# Re: The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread (August 2006)



## GAP (1 Aug 2006)

I am continuing this thread for one reason only. I constantly see new threads started on 
each and every incident or political issue regarding Afghanistan and the surrounding attached countries

Nowhere is there one thread that compiles the incidents in a sequential manner
 WITHOUT commentary. 

This is not intended as a commentary thread, but as a sequential listing of 
reports regarding the action.  Please add reports you come across, with a source
 link. This way anyone wanting to view the progression of action, political issues and misguided 
adventures of whomever it concerns is able to see it in one snapshot. 

I would like to point out that the commentary threads, whether giving condolances to fallen or 
injured, or on issues, are terrific and should continue, but not on this thread. If we keep it simple, 
maybe with a link to the commentary thread  for that subject, it will make good reading and an easy reference.

Note: I noticed I and others who help, have duplicated our posts from the same source occasionally. Check the previous couple of posts to see if has been already posted. If it's from a different source where there is more or different info, by all means post it, but if it's the same, please don't duplicate it...it is frustrating to the reader.

I try to add articles in the one post for each day. We have 24 hours to modify our posts, so I find it easier to insert new articles as I run across them into the one day. 

Thanks 
Gord


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## GAP (1 Aug 2006)

*Articles found on 1 August 2006*

Two UK troops dead in Afghanistan
Tuesday, August 1, 2006 Posted: 0807 GMT (1607 HKT) CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/08/01/afghan.british/index.html

also this link
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060801.wafghan0801/BNStory/International/home

LONDON, England (CNN) -- At least two British soldiers were killed Tuesday when their vehicle came under fire in southern Afghanistan, according to the British Ministry of Defence and NATO.

"We can confirm that two British soldiers have been killed, one is missing and one is seriously injured as a result of ongoing action in southern Afghanistan," the MoD statement said.

According to NATO sources, the attack took place around 7:30 a.m. (11 p.m. ET Monday) in the Musaqala district of Helmand province when insurgents opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades.

In May, al Qaeda forces briefly took control of Musaqala before British troops pushed them out.

NATO troops are serving in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

ISAF, which operates under a U.N. mandate, supports the Afghan government by maintaining a secure environment to facilitate rebuilding the country.
End

Afghan, Coalition forces target suspected al Qaeda operatives
Aug 1, 2006  COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER 
http://www.cfc-a.centcom.mil/News%20Release/2006/08-August/Afghan%20Coalition%20forces%20target%20suspected%20al%20Qaeda%20operatives.htm 

            KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan and Coalition forces detained four suspected al Qaeda operatives during an early morning raid on Aug 1 in Khowst Province in the vicinity of Sewakay village.
            The purpose of the operation was to detain al Qaeda operatives who are suspected of coordinating the smuggling of explosives into Afghanistan and planning attacks against Afghan and Coaltion forces in eastern Afghanistan.
            There was no resistance or casualties sustained on either side.  One AK-47 assault rifle and a pistol were confiscated from the target location.
            “The Coalition continues to relentlessly pursue and disrupt al Qaeda and their associated movements,” said Col. Thomas Collins, Coalition spokesman.  “We’ll continue to place pressure on their sanctuaries and known areas of operation.”
            The four men are being detained and questioned regarding their participation in al Qaeda and anti-government of Afghanistan activities.
End




Afghan, Coalition forces recover weapon caches, IEDs
August 1, 2006  COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER 
http://www.cfc-a.centcom.mil/News%20Release/2006/08-August/Afghan%20Coalition%20forces%20recover%20weapon%20caches%20IEDs.htm

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Afghan and Coalition forces recovered two weapons caches and two improvised explosive devices in different locations in eastern Afghanistan today.
            Coalition forces discovered the weapon caches during a routine search of two caves in the Pech District of Kunar Province.
            Among the weapons recovered in the first cave were 11 boxes of rifle ammunition and six crates of machine gun rounds.  The second cave contained eight rocket-propelled grenade rounds, four sacks of IED making materials, two rockets, one bag of plastic explosives, one box filled with 201 sticks of TNT and a number of AK-47 tracer rounds.
            In the Bagram District of Parwan Province, Afghan National Police found two IEDs.
            A Coalition explosives disposal team responded to reports of the first IED, disabled the weapon and destroyed it in place.
            A short time later while the Coalition team was returning to base, ANP found the second device, disabled it and removed the weapon.
            “These weapons will no longer be a threat to the lives of Afghan civilians,” said Col. Thomas Collins, Coalition spokesman.  “We will continue to remove these types of deadly weapons wherever we find them to ensure a peaceful existence for the Afghan people.”
End 



Troops combat lawlessness
August 01, 2006 Ottawa Sun
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2006/08/01/1713092-sun.html

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Taliban fighters aren't the only problem facing Canadian and other international troops in Afghanistan. 

In recent days, they've also had to deal with corruption within Afghan police ranks, perceived threats by local authorities to carry out their own attacks against Taliban militants and Taliban fighters disguised as women. 

BEATEN BY COPS 

Truck drivers in Helmand province, west of Kandahar, have reported being asked for money by Afghan national police officers at roadside checkpoints. 

When they refuse, they are beaten and robbed. 
  

"I have been loading my truck from district to district in Helmand province," said 37-year-old Abdul Samad Khan. "But in each police check post we are being asked for money." 

"And if we don't pay the money they beat us. I mean they take money by force." 
More on link

Where the bin Laden trail goes cold
By David Montero | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor August 01, 2006 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0801/p07s01-wosc.html

Reports put him in the Dir Valley of Pakistan, but a visit there shows only the difficulties of finding him.


KUMRAT, PAKISTAN – Hajji Samander Khan and his friends seem befuddled, even bored, by the notion that Osama bin Laden might be hiding in this beautiful valley of apple orchards and walnut trees. Mere propaganda, they declare as they sip Pepsi, swat flies, and harangue on the immodest apparel of foreign aid workers. 
The elderly gentlemen seem to welcome only one sign of change in this conservative valley: the arrival of tourists, the backpacking kind, not those with a $25 million reward on their head. 
More on link


Terrorists Detained in Afghanistan; Extremists Attack Girls School
American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=322

WASHINGTON, August 1, 2006 – Afghan and coalition forces detained four suspected al Qaeda operatives during an early morning raid today in Khowst province, and a group of extremists attacked a girls school in Parwan province July 28, U.S. military officials said. 

No resistance was reported. An assault rifle and pistol were confiscated from the target location. 

“The coalition continues to relentlessly pursue and disrupt al Qaeda and their associated movements,” Army Col. Thomas Collins, a coalition spokesman, said. “We'll continue to place pressure on their sanctuaries and known areas of operation.”

The four suspects are being detained and questioned regarding their participation in al Qaeda activities, officials said.

Also in Afghanistan, a group of extremists attacked a girls school July 28 in Parwan province. The extremists used small-arms and rocket–propelled-grenade fire to attack the school, causing a partial collapse of the roof.

Villagers returned fire on the extremists, and one Afghan civilian security guard was injured in the attack, according to local authorities.

”This is another example of total disregard for the progress the Afghan people have achieved. The extremists offer nothing but a bleak return to oppression,” Collins said. “Coalition forces, together with the Afghan government, will continue to seek out those who want nothing but darkness for the country.”

The actions of the villagers in Parwan demonstrate the Afghan people's dislike for the terrorists’ agenda, he added. 

(Compiled from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases.)


Related Sites:
Combined Forces Command Afghanistan
End





Propaganda
Already 13 UK Troops Terminated Today in Afghanistan
Publication time: Today at 17:54 Djokhar time  Kavkaz Center.com
http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/08/01/5156.shtml

13 UK soldiers were annihalated today in two different districts of Helmand province. Islamic State of Afghanistan's Armed Forces  attacked UK  invaders  in Mosa Qala district which left seven UK troops killed and badly damaged two vehicles. The clash still remains continued in Mosa Qala district between Taliban and UK  forces. In response to allegations of NATO invaders about a missing UK  soldier a government spokesman of  ISA said, "Taliban did not captured any UK soldier, may be he was killed." 

Taliban also terminated  and injured six UK  soldiers in Sangheen district of the same province. "Our resistance will be harsh and strong as the same," said the spokesman while terming assuming of command in southern province by NATO a mistake. NATO assumed command some 24 hours before in southern provinces 

Earlier today  the Western invaders reported  that two  UK soldiers were annihilated already  in this attack, one wounded and one "remains unaccounted for", in a press release issued this morning. The termination of UK troops continues. 
End





Dead soldier's parents remember his smile
Updated Mon. Jul. 31 2006 11:30 PM ET  Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060731/afghanistan_warren_060731/20060731?hub=Canada

KANATA, Ont. -- As they cope with their unbounding grief, Cpl. Jason Patrick Warren's parents are comforted by memories of the broad smile and infectious laugh for which he had become known. 

"It was just very contagious, very rough," Debbie Warren told The Canadian Press in an interview at the funeral parlour near her home, west of Ottawa. 

"He laughed a lot. From a mother's heart I'm devastated by the loss, but I have such wonderful memories." 

The 29-year-old reservist and Cpl. Francisco Gomez, 44, of Edmonton were killed July 22 when a suicide bomber detonated a car filled with explosives beside the Bison armoured vehicle that Gomez was driving. 

They were on the tail end of a large convoy returning from fighting west of Kandahar. 

As a military family - Debbie Warren's father is a Second World War veteran and her daughter is a corporal who has served two tours in Afghanistan - the Warrens were fully aware of the risks associated with their son's mission in Afghanistan. 
More on link




British general takes command of US troops
By Ahmed Rashid in Lahore  (Filed: 31/07/2006)  Telegraph UK
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/31/wafg31.xml

A British general will command American troops for the first time since the Second World War when Nato takes charge of the mission to pacify southern Afghanistan today.

Lt Gen David Richards, Britain's most experienced officer in developing world arenas, assumes control of a merged Nato and US force that will grow from 9,000 to 18,000.
More on link

Foreign fighters moving from Pakistan to Afghanistan
Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 07:15:02 PM  -  India E-News
http://indiaenews.com/2006-08/16945-foreign-fighters-moving-pakistan-afghanistan.htm

Islamabad - Tribals of Pakistan’s North and South Waziristan areas have had enough of their ‘Arab Mujahideen’ guests who have overstayed for a decade and are increasingly ‘interfering’ in local matters.

Now a government-sponsored ‘Loya Jirga’ (tribal chief’s council) is encouraging ‘a parting of ways’ that the US has been insisting for long.

But this may lead to induction of a fresh dose of foreign mercenaries into Afghanistan, adding to the woes of the Afghan National Army.

The Waziristan belt has been a hotbed of training and launching of the Taliban and Arab mercenaries for over 10 years. Pakistan’s security forces have been battling them with limited success because of the support and shelter given to these mercenaries by the local tribes, who share the same ethnic affinity as the Pushtuns in Afghanistan.

Two main warlords likely to move out are Egyptian national Abu Nasir and Iraqi national Abu Okash, who have been active in training militants on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghan border since long, sources told The News.

The ‘parting of ways’ has also been caused by what the tribals of North and South Waziristan areas have begun to look upon as ‘interference’ in local tribal matters.

The two Arabs, especially Abu Okash, as also others, had been brokering disputes among the tribes and sub-tribes and had in the process become unpopular.
More on link

Jail riot claims 1 life in S. Afghanistan  
August 01, 2006 People's Daily Online
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/01/eng20060801_288884.html
         
One prisoner was killed as inmates staged a protest demonstration in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province on Tuesday, provincial police Chief General Nabi Jan Mullahkhil said. 

Inmates say that police firing left one prisoner dead in Helmand's central jail in the provincial capital Lashkargah, Mullahkhil told Xinhua. 

However, he added that investigation is underway to find the fact. 

Accusing the jail officials of highhandedness and applying maltreatment, the inmates said that warders and jail officials treat them inhumanly. 

Around 300 peoples including criminals and Taliban-linked militants were held in Helmand's central jail. 

"We are trying to find a peaceful solution to the problem through negotiation with the inmates," Mullahkhil added. 

Similar riot in Kabul central Pul-e-Charkhi prison left four persons dead and injured 17 others early this year. 
End

Reid challenges Afghan hijackers ruling
By Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor (Filed: 01/08/2006) Telegraph UK
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/01/nreid01.xml

The Home Secretary was entitled to stop nine Afghan hijackers working and enjoying other freedoms in Britain, his lawyers argued in the Court of Appeal yesterday.

Challenging an earlier ruling, counsel for John Reid argued that immigration law allowed the Home Secretary to impose "temporary admission" status on the men - even though they could not be deported without a breach of their human rights.

The nine Afghans, fleeing the Taliban regime, hijacked a Boeing 727 on an internal flight in Afghanistan in February 2000 and forced the crew to fly to Britain.
More on link





Car bomb at mosque kills five in east Afghanistan  
Tuesday August 01, 2006 (0124 PST) Pak Tribune
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?151178

KABUL: A car bomb attack apparently on governor of eastern Nangarhar province Gul Aghah Shirzoi nearby a mosque left five persons dead and injured dozen others on Monday, eye witness Mohammad Asif Shinwari said. 
The bloody incident occurred when a large number of people gathered inside the mosque near Nangarhar’s provincial capital Jalalabad to pay homage to the late Afghan resistance leader Mawlawi Yunus Khalis.
End



3 Pakistani prisoners reach Peshawar from Afghanistan  
Monday July 31, 2006 (1904 PST) Pak Tribune
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?151134

PESHAWAR, July 31 (Online): Three Pakistani prisoners earlier released by Afghan government as goodwill gesture reached here from Afghanistan on Monday . 
Authorities of Interior Ministry received these prisoners in Peshawar. Talking in connection with prisoners' release, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said that a team led by Additional Secretary Interior earlier sent in Afghanistan for the release of Pakistan prisoners. The said team met with the Pakistani prisoners in different jails in Afghanistan and held talks with Afghan government regarding the release of Pakistani prisoners, he said . 

Sherpao went on to say that the rest of Pakistani prisoners detained in Afghan jails would also be released soon and the steps were being taken for this purpose. He noted that efforts were also underway for the release of Pakistani prisoners from Guantanamo Bay and very soon Pakistani team would visit there . 
End.

10 killed in tribal clash near Pak-Afghan border  
Thursday July 13, 2006 (2040 PST) Pak Tribune
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?149767

QUETTA: At least ten persons were killed and thirteen others injured in a tribal scuffle near Pak-Afghan border area here Thursday. 

According to Levies, when people of Nasir tribe crossed the border in the locality of Kanoki, the Jalal Zai tribe men who were in trench started firing over them. 

During exchange of firing between the two groups, at least ten person were killed including leader of Jalal Zai tribe Sardar Ahmad Khan. He was laid to rest in his native graveyard. 
End.


Sister of aid worker killed in Afghanistan says no politics in his death
Canadian Press  Monday, July 31, 2006 VANCOUVER (CP) - 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=4078f016-cae2-4191-a965-fcf998610f45&k=9899

The sister of a Vancouver carpenter who was shot dead in Afghanistan says she's overwhelmed with countless messages of support from people around the world. 

But Luba Frastacky also she wishes people would stop using the death of brother Mike for political reasons. 

She says some are linking the death to their stance against Canadian troops in Afghanistan, where her brother was an independent aid worker. 

She says Mike Frastacky risked his life when he returned to Afghanistan to finish building a school for young children. 

Frastacky was cremated in Afghanistan after he was shot under mysterious circumstances earlier this month. 

His ashes will be sent to Toronto on Wednesday. 
End.

Officials to Protect Peace Marchers in Afghanistan 
The Korea Times By Park Chung-a Staff Reporter 1 August 2006
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200608/kt2006080117494011970.htm

South Korea has sent a team from the Foreign Ministry including intelligence officials to Afghanistan to help guarantee the safety of South Korean Christians participating in a peace march, a ministry official said Tuesday. 

The measure came amid increasing fears of attacks on non-Muslims in Afghanistan, where last year 1,600 people died due to a fierce battles between Taliban militants and allied forces of U.S.-led coalition and Afghan soldiers. 

``We dispatched a team of four Foreign Ministry and National Intelligence Service (NIS) officials to Kabul yesterday,’’ the official said on condition of anonymity. ``They will start their operation as soon as they arrive there today.’’

More than 800 South Koreans have entered Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, to hold a peace march this week, despite the government’s consistent call for the cancellation of the event for security reasons.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (1 Aug 2006)

U.S. Hands Southern Afghan Command to NATO
_NY Times_, August 1
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/world/asia/01afghan.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th

Interesting excerpt; I wonder what it means in reality, especially when the eastern region comes under NATO command:

'NATO’s expanded role will allow the United States to move some American troops from southern Afghanistan to the eastern region where the bulk of the 22,000 American soldiers in Afghanistan are deployed in provinces along the border with Pakistan.

Other American forces are engaged around the country in training the fledgling Afghan National Army in counterterrorism operations and in reconstruction. Some 3,000 American soldiers in southern Afghanistan were to come under NATO command as of Monday.

An additional 10,000 or so of the remaining American forces will come under NATO command in the fall as the alliance assumes command for the eastern sector of the country as well.

Counterterrorism operations will remain under United States command, and they will have authority to operate in any part of Afghanistan under an agreement with NATO, said Col. Tom Collins, the chief United States military spokesman.

The planned drawdown of 3,000 American troops from Afghanistan, announced by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in the spring, has not materialized in the face of the surge of violence.'

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (2 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 2 August 2006*

Replacement troops arrive in Kandahar
TERRY PEDWELL Canadian Press 2 August 2006 Globe and Mail 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060802.wkandahar0802/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — The first replacement troops for Canadian soldiers returning home from Afghanistan were put to the test Wednesday, getting guns ready for the field and getting used to the heat.

Two planeloads of soldiers, mainly from Manitoba and Ontario, touched down at Kandahar Air Field before dawn following an exhausting 36-hour journey from Canada.

Within hours of their arrival, the new group was in full gear, gathering ammunition and testing weapons in the early morning heat.

Some red-faced soldiers appeared overwhelmed by the temperatures, which had reached 45 C by breakfast.
More on Link

Brutal mullah gunning for foreign troops in Afghanistan
India E-News 2 August 2006
http://indiaenews.com/2006-08/17037-brutal-mullah-gunning-foreign-troops-afghanistan.htm

Kabul - Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the ruthless fanatic in charge of the Taliban’s new campaign, is fast becoming to Afghanistan what Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was to Iraq.

Just like Zarqawi, his starring role in propaganda DVDs has successfully drawn in scores of suicide bombers and thousands of fighters to the cause. And just like Zarqawi, his fondness for beheadings means his followers fear him almost as much as his enemies. 

The black-turbaned one-legged Mullah, solemnly signs slips of paper and hands these to the young fighters sitting beside him. These turn out to be the recipients’ own death warrant: the slips identify them as ‘Suicide Bomber No…..’. 

Off goes yet another volunteer to die in the Taliban’s increasingly savage campaign against coalition troops in Afghanistan. 

But the Mullah, who sends him on his way remains alive and very dangerous. 

Dadullah has developed almost mythological status among his compatriots, which is partly why he was dispatched by the Taliban leadership to front the current recruitment campaign for jihad in the seminaries of northern Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. 

Recruitment DVDs on sale across Afghanistan and Pakistan show the one-legged guerrilla commander in various poses - blasting a target with a heavy machine gun, dishing out blessings and ordaining a succession of would-be ‘martyrs’. 

The success of his recruitment campaign can be seen in the surge in suicide bombings, school burnings and guerrilla ambushes that have killed more than 500 Afghan civilians and at least 100 coalition soldiers this year. 

Dadullah boasts that he has 200 suicide bombers awaiting his orders as well as 12,000 fighters on the ground. 
More on link

Mourners grieve Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 2, 2006 | 6:12 PM ET CBC News 
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2006/08/02/warren-funeral.html

About 1,000 mourners filled a Montreal chapel on Wednesday for the funeral of a Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Friends, family and colleagues remembered Cpl. Jason Patrick Warren as a loyal and passionate soldier.

"You will always remain in our hearts, never to be forgotten," Warren's father Gerry said during the funeral.

Lt.-Col. Thomas MacKay said he admired Warren's "dedication, his professionalism as a soldier but also his sense of humour. This was a good man, he liked to laugh a lot, he liked to poke fun."
More on link






Danish Camp in Afghanistan Attacked  
By NOOR KHAN , 08.02.2006, 10:55 AM Associated Press
http://www.forbes.com/business/commerce/feeds/ap/2006/08/02/ap2922208.html

Taliban insurgents attacked a Danish camp in southern Afghanistan Wednesday, seriously wounding one soldier in the third assault on Denmark's contingent since it deployed to the volatile region last week. 

A Taliban ambush in the same province Tuesday killed three British soldiers and seriously wounded a fourth. They were the first NATO deaths since the alliance assumed military control of southern Afghanistan from a U.S.-led coalition Monday. 

The Danish soldier injured in the attack on the camp in the remote district of Musa Qala, in Helmand province, was transferred to a hospital in the city of Kandahar, the Danish Army Operational Command said in a statement. No further details were immediately available. 

A raid by Afghan forces backed by coalition aircraft killed 18 Taliban militants in an insurgent hide-out in Helmand late Tuesday, local police chief Ghulam Rasool said. An Afghan policeman was killed during the battle, and four Taliban were wounded, he said. 

The raid took place in the village of Habibullah near the city of Garmser, which Taliban militants seized and held for several days last month before U.S.-led coalition troops and Afghan forces wrested it back. 
More on link

Loss of life in Afghanistan is 'sad but inevitable'Back to Communities 
Publisher:  Keith Hall   02/08/2006 - 15:34:44 PM  
http://www.24dash.com/content/news/viewNews.php?navID=7&newsID=8806


Their comments come a day after three soldiers were killed in an attack by Taliban militants.

Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Sir Jock Stirrup said he had not expected the operation in Afghanistan to be easy and that the loss of life was a sad but inevitable consequence of using military force.

Despite the losses, on what was the bloodiest day for British forces since deployment to the region, he said he would not hesitate to send more troops to the country if commanders on the ground felt it was necessary.

Yesterday, two soldiers from the Household Cavalry Regiment and one from 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery were killed when their patrol vehicle came under attack from insurgents in Helmand province in the south of the country.

