelled, claiming about 2,400 lives during 2007, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western military and Afghan officials.

Maj. Gen. Jouke Eikelboom, director of operations with the Dutch military, said Monday that Karzai and the Uruzgan governor sought military support after the attack on the police posts.

"It has been a contested area for some number of months," said Maj. John Thomas, a NATO spokesman. "(The Taliban) are making an effort right now to establish control in that area," he said, predicting more fighting in coming days.

Thomas said he could not pin down the number of fighters that NATO troops were up against but that the battle was not over. "There's reason to believe that the situation on the ground is still unstable," he said...

A summary of fighter jet activity from Sunday sent out by the U.S. Central Command hinted at the ferocity of the battles, detailing at least eight aircraft dropping bombs or firing on the area...

Dozens Die In NATO's Offensive in Afghanistan
Washington Post, June 19
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR2007061800305.html

...
Violence has been sharply rising in Afghanistan in recent weeks. Much of the fighting has occurred in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, which had largely slipped out of government control over the past couple of years.

[NATO forces spokesman, U.S. Army Maj. John] Thomas said the fighting in neighboring Uruzgan reflects a decision by NATO commanders to expand the battlefield. The NATO-led force, he said, "is choosing to go into an area to establish control. Before, the insurgents might have been left alone because it wasn't a focus [emphasis added]."

Hamdullah [head of the provincial council in Uruzgan] said that approximately 1,500 anti-government fighters -- including Afghans, Chechens, Arabs and Pakistanis -- had congregated in the Chowreh district of Uruzgan and that most of the fighting in recent days was taking place there.

"The security has been very bad in Chowreh. The government knew about it, but it hadn't taken any action," said Sona Nilofar, a member of parliament from Uruzgan...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 19, 2007

Dubai sentences B.C. man to prison on drugs charges
Updated Tue. Jun. 19 2007 7:38 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

A Vancouver man, who advised Afghan farmers on alternatives to poppy cultivation, was sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday for smuggling and drug possession.

Bert Tatham, 35, was arrested April 23 during a layover at Dubai International Airport.

Authorities said they found him with 0.6 grams of hashish and two poppy bulbs.

Tatham pleaded not guilty during an arraignment last week.

On Tuesday, the judge told Tatham he must serve his full sentence in the United Arab Emirates Gulf country and then be deported from the Gulf country, which is known for its "zero tolerance" policy on narcotics.

When Tatham was arrested, he was on his way to Canada from the Afghan city of Kandahar.

According to media reports, Tatham worked as a consultant for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, but his father rejected those suggestions, saying this wasn't true.
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Afghan officials: Over 100 killed in southern battle
POSTED: 0602 GMT (1402 HKT), June 19, 2007
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- More than 100 people, including militants, civilians and police, have been killed in three days of fierce clashes between NATO and the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said Monday.

To the east, U.S.-led coalition jets bombed a suspected al Qaeda compound, killing seven boys and several fighters.

Afghanistan has seen a spike in violence the last several days, leading to a mounting number of civilian casualties that are sapping support for foreign troops and the government of President Hamid Karzai.

Even though a majority of civilian deaths is caused by attacks initiated by the Taliban, Afghan anger over civilian casualties is often directed toward U.S. and NATO-led troops. Such killings have prompted Afghan authorities to plead repeatedly for international forces to work more closely with Afghans.

In the southern province Uruzgan, the Taliban have launched what appears to be their biggest offensive of the year, forcing NATO troops to respond. They also have taken over a district in neighboring Kandahar, a police official said.

Dutch military officials said hundreds of Taliban fighters attacked police posts near the strategic town of Chora on Saturday, sparking a battle that officials said was continuing. The attack appeared to be a change in strategy by the insurgents, who had been relying on an increasing number of suicide and roadside bombings this year.
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Police official says armed men crossed into Afghanistan from Iran      
Tuesday, 19 June 2007  
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Herat, Afghanistan (DPA) - More than 20 armed men crossed the border from Iran into Afghanistan and entered an Afghan town, an Afghan police commander said in the first such blunt claim by a high-ranking Afghan official.

Colonel Rahmatullah Safi - police commander in the three western provinces of Farah, Badghis and Herat - said that according to intelligence information, the group of armed militants crossed the border Monday in Farah's Anardara district.


'Two pickup trucks with over 20 armed people riding in them crossed the border from Iran to Afghanistan,' Safi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in his Border Police headquarters, 15 kilometres outside Herat city.