They were part of the Nato-led international security assistance force carrying out duties in the north of the volatile province.
More on link





'Taleban killed' in Afghan raid   
BBC 2 August 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5237176.stm

There have been a few suicide attacks in Kabul in recent months 
Nato and Afghan forces have killed 18 Taleban militants in a raid in southern Afghanistan, officials say. 
It took place late on Tuesday in the town of Garmser in Helmand province. A Danish soldier was badly wounded in Helmand on Wednesday. 

On Tuesday, three British soldiers were killed in Helmand. 

Separately, a car has exploded in the capital Kabul, killing its driver and injuring two other people - one of them a passenger - police say. 

'No casualties' 

'We carried out the operation in which 18 Taleban got killed and we recovered a huge amount of ammunitions," provincial police chief, Nabi Mullahkhail, told Reuters. 

He said there were no casualties among the Nato or Afghan forces in the fighting in Garmser town, which was recaptured from the Taleban last month. 

Also in Helmand, Danish troops came under attack in the district of Musa Qala. One soldier was seriously hurt and transferred to hospital in the city of Kandahar. 
More on link 

Netherlands Buys EUR 25M in Bushmaster IMVs for Afghanistan
Posted 02-Aug-2006 06:13  
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2006/08/netherlands-buys-eur-25m-in-bushmaster-imvs-for-afghanistan/index.php

Despite ongoing US procurement of M1151/M1152 Hummers, the retreat from Jeep-like vehicles is accelerating among Western militaries. Insufficiently protected against land mine threats in modern conflict zones, and insufficiently protectable due to inherent design limitations, conventional vehicles like G-Wagens, Land Rovers, and HMMWVs are being replaced in manufacturer lineups and military acquisitions by more protectable truck-based models, or by dedicated mine-resistant patrol vehicles. DID has covered the USA's M1117 Guardian ASVs, with orders numbering over 1,200 and production resuming in Hurricane Katrina's wake. We've also covered Iraq and Britain's acquisition of Force Protection's Cougar variants, Belgium's buys of Dingo and Iveco Panther vehicles as the mainstays of its future fleet, Canada's emergency buy of RG-31 Nyalas, Denmark's order for MOWAG Eagle IV vehicles (no longer HMMWV-based like the Eagle III) and Duro trucks, Germany's additional purchases of KMW Dingo 2 vehicles, and Israel's potential purchase of same; and Norway's emergency procurement of Iveco Panthers. 
More on link....including photos


Operation Oqab Qurbani: British soldiers help to deliver security in Helmand Province
2 Aug 06  UK Defense News
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/OperationOqabQurbaniBritishSoldiersHelpToDeliverSecurityInHelmandProvince.htm

The delivery of sustained security is the key to success and reconstruction in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan. Such security will not be achieved whilst those who oppose the ISAF presence are able to attack coalition and Afghan National Security Forces or intimidate the local population.

Since mid-May, the UK-led Helmand Task Force (TF) has maintained a presence in Nawzad, a presence focused primarily upon the District Centre and its police station. During this time, the Taliban have launched multiple unsuccessful attacks against the garrison and taken heavy casualties. 

Just before dawn on Sunday 30 July 2006, the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment Battle Group, infantry (including Gurkhas and elements of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers), engineers and the Household Cavalry Regiment’s light armour, supported by artillery (7 Regiment Royal Horse Artillery) as well as attack and transport helicopters, swept through the town of Nawzad. 

Fixed Wing air support was available on call throughout should it have been required. Over 500 UK and Afghan National Army personnel were involved, either on the ground or directly in support.

The primary purpose of Operation OQAB QURBANI was to rotate the Task Force personnel stationed at the Nawzad garrison, some of whom are due to return home. The operation was also designed to disrupt those Taliban remaining in the town. The first stages of the operation have been a complete success.


The Taliban remaining in Nawzad offered virtually no resistance before fleeing their positions, thereby allowing soldiers from the Helmand Task Force to take control of the town. 

Although further Taliban attacks in Nawzad must be expected, Operation OQAB QURBANI is a step towards the creation of conditions that will, in time, enable the Afghan National Army and Police to assume increased responsibility for the town’s security. 

Helmand Task Force spokesman, Lt Col Kevin Stratford Wright, said: 

"Offensive operations, such as that today in Nawzad, must continue across Helmand Province for as long as the Taliban retain the capability and will to launch attacks. 

"It is very important the Taliban realise that they will never be safe until they give up the fight and shift their support to the legitimate Government of Afghanistan."

British troops are deployed in support of a UN-authorised, NATO-led mission, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and as part of the US-led international coalition. 

ISAF is there to do three main things: to support the Government of Afghanistan as it extends its authority across the entire country; to facilitate development and reconstruction; and to improve security. We are now undertaking a staged progression and development of the ISAF mission across the whole of Afghanistan.

The expansion of ISAF into the south and east is critical to the ongoing stabilisation of Afghanistan, extending the authority of the Government of Afghanistan across the whole country and facilitating reconstruction.

Briton takes charge in Afghanistan  
By Kim Sengupta Published: 02 August 2006 The Independant
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1209735.ece

The deaths of three British soldiers in Helmand yesterday was a violent start to Lt-Gen David Richards' taking over as Nato head in Afghanistan. The casualties were a grim illustration that Lt-Gen Richards' stewardship of the Nato forces - the first time US troops have been under British field command since the Second World War - will be anything but ceremonial. 

Lt-Gen Richards is perhaps better equipped than most others to cope with this extremely difficult command. He has a reputation in the Army as someone who is "prepared to think outside the box" and not afraid to stand up to politicians.

He has already put his imprint on operations, deciding that combat troops have been spread too thinly across Helmand, making outlying posts vulnerable to Taliban attacks. They will be concentrated at bases in Helmand, the vast Camp Bastion and Lashkar Gar.
More on link


19 Killed in Afghanistan Fighting
By NOOR KHAN  The Associated Press  Wednesday, August 2, 2006; 6:10 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/02/AR2006080200354.html

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Eighteen Taliban militants and one policeman were killed as Afghan forces and coalition aircraft raided an insurgent hide-out in the country's south, police said Wednesday.

The fighting late Tuesday occurred near Garmser, a town in Helmand province that Taliban forces briefly took over last month.
More on link

35 Koreans Denied Entry Into Afghanistan for Festival
By Park Song-wu  Staff Reporter Korea Times 2 August 2006
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200608/kt2006080217470110510.htm

Thirty-five South Koreans who planned to attend a religious event in Afghanistan this week were denied entry into the nation on Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Seoul said on Wednesday. 

A ministry official told reporters that the Afghan government may deport other Koreans who have already entered the war-torn country as Kabul is consistently calling for the cancellation of the event for security reasons.

At the Kabul airport, the Afghan authorities returned 24 of them to New Delhi where they departed from and allowed the event organizers to give protection to the other 11 Koreans until they can get return tickets, the ministry said. 

During the entry denial at the airport, local policemen allegedly wielded clubs at the South Koreans. But the ministry rebuffed this, saying two South Korean diplomats were present at the scene and saw only minor scuffles breaking out. 

Kabul recently decided to temporarily block South Koreans from entering Afghanistan with tourist visas due to rising concern that the Christian event could invite violence from militant Muslims, the ministry said. 

The ``2006 Afghanistan Peace Festival,’’ organized by the Institute of Asian Culture and Development (IACD), is set to take place at five major Afghan cities for three days starting from Aug. 5. 
More on link

'Model' planes to patrol Afghanistan
Canada deploys bungee-launched drones to scout out danger day or night 
By CP  Calgary Sun 2 August 2006
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/World/2006/08/02/1714503-sun.html

HALIFAX -- It may look like most radio-controlled model airplanes, but the tiny Skylark wasn't built to buzz backyards. 

Instead, the mini-unmanned aerial vehicle -- or UAV -- will soon be used by Canadian troops to patrol the forbidding moonscape of southern Afghanistan. 

Weighing less than 5 kg and able to fold into a backpack, the remote-controlled reconnaissance drone will be deployed next month with E Battery of 2 Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, based in Kandahar. 

"The soldiers -- or operators -- can carry the system with them and deploy very quickly," Capt. Nathaniel Ng said from Ottawa. 

"The system is easily set up by two operators on the ground and controlled using a laptop." 

Equipped with a whisper-quiet electric engine, the Skylark will be used to silently scout from the air, peering over distant ridges and snooping behind mud-walled compounds in search of Taliban insurgents. 

"The video provided by the daylight camera and, at night, the infrared camera is patched directly, in real time to the operator and the company commander," said Ng. 
More on link

Afghanistan: explosion destroys Finance Ministry car
2 August 2006 Pravda
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/02-08-2006/83701-explosion-0

Initial police reports indicated that the blast in Kabul's southern suburbs was caused by a suicide car bomber. 

But Finance Ministry spokesman Aziz Shams rejected the suicide bombing theory, saying the vehicle was part of a two-car ministry convoy and driven by a "trusted" employee. Another Finance Ministry employee was riding in the car, Shams added. 
More on link

Afghanistan advised on fighting drug trade
Aug. 2, 2006, 12:05AM Chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4088620.html

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON Associated Press Writer 
© 2006 The Associated Press 

KABUL, Afghanistan — Anti-drug police from Colombia have been touring Afghanistan to advise it on how to combat its booming illegal drug trade, officials said Tuesday.

A five-member team from Colombia, the world's leading producer of cocaine, has spent 10 days meeting counternarcotics police and officials around Afghanistan, the top heroin-producing nation
More on link

Afghanistan: Taliban, Taliban Everywhere  
NATO-led forces face tough battle as militants regroup 
Bhuwan Thapaliya (Bhuwan)    Published 2006-08-02 07:09 (KST)    
http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=308855&rel_no=1&back_url=


Violence in Afghanistan, never far from the surface, has taken on a sinister new aspect: The number of casualties has risen, and the international forces in Afghanistan are facing mounting security problems.

In the latest casualties, three British soldiers have been killed after a vehicle patrol was ambushed by militants in southern Afghanistan, and a fourth soldier was seriously injured in the incident in the north of Helmand province, according to the British Ministry of Defense. 

The attack took place in the Musaqala district of the province when insurgents opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades, according to NATO sources. With this latest casualty, the number of British troops who have been killed in Afghanistan this year has risen to nine.

Some 4,000 UK troops are deployed in Afghanistan. The majority of these troops are stationed in Helmand as part of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which operates under a U.N. mandate.
More on link

Defence Department confident it can make dumped Danish drones fly Celeste Mackenzie, Canadian Press
Published: Monday, July 24, 2006  OTTAWA (CP)
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=657ddaf2-e7cf-4faf-b397-1e9d95613ffc&k=39803&p=1

The Department of National Defence wants to buy 10 used unarmed aerial drones that Denmark found problematic and mothballed last year. 

Canada has a sorry history when it comes to buying used military equipment in Europe. The federal government bought leaky used British submarines, one of which caught fire while at sea. 

But DND says it has carried out an inspection in Denmark and contracted an Ottawa firm to improve landing accuracy of the drones. 

A spokesperson for the department described the opportunity to buy the Danish equipment as an exceptional one-time opportunity. 

Pending negotiations, the department wouldn't say what it expects to pay for the French-made Sperwer drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Nor would it reveal the cost of getting them up to speed. 

Spokesperson Krista Hannivan said the drones would be used for reconnaissance and training in Afghanistan, and training in Canada. 

"A DND team is satisfied it will meet the needs of the Canadian Forces," Hannivan said. 
More on link

New Taliban Commanders Get Results 
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htlead/articles/20060730.aspx

July 30, 2006: One major reason for the increased Taliban this year was the wholesale replacement of a lot of Taliban field commanders last Fall. With new money coming in last year (from drug gangs and rich fans of Islamic radicalism), there were also calls for some more energetic leadership in the field. At that point, the pre-2001 Taliban leadership was still calling most of the shots, and they had not done very well over the last four years. So it was agreed, that the time had come to let the younger guys, with new ideas and new energy, to take over. 

The new crew certainly shook things up. More than three times as many Taliban were killed in action this year, and even more were captured, compared to last year. But the new Taliban activity has had an impact. Over 200,000 children have been shut out of school. The Taliban does not approve of non-religious schools, or schools that teach girls. Dozens of government officials (including school teachers) have been murdered, and many more threatened. Relief supplies, for drought victims, were blocked (because they were provided by infidels). Same deal with many reconstruction projects. 

But the energetic new leaders have failed in one important area; popularity. Afghans don't like being terrorized, or their kids driven from school, or relief supplies held up. It's going to be a long, cold Winter. 
End

Mike Franstacky - sacrifice in Afghanistan    
http://www.commonground.ca/iss/0608181/cg181_Mike.shtml

Five years ago, Mike Frastacky invited a couple of friends to view his slide show of his recent trip to Afghanistan. We sat around discussing his journey and his dream to rebuild a school for the children of war. He was in love with the land, the history and the people. 
Mike was once again saving up his wages from carpentry to return to Afghanistan the following year. He asked me to publish one of his photographs on the cover of Common Ground (see November 2001, issue 124), so more people would know about the situation where schools were devastated by wars and homeless orphans lived under blue tarps waiting for relief. 
Mike volunteered five years of service to the people of the village where the school was built.
Last month, Mike was murdered in Afghanistan. 
Mike Frastacky reminds me of the son of another carpenter. Two thousand years ago, that man taught love and kindness, imploring people to forgive their enemies and those who had forsaken them. He was crucified in the Holy Land because he represented peace and love for all. 
Mike’s death comes after Canada’s new prime minister staged a news conference from an Afghani military base in support of the US occupation, and on the heels of Israel’s recent invasion of Lebanon. 
It used to be that Canadians travelling abroad felt safer than Americans because we were respected as peacekeepers. Americans would even sew a Canadian flag onto their backpacks, in order to avoid the anger of many people offended by American imperialism. 
Stephen Harper, wittingly or unwittingly, has blurred the distinction between Canadian and US foreign policy, and hence by association, Canadians and Americans. Canada is beginning to be tarred by the same hatred previously directed at Americans. Will all white folks be judged the same, and all foreigners be called Western devils? We as Canadians are now more at risk because of our new government’s lack of diplomacy to many members of our global community. 
We can be friends of the US, but we do not have to do their bidding. Good friends tell the truth, allow their friends independence and correct them when they feel they have made a mistake. We can be friends of the US without having to adopt their enemies as our enemies. We can continue to work for peace and understanding. Canada is not just against war and violence; we are also for understanding, social justice and friendship. 
More on link


Two suspected al-Qaida members captured in S. Afghanistan  
People's Daily Online August 02, 2006 
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/02/eng20060802_288929.html         


Two suspected al-Qaida members were captured Monday night in Afghanistan's southern restive province of Helmand, police said Tuesday. 

Police arrested two Afghans in Lashkargah the provincial capital of Helmand, when they were sending handouts to locals to encourage their fighting against Afghan and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), provincial police chief Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhel told Xinhua. 

Police found out that those two men had connection with al- Qaida during the investigation, he added. 

However, he did not say if they were arrested by Afghan or ISAF or where they have been taken. 

Early in the weekend the U.S.-led coalition troops took into custody four more suspected al-Qaida militants in the southeast Khost province. 

Some 400 suspected Taliban operatives and al-Qaida members are said to have been languishing in the U.S. military-run 23 detention centers in Afghanistan. 

Source: Xinhua 
end

Afghanistan to join south Asian forum in 2007
Wed Aug 2, 2006 7:54 PM IST
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-08-02T194543Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-262144-1.xml


DHAKA (Reuters) - Afghanistan will join a south Asian economic grouping at its next summit meeting in New Delhi in April, India's foreign secretary said on Wednesday.

The decision was formalised at a conference of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) foreign ministers which ended in Dhaka on Wednesday, Shyam Saran said.

The New Delhi summit would be held on April 3-4, he added.

SAARC -- which now includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- was set up in 1985 to accelerate economic growth in one of the poorest regions in the world.

But the grouping has been largely held hostage to political tensions between its largest members India and Pakistan.

Afghanistan's entry was proposed at the previous summit of the grouping in Dhaka last November. Kabul hopes its membership will boost development and trade in the war-battered country.

Afghan officials took part as observers at this week's Dhaka conference.

"Afghanistan is an important part of the south Asian region. Afghanistan plays a key role in the transit of not only south Asia but linking south Asia to central Asia, linking the Far East to the Middle East," Afghan deputy foreign minister Mahmoud Saikal said earlier this week.
End


----------



## MarkOttawa (2 Aug 2006)

Taleban fighters kill three British troops in ambush
_The Times_, August 02, 2006
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2295619,00.html

Mark
Otawa


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## GAP (3 Aug 2006)

*Articles found on 3 August 2006*


Four Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Updated Thu. Aug. 3 2006 5:13 PM ET  CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/Arti
cleNews/story/CTVNews/20060731/afghanistan_bomb_060803/20060803?hub=TopStories

Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl
et/story/RTGAM.20060803.w4afghandead0803/BNStory/Afghanistan/home



Four Canadian soldiers were killed and 10 wounded during a series of bloody attacks in the Afghan province of Kandahar Thursday. 


Government sources confirmed with CTV News that three NATO soldiers killed on the outskirts of Kandahar city were Canadian. Six others were wounded. 


The soldiers sustained rocket-propelled grenade attacks during a major offensive at a burned-out school where suspected Taliban fighters were holed up, CTV's Steve Chao reported from Kandahar. 

The soldiers died just hours after Canadian soldier Cpl. Christopher Jonathan Reid was killed when his LAV III vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb around 30 kilometres west of Kandahar City in the Pashmul area. 

Another soldier was injured in that bombing, which occurred at 4:20 a.m. local time, but received non-life threatening injuries. 

"Our thoughts and prayers of all of Task Force Afghanistan are with the family of Corporal Reid," said Col. Tom Putt, Deputy Commander, Task Force Afghanistan. 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said while the loss of soldier's lives in Afghanistan was tragic, the deaths would not affect Canada's operations there. 

"The government and Canadians stand behind this mission," Harper told a caucus meeting in Cornwall, Ont. 

"This government will honour their sacrifice. We are proud of the work they are doing." 
More on link 


Slain soldier's parents back Canada's role in Afghanistan
SCOTT ROBERTS  Globe and Mail Update  3 August 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060803.wafghanreax0803/BNStory/Front

Christopher Reid believed in Canada's military mission and was proud to be a soldier, his mother said on Thursday, 
just hours after her son was killed in a roadside explosion in Afghanistan.

“We were fortunate enough to speak to Christopher just yesterday afternoon,” said Angela Reid at a Thursday press
 conference in Truro, N.S. “He was in great spirits and continued to show support for what they are doing over in Afghanistan.
 He was doing what he loved and was doing it with the guys he loved and trusted.” 
More on link


CTV News Video Clips
original page as of 3 August 2006 http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060731/afghanistan_bomb_060803/2
0060803?hub=TopStories

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Canada AM: Maj. (ret'd) Howard Michitsch, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry 2:53  

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CTV Newsnet Live: Terrorism expert Alan Bell on Canada's role in the region 5:23  

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CTV Newsnet Live: Col. (ret'd) Sean Henry on Canada's mission 3:32  

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CTV Newsnet Live: Col. (ret'd) Brian MacDonald, Conference of Defnce Associations 4:47  

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CTV Newsnet Live: Michel Juneau Katsuya, former senior CSIS officer 3:10
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CTV newsnet Live: Brig-Gen. David Fraser, Commander, Task Force Afghanistan 2:53  

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kbps.wmv&clip_start=00:04:24.16&clip_end=00:02:53.17&clip_caption=CTV newsnet Live: Brig
-Gen. David Fraser, Commander, Task Force Afghanistan&clip_id=ctvnews.20060803.00157000-0
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CTV Newsnet Live: Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife 9:39  

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CTV Newsnet: Ret. Col. Michel Drapeau, military analyst 5:43  
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CTV Newsnet: Steve Chao on the Kanadhar attack 3:13  

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CTV Newsnet: Crystal Garrett on the parents' response 2:59  

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CTV Newsnet: Parents of slain soldier comment 3:52  

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CTV Atlantic: Crystal Garrett on the parents' response 2:24  

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CTV Newsnet: Brig. Gen. David Fraser comments 4:10  

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## GAP (4 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 4 August 2006*

Hillier reassures troops leaving for Afghanistan
Canadian Press  4 August 2006 Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060804.whilliera0804/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

Trenton, Ont. — The latest Canadian troops heading into an increasingly dangerous mission in Afghanistan are embarking on a worthwhile cause, the country's top soldier said Friday as planes departed for the war-torn region from a military base in eastern Ontario.

Gen. Rick Hillier addressed 140 soldiers at CFB Trenton before they boarded the military plane — one day after four of their comrades died in combat.

“What I said was, this mission is worth while...and you are the right kind of folks to do it,” Gen. Hillier told the media.

“You have the right training, you have the leadership, you have the equipment, you have the preparation and you have the support to go out and do that mission,” the chief of Canada's defence staff said, repeating what he told the departing soldiers in a private meeting.
More on link

Canadians struck again in convoy
TERRY PEDWELL Canadian Press  Globe & Mail 4 August 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060804.wafghcan0804/BNStory

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A Canadian military convoy was rocked Friday by two roadside bombs in southern Afghanistan, the second day running that Canadian soldiers have been targeted by insurgents and a day after Canada suffered its highest-ever number of casualties in the war-torn country.

There were no Canadian injuries or apparent equipment damage. It wasn't immediately clear whether there were civilian casualties.

Friday's dangers came amid revelations from NATO that a Canadian patrol had been the intended target of a deadly marketplace suicide bombing Thursday in nearby Panjwayi that killed 21 Afghans, including children. Five Canadian soldiers were slightly injured in the blast, NATO said.

On Friday, the Canadian convoy was hit by two improvised explosive devices (IEDs), a Canadian military official said.
More on link




The bloodiest day yet
Four soldiers killed, 10 others injured as Taliban target Canadians in a series of attacks 
TIM ALBONE AND TERRY PEDWELL  Globe and Mail Update  4 August 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060804.wafghan04/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — It was the bloodiest day yet for Canadians in Afghanistan.

Four Canadians were killed and 10 injured Thursday. Three of them died in what one soldier described as a well-planned ambush.

Stealthy Taliban forces had formed a horseshoe around the troops holed up in a tiny schoolhouse surrounded by land mines, then launched a volley of rocket-propelled grenades their way.

As one soldier poked his head out of a doorway, he recalled, a grenade swished by him and scorched his forearm. Turning his head, he watched as the grenade struck a wall and the spray of shrapnel killed three of his comrades.
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Mission poses risks for Tories in Quebec
Public is skeptical of Afghan policy  DANIEL LEBLANC   4 August 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060804.TORIESANAL04/TPStory

OTTAWA -- The toll of the Afghan operation has been deadly -- 23 victims so far -- but only one of them has been based in Quebec, Corporal Jason Patrick Warren, who was buried yesterday.

The situation could be very different in a year when the Royal 22nd Regiment from Valcartier, Que., also known as the Vandoos, takes over as the main Canadian force in Afghanistan.

The deployment could have an impact on the timing of the next election, given that the road to a Conservative majority entails the victory of at least a few more seats in Quebec, where the war is unpopular. Will the Conservatives want to go to the polls before then? Will the opposition try to hold off? Can an international issue dominate a federal election?
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THE FALLEN
COLIN FREEZE Shawna Richer and Canadian Press Globe & Mail 4 Aug 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060804.AFGHANFALLEN04/TPStory/

Two summers ago, Corporal Christopher Reid was perched safely atop the world, at a military spy station not far from the North Pole.

On those summer days when the sun never set, he and his fellow soldiers kept the outpost as Canadian as they could. Via a satellite connection, they watched the Calgary Flames make a run for the Stanley Cup.

They celebrated Canada Day with "polar bear" dips in a newly unfrozen lake.

Yet from that isolated outpost, the soldier's thoughts often flew to the heat, dust and danger of far-away Afghanistan, the war-ravaged land where he truly yearned to be
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Bomb attacks rock Canadian convoy in Afghanistan
Updated Fri. Aug. 4 2006 7:44 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060803/afghanistan_bomb_060804/20060804?hub=World


A Canadian military convoy was rocked by two bombing attacks in southern Afghanistan Friday, just a day after four Canadian soldiers were killed. 

The convoy was hit by two improvised explosive devices and one civilian vehicle was engulfed in flames on the main highway west of Kandahar city
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Paras died after 'carefully set ambush' brought armoured convoy to a halt
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent  (Filed: 03/08/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/03/wafg03.xml

Three soldiers killed in Afghanistan this week were involved in a fierce battle after their vehicles were attacked in "a carefully set ambush" involving heavy weapons and explosives, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday.

The men were part of a convoy of 12 armoured vehicles ferrying supplies to one of the outposts of Paras fighting the Taliban in what is proving to be the highly dangerous northern Helmand province.
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Opposition urges review of Afghan mandate
Shift to heavy-duty combat requires talks with NATO allies, Liberal critic says
JEFF SALLOT and CAMPBELL CLARK AND GLORIA GALLOWAY 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060804.AFGHANCAN04/TPStory/

OTTAWA, CORNWALL, ONT. -- Canada's mission in Afghanistan has turned from peacekeeping to combat and must be "refocused," Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh said yesterday.

"This has become almost totally a combat mission. And that was not the intention," Mr. Dosanjh said. "We need to sit down with our NATO allies and refocus the mission."

Four Canadian soldiers were killed yesterday in Afghanistan in two separate incidents. Corporal Christopher Jonathan Reid of Truro, N.S., died overnight after a Canadian light-armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. About 10 hours later, three soldiers -- including Sergeant Vaughn Ingram and Cpl. Bryce Jeffrey Keller -- were killed and six were wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Pashmul, about 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar. The third victim's name has not been released.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor talked about the national sorrow over the deaths of Canadian troops on foreign soil, but both expressed a resolve to continue the fight.
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Preparing for a Black Hawk Down moment  
Jonathan Kay, National Post  Published: Monday, March 20, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=8566c8bc-4fb9-4d1d-98f1-3cad832a5108&p=2

Harper should be laying the necessary groundwork before such a moment arrives. As others have noted on these pages, Canadian NGOs and government agencies are modest to a fault about the good work we're doing in Afghanistan. That must change. Canadians will be more willing to endure casualties if our deployment is seen not as an isolated expeditionary force but as what it is -- the security arm of a broader relief effort.

Second, Harper should reverse course by agreeing to a full Parliamentary debate and free vote on Afghanistan. Even if the biggest push for this is coming from the NDP, which may use the occasion for pacifistic posturing, it's still a good idea.
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Soldiers prepare to replace colleagues overseas
As news of devastating attacks trickles in
Joel Kom, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen  Friday, August 04, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=69dc59f2-5283-405a-a67a-70734a0fe2d0

CFB PETAWAWA, Ont. - One has a medallion of the patron saint of soldiers. One carries a four-leaf clover. One tucks in a picture of his family. Another packs one of her husband's old T-shirts.

They're the charms, comforts and reminders of home that Canadian soldiers from this military base will carry with them as they walk along Afghanistan's rough terrain for the next six months, navigating what has become Canada's deadliest mission in recent memory.

Dressed in everything from shorts and T-shirts to baseball caps, sport shirts and jeans, 121 soldiers loaded their duffel bags, metal cases and backpacks Thursday in preparation for a three- to four-day journey, beginning today, that will take them to Kandahar and into the heart of the Canada-led fighting against the Taliban. What they didn't know at the time was that the day was going to be the bloodiest yet for their comrades already in the thick of the battle.
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Britain loses hijack Afghans case
Friday, August 4, 2006 Posted: 1138 GMT (1938 HKT) CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/04/uk.afghans.reut/index.html

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- The British government lost a legal battle on Friday over the status of nine Afghans who hijacked a plane, flew it to London and threatened to blow it up if they were denied political asylum.

The Court of Appeal ruled that the government was wrong when it granted the hijackers only "temporary admission" to Britain once the hijack crisis was resolved.

It should have given them "discretionary leave," an enhanced status which entitles them to work in Britain and receive state benefits, and also makes their deportation more difficult.

The government said it was dismayed by Friday's ruling and would toughen its laws in response.

"I am disappointed," Home Secretary (Interior Minister) John Reid said in a statement.

"I continue to believe that those whose actions have undermined any legitimate claim to asylum should not be granted leave to remain in the United Kingdom."

"I intend to legislate at the earliest opportunity to take new powers to deny people in this position leave to remain."
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Seriously, this means war
CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD   Globe and Mail 4 Aug 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/LAC.20060804.AFGHANBLATCH04/TPStory/National/columnists

The bleeding was barely stopped when the bleating began.

On the day of Canada's most appalling losses yet in Afghanistan -- four soldiers killed in three separate but linked attacks and 10 injured -- it took but an hour for the open-line radio talk shows in Toronto to fill up with the cries of those who would pull the plug on the mission there, yank the troops home immediately, have the nation revert to its mythical, if cherished, peacekeeping role and go back to that sterling foreign policy of keeping fingers crossed.

I thought of what Lieutenant-Colonel John Conrad, the boss of the combat logistics arm of the Canadian battle group, said not so long ago in Kandahar.

We were talking about the Canadian mission when Col. Conrad said, "Each man and woman has asked, 'Why am I here? Why did I volunteer?' " but most, he guessed, had come to the same conclusion he had. "For all that we're here to help Afghans," he said, "we're also here to protect our country."

It was only later, when I was going through the notes of that conversation, that I realized he was the first person I know to put it so squarely.

If it is a thought that might offer some comfort to the families of the dead -- that their sons did not die only in service of a Biblical-era faraway foreign land where violence is as reflexive as breathing, but also in service to our own -- it might also stand as a reminder that notwithstanding the absence of a formal declaration, Canada is at war.

So are the other seven nations of the now-NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan, and so are the Americans and British in Iraq, and so is Israel in Lebanon.

So are the Western democracies which do not have troops in any of these hot spots, but which also prize freedom, opportunity, education, tolerance and diversity.

And so in his way was Tarek Fatah, the moderate Canadian Muslim who this week resigned from the Muslim Canadian Congress, citing threats and a climate of intimidation that led him to fear for his safety and the safety of his wife and children.

The common denominator is thuggery -- whether it is the Taliban yesterday gleefully claiming credit for the spate of attacks that also left 21 Afghan civilians dead and 13 wounded, or Hezbollah launching rockets from private homes, or Mr. Fatah being labelled an apostate by those who know full well the peril that engenders -- and a nihilism so naked it is stunning.

The rocket-propelled grenade attack that yesterday left three Canadians dead, for instance, was launched from a school. In most civilized parts of the planet, schools are places of learning, places for children, places of peace; to the Taliban, and to all those who would keep their fellow Muslims in perpetual poverty and ignorance so that they might be made into martyrs, schools are buildings to be burned down, trashed, defiled and turned into launch pads by those who, if they understand nothing else about the West, understand that Western soldiers, with their regard for education and soft spot for children, must struggle on some level to seriously regard the school as a likely spot to set up an ambush.

Some of the fighters in Afghanistan are hardline Taliban ideologues, and some are drugs bosses and tribal warlords who align themselves out of convenience.

But some are from other countries, fighting for a pan-Islamic cause. The first time I was in Kandahar, last spring, two would-be suicide bombers blew themselves up prematurely in a graveyard: They were from Pakistan, as documents and cellphones retrieved from their bodies proved. When I was in Kandahar last month, in what has become known as the Battle of Pashmul and was also the site of yesterday's attacks, one of the arrested fighters was a Chechen man.

What business does a Chechen have trying to kill Canadians in Afghanistan? Oh yes, I forgot: The glory of Islam.

Mr. Fatah's sin was to be an outspoken liberal in a religion that has increasingly little stomach for it, even in Canada.

His resignation came after he was singled out in a recent e-mail campaign aimed at painting him as an illegitimate voice for Muslims, but he says the threats against him -- including an instance where he was surrounded by a mob of shrieking young Muslim men in Toronto -- go back years. It appears he was particularly unsettled by a June 30 article, written by Mohamed Elmasry, the director of the Canadian Islamic Congress. In the piece, headlined "Smearing Islam and Bashing Muslims, Who and Why," Mr. Fatah was identified, as was my fellow Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente, as one of four people who are anti-Islam.

Mr. Elmasry was describing a panel discussion, held in the wake of the arrest of 17 Muslim men in Toronto alleged to be terrorists, at which Mr. Fatah participated; Mr. Elmasry directly accused him of smearing Islam and bashing Muslims, which Mr. Fatah regards "as close as one can get to issuing a death threat, as it places me as an apostate and blasphemer."

Mr. Elmasry had a busy few weeks there: More than a month after I wrote a column about the arrests of the Toronto 17, and after my byline conveniently had appeared from Afghanistan, he devoted an entire article to me in which he described me as having made a name "by writing about Islam and Muslims in a manner that consistently lacks accuracy, fairness and balance." While I was in Kandahar, a reader alerted me that the piece had been picked up by a U.S. website and an Egyptian newspaper: Golly, I wonder what Mr. Elmasry was hoping for with that?

My point is, the war is on. Canada did not declare it, but it has come to our shores as surely as it came to Manhattan's five years ago. Our soldiers are dying for it, in Afghanistan, but they are also fighting for Canadians.

The least we can do -- and we do, in this country, prefer to do the least -- is stiffen our collective resolve, face up to the truth, and recognize that the soldiers' terrible sacrifice is in our name.

Christie Blatchford has reported from Afghanistan on two extended trips, in July and in March and April of this year.

TODAY'S IDIOCY
http://www.members.shaw.ca/nspector4/IDIOCY.htm

Ujjal Dosanjh seems to have forgotten about the mission to kill murderous killers and scumbags:

   “Many Afghans today don’t think of us as liberators. Something has gone wrong and that’s why we need to reassess the focus of that mission. If we were winning the hearts and minds of more of the Afghani people, certainly there would be less casualties. There’s no question in my mind,” he said….

“The focus of the mission is seen to be, and is, combat, and I believe that we need to re-evaluate that and that’s in fact the best way of supporting our soldiers that we have sent into harm’s way,” Mr. Dosanjh said. (CanWest)

Lloyd Axworthy, too, must have missed Gen. Hillier’s well-publicized remarks

Is mission working, critics ask (Star)

"We were originally told that we would apply the concept of the 3-D approach in Afghanistan — the application of defence, diplomacy and development," he said. "Now it has become one big `D.' 

"The diplomatic and the development? These things have been pushed to the margins," he said. 

"That's become the real issue." 

Axworthy said Canadians have yet to get a satisfactory explanation from the federal government as to how and why that shift in Canada's Afghan mission occurred.
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Afghan mission under fire
Aug. 4, 2006. 05:14 AM BILL SCHILLER STAFF REPORTER Totonto Star
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1154641811978&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467


Ottawa—The deaths of four Canadian soldiers and the wounding of 10 others in three separate incidents near Kandahar yesterday have sparked calls from critics for a complete re-examination of Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

"The news is sad, frustrating and troubling," said Peggy Mason, who served as Canadian ambassador for disarmament under the Brian Mulroney government. "What are we doing there?"

The question was blunt and penetrating. Recent public opinion polls show that more and more Canadians are asking themselves the same question.
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NATO escapes two bombs in Afghanistan, 25 Taleban killed
(AFP) 4 August 2006 Khaleej Times 
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/August/subcontinent_August159.xml&section=subcontinent


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Two bombs exploded Friday near NATO patrols in an area of southern Afghanistan that saw a series of bloody attacks a day earlier, while security forces said they had killed 25 rebels.


The violence further highlighted the dangers facing a NATO force that took command of the country’s volatile south on Monday and which has lost seven soldiers in rebel attacks since then.

However Afghanistan’s US-backed President Hamid Karzai assured his countrymen that a plan was in place to secure war-weary Afghanistan.

The early morning bombs exploded in restive Kandahar province as NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrols passed, but caused no damage or casualties to the force, a spokesman said.

The first destroyed a civilian vehicle and some reports said it may have been a vehicle-borne suicide bomb of the sort that killed 21 people in a crowded bazaar in the same area on Thursday, Major Quentin Innes said.

Separately, the US-led coalition that handed over control of the south to NATO this week said its forces and Afghan troops had killed 25 Taleban “extremists” on Thursday in Helmand province, neighbouring Kandahar.
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Suicide bomber kills 21 in Afghan market
Aug. 3, 2006. 12:24 PM NOOR KHAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Toronto Star

PANJWAYI, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber in a car blew himself up in a crowded town market in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing 21 civilians near a NATO convoy, officials said. 
Thirteen people were injured in the blast, that left a scene of devastation in the heart of the town of Panjwayi in Kandahar province, said provincial government spokesman Dawood Ahmadi. 

Some of the victims were children, said Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai. 

A spokesman for NATO-led Canadian forces in Kandahar, Maj. Scott Lundy, said NATO troops had a patrol moving through area where the blast happened, but no troops were hurt. 

“They were close enough to hear the blast,” he said, adding it was impossible to determine if the convoy was the target. 

Nasim Jan, a local police official, said it was a suicide attack and blamed the Taliban. 

The attack, one of the deadliest bombings in Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban in late 2001 by U.S.-led forces, came just days after NATO took charge of security in the volatile south from the U.S.-led coalition. 
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Schools in Afghanistan under growing attack: UNICEF
Reuters  Friday, August 4, 2006; 9:36 AM  Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/04/AR2006080400414.html

GENEVA (Reuters) - Schools are increasingly being attacked across Afghanistan and an estimated 100,000 children in the south are shut out of the classroom due to closures, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

There were nearly 100 attacks on Afghan schools in the first half of the year, a sixfold rise from the same period in 2005, according to the agency which blamed "unknown insurgents."
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Canberra to strengthen Afghanistan contingent
Cynthia Banham and agencies  August 5, 2006
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/canberra-to-strengthen-afghanistan-contingent/2006/08/04/1154198329253.html#

INSURGENTS in southern Afghanistan, where Australian troops are soon to be based, have killed four NATO soldiers, three of them Canadians, just two days after two British soldiers died in the same area.

The attacks came before the Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson, said yesterday that the final composition of Australia's provincial reconstruction team to Afghanistan would be announced next week.

It is likely the number of protection forces accompanying military engineers and tradesman will be increased because of fears about deteriorating security.

The attack in southern Afghanistan on Thursday followed the US handover of command to NATO forces on Monday. Canada has lost 23 soldiers in the region since February, while in the past two months Britain has lost nine in the Helmand province, which neighbours the Oruzgan province where Australian troops will be based.

Also on Thursday, a suicide bomber killed himself and 21 civilians. Eight people were also killed on Monday by a car bomb. All of the violence of the past week has occurred within a 30-minute drive of Kandahar, the main southern city.
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Afghanistan: U.N. girls' football
http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20060803-041500-4668r

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A senior U.N. official presented a trophy to the winners of the first-ever Kabul Girls' Football Competition, a milestone event for young women in Afghanistan. 

"Today's competition marks a milestone for young girls in Afghanistan, who just five years ago were not even allowed to attend school, let alone play sports," United Nations Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan Ameerah Haq said Thursday, following the match 

"Sports provide children of all ages, boys and girls, with opportunities to express themselves, to contribute their opinions, and to become agents for change," she said, adding her hope that "participation in events such as this one will inspire young girls to pursue their dreams, in whatever fields interest them." 
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Gen. Pace: 11,000 Troops to be Sent to Afghanistan
August 04, 2006 07:13 AM EST 
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/16702.html

by Jim Kouri - WASHINGTON, DC -- During a press conference on Thursday, General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that the Pentagon will deploy at least 11,000 more US troops to Afghanistan later this year. 

However, the announcement did not mention if the troops were additional forces or will replace soldiers for recall. There are currently about 22,000 US troops stationed all-over Afghanistan. 

According to the AP, the combat brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, headquarters staff and various unidentified support unit will be shipped from Fort Bragg, North Carolina to Kabul in the fourth quarter of the year.

In a press conference held inside the Pentagon and aired on Fox News Channel and CNN, Gen. Pace said he is optimistic about the peace and stability in the region. Pace has just visited Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"The U.S. contribution has stayed stable and will remain stable," he said.
End


Australia considering to send more troops to Afghanistan  
August 04, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/04/eng20060804_289977.html

The Australian government is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan and Australian Prime Minister John Howard will make an announcement about this next week, Australian Defense Minister told reporters Friday. 

Currently, Australia has 300 troops in special forces task group operating separately in Afghanistan's Oruzgan Province. There is also another 100 personnel operating two Chinook helicopters. 

"Australia is preparing to send in further reinforcements to cope with the worsening security situation in the region," Defense Minister Brendan Nelson indicated. 

"At the moment, apart from Chinook helicopters, we are considering the possibility of increasing our security numbers," he said, adding "we're getting people ready for further deployment to Afghanistan and we believe there is an argument for increasing our numbers in terms of close protection." 

Source: Xinhua
End

Pakistan hands over 5 buses to Afghanistan
By Our Reporter  ISLAMABAD, Aug 3:
http://www.dawn.com/2006/08/04/top18.htm

Pakistan handed over five buses to Afghanistan on Thursday which would be used for educational institutions of the country.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar presented keys of the vehicles to the Afghan Ambassador Dr Nanguyalai Tarzai at a ceremony held here on Thursday.

On the occasion, Mr Bakhtyar said that Pakistan was committed to help establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan and would extend all possible assistance in that regard.

He said that a strong and stable Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan because both the countries were partners in peace, progress and prosperity.

The buses are in addition to the five that were gifted to Afghanistan in April this year. Pakistan has so far handed over 200 trucks, 100 buses and 45 ambulances and would also provide 14 fully equipped medical units to the neighbour country.

Pakistan is also engaged in the development of key infrastructure, health and education sector projects in Afghanistan besides imparting training to a large number of Afghan officials.
End

U.S. continues reconstruction effort in southern, eastern Afghanistan 
Friday August 04, 2006 (0224 PST) Pak Tribune
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?151469

BAGRAM: Combined Joint Task Force 76 announced the receipt of an additional $17.1 million from Congress to continue needed reconstruction across southern and eastern Afghanistan in direct support of both NATO-ISAF and Coalition mission objectives. 
The money will go toward the Commanders Emergency Reconstruction Program, or CERP, a fund to assist Afghans in the short term to rebuild, maintain and construct new facilities, roads and other infrastructure. 

Coalition commanders consult with provincial and district governments, as well as tribal leaders and elders, to determine which projects best meet the immediate needs of the Afghan people. 

Some of the funds already projected will help build three bridges along the Narray to Kamdesh Road in Kunar and Nuristan provinces, and will help construct roads from Qalat to Mizan and from Deh Afghan to Beylough in Zabul Province. 

More on link  

Organisation launched to serve destitute women  
Friday August 04, 2006 (0224 PST) Pak Tribune
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?151471

KABUL: A women organisation in the name of Association of Business Women was launched with the aim to provide jobs for destitute women. 
Addressing the opening ceremony, head of the organisation Sohaila Sharifi said they would provide jobs related to handicrafts and carpet-weaving to some 300 destitute women. The association will pay a specific amount to women for their work. 

Besides Kabul, the association will create job opportunities for women in Maidan Wardak, Parwan and Logar provinces. 

Chief Executive of the Afghanistan International Chambers of Commerce (AICC) said there were currently ten such associations serving women in the country. Those organisations, he said, had so far employed more than 1,000 women. He also welcomed establishment of the new organisation. 
More on link


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## Thompson_JM (5 Aug 2006)

Reproduced Under the Fair Dealings etc... etc.. etc...

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_2478.aspx

Canadian Convoy Struck Following Deadly Day For Forces
Friday August 4, 2006
Two roadside bombs struck a Canadian military convoy Friday, a day after four of this country's military personnel died in the fighting. 
There were no apparent injuries to Canadians, nor was there significant damage, after a pair of improvised explosive devices or IEDs detonated nearby. One went off in between the two vehicles and the other destroyed a civilian car nearby. The condition of the car's occupant is unknown.

"IED attacks are indiscriminate and almost always do more harm to Afghan citizens than to ISAF personnel," said Maj. Scott Lundy, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF.