He said that according to the intelligence information, the men were heading toward the Zirkoh area in Farah province, which has been the site of escalating militant activity in recent months.

Safi said the police did not have the opportunity to track down the vehicles but said he had informed President Hamid Karzai and international forces in the country.

'I can say with certainty, that the vehicles came from Iranian soil, and if they came from Iran with ammunitions and explosives, of course, they are supported by the Iranian government,' Safi said.

'If the Iranian border forces really want to stop them, they can,' he added. 'They have one outpost every five to 10 killometres.'
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Iraqi-Style Attacks Emerge in Afghanistan
By Anna Mulrine Posted 6/18/07
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KABUL—A rush-hour attack in a crowded section of Kabul has reignited concerns here about what the U.S. military calls TTPs—tactics, techniques, and procedures—migrating from Iraq to the streets of Afghanistan. The bus bombing on Sunday, which killed at least 35 people and wounded some 52 bystanders, targeted Afghan police trainees on their way to work.

It is thought to be the most lethal attack in the country since the fall of the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing shortly afterward. (On Monday, police reported detaining a suspect in the Kabul bus bombing after he was caught filming the aftermath of the deadly suicide blast.)

The Taliban has stepped up its use of so-called asymmetric means of attack, using greater numbers of suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to Gen. Dan McNeill, the American commander of the International Security Assistance Force. It is a development, he tells U.S. News, that the military anticipated since ISAF efforts began early this year to pre-empt a Taliban spring offensive—an offensive that largely failed to materialize.
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Pentagon sends decks of archeological cards to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan
Pauline Jelinek Canadian Press Tuesday, June 19, 2007
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WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon is sending another deck of playing cards to troops in Iraq, this time showing some of the country's most precious archeological sites instead of the most-wanted people.

Some 40,000 new decks of playing cards will be sent to troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Laurie Rush, an archeologist at Fort Drum in New York, says it's part of an awareness program to encourage troops to help preserve the heritage of those countries.

It's aimed at making troops aware they shouldn't pick up and bring home artifacts and also to avoid causing damage to sites.

In one incident after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. troops built a helicopter pad on the ruins of Babylon and filled their sandbags with archeological fragments from the ancient city.

Each card in the deck shows an artifact or site or gives a tip on how to help preserve antiquities.
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Canada, allies, won't win war in Afghanistan before 2009 deadline: Commons study
Mike Blanchfield Ottawa Citizen Monday, June 18, 2007
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OTTAWA - Parliament should immediately debate whether the Canadian Forces commitment to Afghanistan should be extended beyond February 2009, says a Commons defence committee study released Monday.

The all-party committee also said more needs to be done to ensure aid and reconstruction dollars are delivered in a more timely manner to Afghans, especially after some particularly heavy fighting last year.

"None of the witnesses who appeared before the committee expected the military problem in Afghanistan to be solved by February 2009," states the report, the result of a 13-month study of a controversial mission, which has divided Canadians and claimed the lives of 57 soldiers and one diplomat.

"Some spoke of decades; some spoke of generations; but all spoke of a long-term commitment. This raises the question of whether the mission mandate ought to be extended or not."

The committee recommended the government hold a debate "without delay" to give Canadians "an accurate and up-to-date understanding" of the mission and its "decision-making" around the February 2009 deadline.

That date has been a bone of contention among the four federal parties. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has strongly suggested the mission will have to be extended beyond 2009 and has criticized the opposition for calling for arbitrary withdrawal dates.

Moreover, the Forces top commander in Afghanistan recently said the military is making contingency plans beyond 2009
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Norwegian patrol in Afghanistan attacked, one injured
Tuesday June 19, 2007 (0105 PST)
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KABUL: A Norwegian unit on patrol in Meymana in Northern Afghanistan was attacked during the night, and one Norwegian officer was slightly injured, the Central Defence Command reports.
At midnight local time a group of men approached the Norwegian patrol in the dark. They were challenged by the Norwegian guard post, and thy then opened fire on the Norwegian unit, press spokesman John Inge Oegland says to NRK.

The Norwegian unit returned the fire, and withdrew to a safer position when they had regained control of the situation.
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[GAP]

Canadian at gate of Kandahar base sift friend from foe among visitors
June 18, 2007  By STEPHANIE LEVITZ
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Canadian soldiers who have been manning a key entrance to the main coalition base at Kandahar Airfield say they have learned a lot from the 1,500 Afghans who pass through the gates each day.