"Today's failed attacks highlight the Taliban's disregard for the lives of ordinary Afghans."

The roadside bomb attack occurred one day after Canada's most devastating day yet in Afghanistan. Four soldiers were killed and 10 others were injured in three separate Taliban strikes Thursday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed his condolences to Canada while thanking the coalition forces for their help in the region.

"We are at the same time very sorry for the loss of Canadian soldiers and we thank the international community for their continued attention to Afghanistan, for their support for the rebuilding of Afghanistan, for their support for the reconstruction of Afghanistan and for their willingness to put their lives in danger for the sake of peace and stability in Afghanistan," he said.

Pte. Kevin Dallaire, Sgt. Vaughn Ingram and Cpl. Bryce James Keller died when a rocket-propelled grenade hit a burned-out school building west of Kandahar. Earlier in the day, Cpl. Christopher Reid of Truro, Nova Scotia was killed in a roadside bomb attack in the same area.

Canada has about 2,200 soldiers currently stationed in Afghanistan, but most of them will be relieved of duty this month by a new group of soldiers coming in from CFB Petawawa.

  _________________________________________________

Thankfully it Appears No Troops were hurt in this attack.....

Is it just me or are the Insurgents Stepping up the Tempo in the past couple weeks? 

Keep Safe over there Guys... Just a Little longer and you can come home.... and to those going over, Take Care and be safe as well...


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## GAP (5 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 5 August, 2006*

Soldier killed in Afghanistan as others come home
Updated Sat. Aug. 5 2006 12:44 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060718/afghanistan_troops_060805/20060805?hub=TopStories

CTV New Clip
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=TopStories&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/05/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_08_05_1154793431.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/05/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_08_05_1154792532.wmv&clip_start=00:06:37.13&clip_end=00:02:56.14&clip_caption=CTV Newsnet Live: Steve Chao from Kandahar base&clip_id=ctvnews.20060805.00157000-00157444-clip4&subhub=video&no_ads=&sortdate=20060718&slug=afghanistan_troops_060805&archive=CTVNews

The first group of about 2,000 Canadian soldiers who will be returning home from Afghanistan touched down in Edmonton early Saturday -- the same day another Canadian soldier was killed and three others were injured in the war-torn nation. 

The death and injuries occurred when an armoured jeep accompanying a supply convoy crashed into a civilian vehicle in Kandahar province, said CTV's Steve Chao, reporting from Kandahar. 

"We understand one soldier was killed. He was a reservist. The family at this time has asked to withhold the name," Chao told CTV Newsnet. 

Of the three injured soldiers, Cpl. Jarod Gagnon, a reservist with the Royal Edmonton Regiment, is listed in very serious condition, Chao said. The names of the other soldiers have not yet been released. 

The accident occurred in the same region where four Canadian soldiers were killed earlier in the week. 

Meanwhile, the roughly 100 troops who returned home Saturday were greeted by loved ones, cool 10 C weather, and Tim Horton's coffee in a fitting homecoming. 

The military jet the soldiers travelled home on was accompanied by two CF 18 jets for the last leg of its journey to Edmonton's airport, as a tribute to the returning troops. 

The troops spent an hour filling out paper work and updating medical reports, before boarding three buses which carried them to the Edmonton military base where their families waited. 

Andelaine Nelson, 21, held her two-month old son out as her husband Cpl. Kevin Pavan rushed to meet her and pick up his child. 

Pavan's parents and brothers had flown from Vancouver to surprise him, carrying banners with the Canadian flag and the words "We support our troops." 

Undoubtedly, however, many were thinking about the four Canadian troops who were killed earlier in the week. 

"I'm very excited about him coming home,'' Pavan's mother Jan Pavan told The Canadian Press. "But I have mixed feelings because I'm also sad for all the parents that their kids aren't coming home.'' 

Pte. Kevin Dallaire, Sgt. Vaughn Ingram, Cpl. Bryce James Killer and Cpl. Christopher Reid were killed Thursday during fighting with Taliban forces west of Kandahar. 

Their bodies are scheduled to arrive at Ontario's CFB Trenton Saturday afternoon. 

Pavan's joy was dampened by concern for his comrades still in Afghanistan. 

"I'll be relieved when all the boys come home safe,'' he said. 

His fellow soldier, Edmonton paramedic and reservist with 8 Field Engineer Regiment Darcy Ressler, took a similar stance. 

Though he admitted he was glad to be safe and sound in Canada, and to have some relief from the nosebleeds due to heat that have plagued him in Afghanistan, he was worried about those left behind. 

However, Ressler told CP he believes in the work Canadian troops are doing in Afghanistan. 

"I do feel we've made a lot of progress in helping social programs, helping some of the villagers with the necessities they didn't have before we came, like running water, digging wells, helping them with crops,'' he said. 
More on link

In Pictures: The fallen, pictures and bios

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060422.wsoldiergallery0422/PhotoGallery01?slot=1

CTV Cllips
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060803/afghanistan_bomb_060804/20060804?hub=CanadaAM

CTV News: Steve Chao reports from Kandahar base  1:26 
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Canada AM: Omar Samad, Afghan Ambassador to Canada  5:21 
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CTV Edmonton: Fallen heroes fondly remembered 9:15 
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CTV Newsnet: Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, commander of Task Force Afghanistan, comments 4:10 
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CTV Newsnet: Parents of slain soldier comment 3:52 
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CTV Newsnet: Ret. Col. Michel Drapeau, military analyst 5:43 
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CTV Edmonton: Correspondents on the grieving 8:43 

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EDITORIAL:  They did their duty
Sat, August 5, 2006 Edmonton Sun
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/Commentary/2006/08/04/1720014.html

Thursday was the single worst day yet for Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, with four local men killed and 10 wounded. These latest casualties came even as funeral services were held for two earlier ones. And sadly, they won’t be the last. 

This is the stark reality of what many still naively call “peacekeeping” in the post-9-11 world – and it’s exactly what Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier warned about a year ago, when he said our forces in 

Kandahar would have to kill “murderers and scumbags” who “are trying to blow up men and women in Afghanistan and ... provide a base for al-Qaida.” 

A reminder of those words is in order – not for the troops, but for all other Canadians. 

By all accounts, the soldiers – a new group of whom has departed for Afghanistan – are crystal clear on the dangers of this mission and their commitment to it. 

They understand that this is what the “war on terrorism” really is – not just rhetoric, but combat. Against a shadowy enemy that hides among civilians and uses ambushes and bombs to wreak terror and fear among the population, here and there. 

At the same time, our troops are tasked with winning the trust of 

ordinary Afghans to help them feel safe and secure. All in the name of bringing stability to the country so democracy can grow. 

It is an enormously challenging, terrifying job. And they are doing it brilliantly. As Brig.-Gen. David Fraser said, “The cost (of Thursday’s operation) was significant. The cost against the Taliban was even more significant.” 

Canada has now lost 23 soldiers in Afghanistan since 2002 – 15 in the past six months alone. Every one of them understood the sacrifice required of them and why it was necessary. 

To honour them, all Canadians need to understand that too. 
More on link

Bodies of four slain soldiers returned home after emotional Afghan sendoff  
Ramp ceremony in Kandahar for four Canadian soldiers killed Thursday 
Terry Pedwell, Canadian Press   Saturday, August 05, 2006  Edmonton Journal
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=faa51418-7858-40fb-9213-6f6babdfdbc9&k=90399


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The bodies of four Canadian soldiers killed this week in Afghanistan are one their way home. 

In an overwhelming show of support during a great time of loss, more than 3,000 troops from Canada and other NATO countries based in Kandahar stood shoulder to shoulder, row upon row in the early Saturday morning heat to bid the soldiers farewell. 

Pte. Kevin Dallaire, Sgt. Vaughn Ingram, Cpl. Bryce James Keller and Cpl. Christopher Reid were killed Thursday during fighting with Taliban forces west of Kandahar. 

As many of the 10 soldiers injured in the attacks looked on from wheelchairs, some breaking down in tears, as the four caskets draped in Canadian flags were carried onto a C-130 Hercules aircraft from LAV-3 armoured vehicles, a bagpiper wailing a processional strain close behind. 

"It's a difficult day for all of us here in Afghanistan," Canadian ambassador David Sproule lamented after the ceremony. 
More on link

Families grieve loss of slain Canadian soldiers
Updated Fri. Aug. 4 2006 11:37 PM ET   CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060803/afghanistan_bomb_060804/20060804?hub=CanadaAM

Family and friends are grieving the loss of four Edmonton-based soldiers killed in Afghanistan, as more troops left for the war-torn country. 

"It's not one of those things I thought would ever happen to my son, even though I knew and I realized that he was in a war environment," the father of slain soldier Pte. Kevin Dallaire, Gaetan, told CTV News on Friday. 

He was too distraught to speak on camera but wanted Canadians to know about the tragedy, and his concern about the Afghan mission. 

"It's such a high cost to do these things," he said. 

A series of attacks killed Dallaire and three other soldiers Thursday, in the worst single day of casualties Canada has suffered in Afghanistan. Ten others were wounded, but are said to be in stable condition. 

The other soldiers killed include Cpl. Christopher Jonathan Reid, Cpl. Bryce Jeffrey Keller and Sgt. Vaughn Ingram. 

All were from the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, where families of soldiers leaving for Afghanistan tied yellow ribbons around the garrison Friday -- a hopeful gesture their loved ones will safely return. 
More on link

Are you ready to wave our flag?
Sat, August 5, 2006  Toronto Sun  By JOE WARMINGTON
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Warmington_Joe/2006/08/05/1720568.html

A Canadian flag costs $8. 

How many will go this weekend and buy one in support of our men and women in Afghanistan? How many will then stick one on their front lawn in memory of all our troops who have already died fighting for freedom over there? 

"We sell at least one a day," Akeem Segree, 21, said last night at the Canadian Tire at Yonge and Church Sts., which has been selling flags since 1922. 

It would be nice if thousands were sold across Canada and displayed so the troops over in Afghanistan would see we are behind them 100%. But are we? 

It's not clear. This became evident to me while guest co-hosting with Craig Bromell on his radio show on AM640 yesterday. A poll question asked whether Canada should pull out of there? The results showed 84% said yes. 

If this is how Canadians really feel, this may be one of those times of truth in Canadian history that expose what we are really made of. The question is simple, really. Do we have the resolve? The Taliban doesn't think we do and is counting on weakness. This is the time for strength. 

Four more Canadian soldiers are dead and almost two dozen have already been killed and there's bound to be more. The numbers are sickening but so is the suggestion it is time to cut and run. 

Political agenda 

But you can see some planting that seed --- 
More on link



Soldier 'wanted to seeworld'
Cold Lake man fourth Afghanistan casualty  
Trish Audette, The Edmonton Journal  Saturday, August 05, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=8214a108-73eb-40f0-84d2-9db990ad7fa1&k=66904

EDMONTON - Gaetan Dallaire had the best talks of his life with his son when the young soldier was halfway around the world.

"Kevin was a very, very quiet individual. With his brother, he'd be really riled up. With me, he'd be very quiet," Dallaire said Friday, describing his 22-year-old eldest son as an introverted man with a quiet nature.

On Thursday, Pte. Kevin Dallaire was one of four Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Dallaire, Sgt. Vaughn Ingram and Cpl. Bryce James Keller were all killed during a rocket-propelled grenade attack near the village of Pashmul. Cpl. Christopher Reid was killed by a roadside bomb outside Kandahar earlier in the day.
More on link
'We will stand behind their mission,' Harper says
GLORIA GALLOWAY  Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060803.wharperreax0803/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

Cornwall, Ont. — Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor talked Thursday about the national sorrow that follows the deaths of Canadian troops on foreign soil but both expressed a resolve to continue the fight.

"Today, our forces have suffered serious casualties in Afghanistan. For those who have lost their family or their colleagues, these are always terrible moments. As fellow Canadians, I know that we all share their grief," Mr. Harper said part-way through a luncheon speech he delivered at a hotel in Cornwall, Ont. where his caucus is holding a three-day retreat.

"But what the men and women in harm's way want and need to know in moments like this is that their government and Canadians stand behind their missions. And make no mistake my friends, through good times and bad, this government will honour their sacrifice, we will stand behind their mission and we are proud of the work that they are doing."
More on link

Once more, into the breach for Canadians
Latest rotation prepares to ship out 
BILL CURRY  - Friday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060804.wxtroops04/BNStory/National/home

CFB PETAWAWA, ONT. — Wives, husbands, parents and children at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa will say farewell to about 120 soldiers headed for Afghanistan's front lines today, knowing more than ever that some may not come home alive.

In light of the increasing casualties, and at the request of the families, the base commander decided not to allow news media to capture what will certainly be tearful goodbyes as the soldiers board a bus this morning for CFB Trenton, where they will fly out this afternoon to Afghanistan.

Instead, journalists were invited to meet with soldiers yesterday as they packed their bags and received last-minute necessities such as passports and $200 in U.S. currency. The troops, mostly wearing shorts, T-shirts and sandals, were generally relaxed and upbeat, despite the sombre news of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Several young men and women said it is important not to dwell on casualties, though they also said they spoke with their families about issues such as funeral arrangements should they die overseas.
More on link

Afghan mission in doubt
Sat, August 5, 2006  By BILL KAUFMANN, SUN MEDIA
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2006/08/05/1720407-sun.html

Dead soldier's dad wonders what we're doing there
CALGARY -- The father of a Calgary soldier killed in Afghanistan says he has serious doubts about Canada's mission there. 

Gaetan Dallaire, father of Pte. Kevin Dallaire, said Canada's goals in the country seem increasingly unattainable at a growing cost in blood. 

"How many lives are we going to lose for our aim, whatever aim it is? It's only a matter of time before we lose more, unfortunately," said Dallaire, 52, who served on United Nations Mideast peacekeeping missions in the late 1970s. 

Pte. Daillaire was killed Thursday by Taliban rocket-propelled grenade fire. 

"It doesn't look like those aims are happening in any way, shape or form," his father said. 
More on link



Bomber had aimed at troops
TIM ALBONE AND TAHIR LUDDIN  Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060804.wafghan05/BNStory/International/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN and PANJWAI, AFGHANISTAN — The bloodiest day for Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan could have been much worse if a suicide bomber hadn't panicked and detonated his explosive-laden car before he hit a Canadian convoy, witnesses say.

A policeman who witnessed Thursday's deadly attack on a busy market street in the Panjwai region said a Toyota Corolla came speeding toward a convoy of Canadian soldiers, some of whom were in their armoured vehicle while others were outside mingling with people in the shops.
More on link

THE FALLEN
COLIN FREEZE  - Shawna Richer and Canadian Press Glove & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060804.AFGHANFALLEN04/TPStory/

Two summers ago, Corporal Christopher Reid was perched safely atop the world, at a military spy station not far from the North Pole.

On those summer days when the sun never set, he and his fellow soldiers kept the outpost as Canadian as they could. Via a satellite connection, they watched the Calgary Flames make a run for the Stanley Cup.

They celebrated Canada Day with "polar bear" dips in a newly unfrozen lake.

Yet from that isolated outpost, the soldier's thoughts often flew to the heat, dust and danger of far-away Afghanistan, the war-ravaged land where he truly yearned to be.
More on link






Springbok officer died in Taleban ambush in Afghanistan
By Michael Evans  The Times Online
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2299855,00.html 
  
ONE OF the 700 South Africans serving in the British military was Second Lieutenant Ralph Johnson, killed in Afghanistan this week when the Spartan armoured vehicle in which he was travelling was ambushed by Taleban fighters in the north of Helmand province. 
As a newly commissioned officer, he was one of a new generation of South Africans who decided to join the British Army, knowing that he had the prospect of serving in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. 

The 24-year-old officer, who was single and lived in Windsor, Berkshire, joined The Life Guards, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment, in August 2005. When he was killed the Ministry of Defence had to trace his next of kin in his native South Africa. His parents were so upset when they were told of his death that they authorised his regiment to give out only the barest details of his Army career. 
More on link

US-led forces strike Taliban in southern Afghanistan
By Noor Khan, Associated Press  |  August 5, 2006 The Boston Glove
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/05/us_led_forces_strike_taliban_in_southern_afghanistan/

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- US-led soldiers and Afghan forces killed 25 Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's volatile south and NATO-led Canadian troops narrowly escaped a suicide bombing yesterday near the site of a battle that killed four soldiers a day earlier.
More on link

Brison gives opponents flak for not backing presence in Afghanistan
By TENILLE BONOGUORE  From Tuesday's Globe and Mail  Tuesday, June 27, 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v4/sub/MarketingPage?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20060627.wxbrison27a%2FBNStory%2FAfghanistan%2Fhome&ord=1154778884198&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true

TORONTO — Liberal leadership candidate Scott Brison has criticized some of his challengers for not supporting plans to prolong the Afghan mission, saying they should have sided with the government.

The Nova Scotia MP this month joined leadership front-runner Michael Ignatieff as the only other Liberal in favour of a Conservative government resolution extending the Afghan mission to 2009. 
More on link, but you must log in..otherwise not available online



UN concerned over attacks on schools in Afghanistan  
New York, Aug 5. (PTI):  The Hinu
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200608051111.htm

Concerned over the increasing attacks on schools across Afghanistan, the United Nations has said that exposing children of the war-ravaged country to "this kind of terrible violence" was appalling. 

Recently the attacks have spread from the south and southeastern region to all provinces, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said and urged all parties not to target students, teachers and educational institutions. 

In recent days, there have been 11 explosions in schools, 50 school buildings burnt and 37 threats made against educational institutions, it stressed to bring out the gravity of the problem. 

In four southern provinces, the agency estimates that more than 1,00,000 children are shut out of school because of school closures. Children and teachers are under increasing threat and being denied their right to a safe teaching and learning environment. 
More on link

Sikhs quitting Afghanistan
By Rajeshree Sisodia in Kabul  Al Jazeera Sunday 09 July 2006
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5642333D-F7E5-42E0-926C-0892374D7DED.htm

After living in Afghanistan for more than two centuries, economic hardship is pushing many in the country's dwindling Sikh community to emigrate to India, their spiritual homeland.


Gurdyal Singh appears no different from any other Afghan man, complete with his black-as-coal beard and an immaculately tied scarlet turban. 

But the 40-year-old father-of-four chuckles as he clears up the mistaken belief that he is a Muslim.

"I am Sikh but I think of myself as being Afghan," he says as he tends to a Sikh temple in the Karta Pawan district of the capital.

The Guru Nanak Durbar Gurdwara, tucked away in a quiet corner of central Kabul for the last 25 years, is one of around 43 Sikh and Hindu temples in Afghanistan.

"We speak [the north Indian language] Punjabi at home but we can speak [the Afghan languages of] Dari and Pashtun."

A caretaker at the gurdwara, or temple, Gurdyal is one of a handful of Sikhs who has remained after the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Afghanistan, he says, is the country of his birth and the home where his family has lived for generations.
More on link

NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense

No. 750-06 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug 05, 2006 Media Contact: Army Public Affairs - (703) 692-2000
Public/Industry(703)428-0711


Clash kills two in S. Afghanistan   
 www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-05 18:56:18  
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/05/content_4923602.htm

    KABUL, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- One suspected Taliban insurgent and one Afghan police were killed and six others including four militants were wounded as they engaged in Afghanistan's southern Ghazni province, a senior provincial official said Saturday. 

    "The incident occurred in Waghaz district Friday evening as a result one policeman was killed and two others wounded," provincial police chief Tafsir Khan Khogyani told Xinhua. 

    One rebel was killed and four others got injured in the fire exchange, he added. 

    The militants, he added had taken their injured comrades to unknown place. 

    "Police have also taken into custody 15 persons in the district on charge of having link with the insurgents," Khogyani added. 

    Southern provinces of Afghanistan have been the scene of increasing militancy over the past year as more than 600 militants, according to officials, have been killed since early June. 

    Four Canadian soldiers were killed the neighboring Kandahar province on Thursday. 

    Taliban-linked insurgency has claimed the lives of 1,700 people, mostly militants since beginning this year in the post-Taliban central Asian state. Enditem 
End


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## GAP (5 Aug 2006)

*More Articles found 5 August, 2006*

Vehicle accident kills NATO soldier in Afghanistan
Crash not the result of an attack, statement explains
Aug. 5, 2006. 08:51 AM  Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1154777948940&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_World&call_pageid=968332188854&call_pagepath=News/World


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — One NATO soldier was killed and three injured when their armoured jeep crashed in southern Afghanistan today, a NATO statement said.

The crash, in Kandahar province where four Canadian troops were killed earlier in the week, was not the result of hostile action, the statement said.

The soldiers were accompanying a supply convoy, it said.
End


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## MarkOttawa (5 Aug 2006)

_Globe_ editorial smackdown for the egregious Ujjal (full text not officially online):

Dosanjh has it wrong about the Afghan task
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v4/sub/MarketingPage?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FLAC.20060805.EDOSA15%2FTPStory%2FComment&ord=3763888&brand=theglobeandmail&redirect_reason=2&denial_reasons=none&force_login=false

Excerpts:

'Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh says Canada's mission in Afghanistan should be refocused. "This has become almost totally a combat mission, and that was not the intention," he said Thursday after four Canadians were killed.

That is an astonishing thing for a leading member of the Liberal Party to say. It was, after all, a former Liberal government -- his government -- that decided to send Canadian troops on their dangerous mission in southern Afghanistan in the first place. That government made it clear that this was not just a peacekeeping mission. Its ministers told Canadians quite clearly that there would be fighting and there would be deaths, but that the goal of stabilizing Afghanistan and giving its people a chance to live a decent life was worth the risk. Mr. Dosanjh was a leading cabinet minister in that government. Now that he has the luxury of being in opposition, has he suddenly decided that his government was wrong?..

To say that Afghanistan has "become almost totally a combat mission" is nonsense. Canada is spending $100-milliona year on aid to Afghanistan. That money is being used to help women acquirethe skills they need to work, to distrib-ute loans to people who want to start small businesses and to help clear the heavily mined Afghan countryside. As Canada's military commander in Afghanistan, Brigadier-General David Fraser, pointed out the other day, Canadians are not just fighting the Taliban over there. They are building schools and treating the sick...

The Liberals' interim leader Bill Graham seems to understand that. He says that "we knew this was going to be a very tough mission." Why doesn't his defence critic understand it?..'

Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (5 Aug 2006)

British troops in Afghanistan 'on the brink of exhaustion'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/06/nafg06.xml&amp;DCMP=EMC-new_06082006

Spent Forces 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/08/06/dl0602.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/08/06/ixopinion.html

Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (6 Aug 2006)

*UK Army chief defends Afghan mission*
BBC Online, 6 Aug 06
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5250168.stm

The head of the Army has defended Britain's military strategy in Afghanistan amid claims that troops were "on the brink of exhaustion".  General Sir Mike Jackson said the Army played a vital role and forces were "getting stuck in" to the Taleban . . . .


*Army denies Afghan troops exhausted *  
Guardian Online (UK), 6 Aug 06
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-5997152,00.html

The head of the Army defended Britain's military strategy in Afghanistan after it was claimed soldiers were "on the brink of exhaustion".  General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff, told BBC News 24 that tackling the country's security situation was a vital part of nation building.  He said British forces were "getting stuck in" to the Taliban. But a senior officer told the Sunday Telegraph troops were extremely tired after fighting 25 major battles since May, in temperatures of up to 50C . . . .


*British Army chief defends Afghanistan mission after 'exhaustion' claim  * 
Agence France Presse, 6 Aug 06
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060806/wl_uk_afp/britainmilitary

The chief of the British Army has defended the military operation in Afghanistan after it was reported that soldiers there were being stretched to "the brink of exhaustion" by the Taliban.  General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff, said Sunday that British troops were "getting stuck in" to militia from the deposed Taliban regime and said the soldiers' presence was vital for rebuilding the country . . . .


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## zipperhead_cop (6 Aug 2006)

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/06082006/2/world-nato-convoy-struck-suicide-attack-taliban-threatens-larger-insurgency.html

NATO convoy struck in suicide attack as Taliban threatens larger insurgency   
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - A suspected suicide bomber in a small truck has hit a military convoy in southern Afghanistan, wounding at least one coalition soldier. 

The nationality of the soldier has not been released, although eyewitnesses say it was an American convoy. 

The attack occurred just outside Kandahar where more than two-thousand Canadian troops are based. 

Canadian soldiers were dispatched to the area of the bombing to provide security. 

Meantime, a Taliban spokesman is vowing to step up attacks against Canadian and other NATO forces in Afghanistan. 

The threat comes after four Canadians died and 10 were injured in fighting on Thursday with Taliban insurgents. 

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi told The Canadian Press that more suicide attackers from across the war-torn country have converged in the south to carry out strikes against non-Muslims. 


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/06082006/2/world-british-soldier-killed-nato-offensive-southern-afghanistan.html
British soldier killed in NATO offensive in southern Afghanistan   
KABUL (AP) - A British soldier was fatally shot on Sunday as NATO pushed its way into a lawless mountainous district in southern Afghanistan to assert central government control, NATO said. 

The soldier was taking part in a NATO attack on insurgents in Helmand province's Musa Qala, where three British soldiers were killed last week, according to a NATO statement.


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## MarkOttawa (6 Aug 2006)

How many Canadian politicians--or pundits--would even understand what this is about?

 We've failed in Iraq: let's get it right in Afghanistan 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/08/06/do0609.xml&site=15&page=0

Mark
Ottawa


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## Rice0031 (6 Aug 2006)

< insert Fair dealings disclaimer phrase here >
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5250550.stm

I'm not going to cite it, since its such a short article, and not even much news, but news nevertheless.
Its nice to hear good news.

Good job, boys!


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## GAP (8 Aug 2006)

Articles found on 8 August 2006  (and a little catching up)

Soldiers recall heroism, horror of Canada's bloodiest day in Afghanistan
August 7, 2006, EST. By TERRY PEDWELL 

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The day started as expected, with the soldiers of Charlie Company of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry setting out in the early morning darkness on orders to root out Taliban fighters. 

It was Thursday, Aug. 3, 2006. 

What they would not discover until many hours later was that they had witnessed what would become known as Canada's bloodiest day of combat so far in Afghanistan. 

"We got our orders early in the evening for the mission," recalled Sgt. Patrick Tower, a blond, bespectacled 34-year-old whose body language displays a sense of authority. 
More on link

Loyal Edmonton Regiment gathers to deal with their first Afghanistan death
August 6, 2006, EST.By SHANNON MONTGOMERY 
http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/NationalNewsArticle.htm?src=n080633A.xml

EDMONTON (CP) - "We can no longer be called the untouchables." 

So begins a letter from Afghanistan to an Edmonton regiment that had, until Saturday, escaped unscathed from a mission that has seen five Canadians killed in action in just the past week, and 24 since 2002. 

But no longer, as members of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment gathered Sunday come to terms with the death of reserve Master Cpl. Raymond Arndt, 31, who was killed in an accident Saturday. 

"It hits home pretty close," said Pte. Gordon Legarie, who was friends with Arndt. 

"Last thing you'd ever hope, by far. You always want everybody to come home safe." 
More on link

Video Clips
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060731/afghanistan_video_060807/20060808?hub=CanadaAM

CTV News: Steve Chao on the unique perspective  2:12 
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=CanadaAM&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/07/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_08_07_1154999877.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/07/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_08_07_1154998979.wmv&clip_start=00:01:53.64&clip_end=00:02:12.13&clip_caption=CTV News: Steve Chao on the unique perspective&clip_id=ctvnews.20060807.00157000-00157706-clip2&subhub=video&no_ads=&sortdate=20060731&slug=afghanistan_video_060807&archive=CTVNews


Canada AM: Terry Pedwell, CP reporter spoke with Taliban  3:40 
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=CanadaAM&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/08/ctvvideologger1_500kbps_2006_08_08_1155035150.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/08/ctvvideologger1_218kbps_2006_08_08_1155034064.wmv&clip_start=00:12:48.13&clip_end=00:03:40.95&clip_caption=Canada AM: Terry Pedwell, CP reporter spoke with Taliban&clip_id=ctvnews.20060808.00157000-00157727-clip3&subhub=video&no_ads=&sortdate=20060731&slug=afghanistan_video_060807&archive=CTVNews
More on link

Returning Canadian troops face emotional risks
Updated Mon. Aug. 7 2006 11:19 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060731/afghanistan_warwounds_060807/20060807?hub=Canada

While hundreds of Canadian troops leave the Taliban behind in Afghanistan, some will come home to find themselves facing an unexpected enemy -- the emotional scars of battle. 

"It was definitely a scary six months -- pretty much the whole time through -- and I don't think that will go away soon," Master Cpl. Renee Gervais told CTV News when she arrived back in Edmonton this weekend. 

A soldier who has come to terms with similar fears says Gervais shouldn't expect it to. 

"It's very much inside, very much in your gut, and it hurts. And you don't know what it is, and it spins, and you rehash it over and over and over again," said army veteran Jean-Yves St. Denis, who says the memories of serving in Rwanda plagued him for years. 

As an estimated 2,200 prepare to return home from Afghanistan -- Canada's first sustained combat in decades -- they may be lugging with them the weight of lingering war wounds. 

"A lot of those people will come back with some sort of traumatic stress, or disorder ... call it what you want... or complete post traumatic stress disorder," said St. Denis. 

Many will have worked 18-hour days for up to 20 days in a row. Combine that with the burdens of living in a desert climate plus the constant threat of death, and the result can be overwhelming. 

Military chiefs and health officials believe they have the system in place to provide the right care in the form of a week-long debrief with follow-up analysis and free visits to special clinics. 

"We talk about PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. People come back with anxiety, depression, a variety of co-morbid disorders. It can lead to difficulties and even suicide in some cases," said Dr. Mary-Catherine Rooney of the Carewest Operational Stress Injury Clinic. 
More on link

No injuries after rocket attack on Kandahar base  
Updated Mon. Aug. 7 2006 11:22 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060807/arndt_remains_060807?s_name=&no_ads=

The base where Canadians are stationed in southern Afghanistan came under attack on Monday for the second consecutive night, officials reported.

A NATO spokesman told The Canadian Press there were no injuries nor damage after the rocket struck the Kandahar Air Field at about 11 p.m. local time (2 p.m. EDT).

On Sunday, three rockets struck the base in attacks that came about a half-hour apart.

The rockets were launched shortly after a Taliban spokesman threatened to ramp up attacks against foreign troops stationed in the war-torn country.

There were no injuries nor significant damage in those attacks.

Thirty-seven rockets have been fired at the base since nearly 2,200 Canadian troops moved into the air field in February.
More on link

Afghan raids 'kill 17 militants'   
Sunday, 6 August 2006, BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5250550.stm
  
Seventeen Taleban militants have been killed by Afghan security forces in the southern Helmand province, police say. 
A police spokesman said Afghan police killed three of the militants in a gunfight on Saturday in the Garmser district of Helmand. 

Police, Afghan and Nato soldiers then raided the area, killing 14 others. 

Militants have recently stepped up their insurgency against the government and foreign forces, particularly in south and east Afghanistan. 

In a separate incident on Sunday, a car bomb struck a US military convoy in neighbouring Kandahar, injuring one US soldier. 
More on link

Homecoming not that easy for Afghan vets
Last Updated: Monday, August 7, 2006  CBC News 
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2006/08/07/edm-afghan-homecoming.html

Some Canadian soldiers are readjusting to life in a peaceful country after serving a stint in Afghanistan — and finding it's not that easy to do.

About 100 soldiers who served in the wartorn country came home to Edmonton over the weekend.

It was an emotional reunion for many families who hadn't seen their loved ones for upwards of six months. They arrived as five Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, with more than a dozen injured in the last week.

"Hard for the most part," said Joe Rustenburg of the homecoming.

"Because a lot [of] the guys who died were good friends of mine and there's nothing you can do to prepare for losing friends, especially five or six, it's hard to deal with.

"Like I just tell myself, there's not much I could have done to prevent it. It bothers me that I'm home with my wife and there's some wives that don't have their husbands."

Rustenburg says he understands casualties are part of the job and he's happy to be home.

Wife can't wait
More on link

U.S. and Afghan officials to vet Canadian probe into possible friendly fire case
August 7, 2006, EST.By MURRAY BREWSTER  - Shaw News
http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/NationalNewsArticle.htm?src=n080708A.xml

HALIFAX (CP) - A closed-door investigation into the possible friendly fire death of a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan has concluded, but the board of inquiry's final report won't be released until it is vetted by U.S. and Afghan military officials. 

The board investigated the death of Pte. Robert Costall, who was killed last spring during a fierce firefight between coalition forces and insurgents at Sangin, west of Kandahar. 

American special forces, U.S. National Guard trainers and Afghan troops also took part in the battle. 

The inquiry's terms of reference, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, order Brig.-Gen. Chris Davis, the board president, to "determine what information, including any that has been received from coalition partners, is releasable under Canadian law." 
More on link

U.S. Forces Push Further Into Afghanistan  
Tuesday August 8, 2006  By PAUL GARWOOD  Associated Press Writer  -  Guardian Unlimited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6000743,00.html

NARAY, Afghanistan (AP) - Hundreds of U.S. soldiers have established their northernmost base in Afghanistan, pushing further up the border with Pakistan to block militants crossing jagged mountains, train fledgling local forces and build support among wary tribesmen. 

In doing so, they have put themselves further into harm's way, drawing rocket fire from enemies on surrounding mountain peaks and losing at least seven soldiers since February, including their previous commanding officer in a May 5 helicopter crash in bad weather. 

With NATO taking charge of security in southern provinces wracked by a Taliban resurgence, the U.S. is increasingly able to focus on stabilizing the dangerous east, extending the Afghan government's authority there and hunting for fugitives like Osama bin Laden. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (8 Aug 2006)

U.S. forces push further into Afghanistan
By PAUL GARWOOD, Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 8, 4:11 AM ET 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060808/ap_on_re_as/afghan_northern_exposure;_ylt=Ap7L7rrvDGB3w3.ggH4IrrhvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--



> NARAY, Afghanistan - Hundreds of U.S. soldiers have established their northernmost base in
> Afghanistan, pushing further up the border with Pakistan to block militants crossing jagged mountains, train fledgling local forces and build support among wary tribesmen.
> 
> In doing so, they have put themselves further into harm's way, drawing rocket fire from enemies on surrounding mountain peaks and losing at least seven soldiers since February, including their previous commanding officer in a May 5 helicopter crash in bad weather.
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (8 Aug 2006)

More Articles 8 August 2006


EDITORIAL: Praise for the Pats
Tue, August 8, 2006 Edmonton Sun
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/Commentary/2006/08/08/1724237.html

It should have been a happy homecoming for members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group. 

Since February, they have been engaged in the first shooting war involving Canadian troops since the Korean conflict. 

Now, after six months taking it to the Taliban on their home turf in the mountains of Afghanistan, the Edmonton soldiers are being rotated out of the theatre, to be replaced by members of the Central Canada-based Royal Canadian Regiment. 

But that was before the attacks last Thursday, where four soldiers perished and another 10 were injured, as the Taliban stepped up the offensive in the bloodiest 24 hours yet for Canadian troops. 

Brig.-Gen. David Fraser called it a "tough day." 
More on link

Afghanistan deaths don't deter patriotic recruits
Canadian Forces report rise in applications
James Gordon, The Ottawa Citizen Tuesday, August 08, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=0e74a40a-1180-4452-b2b7-2f70a00ff329

Despite the recent spate of high-profile troop deaths in Afghanistan, the Canadian Forces say their recruiting numbers are actually up.

Five Canadian soldiers died and 13 were injured in four separate incidents last week, making it the country's deadliest week since military operations began in 2002. That brings the number of Canadians killed in action there to 24, with 16 losing their lives in the past six months.

Yet according to recruiters, the escalating death toll doesn't appear to be keeping people from signing up.

Maj. Andy Coxhead, public affairs officer for the Canadian Forces' recruiting group, says 17,000 people have submitted applications over the past six months.

That includes 9,000 between April and June, a quarter that started with the deaths of four Canadians in a major roadside bomb incident.

"We generally receive about 25,000 applications a year, so that's pretty darn good actually," Maj. Coxhead said. "Recruiting is going well right now."

Asked whether the most recent casualties -- or others that are likely to come -- are expected to slow interest, Maj. Coxhead says it's hard to predict.

"We won't know until the end of those quarters, but so far interest in the Canadian Forces has remained quite high," he said, adding that recruiters have said there is a steady feeling of patriotism among those looking to enlist.

"They say that people are saying they want to serve their country," Maj. Coxhead says. "You know, we can extrapolate what that means 100 different ways, but I guess what's clear is it appears operations overseas are not negatively affecting recruiting."
More on link

The Taliban Sends in the Pundits  
August 8, 2006: The Strategy Page
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/afghan/articles/20060808.aspx

The Taliban spent the last week fighting the new NATO force deployed along the Pakistani border. Four British and four Canadian troops were killed in combat, along with at least sixty Taliban and over two dozen civilians. The Taliban killed most of the civilians while using suicide bombers to get at NATO troops. The Taliban losses came as large groups of Taliban, moving about to terrorize and coerce the countryside, were found and run down by NATO and Afghan troops. When cornered, most of these Taliban get killed, with the survivors either captured or escaping into the countryside. 

The Taliban forces are causing a lot of damage, as they destroy schools and police stations, and drive off or kill teachers and policemen. These are the most common representatives of the government in the countryside. There are also some medical clinics, but there are generally left alone, as long as they treat sick and wounded Taliban. 

The Taliban is apparently trying to kill the maximum number of NATO troops, using special weapons, like the suicide bombers, in the hopes that NATO public opinion will shift and cause the NATO combat troops to be withdrawn from the fight. This could work, because of the anti-American attitudes in most NATO countries, and the tendency of the media to run lots of stories, and haul out lots of anti-war pundits, when there are combat deaths. 
End

Colombia and Afghanistan Cooperate  
August 8, 2006: The Strategy Page
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20060808.aspx

A team of Colombian counternarcotics officials recently visited Afghanistan, to share their experiences in fighting illegal drugs. With its growing illegal drug trade, and drug lord militias, Afghanistan is often described as "another Colombia." While Afghanistan has been producing most of the world's heroin for the last decade, Colombia has been producing most of the world's cocaine for even longer. 

While Colombia has not been able to shut down the cocaine business, it has found ways to keep the drug gangs from taking over the country. Colombia doesn't have anything like the Taliban, but it has something worse, leftist militias that have been trying to take over for decades. Like the Taliban, the leftist Colombian groups (the largest is FARC) became allies with the drug gangs, and worked together to keep the government weak. But in Colombia, the connection between the leftist gangs and the drug cartels, and the violence this caused, eventually turned the majority of Colombians against the leftists, and the much feared drug lords, and sparked a counterattack. But this has only happened in the last four years. So the Afghans want to know how to avoid decades of violence, before, eventually, everyone decides to go after the religious and drug warlords. 
More on link

UN to open two more offices in Afghanistan
Press Trust of India  New York, August 8, 2006
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7598_1763316,000500020005.htm

The United Nations will soon open two more offices in Afghanistan's southern and southeastern region to help the country fight the growing insurgency in the area. 
The offices, to be part of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), will be opened in Qalat in the province of Zabul and in Asadabad.

"These new offices will closely cooperate with the local government and local governors and with all the administration to strengthen the good governance and the rule of law, as well as monitor human rights and support to the local population," the world body said.
More on link

Private Andrew Cutts killed in Southern Afghanistan
7 Aug 06  UK Defense News
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/PrivateAndrewCuttsKilledInSouthernAfghanistan.htm

It is with great regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Private Andrew Barrie Cutts of 13 Air Assault Support Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, in Musa Qualeh, northern Helmand province, on Sunday 6 August 2006.
More on link

Operation Snakebite dislodges Taliban Forces in Musa Qaleh
8 Aug 06  UK Defense News
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/OperationSnakebiteDislodgesTalibanForcesInMusaQaleh.htm

British soldiers in southern Afghanistan have been taking part in their biggest offensive operation since deploying to Helmand Province earlier this year.
Codenamed SNAKEBITE, the operation involved more than 500 British troops with the tactical aim of intercepting the Taliban command and control in Musa Qaleh.

Sadly a British soldier was killed during the operation, which disrupted Taliban insurgents who have continued to attack innocent civilians and fracture stability in the south of the country. 

Private Andrew Barrie Cutts of 13 Air Assault Support Regiment, The Royal Logistics Corps, died during the planned mission.
He was part of a logistics team who re-supplied the 3 PARA Battle Group with ammunition and water during the operation, which concluded late on Sunday 6 August 2006.

Situated in the Sangin valley, Musa Qaleh has seen constant attacks from the Taliban. In addition to disrupting the command and control network of local taliban forces, Operation Snakebite also sought to cut the enemy's supply chain in order to deny them the freedom of movement in Helmand.
More on link

Reconstruction team spreads the word in Helmand
4 Aug 06 UK Defense News
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/ReconstructionTeamSpreadsTheWordInHelmand.htm

British Soldiers based in Southern Afghanistan have conducted an ‘Outreach Mission’ to spread the word about their presence in Helmand Province.

Members of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Ops Company along with soldiers from the Afghan National Army (ANA) patrolled north of the provincial town of Lashkar Gah to the village of Mukhter. Once in the village they handed out leaflets, written in Pashtu, which explain the reasons for their presence in the region. 

The leaflets also explained that British Forces are in Helmand at the request of the Afghan Government and are assisting the local authorities with security and rebuilding infrastructure.

Wind-up Radios were also handed out, these are vital for passing on information and warning locals about the obvious dangers that may be encountered when approaching British Patrols. WO2 Dex McFaul, a member of the PRT said afterwards: “
More on link

Senior NATO commanders address Afghan parliamentarians
4 Aug 06 UK Defense News
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/SeniorNatoCommandersAddressAfghanParliamentarians.htm

The Senior NATO military commander in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General David Richards, and NATO’s Senior Civilian representative for Afghanistan, Minister Hikmet Cetin, both addressed Parliamentary Leaders in Kabul on Wednesday 2 August 2006, outlining their commitment and support for the elected Afghan Government.
More on link



NATO Will Stand Up to Militants in Afghanistan, Say Officials
07 August 2006
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=August&x=20060807144403idybeekcm0.2772028

Alliance will provide security, help government facilitate recovery efforts
Washington – NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan will not be deterred from its mission to protect the Afghan people as they work to recover from decades of war and oppression, say alliance officials.    

NATO operations in the country, says the alliance’s supreme allied commander, U.S. Marine General James Jones, in an August 4 statement, “are focused on establishing a safe and secure environment in order to permit the government and international aid organizations to bring elements of reconstruction and hope for a better future to this region.”
More on link

Drug Addiction Rates Soar in War-Torn Afghanistan  
By Benjamin Sand  Kabul  08 August 2006 Voice of America News- Sand Report
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-08-08-voa20.cfm


The United Nations says addiction rates in war-torn Afghanistan have doubled in the past two years, to the point that nearly a million people are now using illegal drugs. 

The lyrics are a prayer. A drug counselor is asking God to help end drug addiction in Afghanistan.

As he sings, about 25 men sit on cushions scattered across the floor of the drug treatment center, nodding their heads as they listen. Several of the men are in their 50s or 60s and silently stroke their beards in time to the music. 
More on link

New ministers bright spot in Afghanistan
Tue, August 8, 2006  Ottawa Sun
http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/08/08/1723995-sun.html

KABUL -- Afghanistan's parliament approved President Hamid Karzai's choices for the vacant portfolios in his cabinet yesterday in another step toward democracy, as his U.S.-backed government struggled with a resurgent Taliban and floods in the south. 

The slots had been left empty when parliament rejected five of the 25 people Karzai initially chose in April. The completed cabinet is the first approved by the parliament since it was elected last year. 

Also yesterday, the base where Canadian soldiers are stationed in Kandahar was hit by a rocket attack. No injuries or damage were reported, a NATO spokesman said. 

MOST SUPPORT 

The new cabinet members include the minister of women's affairs, Hosn Banu Ghazanfar, dean of the literature and language faculty at Kabul University. She was supported by 159 legislators, garnering the most support of the five new ministers. 
More on Link


Govt queries Afghanistan death claims
August 8, 2006 - 6:59AM  The Age.com
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Govt-queries-Afghanistan-death-claims/2006/08/08/1154802849552.html

Information that failed asylum seekers had been killed after returning to Afghanistan was repeatedly requested but never provided to the government, Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone says.