And they've taught them a few things too.

"We found that they've been working with us so long, we've been adapting some of their culture, they've been taking a lot of ours too," said Cpl. Justin Smith, 22, from Windsor, N.S.

"A lot of our mannerisms they've been picking up, like giving us the thumbs up. They are a lot more tolerant than most people think."

The cultural connection happens against the unlikely backdrop of gun towers and rolls of barbed wire near Entry Control Point Three - ECP3 in military parlance.

It is the entry point for every person and item coming into Kandahar Airfield, home base for thousands of soldiers from around the world fighting insurgents in Afghanistan.

This platoon of Canadians have manned ECP3 through the hail, heat and dust of the last seven months. Now they are just under a week shy of completing their tour of duty in Kandahar.

More than 300 trucks rumble and belch their way each day through bomb-sniffing dogs and a giant X-ray machine before their cargo - from building supplies to Whoppers for the Burger King on base - is allowed in.
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Police seize car laden with explosives in Kandahar
June 18, 2007 By A.R. KHAN
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Hours before a deadly suicide bombing wrecked a bus in Kabul, Afghan police in Kandahar city seized a car with what officials said was enough explosives to level a city block.

A police commander for District Five in Kandahar was awarded a commendation by Canadian officials on Monday for his work in thwarting the suicide attack.

Police had stopped the car early Sunday morning and discovered 14 rockets and two cans of gasoline inside. The car was stopped in a residential area just inside the city gates.

An explosive ordinance disposal team from Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Kandahar City was called in to deal with the materials.

"I know that we did a great job, (but) it is not enough. We have to do more and more," said Mohammad Essa, the police commander for District Five.

"I am glad that we are going to save the lives of innocent civilians and we will be trying to save their lives in the future as well. We don't have to lose courage."

The Afghan National Police are the weaker link in the chain of national security forces building around Afghanistan. But Cpl. Barry Pitcher with the RCMP-led civilian police team at the PRT said Sunday's bust showed their capabilities are improving.

"We are glad that the public was not hurt by these explosives," Pitcher said.
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[GAP]

Articles found June 20, 2007

Three NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan blast
Updated Wed. Jun. 20 2007 8:20 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Three NATO soldiers have been killed by an explosion in southern Afghanistan.

They were travelling in a vehicle when it was struck by an improvised explosive device, according to alliance officials cited by The Associated Press.

The nationalities of the three killed soldiers have not yet been released, pending notification of next of kin.

In other violence, officials said earlier Wednesday that gunmen fired on people praying in a mosque in eastern Afghanistan, killing three.

The attack took place in Ismail Kheil, a village in Khost province. Two armed men entered the mosque, opening fire and killing three and wounding a fourth, according to Wazir Pacha, a Zabul province police chief who spoke to AP.

The attackers fled the scene and police are still unsure of the motive for the shooting.

In another attack, militants ambushed a United Nations convoy on the main highway between Kabul and Kandahar. The strike left two Afghan guards dead, and a third wounded. Two UN vehicles were damaged in the attack, Jailani Khan, a highway police chief for Zabul told AP.

And in the southern Kandahar province, Afghan police clashed with militants, retaking control of Miya Nishin district. One day earlier, militants overran the district. But just hours after police re-established control on Wednesday, the insurgents once again took over the district, said Esmatullah Alizai, a provincial police officer.
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Missiles kill at least 20 near Pakistan-Afghan border
TheStar.com June 19, 2007 MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan
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A suspected missile attack on a militant hideout in a remote area of northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border killed more than 20 insurgents, security officials said.

Several militants were also wounded Tuesday when three missiles allegedly fired from Afghanistan destroyed a training facility, housed in a big mud-brick seminary, in the border village Mami Rogha, 40 kilometres west of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, two intelligence officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pakistan army spokesman Maj.-Gen. Waheed Arshad claimed, however, that the explosions were caused when bombs the militants were making at an isolated compound exploded accidentally. He said more than 20 were killed.

"According to the information I have received from military sources, the blast happened when these militants were making bombs," he said Tuesday, without elaborating.

One local intelligence official said between 20 and 25 militants were killed when three missiles hit the hideout.

"We have received reports that the missiles came from Afghanistan," said the official, without offering any evidence to back up his claim.

Another Pakistani intelligence official in Islamabad, who also requested anonymity, said the compound was about three kilometres inside Pakistan and is surrounded by thick forests.

He said nearly three-dozen militants were sitting in an open area of a madrassa, or Islamic seminary, when the attack happened but could not confirm exactly who fired the missiles, although both officials claimed the missiles came from Afghanistan.

The U.S. military in Afghanistan said it had no reports of missiles being fired across the border.

"I am not aware of any reports of any missiles being fired from Afghanistan into Pakistan," said Lt.-Col. David Accetta, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.
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Taliban threat to Canada just a stunt, officials say
Video a desperation tactic, Day says as he pledges to stop suicide bombers at the border
COLIN FREEZE From Wednesday's Globe and Mail June 20, 2007 at 4:40 AM EDT
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A Taliban commander's pledge to send hundreds of suicide bombers to Canada and other Western countries is a disturbing but highly implausible publicity stunt, say top security officials who are struggling to deal with threats already present in Canada.

ABC News obtained footage this week of a reputed Taliban graduation ceremony. In it, a top commander lines up about 300 young training-camp graduates. Then he announces plans to send them on missions to the United States, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom in retaliation for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's presence in Afghanistan.

Yesterday, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day called the video a desperation tactic. "The Taliban are aware that our troops cannot be intimidated ... so they are trying, through public-relations means, to worry the hearts of Canadians at home," he told reporters.

He added that while he takes threats seriously, he feels confident that intelligence and border officials could stop any suicide bombers. "Canadians can sleep well at night knowing that we have very effective security capabilities."
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Aid won't work without arms
TheStar.com June 20, 2007
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A report on the murder of a Canadian aid worker in Afghanistan last summer should give serious pause for reflection to Canadians who think this country's combat role there should be ended and replaced by aid and reconstruction work.

Mike Frastacky, a Vancouver carpenter, was building a school in northern Afghanistan when he was hauled from his bed, tied up and shot after a terrorist leader gave the order, "Kill the infidel."

A report on the incident by Afghan security investigators reveals that his death was a planned, political murder rather than a random act of violence. He was killed because he was doing reconstruction.

This is the threat that every aid and reconstruction worker lives with, and their situation seems likely to become more dangerous as the Taliban becomes more violent in its efforts to regain power.

On Sunday, a massive explosion ripped through a busy street in Kabul, killing dozens of Afghan civilians and police and wounding many more. The terrorists vow to continue such attacks on aid workers and civilians on a "daily" basis.

These events emphasize the importance of a continued combat role for Canada and its NATO allies in the Afghan war. They also emphasize the reality that without the continued effort to take the war to the Taliban, aid and reconstruction will be impossibly dangerous. Indeed, they would become pointless because abandoning the war means handing Afghanistan back to a Taliban dictatorship.

Maintaining Canada's will to fight that war, however, is certain to grow more difficult as casualties mount. Already, 56 Canadian soldiers have died in the war and the Taliban's campaign is becoming more violent as it grows more desperate. As casualties rise, political and public pressure to disengage from Afghanistan is likely to increase in Canada.

There are indications that the terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan are experiencing difficulty in finding recruits among Afghans themselves and have been replenishing their ranks with Chechens, Uzbeks and Arabs. That may be an extension of the war, but it is not one that should discourage Canada. It is more importantly a sign that war against terror there is working, that Canadian combat troops are slowly succeeding in making Afghanistan safer so aid workers such as Mr. Frastacky can eventually do their jobs without fear.
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Afghan police leave district claimed by Taleban
Wednesday June 20, 2007 (0807 PST)
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KANDAHAR: Police have pulled out of a district in southern Afghanistan, a provincial police chief said Tuesday, as the Taleban claimed to have captured the area following days of fighting.
The police exit from the mountainous Myanishen district in the southern province of Kandahar was a "tactical withdrawal," police chief Esmatalluh Alizai said.

A Taleban spokesman said the group had captured the district headquarters and government equipment, such as vehicles, after about three days of fighting.

"The fighting started two to three days ago," spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said according to Khaleej times. "The police had been surrounded for about two days. Last night the Taleban captured the district and some equipment."

Ahmadi said the police had suffered casualties but this was rejected by the police chief.
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Afghan women treated "like a piece of meat"
Wednesday June 20, 2007 (0807 PST)
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KANDAHAR They may no longer run the government, but southern Afghanistan`s influential religious leaders continue to make life painfully hard for women, says Kandahar`s new director of women`s affairs.