Senator Vanstone said human rights group the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education made the claims on previous occasions and the government requested further information.

"None has been forthcoming," she told ABC radio.
More on link


Canadians contacting PM Stephen Harper about the war in Afghanistan
August 7, 2006  Blogger News Network 
http://www.bloggernews.net/static/archive000001432.html


Canadians contact Stephen Harper about the war in Afghanistan, newly released records of telephone calls, letters, and emails to the Prime Minister reveal.

"Callers would like him to resign and run in a byelection," says a report, citing 73 such calls.

In February, most were congratulatory messages for the new prime minister, and other matters.

In April, 1,805 pieces of correspondence and another 422 telephone calls dealt with Afghanistan-related issues.

In May, the PMO (Prime Minister's Office) received 1,453 letters, and emails about Canada's Afghan deployment, more of them calling on the government to pull out and get the troops home. Another 114 telephone callers said the same. A lot of them criticized the government's decision to not lower the flag at the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill to honour fallen soldiers. Almost 200 callers said that the media should not be banned from reporting the return of the bodies of soldiers.

Calgary Northeast conservative MP Art Hanger said, most correspondence from his constituents is supportive of the government's deployment of troops in the war-torn country. "I would have to say there's a fair amount of support for the party's position out here," said Hanger.

Three dozen bureaucrats are employed full time to wade through some 2 million items each year and categorize them by subject
More on link

Canada engaged in colonial intervention in Afghanistan
by wsws (reposted) Monday Aug 7th, 2006 7:05 AM 
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/07/18295279.php

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reiterated his Conservative government’s commitment to an expanded Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) intervention in Afghanistan last Thursday, just hours after four CAF soldiers had been killed and ten wounded by Taliban insurgents. The press, which lauded Harper’s resolve, has called Thursday “the bloodiest day yet” in Canada’s Afghanistan intervention. In the coming days, the World Socialist Web Site will report on the reaction in Canada to the mounting CAF casualties in Afghanistan. The following article was published in French on July 25.
Since the election of a minority Conservative government in January, the Canadian media has launched a propaganda offensive aimed at rallying public opinion behind the expanded and increasingly bloody military intervention that the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is mounting in southern Afghanistan. 

Two thousand three hundred Canadian soldiers are at the head of a NATO-US counterinsurgency campaign in the Kandahar region, while a team of some 20 Canadian military and civilian personnel are acting as special advisors to the US-installed government of Hamid Karzai. 

In the middle of May, the Conservative government succeeded in ramming a motion through the House of Commons that endorsed its decision to prolong the Canadian intervention in Afghanistan for another two years to February 2009. At the same time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada will offer to assume command of the NATO-US occupation of Afghanistan for one year, beginning in February 2008. 

Like the American military, the CAF is embedding journalists in its combat units with the aim of conscripting the corporate media as cheerleaders. 
More on link


Chaplain Deploys to Serve Jewish Personnel in Afghanistan
By Lt. Col. Susan H. Meisner, U.S. Army, JWV Post 10
http://www.jwv.org/communication/detailart.cfm?ID=281

The Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan Chaplain’s office sent out a brief e-mail: A Rabbi was coming for the Jewish High Holidays.

The Rabbi was Chaplain (Capt.) Avrohom Horovitz who led services last month in Bagram for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and in Kandahar for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). His presence in Kabul between the holidays—and in the theater—was a boost to Jewish servicemen and women.

Kabul Army Education Center Counselor Sheila Dickerman said the Rabbi’s presence led to “a reconnection and rediscovery of my roots.” For Dickerman, originally from Honduras, Jewish life centered on the home; attending Jewish services in the Kabul Compound chapel was a special experience for her.
More on link

AFGHANISTAN, IRAN AND TAJIKISTAN PROBE CLOSER ECONOMIC TIES  
8/07/06 EURASIA INSIGHT 
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav080706.shtml

Iran is attempting to cultivate closer ties with Afghanistan and Tajikistan as part of a diplomatic effort to alleviate international pressure over Tehran’s nuclear program. 

The Iranian initiative led to a late July summit in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, where the leaders of the three states signed several economic agreements. The summit’s crowning achievement, though, was the creation of a "cultural cooperation commission" to promote closer tripartite economic and security ties. According to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the commission will convene twice annually with the inaugural gathering slated for this fall in the Afghan capital Kabul. In addition, the Iranian president advocated the creation of a television network that would "broadcast the Persian language and culture to the world," and the expansion of educational exchanges.

Security issues figured prominently in the summit discussions. Speaking at a joint press conference after the two-day meeting, Tajik President Imomali Rahmonov and Ahmadinejad called for an end to the ongoing violence in Lebanon. The Iranian leader also indicated Iran was prepared to expand strategic cooperation with Tajikistan. "We think that Tajikistan’s security is our own," Ahmadinejad s
More on link


Meanwhile in Afghanistan
The crisis in the Middle East has deflected attention from another conflict 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,542-2301753,00.html

Politicians take comfort in the term “peace support” to describe Nato’s mission in Afghanistan’s violent southern provinces. As the first embattled week since Nato took over responsibility for the region has demonstrated, this is a misnomer. It would be more realistic, and more helpful to those in military command, to admit how seriously the security situation there has deteriorated since the US-led coalition drove the Taleban and al-Qaeda from power — though never convincingly from their southern strongholds — in 2001. Nato dwarfs them in firepower, but not in manpower: across the south, their fighting strength could be up to 8,000. 
The Nato takeover from US overall command has been preceded, and accompanied by, a surge in attacks, including pitched battles against British forces, inflicting another fatality yesterday. The enemy strategy is to throw Nato off-balance while its presence is still being built up, and to convince the less robust members of the alliance that this will be a long, bloody and unwinnable war. The situation will get worse before it gets better
More on link


Grandchildren of WW2 Vets Have What it Takes  
08 August 2006 Celestial Junk Blog
http://cjunk.blogspot.com/2006/08/grandchildren-of-ww2-vets-have-what-it.html


Canadian Socialist utopians continue to hand wring as to whether NATO, and especially Canadian Forces, should be involved in the Afghan slugfest. They moan about days-gone-by, when our troops road around in thin skinned APC’s, wore blue helmets, and pretended to be making a difference in the world. Utopians go all mushy and nostalgic when they recall that our troops road around in, or used, antiquated equipment and suffered through material privations as Canada’s government took ever more out their budgets. Ah yes… the good old days, when military men and women were kept in their place! If the Canadian NDP, flagship of “progressivism” had its way, we’d be back there in a moment. Oddly though, these same progressives give absolutely no notice of the lives that “peace-keeping” cost Canadian Forces. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how utopian you are, Canada’s Forces are shedding the UN peace-keeping role. 

The new reality is that Canadian forces are proving their worth in the sharp and often close quarter battles in Afghanistan. They lack essentials, such as close air support and rotary wing lift capability, but they are giving the Jihadist barbarians who once enslaved Afghanistan a kicking. Following the doctrine of most western armies, which is to be push back harder than you get pushed, Canadian forces are going out and confronting the Taliban and drug lords in their own back yard. They are entering battle zones that saw thousands of Russian forces go down in retreat or where desperate Russian commanders resorted to the use of chemical and nerve agents because they just simply couldn’t beat the locals. Our forces are walking the same trails and paths, and are winning. When most people, and many modern armies, run from the sound of guns, our guys head in.

The combat training of Canadian forces was, until Afghanistan, theoretical. In other words, nobody knew how well a Canadian volunteer military which had been saddled with the Peace-Keeping-Only role, would fare against indigenous fanatics which had been at war… forever. As it turns out, the grandchildren of Canada’s World War 2 Vets are proving to be as tenacious and able in combat as Grandpa. But, there is more.

Canada’s troops are trained to a level that was unthinkable by their grandfathers. The combat forces begin in basic training and from their the challenges and work only intensify, with training taking on the physical and mental sweat usually reserved for pro athletes. Canada’s combat arms are in fact, trained to a level higher than any commando forces were in their grandfather’s war. Then, to add complexity to the mix, they are taught not only to be effective killers of the enemy, but to also be preservers of civilian life. It’s a phenomenal challenge when fighting an enemy that gives goats more respect than civilians, but our troopers are rising to the challenge. And, for the first time in decades, these amazing volunteers are giving Canada back her place in the world as not only a voice for stability and peace, but as a country that won’t back away from a fight with barbarians. 

The Canadian MSM is pilloried on these and many other blogs for it’s utopian slant. But, guess what? The Canadian MSM has been by and large overcome with admiration for our Canadian troopers. Readers would do themselves a favor to follow European coverage of the Afghan conflict. Virtually every op-ed and news piece is loaded with defeatism, hand-wringing, and NDP-esque moaning. The NATO forces of Europe seldom get the open and honest coverage that the Canadian MSM has been giving our troops and god forbid that a Euro-progressive would ever admire a NATO force. In other words, the Euro-press has taken its utopian attitudes towards America and the Iraq conflict, and is now superimposing them onto it’s own NATO forces, our Allies, in Afghanistan.

Canadians who feel squeamish about the Afghan conflict do have one important role to play, one which will be increasingly vital as the war on Islamo-fascism heats up. They will be needed to articulate the “progressive” side of things, for as much as conservative may despise them, “progressives” serve to keep dangerous nationalism based on military pride from becoming dangerous. Nationalism based on a country’s ability to kick-ass is hazardous, always, and we can be guaranteed that the “progressive” class will be out and about providing a dampening effect. Canadians are intelligent folks though, and they know when a fight is worth it and above all, being carried fought for altruistic and noble reasons. Ask our citizen soldiers in Afghanistan, and so far most seem to agree; Afghanistan is one fight worth being in. Ask the little Afghan girl attending school in the same town where her mother was reduced to animal status, and she’ll tell you our Canadian Heroes are her heroes as well.
End

Canadian Peacekeepers Honour Roll
http://members.shaw.ca/kcic1/peacekeepers.html

More than 100,000 Canadians have participated in United Nations and NATO peacekeeping duties throughout the world. That is more Peacekeepers than any other country. 
Peacekeepers have helped to make the world a better place in which to live. The Nobel Committee recognized the good work that UN Peacekeepers have been doing by awarding them the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.
Canada has honoured its Peacekeepers, past, present and future, by dedicating a monument to their service and dedication. The monument was unveiled in Ottawa, ON in October 1992. The Canadian Peacekeepers Service Medal (see below) is awarded to all Canadians who serve with peacekeeping missions.
More on link

*Army.ca thread for The Terrorists Lists*
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/44988/post-424744/topicseen.html#new

The Terrorism Knowledge Base
http://www.tkb.org/Home.jsp


Developed by the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), the Terrorism Knowledge Base offers in-depth information on terrorist incidents, groups, and trials. 

Allows you to search by group, incident, country, region, leaders/members:

"The MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Basesm (TKBsm) is the one-stop resource for comprehensive research and analysis on global terrorist incidents, terrorism-related court cases, and terrorist groups and leaders. TKB covers the history, affiliations, locations, and tactics of terrorist groups operating across the world, with over 35 years of terrorism incident data and hundreds of group and leader profiles and trials. TKB also features interactive maps, statistical summaries, and analytical tools that can create custom graphs and tables."
More on link


----------



## GAP (9 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 9 August 2006*

Canadian killed in Afghan shooting incident
Updated Wed. Aug. 9 2006 11:29 AM ET
A Canadian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan in what appears to be an accidental discharge of a rifleCTV.ca News Staff 

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060731/afghanistan_template_060809/20060809?hub=TopStories

Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh PPCLI, 2nd Battalion of Shilo, Manitoba, was killed Wednesday in an incident involving an apparent accidental discharge of a firearm.

A Canadian soldier has been shot and killed in Afghanistan in what appears to have been an accidental discharge of a rifle from a comrade-in-arms. 

Military officials say Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh -- with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Man. -- had just arrived in Kandahar some four or five days ago. He had been learning the ropes when he was shot during a patrol west of Kandahar. 

Walsh's parents, Ben and Margie Walsh, released a statement saying they were proud of their son, and support all Canadian Forces members serving in Afghanistan. 

A massive rotation of troops is taking place this month, with those who deployed in February heading out and fresh troops from Ontario and Quebec coming in. 

"This whole incident will be investigated by the military's independent National Investigation Service ... but what we were told is that they were not under any fire at this time," CTV's Matt McClure told Newsnet from Afghanistan. 

"Normally soldiers in this circumstance would have their weapons loaded but they would be locked and on safe so that they cannot go off by accident ... that appears not to have been the case." 

Details of the incident are sketchy.
In same article - further down  

The soldiers involved in the incident later came under attack at a forward operating base in the area. 


But military officials say the two incidents were separate. "Enemy action has been ruled out,'' Irwin said. 


In another incident, six soldiers were injured early Wednesday morning when their armoured vehicle collided with a transport truck east of Kandahar. 

Two of the soldiers suffered serious injuries while the four others were treated and released. 

The two more seriously injured soldiers were airlifted to the hospital at the Kandahar Air Field, where they are reported to be in stable condition, said McClure.  More on link


Military Memorial Service for Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener
LFCA MA / SCFT AM 06-11 - August 9, 2006
http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=2020


OTTAWA, Ont. — A Military Memorial Service for Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, an Infantry Officer with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry who lost his life while serving with the UN Truce Supervision Organisation in the Khiyam area of South Lebanon, will take place at the Princess of Wales’ Own Regiment Armoury, 100 Montreal St., Kingston, Ont. on Thursday, August 10, 2006 at 10 a.m. 

As per the request of the family, the news media are invited to attend, though no interviews will be given.

Many dignitaries will be present to pay their respect.

An interment ceremony will take place at the Woodland Cemetery, Spring Garden Road, between Botanical Drive and Valley Inn Road, Burlington, Ont. on Friday August 11, 2006 at 2 p.m. 

Soldier killed in Afghan accident   
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/4777977.stm

Five British troops have died in Afghanistan in August 
A British soldier has been killed in a traffic accident in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has said. 
The soldier was serving with the Royal Logistic Corps in Kabul and is the fifth UK soldier to die this month. 

The death brings the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 18, after Private Andrew Cutts was killed by Taleban gunfire three days ago. 

Of those killed, six died because of illness, accident, or injuries which were not caused by combat. 

The ministry said the soldier was killed in Camp Souter, and there was "no insurgent involvement". 

No other soldiers or civilians were injured in the accident. 

"The next of kin have been informed, and they have requested a period of time to inform friends and family before his name is made public," the MoD said. 

Respect has its price
Tue, August 8, 2006 Edmonton Sun By Paul Stanway
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Stanway_Paul/2006/08/08/1724239.html

As the death toll of Canadian troops in Afghanistan increases (24 now since 2002), I have no doubt our soldiers are up to the challenge - but I'm not so sure about the rest of us. 

As Dr. Rob Huebert, associate director of the University of Calgary's Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, aptly put it in yesterday's Sun, "We will hear more stories as the rotations (of troops to Afghanistan) come to an end, and there's two ways they'll play out. 

"People will either decide war is hell, that this is a learning experience for the Canadian public, and we've got to learn that TV and reality are two very different things. Or people will step back and say, 'Wait a minute, this isn't what we signed up for.' " 
More on link

War videos threaten Cdn troops
By BROOKES MERRITT, EDMONTON SUN
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/08/09/1726126-sun.html

Troops' Internet postings pose security risk, warns military official

Unauthorized videos taken by Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and posted on the Internet could threaten the safety of troops, warns an Edmonton military official. 

And judging by some of the footage found at youtube.com, it could also be embarrassing, says a former commander. 

"Something soldiers find innocent might be beneficial to enemy intelligence," said Brian Hillier, top spokesman for Land Force Western Area. 

"Policy is that all video and pictures taken on service duty must be approved by Chief of Defence staff ... to ensure operational security and soldier safety is not compromised." 

Concern over videos going public arose after military officials learned Edmonton reservist Cpl. Darcy Ressler recently returned from Afghanistan with alleged footage of an attempted suicide bomb attack and a nighttime firefight. 

A military source said Ressler may already be in hot water over public disclosures he made about operational tactics, and he could face charges for sharing video footage. 
More on link



Battles leave Afghans nowhere to turn
TIM ALBONE AND TAHIR LUDDIN  Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060809.wafghanistan09/BNStory/National/

Rozi Mohammad had been digging for hours and he was nowhere near finished.

“I am digging because I will not leave this village like I left my home village,” the 24-year-old said, his three children by his side. “When the bombs come again we will hide in here.”

Like hundreds of families who live in Pashmul district, Mr. Mohammad had left his home among the fertile grape fields 40 kilometres west of Kandahar city that have been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting between Canadian troops and Taliban rebels. He thought he was safer here in Sartakht village. Though still in Pashmul, it's closer to the main highway and closer to Kandahar city. He was, however, not taking any chances, and so he began digging.

The villagers in this rural area are put in an impossible position. “The Taliban are forcing us to give them food and shelter and the coalition are bombing us,” said Sultan Mohammad, a man of 50 with five children who also fled. “We hate the Canadians and we hate the Taliban.”
More on link

Taliban militants hang woman, son
By AMIR SHAH
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/08/08/1725099-ap.html

KABUL (AP) - Suspected Taliban militants hanged a woman and her son from a tree after accusing them of spying for the government, while fighting between supporters of rival warlords in northwestern Afghanistan killed four people, officials said Wednesday. 

The 70-year-old woman and her 30-year-old son were killed Monday in the village of Daigh, about eight kilometres north of Musa Qala in the southern province of Helmand, said Amir Mohammad Akhunzada, the province's deputy governor. 

Akhunzada did not identify the two but said the woman's son-in-law worked for the police. After the slaying, the militants threatened to kill anyone working for the government, he said. 

"This hanging is totally against Islam," Akhunzada said. "They use the name of Islam to go against Islam." 
More on link

4 months will tell if NATO is beating Taliban: commander
Tue, 08 Aug 2006 23:01:49 EDT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/08/08/afghan-canada.html


The new chief of NATO forces in Afghanistan says he'll know within four months if plans to beat the Taliban are working, as he urged Canada not to waver in the battle.

Lt.-Gen. David Richards, the British general who took command of the NATO forces on July 31, said Tuesday that 8,000 NATO soldiers — including 2,200 Canadians — and Afghan units will be sent into six southern provinces over the next four to six weeks.

Richards urged Canadians to continue their contribution to the international forces that have been trying to help stabilize the country since a Taliban government was ousted in 2001.

The NATO commander said the Canadians who have died in Afghanistan have "died for as good a cause as I can think of."

"If ever there was a just war, this is it," Richards said.

Must improve life 'soon,' general warns

He estimated it would take three to five years to significantly improve the lives of Afghans, but noted that ordinary Afghans are already grumbling about a lack of security.

"If it doesn't visibly improve soon, people are going to say we'd rather have the certain security — albeit the rotten life that goes with it — of the Taliban than go on fighting forever," Richards said.
More on link

Latest fallen soldier back in Canada
By BRETT POPPLEWELL  
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/08/08/1725160-cp.html

CFB TRENTON, Ont. (CP) - The body of a Canadian soldier killed in an accident in Afghanistan was returned to Canada on Tuesday to his distraught widow and grieving family members. 

A piper played a mournful lament as the flag-draped coffin bearing reserve Master Cpl. Raymond Arndt was escorted by military pallbearers to a waiting hearse. His wife of nine months, Darcia, found support from two servicemen who held her up by the arms as she fought back tears at the sight of her husband's casket. 

She gathered just enough strength to kiss a single red rose and place it on the coffin as the two men holding her upright kept her from collapsing. 

Too weak to stand, she was later escorted by wheelchair to a waiting limousine
More on link

*This is who we are fighting*

A trip too far
The Turner Report posted by Garth Turner on 08.08.06 @ 10:54 pm
http://www.garth.ca/weblog/2006/08/08/a-trip-too-far/#comments

This Commentary about 1/3 the way down the page

“You’ve seen me on TV, but you don’t know my name, and if you run into me in the street, you won’t recognize me. That’s because my face was covered while I was posing for the camera along with four of my comrades, assembled for the execution of an American. I am one of those responsible, whom American president promised to bring to justice. Good luck! 

It may come as a surprise to you, but I felt some pity for the poor guy whose head we cut off. He knew what was about to happen and, yet, he went to his death without a fight, like a sheep. He couldn’t have gotten away, of course; but, at the same time, he had nothing to lose, and there was little we could’ve done if he had decided to violate the dignity of our presentation by kicking and screaming, except maybe making his death more painful. He would’ve been killed anyway; but, at least, he would’ve died like a man, fighting. On the other hand, we had to make the video, and if he had spoiled it for us, we would’ve had to execute someone else.

American president is sending American soldiers and civilians alike to die in Iraq in pursuit of the pipe dream of spreading democracy. Our warriors die fighting for the sacred goal of spreading Islam. But the symmetry ends right there. Just look at what all contemporary democracies have in common: they all exist in prosperous capitalist countries populated mostly by Christians or, in the case of Israel, Jews. I doubt this is just a coincidence, since every single prosperous capitalist country populated mostly by Christians or Jews is a democracy. Although India and Turkey are considered democracies, neither of them presents an example to the contrary. Indian democracy is forced to coexist with their ancient caste system, which will easily outlive their democracy as well as any other sign of Western influence. And if you think that Turkey is such a free country, why has no American or Canadian ever emigrated there in search of liberties unattainable at home?

We, Arabs, lack the prosperity of the decadent West. We are not capitalists. We are dirt poor. We have always been poor and always will be. Our most coveted possession, oil, was worthless a few decades ago, before capitalism made the West so powerful, and it will become worthless again a few decades from today, when capitalism dies and the power of the West becomes a thing of the past. And, of course, we are neither Jews nor Christians. We are Muslims. Our desert soil will not support democracy. Nothing grows on it, but jihad.
Let me ask you, what on earth could possibly give you an idea that we want democracy? Have you ever seen us do anything at all that could be interpreted as craving for the personal freedom that Americans in Iraq and Canadians in Afghanistan, in their arrogance, are so eager to spread and to defend with their lives? Of course, we are moving to Europe and your country in ever growing numbers, but liberty is never on the list of personal reasons that cause so many of us to tear our roots from the sand, cross the ocean and settle among our mortal enemies. Our great migration to the West is not a drive to freedom; it is jihad, pure and simple, albeit in its least spectacular form. When North America and Europe do not come to Mohammad, Mohammad comes to America and Europe. Some of us achieve great success among the infidel, but most do not even bother, because we know that sooner or later your evil folly will fall apart, as easily and as completely, as the World Trade Center collapsed under our blows, and the world will revert to the simple, clear truth of the Holy Koran. Where will you run when we turn your land into desert? Where will you hide? 