Preaching a false brand of Islam, the mullahs are helping prop up a culture that treats female members like "a piece of meat," Runa Tareen said in an outspoken interview.

She acknowledged that women in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, have made some progress since the Islamist regime fell, especially in terms of winning renewed access to education and jobs.

However, forced marriages, unchecked domestic abuse and restrictive dress codes are still common, largely because of age-old customs and what she called false messages emerging from the area`s mosques.

"Everybody listens to the mullah because the mullah is the only person that everyone respects. He knows the Koran, he knows Islam," Ms. Tareen said.

"It is up to the religious people to tell families what Islam provides for women`s rights " But, unfortunately, they are not teaching people respect for women."

She is nothing if not brave. Simply by occupying the government-appointed post, let alone chastising the powerful religious establishment, she has put herself in harm`s way.
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[MarkOttawa]

A 'Secret' Weapon in the War Against Terror?
William Arkin, Washington Post, June 20
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/06/a_new_weapon_in_the_war_agains.html

Are U.S. forces employing a new weapon in the war against terrorism? And if so, why are they keeping it a secret?

A huge explosion yesterday in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan reportedly killed numerous foreign fighters and civilians. On Sunday, seven children were reported killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan in an unsuccessful attack on an Al Qaeda commander.

In both attacks, U.S. military spokesmen have either denied U.S. involvement or demurred in providing details. I think I know why.

NBC News reported Sunday that U.S. special operations forces attacked a compound in eastern Afghanistan, an attack intended to kill the Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan. Seven children were reportedly killed in the attack, and NBC reported that the decision was made to attack the compound despite the presence of children because of the value of the target.

Then, on Tuesday morning, a massive blast at a compound in North Waziristan, in Pakistan near the Afghanistan border, killed as many as 30 alleged Al Qaeda fighters. Pakistani officials say the compound, which included a madrassa, was being used as a training camp and bomb factory. Press reports say civilians were also killed in the attack.

Officially, the Pakistani government says that the blast was the result of explosives at the site, not from "outside" forces. A U.S. military spokesmen told The Post that "We were not involved with any strike into Pakistan... U.S. forces did not fire into Pakistan with missiles or airstrikes or anything else." On the ground, though, eyewitnesses says that up to three "missiles" came from Afghanistan.

The link between these two strikes may be the deployment of a new weapon, one that gives the United States much more flexibility in going after distant compounds.

What makes these attacks different from the usual attacks in the perpetual head-hunting effort against Al Qaeda is this: Consistent reports from intelligence and military sources that special operations forces employed a new ground rocket system.

The system, called High Mobility Artillery Rockets, or HIMARS is reportedly a complement to Predator drones, particularly when weather prevents the high-altitude strikes, and are the new favorite when significant firepower is desired. The truck-mounted artillery rocket system (hence the "high mobility" moniker) first entered service in June 2005 at Fort Bragg, N.C., to complement the venerable MLRS rocket, which is heavier and more constrained in its movements and flexibility.

HIMARS carries a single six-pack of rockets on a standard Army 6x6 all-wheel drive (MLRS carries 18 rockets). The six-pack can be configured to shoot a wide array of rockets and missiles, from cluster bombs to a single missile system with a range up to 300 kilometers. HIMARS can fire a variety of non-cluster bomb rockets from the standard MLRS range of 32 kilometers to 300 kilometers...

Are U.S. forces employing a new weapon in the war against terrorism? And if so, why are they keeping it a secret?

A huge explosion yesterday in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan reportedly killed numerous foreign fighters and civilians. On Sunday, seven children were reported killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan in an unsuccessful attack on an Al Qaeda commander.

In both attacks, U.S. military spokesmen have either denied U.S. involvement or demurred in providing details. I think I know why.

NBC News reported Sunday that U.S. special operations forces attacked a compound in eastern Afghanistan, an attack intended to kill the Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan. Seven children were reportedly killed in the attack, and NBC reported that the decision was made to attack the compound despite the presence of children because of the value of the target.

Then, on Tuesday morning, a massive blast at a compound in North Waziristan, in Pakistan near the Afghanistan border, killed as many as 30 alleged Al Qaeda fighters. Pakistani officials say the compound, which included a madrassa, was being used as a training camp and bomb factory. Press reports say civilians were also killed in the attack.