But let us forget for a moment that democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan is impossible. Let your fantasy loose. Imagine that you somehow win and Iraq becomes an American-style democracy. Imagine even that it fights jihad on your side. Of course, based on the performance of its army in the two wars Bushes have forced on our people, you might be better off with them fighting against you; but imagine that, against all odds, you manage to teach them to fight like you do, cowardly and efficiently. Here’s the question: how is that supposed to make you safe from terrorism? How will it stop another bunch of Saudis, or Egyptians, or Moroccans, or Libyans, or Jordanians, or Lebanese from flying another couple of jets into another couple of skyscrapers, or planting a few dirty bombs, or poisoning your water supply, or doing any of the things we normally do to you whenever the opportunity presents itself?
The answer is, it won’t. You can’t win this war. Not the way you’re fighting it.
Try looking at it from my perspective. The father of the executed American put the blame for his death on Bush and Rumsfield. I understand that you have little reason to trust anything I say; but you may believe me when I tell you that neither Bush nor Rumsfield were among the five men who beheaded the American. I know; I was there. I’m sure the father of the dead American knows it as well. He was probably going through the most painful days of his whole life, and you shouldn’t judge him. God only knows what stupid things each one of us may do or say when forced to see his beloved son die without a purpose, while powerless to defend him and with no hope to ever avenge his death. Only the purpose gives us strength to face tragedy with dignity, like countless Palestinian mothers whose sons and daughters have martyred themselves fighting the Zionist occupation of their land.
But let’s get back to the dead guy’s father. He knows we, Arabs, killed his son, in strict accordance with our culture, our tradition, and our religion. Bush and new Canadian PM (do not remember his name) is the only world leaders, trying to fight back, although with no chance of success. And yet, the grieving father blames American president. Blaming Islam, Arabs in general, or even just the five of us has never occurred to him or almost anyone else in the world. This is no exception. Whatever we do to uphold the glory of God, the world reacts as if the devastation we visit upon our enemies is caused by something absolutely beyond human control, like bad weather. Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, kill thousands of people each year, but nobody calls for retribution, nobody demands revenge.
That leaves me and my brothers blameless. We can murder infidels in front of cameras. We can cut them to pieces and pose with their body parts. We can do anything we want, and nobody, be he friend or foe, is going to blame us for it. Just think about it. You are so proud of your freedom, but in reality it’s we who are the freest people on earth. If you believe we are going to surrender our absolute freedom in exchange for the chimera of American-style democracy, you are totally, ridiculously wrong, and I will gladly tear you apart, preferably with news photographers present, to prove it. 

I remember how at the beginning of the war your newspapers kept guessing if the Iraqis were going to turn on you or greet you as liberators. We adored Saddam, but not because he did anything good for us. He robbed the country blind; his thugs tortured people to death at his whim. This is what a ruler does. This is what any man would do in his place. Only no other man was smart enough to get in his place. That’s why we admired him so. And when the Americans came, we greeted them for two reasons. First, we expected to be punished if we failed to extol the new rulers. Second, you had beaten the man we thought was unbeatable. In your country, when a challenger knocks down the heavyweight champion of the world, you all love the winner, don’t you?
It took us time to realize that, despite your awesome arms and the excellent training of your soldiers, you are weak. You don’t have what it takes to win a war against Arabs. You don’t understand your enemy. American president promised to bring me to justice. He might or might not get lucky, but killing or capturing me will change nothing. I am a warrior; I expect to die at the enemy’s hands, and I am not afraid of my fate. But how will my death or capture help you? You captured Saddam; did it help you?
I, on the other hand, given the opportunity would not only kill your president or PM, but wouldn’t miss a chance to butcher your grandmother either — not because she posed any danger for me, but because this is a war, and in a war you do not miss a chance to hurt your enemy. I hope you understand there is nothing personal in it. This is jihad. 

You thought you won the war when Saddam’s army crumbled under your assault, unable to put up any real resistance. Now you know that by the time Saddam’s army was completely demolished, the war hadn’t even started yet. Now you have a real war on your hands, and you have lost it. It wouldn’t be easy to point out when it happened, because it happened gradually, but I can name the exact moment when you reached the point of no return. It was when you allowed Fallujah to survive the murder and mutilation of four American civilians. You failed to implement the only policy that would’ve given you a chance: submit or die. You failed to destroy Fallujah with all its population. What happened next? Muqtaba al-Sadr, a nobody, a man who has nothing to show for himself except his dead father’s fame, challenges you and survives. Now even children are no longer afraid of you.

Here’s a lesson for you. Winning a war and keeping your armour shiny are two very different tasks. You are about to learn that when you are dealing with an enemy like us, these tasks are mutually exclusive.
Nothing exposes your innate weakness better than your refusal to do what needs to be done for fear of causing the hatred of Muslims. Do you think we hate you now any more or any less than we hated you on the eve of 9/11? Are you afraid of how the UN might react if you do the right thing?
Doesn’t it strike you as strange that we, the obvious underdog, do not care whether you love us or hate us, although you can, in theory, blow us away in less time than it took us to film the beheading?
Think about it till we meet again. And we will, I promise.” 

Letter of “shahid” is delivered by
Alex Crow, Toronto 

By Alex on 08.08.06 11:50 pm 



Govt faces criticism on Afghanistan
Role of Italian troops in Nato mission under scrutiny 
by Martin Penner .
http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-08-09_1097488.html

(ANSA) - Rome, August 9 - A minor diplomatic incident focusing on the role of Italian troops in Afghanistan has sparked a fresh wave of grumbling about the government's line on military involvement in the country .

Calls for a rapid withdrawal of Italian soldiers came from two of Premier Romano Prodi's left-wing allies and from a former president. The centre-right opposition, meanwhile, accused the Prodi administration of being fatally confused on the issue .

The new round of sniping was sparked by a surprise statement that the Afghan defence minister made on Tuesday during a visit to Kabul by Italian parliamentary officials .

The minister referred to a future deployment of Italian troops in the violence-wracked south of the country, forcing Italian defence minister, Arturo Parisi, to issue a denial .

Italian military authorities explained that the national contingent, currently based in Kabul and the western city of Herat, would not be sent south without specific permission being given from Rome .

Italy demanded this as a condition for its continued participation in the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan when that mission took over responsibility for the south last month .

Until then, the NATO mission had controlled the rest of the country, while the US-led Enduring Freedom mission covered the more turbulent south .

News that Italy's troops were to be spared action in the most dangerous part of Afghanistan appeared to provoke bitterness and embarrassment in former President Francesco Cossiga. He said Italian soldiers faced the "humiliation" of being seen as "second class troops" and highlighted a potentially awkward position for the commander of the Italian contingent .
]More on link

Afghanistan Coalition Forces Kill 15 Rebels in East, U.S. Says  
Bloomberg.com 9 August 2006
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=abDU7IBh.Kok&refer=canada

Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S.-led coalition soldiers killed 15 insurgents after their base came under fire in eastern Afghanistan, the military said. 

About 30 insurgents used gunfire and mortars to attack the coalition base in Nuristan province's Kamdesh district late yesterday, the U.S. military said today in an e-mailed statement. Coalition forces responded, killing 15 of the attackers in the ensuing firefight. Two U.S. soldiers and an Afghan policeman suffered ``minor'' wounds in the attack, the military said. 

Afghan and coalition soldiers in April began Operation Mountain Lion, to track down Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in eastern Afghanistan. A separate operation, Mountain Thrust, ended in the south at the end of July, with the military saying it had killed, wounded and caught more than 1,100 insurgents. 

Forces from the Afghan military, the U.S.-led coalition and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization stepped up operations across the country this year to extend the influence of President Hamid Karzai's government beyond the capital, Kabul. Taliban fighters have responded by increasing attacks on civilians and the military. 

The NATO-led force, which this year was doubled to 18,500 soldiers from 37 countries, took over responsibility for security in southern Afghanistan on July 31, adding to its missions in the north, west and Kabul. 

The coalition has a force of more than 26,000 from 26 nations, including about 18,500 Americans. It has responsibility for the east and for anti-terrorism operations across Afghanistan. 
End

Editorial: Doing it right in Afghanistan
August 10, 2006  The Australian News
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20073658-7583,00.html

Sending troops is a difficult but necessary commitment 

AUSTRALIAN troops are once again on the move. In parliament yesterday, John Howard announced that 390 Australian Defence Force soldiers, including an infantry company of 120, would join a Dutch reconstruction team in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province, replacing a 200-member special forces taskforce due to return home next month. In deploying troops to Afghanistan, the Prime Minister is sending a powerful message that even as Australia pursues commitments elsewhere in the world, it is not about to leave unfinished business to fester in the war on terror. As a victim of Soviet domination followed by Taliban depravity, Afghanistan deserves all the help it can get. And if Kevin Rudd is correct that there are potentially "tens of thousands of al-Qa'ida" still active there, all the better for them to be dealt with thousands of kilometres from our shores by trained professionals. 

The deployment is as vital as it is dangerous. The violent and chaotic Afghanistan that was left after Soviet invaders withdrew in 1989 became the ultimate failed state. What resulted was a disorganised shambles that played host to terrorists and a brutal Islamic theocracy under the Taliban. Afghanistan's chief exports became opium, terrorism and refugees. Since the ouster of the Taliban, northern Afghanistan has been relatively stable. Five million children have returned to school, three million refugees have returned home and a small but growing economic base has developed. Add to this a popularly elected President and parliament and publicly debated constitution and it looks like a nation-building success story. Unfortunately things haven't gone so well in the south after neglect by the international community which failed to provide security for the region. This has been exacerbated by Pakistan's two-faced ability to give cover to terrorists operating across its border with Afghanistan while simultaneously portraying itself as an ally of the West in the war on terror. This has led to a plethora of heavily armed non-state actors operating with impunity within the country's borders. As the experience of Hezbollah's occupation of southern Lebanon shows, the loss of sovereignty to militias and criminals is profoundly dangerous and destabilising.
End

Park soldier killed in Afghanistan
by Terri Kemball  Wednesday August 09, 2006
http://www.sherwoodparknews.com/story.php?id=247028

Cpl. Bryce Keller died with two comrades last week.

Sherwood Park News — One Sherwood Park man was killed and another seriously injured in Afghanistan this past week.
According to the Department of National Defence (DND), Cpl. Bryce Keller died Aug. 3 with two comrades in a rocket-propelled grenade attack near the village of Pashmul, located about 25 km southwest of Kandahar City.
Keller and the other soldiers were all members of the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton.
Three more soldiers and a local interpreter were also injured in the attack, which occurred the same day another soldier died.
A DND release indicated, “Canadian and Afghan National Security Forces inflicted severe casualties upon the Taliban.”
The department stated the fighting, which cost the lives of four Canadian soldiers and saw 10 wounded, was a “necessary and successful step towards improving security in southern Afghanistan.”
“Without security, development is not possible,” the department noted. “The sacrifice of these brave Canadian soldiers was the price of ensuring that 10s of thousands of Afghan men, women and children can have hope that their future will be brighter.”
Keller’s family asked for privacy after the tragedy but they did release the following information:
More on link

Aug. 9, 2006, 1:41PM
U.S. forces repel raid on Afghan base


By PAUL GARWOOD Associated Press Writer 
© 2006 The Associated Press 

NARAY, Afghanistan — U.S. soldiers and warplanes drove off an insurgent attack on a new American base early Wednesday, reportedly killing 19 militants in an area where rebels are trying to resist a push by coalition troops into remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

In the volatile south of the country, wracked by the bloodiest fighting in nearly five years, suspected Taliban rebels hanged a 70-year-old woman and her son from a tree, accusing them of spying for President Hamid Karzai's government, officials said.


U.S. forces repel raid on Afghan base
By PAUL GARWOOD Associated Press Writer   © 2006 The Associated Press 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4105579.html

NARAY, Afghanistan — U.S. soldiers and warplanes drove off an insurgent attack on a new American base early Wednesday, reportedly killing 19 militants in an area where rebels are trying to resist a push by coalition troops into remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

In the volatile south of the country, wracked by the bloodiest fighting in nearly five years, suspected Taliban rebels hanged a 70-year-old woman and her son from a tree, accusing them of spying for President Hamid Karzai's government, officials said.
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Soldiers back from Ira and Afghanistan committed to the mission
http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=5258898&nav=8fap


MONTGOMERY, Ala. For Lieutenant Colonel Danny Mclendon, the hardest thing about returning from a five-month tour in Iraq was that his two-year-old triplets didn't recognize him.

A 41-year-old Air National Guardsman who served in Iraq from August to December 2004, Mclendon said he was horrified by the "daily death and destruction."

Despite the hardships, Mclendon, a Montgomery native who also served in Afghanistan in 2002, said he is willing to go back.

His sentiments were echoed by seven other Alabama soldiers from different branches of the military who were invited to eat lunch yesterday with Governor Bob Riley. All eight said they remain committed to the mission to fight terrorism and are convinced that the United States will prevail in Iraq.
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## GAP (9 Aug 2006)

*  #2 of Articles found 9 August 2006*

Top soldier fears Afghanistan's security uncertainty could benefit Taliban
Donald McArthur, CanWest News Service; Windsor Star  Wednesday, August 09, 2006 

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=f856665e-cb03-44f4-8af2-9576ac1b1a7c&k=72733

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - If the security situation in Afghanistan's volatile south doesn't improve over the next few months, civilians who have yet to choose sides in the conflict could cast their lot with the Taliban and the country could be used once more as a staging ground for international terror attacks, the British general in charge of the NATO-led mission here said Tuesday.

Lt.-Gen. David Richards, who met with NATO officials and troops at Kandahar air field after a grim week in which five Canadian and four British soldiers were killed, said NATO will be redeploying troops and police over the next four to six weeks. They should know "within three to four months whether we've made a dent" in the insurgency and an impression on the "floating population" of Afghan civilians yearning for peace and stability.

The 37-nation NATO-led International Security Assistance Force assumed command for operations in the four southern provinces including Kandahar last week, and Richards made it clear NATO was going to keep taking the fight to insurgents so that development and reconstruction projects necessary to win popular support for the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai could proceed.
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Afghan, US forces kill 12 Taliban militants in Afghanistan
Aug 9, 2006,
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1188590.php/Afghan_US_forces_kill_12_Taliban_militants_in_Afghanistan

Kabul - Afghan and US-led coalition forces killed at least 12 Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border after the militants attacked a joint Afghan and US base in Nuristan province, US spokesman said Wednesday. 


A group of suspected Taliban militants attacked a joint Afghan and US forces military base in Andar district of eastern Nuristan province Tuesday night and wounded two US and one Afghan national army soldiers, US military spokesman Colonel Thomas Collins told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 

In the ensuing firefight in which close air support was also called in, 'The Afghan and coalition forces killed some 12 suspected Taliban in Andar district near Pakistan border,' Collin said. 

He said that the wounded soldiers were evacuated to a coalition hospital but did not provide more details regarding their condition. 
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More Australian troops head for Afghanistan
Wed Aug 9, 2006 6:11am ET  By James Grubel
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-09T101101Z_01_SYD151557_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-AUSTRALIA-AFGHANISTAN.xml&archived=False


CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia will send an extra 150 troops to Afghanistan due to the deteriorating security situation, Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday, briefly boosting Canberra's commitment to Afghanistan to more than 600.

"Security beyond Kabul, particularly in the east and south, is the worst since the Taliban fell -- suicide bombings have increased," Howard told parliament.

Australia was one of the first countries to commit forces in late 2001 to the U.S.-led war which ousted the Taliban and began fighting Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda, blamed for the September 11, 2001, airliner attacks on the United States. 

"We must stick with our allies and stand up for our values," said Defense Minister Brendan Nelson, outlining the new Australian Defense Force (ADF) deployment.

"A failure to do so will inevitably mean leaving the next generation hostage to global forces they will never control."

The bulk of the extra troops will be being sent to protect Australian military engineers, who will join a Netherlands-led reconstruction team in the central province of Uruzgan.

"The level of violence has increased in Afghanistan in recent months as the Taliban and other terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, seek to chip away at the credibility of the Afghan government and prevent reconstruction taking place," said Howard
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Vile message horrifies family
 HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA | Wednesday August 9, 2006 By KELLY SHIERS Staff Reporter
The Chronicle Herald 
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/520863.html

Skull image vandalizes ribbon honouring mom in Afghanistan


On the day Canadian Forces nurse Lindsay Elford arrived in Afghanistan, her husband tied a yellow ribbon around the elm tree in front of their Vernon Street home as "a reminder to think of Mommy" for three-year-old Julia and one-year-old Stephen.

Last week, as Robert Elford was getting the children into the car to go to day care, he was shocked when Julia asked him about the picture on the tree.

"I looked over and I was surprised — horrified — to see a skull spray-painted underneath the yellow ribbon," recalled Lt.-Cmdr. Elford, who’s been in the navy for 18 years.

"It was about two feet high — quite big."
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Afghanistan ambassador named
By Sandra O'Malley  August 09, 2006 06:41pm
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20071746-1702,00.html

AUSTRALIA send its first ambassador to Afghanistan next month.

While Australia has had on-and-off diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, it is the first time its ambassador will live in the country. 

Career diplomat Brent Hackett, who has spent three years as deputy high commissioner in Islamabad, will take up the appointment next month.

He will arrive in Kabul as Australia sends the bulk of a 400 member reconstruction task force to help rebuild Afghanistan.

Prime Minister John Howard today formally announced an increase in Australia's newest deployment to Afghanistan, sending in extra reconstruction personnel, as well as an infantry company to deal with the increased security threat.
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Vice and virtue in Afghanistan
By Aunohita Mojumdar South Asia   Aug 10, 2006  
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HH10Df01.html

 Vice and virtue in Afghanistan
By Aunohita Mojumdar 

KABUL - The Afghan government's move to reactivate the Department of Vice and Virtue has set alarm bells ringing among sections of the international community. Under the Taliban, a full-fledged ministry was responsible for formulating some of its most contentious laws. 

The Taliban's tal-Amr bi al-ma'ruf wa al-Nahi 'an al-Munkir or Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice was responsible for implementing a wide range of codes governing public behavior, including bans on activities ranging from homosexuality and apparently innocent pastimes such as kite-flying and music to the absurd, including on women showing their ankles, as well as diktats on the length of men's beards. 

Reacting to the move by President Hamid Karzai government, Human Rights Watch said it raised "serious concerns about the  
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Feature: Bamyan Buddha statues in central Afghanistan may be rebuilt by 2009   
UPDATED: 08:22, August 09, 2006 People's Daily Online
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/09/eng20060809_291148.html         


Some workers are clearing and sorting out the pieces of the two best-known disrupted Bamyan Buddha statues in central Afghanistan's Bamyan province, and an official told Xinhua a possible project of rebuilding the statues may be wrapped up by the end of 2009 if everything goes smoothly. 

At the site, hundreds of meters north of Bamyan city, capital of the province, some Afghan workers with yellow safety helmets were clearing and collecting the two statues' pieces with shovels and handcarts on Sunday. 

The two Buddha statues, which used to be the highest ones in the standing style in the world, were exploded by the extremist Taliban regime in March 2001. The regime claimed they were idolatrous and anti-Islam. 

Some stones, from the two destroyed statues, are lying below them and have been noted with sequence numbers. 

A program of sorting out the debris is being carried out with a fund of about 1.3 million U.S. dollars sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 
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## GAP (11 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 11 August 2006*

Cdn. soldier dead after bomb rocks Afghan convoy
Updated Fri. Aug. 11 2006 4:56 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060712/afghanistan_edmonton_0600811/20060811?hub=TopStories

CTV Newsnet: Matt McClure on the suicide attack 2:08 - video clip
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=TopStories&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/11/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_08_11_1155328241.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/11/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_08_11_1155327344.wmv&clip_start=00:00:29.16&clip_end=00:02:08.12&clip_caption=CTV Newsnet: Matt McClure on the suicide attack&clip_id=ctvnews.20060811.00158000-00158342-clip1&subhub=video&no_ads=&sortdate=20060712&slug=afghanistan_edmonton_0600811&archive=CTVNews




An unidentified Canadian soldier is dead after a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy in southern Afghanistan on Friday. 

The attack occurred around 3:30 p.m. local time Friday on a re-supply convoy of Canadian troops near Spin Boldak, about a three hour drive southeast of Kandahar, reported CTV's Matt McClure in Kandahar. 
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NATO soldier, 3 coalition soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Last Updated Fri, 11 Aug 2006 15:14:57 EDT  CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/08/11/aghan-attack.html

A NATO soldier and three coalition soldiers were killed Friday in separate incidents in Afghanistan on Friday.

There was no immediate information on the nationality of the soldiers.

The NATO soldier was killed when a suicide bomber slammed into a military convoy, a NATO spokesman said.

The attack happened on a highway in the southern part of Kandahar province, said Maj. Vincent Tassel, a NATO spokesman.

A man claiming to be a Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the blast.

Battle with extremists

The three coalition soldiers were killed during a battle with Taliban extremists in northeastern Afghanistan, in the Waygal District of Nuristan Province, the U.S. military said. 
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Also this from the BBC

Afghan bomb kills Nato soldier   
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4784283.stm
  
A Nato soldier has been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a convoy in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, Nato has said. 
The suicide bomber, who also died, rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the convoy in Spin Boldak district near the Pakistan border. 

The nationality of the soldier has not been revealed. Nato troops have sealed off the area. 

Nato's 8,000 soldiers took over control from US forces in the south on 31 July

Soldier dead after bombing rocks Afghan convoy
Updated Fri. Aug. 11 2006 9:48 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060712/afghanistan_edmonton_0600811/20060811?hub=TopStories

An unidentified soldier is dead after a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden vehicle into a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan on Friday.