Officially, the Pakistani government says that the blast was the result of explosives at the site, not from "outside" forces. A U.S. military spokesmen told The Post that "We were not involved with any strike into Pakistan... U.S. forces did not fire into Pakistan with missiles or airstrikes or anything else." On the ground, though, eyewitnesses says that up to three "missiles" came from Afghanistan.

The link between these two strikes may be the deployment of a new weapon, one that gives the United States much more flexibility in going after distant compounds.

What makes these attacks different from the usual attacks in the perpetual head-hunting effort against Al Qaeda is this: Consistent reports from intelligence and military sources that special operations forces employed a new ground rocket system.

The system, called High Mobility Artillery Rockets, or HIMARS is reportedly a complement to Predator drones, particularly when weather prevents the high-altitude strikes, and are the new favorite when significant firepower is desired. The truck-mounted artillery rocket system (hence the "high mobility" moniker) first entered service in June 2005 at Fort Bragg, N.C., to complement the venerable MLRS rocket, which is heavier and more constrained in its movements and flexibility.

HIMARS carries a single six-pack of rockets on a standard Army 6x6 all-wheel drive (MLRS carries 18 rockets). The six-pack can be configured to shoot a wide array of rockets and missiles, from cluster bombs to a single missile system with a range up to 300 kilometers. HIMARS can fire a variety of non-cluster bomb rockets from the standard MLRS range of 32 kilometers to 300 kilometers...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 21, 2007

Roadside bomb kills 3 Canadians in unarmoured military vehicle in Afghanistan
Stephanie Levitz Canadian Press Wednesday, June 20, 2007
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MASUM GAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Three Canadians were killed Wednesday when their open-top all-terrain military vehicle hit a roadside bomb while moving through the Afghan countryside near a forward military base west of Kandahar.

The fatalities bring the Canadian military death toll in Afghanistan to 60 since 2002. Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, top commander of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, said the unarmoured vehicle carrying the three was "moving from one compound to another" when the deadly explosion happened.

"It's less than a kilometre between the two checkpoints," Grant told reporters in the main coalition base at Kandahar Airfield.

"A determined enemy was clearly able to penetrate the defences and the observation in the area to plant this device."

Asked whether it was a judgment error to use an unarmoured vehicle in hostile territory, Grant replied: "No. This is an unfortunate accident."

"The vehicle was appropriate to the task at hand and the terrain they were travelling in."

But Grant added: "We will review our procedures and if we determine that we need to change them, then we will do so."
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Coalition forces rescue 2 hostages in E. Afghanistan
June 21, 2007          
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The U.S.-led coalition forces rescued two hostages from Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in eastern Afghanistan early Thursday, a coalition statement said.

Coalition forces conducted raids against two compounds in Zaghun Shah district of Paktika province after receiving information that three local residents were abducted by militants, the statement said.

One of the hostages was found being held at a compound, while another was taken away by his captors to another location, according to the statement.

Coalition forces chased down the captors, freed the hostage and detained the captors, it said, adding the third hostage was killed by militants 24 hours ago.

The statement did not tell the identities of the hostages, and why the militants abducted them.

Eight militants were detained and will be questioned as to their identities and participation in militant activities, the statement said.
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Afghanistan Sees More Deadly Fighting
Jun 20, 2007 12:03 pm US/Central (CBS News) KABUL, Afghanistan
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NATO-led and Afghan troops clashed with militants in southern Afghanistan and called in air strikes, killing 21 suspected Taliban, an Afghan official said.

The militants were killed during a six-hour battle in Kandahar province's Zhari district, said district chief Khairudin Achakzai. The bodies were left on the battlefield, he said.

Earlier Wednesday, three NATO troops died when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, while gunmen opened fire on people praying in a mosque in eastern Afghanistan, killing three and wounding four others, officials said.

Assailants also ambushed a convoy belonging to U.N.'s Office for Project Services on the main Kabul-Kandahar highway, killing two Afghan guards, wounding another and damaging two vehicles, said Jailani Khan, highway police chief for Zabul province.
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'UK presence in Afghanistan needed for decades'
20 Jun, 2007 l 1954 hrs ISTlPTI
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LONDON: Painting a realistic picture, British Ambassador to Afghanistan Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles has said the UK's presence in Afghanistan needs to go on for decades to help rebuild the war-ravaged country.

"The task of standing up a government of Afghanistan that is sustainable is going to take a very long time," he said in a programme. "I wouldn't say my picture is gloomy, I would say it's realistic," he said, adding, "It's a marathon rather than a sprint. We should be thinking in terms of decades."

He said that the Afghan people wanted the UK presence to help resist the Taleban and develop the country. Extra diplomatic staff are being deployed to Afghanistan this year. "The message we are getting, the message I had only last week down in Helmand from the people of the villages there, was, 'please protect us from the Taleban'," Sir Sherard said.
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Miller relents, city keeps support-the-troops decal
TheStar.com June 21, 2007 Donovan Vincent City hall bureau
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Facing a firestorm of protest across the nation, coupled with the deaths of three Canadian soldiers yesterday in Afghanistan, Toronto reversed course and will allow ribbon-shaped decals supporting this country's troops to remain on fire trucks and ambulances.

Mayor David Miller brought forward a motion yesterday to continue the ribbon campaign. That was just a day after he said it was "appropriate" the decals come off in September as originally scheduled.

He had also pointed out that to many, the ribbon symbolizes a "very controversial military operation."

"The biggest single thing for me was the deaths of the three members of the military this morning,'' Miller told reporters yesterday, adding he had "reflected'' on that before changing his mind.

Council voted 39-0 to extend the Support our Troops campaign, with the proviso it refer to "all Canadian troops" – a change from Councillor Frances Nunziata's initial call to extend the campaign as long as Canada is at war in Afghanistan.
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[GAP]

UN halts food deliveries to southern Afghanistan over attacks, looting
The Associated Press Thursday, June 21, 2007
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KABUL, Afghanistan: The U.N. World Food Program has halted aid deliveries in Afghanistan's most volatile provinces after 85 of its trucks were attacked, set ablaze or looted this past year by Taliban insurgents and thieves, an official said Thursday.

The world body suspended shipments from Pakistan through the violence-plagued south and west about four weeks ago, Richard Corsino, WFP's director in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press.

"The biggest thing we're concerned about is if we can't resume, and we can't meet our obligations," Corsino said in an interview in the Afghan capital.

He said he expected WFP to run out of food for its programs in the next few weeks in the seven southern and western provinces where shipments have been halted.

WFP does not expect people to starve or migrate because of the halted food deliveries, but they may be forced to sell their possessions to get by, Corsino said.

"The people we're trying to reach with this food are 'food insecure' or vulnerable people. It makes what is already a difficult life that much more difficult," he said.

WFP lost about 600 tons of wheat and cooking oil worth US$400,000 (€300,000) in 25 incidents since June 2006, including 13 in the past three months, compared to no incidents in the first half of 2006, Corsino said.

In one incident, a Taliban leader signed a paper and jotted down his satellite phone number for the truck driver before looting a shipment. In another, it was clear that the trucker had colluded in the theft, Corsino said.

"People regard our food as a gift to the country, and it's not owned by anyone," Corsino said, describing the looters' mentality. He said his staff called the satellite phone number, and the man on the line identified himself as a Taliban member and acknowledged carrying out the heist.

The shipments are made in unmarked, contracted trucks, but are still hit by thieves more frequently than commercial goods, Corsino said. Truckers are demanding 25 percent more pay, partly because a new WFP policy holds them accountable for losses.
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[GAP]

NATO soldier killed day after loss of 3 Canadians
Updated Thu. Jun. 21 2007 8:35 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
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A NATO soldier was killed Thursday in eastern Afghanistan, just one day after three Canadian soldiers died when their unarmoured vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in the south.

NATO said two soldiers were taken to hospital after hitting a landmine. One of them later died.

Troops from the U.S.-led coalition and the Afghan army are involved in an operation against "an important group of enemies'' in Paktika province, said the province's governor.

The nationality of the soldier was not released but most of NATO's soldiers in the east are American.

The incident follows the death of three Canadians killed near Kandahar Wednesday when the open-topped, unarmoured vehicle they were travelling in was struck by an improvised explosive device.

"Canada has occupied and protected this area for about a year now and it's considered fairly safe," CTV's South Asia Bureau Chief Paul Workman said Thursday from Kandahar.

"The Canadians have a system of defence, they have night vision ability and yet Taliban fighters were able to sneak in somehow, plant a bomb, and blow up a very easy target."
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