NATO confirmed the casualty to Reuters but there was no word on the soldier's nationality.

Maj. Vincent Tassel told The Associated Press the attack occurred on the highway in the Spin Boldak district of the southern Kandahar province, also killing the suicide bomber and damaging an alliance vehicle.

Purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the bomber was an Afghan by the name of Mohammad Ilyas.

But the authenticity of the claim was not verified.

The attack came one day after approximately 90 soldiers returned home to Edmonton Thursday night after a grueling tour of duty in Afghanistan.
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Also this report

Afghanistan Suicide Bomber Kills NATO Force Soldier in South  
Aug. 11 (Bloomberg)  
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aFzD2.b3yEFQ&refer=canada

A suicide bomber in southern Afghanistan killed a soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in the central Asian nation, the military alliance said today. 

``The incident occurred on the road from Spin Boldak to Kandahar, when a white Toyota Corolla drove towards an ISAF convoy, and exploded near one of the vehicles,'' ISAF said in an e-mailed statement, adding that the bombing occurred at 3:30 p.m. local time. ISAF didn't give the soldier's nationality. 

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization-commanded force, with 18,500 soldiers from 37 nations, last month took control of security operations in Kandahar and other southern provinces from the U.S.-led coalition. ISAF, coalition, and Afghan troops face increasing resistance across the country as they seek to expand the influence of the central government to remote areas. 

Separately, Afghan and coalition forces today killed three suspected members of al-Qaeda during a raid in the eastern province of Khowst, the coalition military said in an e-mailed statement. Three ``associates'' of the killed people were arrested, according to the statement. 

``The purpose of this operation was to capture an al-Qaeda facilitator considered a significant threat to Afghan and Coalition forces,'' the military said. ``Credible intelligence linked the targeted terrorist to remote-controlled improvised explosive device and vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks in Khowst Province.'' 

The military came under fire on arriving at the site of the raid, and killed the suspects in an ensuing gun battle, according to the statement. ``Numerous'' AK-47 assault rifles, armor-piercing ammunition and grenades were found at the location, the military said. 

The coalition has a force of more than 26,000 soldiers from 26 nations, including about 18,500 Americans. It has responsibility for eastern Afghanistan and for anti-terrorism operations across the country. 
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UK troops to lead major offensive in Afghanistan  
11 August 2006 
http://www.4ni.co.uk/news.asp?id=53989

British troops are to lead a major combat offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan, it has been confirmed.
Around 10,000 Nato troops - around 5,000 of them from Britain - will be involved in the offensive, alongside a similar number of Afghan soldiers.
The campaign - which will be led by Lieutenant General David Richards, commander of the International Security Assistance Force - is believed to be the biggest task force led by a British officer since World War II.
It will focus on four southern provincial capitals - Kandahar, Qalat, Tarin Kowt and Lashkar Gar in the volatile Helmand province, which has been the scene of much of the fighting between British troops and Taliban fighters and has seen the most British fatalities.
Lt Gen Richards admitted that British soldiers were tired, but said that confidence was still high among the troops. He said: "They are tired, but morale is very high. They know what we are trying to do, which is to get on the front foot.
"They need a bit of a rest because some of them have been out there for over 40 days and almost nightly have come under attack.
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More Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan  
Updated Fri. Aug. 11 2006 8:02 AM ET Associated Press CTV
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060712/afghanistan_template_0600811/20060811?hub=World

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Coalition troops and Afghan forces raided a building in southeastern Afghanistan on Friday, killing three suspected al Qaeda members, officials said.

The alleged al Qaeda operatives were killed in the village of Ya'Qubi in southeastern Khost province, the coalition said in a statement. Three other suspects were detained.

"The purpose of this operation was to capture an al-Qaida facilitator considered a significant threat to Afghan and coalition forces," the statement said.

Those targeted were linked to a number of attacks using car bombs and other explosive devices in the province, the coalition said.

In the central Logar province, 10 suspected Taliban militants intercepted a group of 15 men coming from a wedding party early Friday and beat them with rifle butts. They then set fire to a local radio station that broadcasts music and entertainment programs, a witness and a police chief said.

The incident occurred just 30 miles south of Kabul and was reminiscent of the times when Taliban militants imposed strict Islamic rule in Afghanistan, including a ban on music and entertainment, before being ousted by a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.

One of the 15 men, who did not want to reveal his name for fear of retribution, said a companion's leg was broken in the beating.

"The Taliban cocked their guns and started questioning us," he said, adding that the militants criticized them for celebrating during a "time of occupation" in Afghanistan -- an apparent reference to the presence of foreign forces in the country.
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Witness: CIA interrogator enraged by Afghan detainee
Wednesday, August 9, 2006 Posted: 1759 GMT (0159 HKT) CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/09/prisonerabuse.cia.ap/index.html

RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- An ex-CIA contractor on trial for allegedly beating an Afghan detainee during an interrogation grew enraged when the man wasn't able to answer questions about rocket attacks, a retired Army Special Forces soldier testified Wednesday.

David Passaro is charged with beating Abdul Wali over two days in June 2003 while questioning him about attacks on a remote base housing U.S. and Afghan troops. Wali later died.

Passaro is the first American civilian charged with mistreating a detainee during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It became clear he (Wali) was not going to be a font of information," said retired Chief Warrant Officer Brian Halstead. "Dave starts getting mad, real mad. Dave starts hollering. Dave is screaming at this guy. ... Red in the face, spit flying, finger-poking. He was going off."

Halstead, who said he was in charge of planning operations in Afghanistan's Kunar province at the time, said he was in the room with Passaro and Wali as Hyder Akbar, the son of provincial governor Fazel Akbar, tried to translate.
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NATO forces salute Cdn. killed in 'accident'
Updated Thu. Aug. 10 2006 11:32 PM ET  CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060810/shooting_negligence_0600810/20060810?hub=TopStories

A Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan in an apparent accidental shooting this week has been sent home, as military investigators look into whether negligence was a factor in his death. 

Early Friday at Kandahar Air Field, hundreds of soldiers from Canada and other NATO countries stood at attention as the body of Master-Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh was carried onto a Canadian Forces Hercules aircraft. 
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Coalition Blunts Attack on Afghan Base; 15 Enemy Fighters Die
American Forces Press Service 10 Aug 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=414

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2006 – Coalition soldiers killed 15 extremists Aug. 8 during a firefight at a provincial reconstruction team base in the Kamdesh district of Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, military officials reported. 
Two U.S. soldiers and one Afghan policeman suffered minor wounds when 30 insurgents attacked the base with small arms and rockets. Coalition forces responded with small arms and mortars. The wounded soldiers and police officer were treated on the scene and returned to duty. The coalition base was not damaged. 

“These extremists will never succeed in overcoming coalition and Afghan security forces,” Army Col. Thomas Collins, a coalition spokesman, said in a news release. “We will prevail because the Afghan people have demonstrated that they want a stable and prosperous country.” 

Elsewhere, Afghan and coalition troops found a weapons cache and two explosive devices Aug. 8 in eastern Afghanistan. A coalition unit discovered and destroyed the weapons cache, consisting of 200 rockets, hidden in a cave in the Kohi Safi district of Parwan province. 

Afghan police found an improvised explosive device in the Asadabad district of Kunar province, and Afghan soldiers found a landmine that had washed up onto a road in Khost province. Coalition teams destroyed both weapons in place. 

“These weapons will no longer be a threat to the lives of Afghan civilians,” Collins said. “We will continue working alongside Afghan security forces to remove these types of deadly weapons wherever we find them to ensure a peaceful existence for the Afghan people.” 

Also on Aug. 8, five passengers walked away largely unharmed from a roadside bomb blast that destroyed their up-armored Humvee. 
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3 suspected al-Qaida members killed in southeastern AfghanistanFisnik Abrashi, Canadian Press Friday, August 11, 2006 KABUL (AP) 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=552ae824-4d78-444f-b91e-e4daefb35d45&k=86994

U.S.-led coalition troops and Afghan forces raided a building in southeastern Afghanistan on Friday, killing three suspected al-Qaida members, officials said. 

The alleged al-Qaida operatives were killed in the village of Ya'Qubi in southeastern Khost province, the coalition said in a statement. Three other suspects were detained. 

"The purpose of this operation was to capture an al-Qaida facilitator considered a significant threat to Afghan and coalition forces," the statement said. 
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Rae slams Afghan vote, Harper foreign policy
KAREN HOWLETT - Globe & Mail 

TORONTO -- Liberal leadership candidate Bob Rae assailed Prime Minister Stephen Harper's foreign-policy initiatives yesterday, accusing him of an "alarming disregard" for Canada's traditional strengths in international affairs.

Mr. Rae reserved his harshest criticism for how Mr. Harper won the support of Parliament last May to extend Canada's mission in Afghanistan for another two years. The fate of the more than 2,000 Canadian troops fighting on the ground in Kandahar, the most serious decision a government can make, should not have been reduced to a six-hour debate, he said in his first major foreign-policy speech of the campaign.
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Soldier killed in Afghanistan named as Leicester man
Publisher:  Ian Morgan 11/08/2006 - 09:33:48 AM
http://www.24dash.com/content/news/viewNews.php?navID=57&newsID=9137

Mr Reeves, 25, of Leicester, was serving with the Royal Logistic Corps, the Ministry of Defence said.

The soldier died in an accident at Camp Souter, in Kabul, yesterday afternoon. No-one else was injured.

Soldiers at the base have created a temporary memorial to their colleague with flowers and a photograph.

Camp Souter is home to the British military contingent serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
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Afghanistan: 3 suspected al-Qaida members killed
By ASSOCIATED PRESS KABUL, Afghanistan Aug. 11, 2006 9:03
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525851924&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull           

US-led coalition troops and Afghan forces raided a building in southeastern Afghanistan on Friday, killing three suspected al-Qaida members, as a roadside bomb in the east killed an Afghan man and his grandson, officials said. 

The suspected al-Qaida members were killed in the village of Ya'Qubi in southeastern Khost province, the coalition said in a statement. Three other suspects were detained. 
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Troops use high tech to train for Afghanistan 
Thursday August 10, 2006 (1414 PST) Pak Tribune
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?152166

KABUL: Their missions take them into the heart of Afghanistan, where they interact with the people of the region, from ordinary villagers to Taliban rebels. 
They have to deal with unfamiliar languages, customs, culture and the caves and hillside villages that dot the landscape. They have to communicate, build relationships with a wide array of people, gather intelligence and carry out various missions. Such is the environment in which a group of Canadian Forces reservists has been preparing for deployment in Afghanistan. 

Exercise Maple Defender, which was recently run at the Canadian Manouevre Training Centre (CMTC) in Wainwright, Alta., was the first time Canadian troops have had the opportunity to use a new high-tech system in their training. 

The Weapons Effects Simulation (WES) system, developed by Cubic Defense Applications, allows troops to simulate weapons fire with an accuracy never before available to the Canadian Forces. Through a variety of high-tech applications, WES sensors record everything, including accuracy, number of rounds fired and casualties (fatalities and injuries and even how long a person has to live with specific types of injuries), as well as tracking movement and action. Soldiers wear specialized vests with GPS and other sensors; vehicles are equipped with similar monitoring devices. 

"It’s a very, very complex, state-of-the-art system," CMTC’s Lt.-Col. Marty Frank said. 
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Afghanistan: New Supreme Court Could Mark Genuine Departure  
Friday, August 11, 2006 Radio Free Europe
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/08/9D8DF381-B4FE-442F-A02B-E78C8AD3E850.html

Parliament's recent approval of a new chief justice and eight other members of the Supreme Court could mark a notable step on the road to long-term stability and a democratic society.


WASHINGTON, August 11, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- While Afghanistan has flirted with real and "kangaroo" parliaments in the past, genuine power has historically been held by the executive -- represented by kings, presidents, and commanders of the faithful. However, with few exceptions, the executive branch has had to walk a fine line with the judiciary, a branch that remained to varying degrees independent or even at odds with the executive branch.
  
The judiciary -- formally or informally -- also assumed the role of safeguarding Islamic values and character. This prerogative became more entrenched after the communist takeover in 1978 and the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union a year later.
  
A Break With Precedent
  
During the period of resistance to Soviet forces and their surrogates in Kabul, the elements who traditionally controlled and represented Afghanistan's judiciary became a vanguard of the struggle. 

In 1992, those same elements took power in the capital, seemingly placing the executive and judiciary branches in the hands of a single group of people: They were the judges and the court functionaries, the ulama (mullahs), the clergy, and important hereditary religious families. Those groups have traditionally preserved their power bases and legitimacy by steering the Islamic sensibilities of the Afghan public in a highly conservative -- and unwavering -- direction.
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Afghanistan: Confirmation Debate Opens Door For Legislature, Opposition  
By Amin Tarzi  Friday, April 7, 2006
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/04/56190e41-dec6-4665-8d3d-f899d611d34f.html

The lower house of the Afghan National Assembly, the People's Council (Wolesi Jirga), began the confirmation debate over President Hamid Karzai's proposed 25-member cabinet on April 4. The process is expected to take about two weeks, and marks the first major cohabitation test for Afghanistan's elected legislature vis-a-vis the executive branch. The process also provides a litmus test of relations between Karzai's administration and the fractured opposition led by lower-house speaker Mohammad Yunos Qanuni.


The fact that the People's Council is questioning each proposed minister individually is in itself a defeat for President Karzai, whose preference was for a single, up-or-down vote on the entire cabinet.
  
In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan on April 5, Karzai stressed his desire for a transparent confirmation process. He expressed his hope "that our deputies will accept or reject these choices according to professional standards, their patriotism, and their integrity; and that no other criteria should determine their decisions." Karzai expressly rejected possible objections based on "any regional or ethnic bias" and said, "If a minister is rejected, I hope that the reasons given for the rejection will be enunciated so that we know why our proposed ministers were not acceptable."
  
Article 74 of the Afghan Constitution approved in January 2004 stipulates that if the People's Council wants to reject a nominee, it should do so explicitly and "on basis of well-founded reasons." A simple majority of those lawmakers must then express no confidence in that nominee in a plenary vote.

Rejections Expected 
  
Speaker Qanuni and his allies appear to be ready and willing to flex their muscle and challenge Karzai's dominance in the Afghan power structure. Some in Qanuni's camp regard the cabinet-confirmation process as a chance to demand that opposition members be included in the government (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," January 16, 2006). 
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Afghanistan: Reports Claim 'War On Terror' Used To Hide Blood-Feud Killings  
By Ron Synovitz  Friday, March 31, 2006
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/03/cdb983de-92d4-440b-8ad6-34c31e415453.html

An Afghan border-police chief who claimed that his officers killed 16 Taliban fighters in southern Kandahar Province last week is now under investigation for allegedly using the war on terrorism as an excuse to settle a personal blood feud.


PRAGUE, March 31, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Afghan authorities have detained a border-police commander from the southern province of Kandahar who is accused of ordering the killing of 16 Pakistani residents near the border town of Spin Boldak.

Kandahar's governor, Assadullah Khalid, said commander Abdul Razzak has been temporarily replaced at his post while the Afghan Interior Ministry investigates the killings.

Razzak claimed last week that the 16 men were Taliban fighters who attacked border police post near Spin Boldak on March 21 after crossing illegally from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

But Saqib Aziz, a official in the Pakistani border town of Chaman, said the 16 men were from the Nurzai tribe who were traveling to a Norouz festival in Afghanistan. Aziz alleged that Razzak ordered the men to be killed as part of an ongoing blood feud.

Commander Razzak had reportedly been involved in a blood feud with the men since his brother was killed in a dispute with the Nurzai clan two years ago.

Some reports say the 16 men managed to travel all the way to Kabul to celebrate Norouz. Those reports claim that information about their arrival in Kabul was sent to Razzak by an informant who was aware of the blood feud. The reports also allege that Razzak's men detained all 16 men at a house in Kabul -- then took them back to an isolated spot near Spin Boldak, where they were killed.

In an interview with RFE/RL today, Kandahar Governor Khalid confirmed that the Afghan Interior Ministry's investigation is focusing on all of those allegations. However, he said that "at this point, before the investigation is completed, we can neither confirm nor reject these claims."

But Khalid also noted that the 16 men killed by Razzak's police officers had criminal records in both Afghanistan and Pakistan -- as well as suspected ties to an organized criminal group.

A senior Interior Ministry official in Kabul, General Abdul Rahman, said today that Razzak was taken into custody in Kandahar last week. He said Razzak was not fired, but has been suspended from his post until the investigation is completed.

(Sultan Sarwar of RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan contributed to this report.)
End




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## MarkOttawa (11 Aug 2006)

Afghan fighting is the Army's most intense for 50 years
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/11/wafghan11.xml



> British troops in Afghanistan are engaged in some of the most intense and prolonged fighting seen by the Army for half a century, a senior commander said yesterday.
> 
> Lt Gen David Richards, the British commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, said some UK troops would now be withdrawn from parts of the lawless Helmand province to be replaced by soldiers from the Afghan army.
> 
> "This sort of thing hasn't really happened so consistently, I don't think, since the Korean War or the Second World War," he told the BBC World Service. "It happened for periods in the Falklands, obviously, and it happened for short periods in the Gulf on both occasions. But this is persistent, low-level, dirty fighting."..



Mark
Ottawa


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## tomahawk6 (11 Aug 2006)

Suicide Bomber 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060811/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber plowed his explosive-laden car into a 
NATO-led force's convoy in southern 
Afghanistan on Friday, killing one soldier, force officials said. A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack.

U.S.-led coalition troops and Afghan forces, meanwhile, raided a building in southeastern Afghanistan, killing three suspected al-Qaida members, officials said.

The suicide attack took place on the highway in the Spin Boldak district of the southern Kandahar province, the NATO-led force said. The nationality of the killed soldier was not released. Most of the soldiers in the area are Canadians.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the blast and said the bomber was an Afghan named Mohammad Ilyas. Ahmadi often contacts journalists to claim attacks for the Taliban, but his exact ties to the militia's leadership are unclear.

Afghanistan has seen a surge in violence this year, particularly in the south, where rebel supporters of the toppled Taliban regime have stepped up attacks. as Afghan and NATO-led troops try to drive insurgents out of their safe havens. The fighting has been the bloodiest since the Taliban were ousted.

The alleged al-Qaida operatives were killed in the village of Ya'Qubi in southeastern Khost province, the coalition said. Three other suspects were detained.

"The purpose of this operation was to capture an al-Qaida facilitator considered a significant threat to Afghan and coalition forces," the statement said.

Those targeted were linked to a number of attacks using car bombs and other explosive devices in the province, the coalition said.

In the central Logar province, 10 suspected Taliban militants intercepted a group of 15 men coming from a wedding party early Friday and beat them with rifle butts. They then set fire to a private radio station that broadcasts music and entertainment programs, a witness and a police chief said.

The incident happened just 30 miles south of Kabul and was reminiscent of times when Taliban militants imposed strict Islamic rule in Afghanistan, including a ban on music and entertainment, before being ousted by a U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

One of the men from the wedding party, who did not want to reveal his name for fear of retribution, said a companion's leg was broken in the beating.

"The Taliban cocked their guns and started questioning us," he said. He said the militants criticized them for celebrating during a "time of occupation" in Afghanistan — an apparent reference to the presence of foreign forces in the country.


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## tomahawk6 (11 Aug 2006)

From DND.

http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=2025

One Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

CEFCOM NR–06.018 - August 11, 2006

OTTAWA – A Canadian soldier was killed by a suicide bomber in a vehicle attack today near the town of Spin Boldak, approximately 100 km southeast of Kandahar City, Afghanistan. The attack occurred at approximately 3:30 p.m. Kandahar time.

The identity of the deceased is being withheld at the request of next-of-kin.

No other Canadian soldiers were injured, although it appears the blast injured a number of Afghan civilians. Afghan national police secured the scene soon after the attack.

The deceased soldier was travelling in an armoured “G Wagon” (Gelaendenwagen) Light Utility Vehicle as part of a resupply convoy heading north from Spin Boldak to Kandahar Airfield on Highway 4 when the suicide bomber exploded his vehicle near the convoy.

Canada 's mission in Afghanistan is part of our contribution to the international campaign to help bring stability and security to the people of Afghanistan. There are significant risks involved in these operations, but we are achieving results by extending the reach of Afghan authorities and diminishing the capacity of insurgent forces. Today's tragic incident will not deter us from our mission and we will continue to work towards creating a brighter future for the long-suffering people of Afghanistan.

–30– 

NOTE TO EDITOR:

A photograph will only be made available once the next-of-kin agree to release the identity of the deceased.


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## MarkOttawa (11 Aug 2006)

British to lead major assault on Taliban
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/12/wafg12.xml&amp;DCMP=EMC-new_12082006



> British troops in southern Afghanistan are to lead a new offensive against the Taliban in an attempt to regain the initiative after weeks of intense fighting.
> 
> The plan will involve the use of mobile forces such as the Paras to attack insurgents in their strongholds, rather than defending fixed points.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (12 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 12 August, 2006*

Cdn. soldier killed in Afghanistan is identified
Updated Sat. Aug. 12 2006 8:18 AM ET  CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060811/afghanistan_soldier_0600812/20060812?hub=TopStories

CTV News: Colonel Tom Putt updates the situation 6:48 Video Clip
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=TopStories&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/11/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_08_11_1155332455.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/11/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_08_11_1155331558.wmv&clip_start=00:05:21.48&clip_end=00:06:48.40&clip_caption=CTV News: Colonel Tom Putt updates the situation&clip_id=ctvnews.20060811.00158000-00158356-clip2&subhub=video&no_ads=&sortdate=20060811&slug=afghanistan_soldier_0600812&archive=CTVNews


The Canadian soldier killed in Friday's suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan has been identified as Corporal Andrew Eykelenboom. 

A medic, Eykelenboom was serving with the First Field Ambulance unit at CFB Edmonton. 

Eykelenboom, who normally works at the coalition hospital in Kandahar, was only six days away from his scheduled return to Canada after a six-month tour, when he was killed Friday near Spin Bolak. 

Eykelenboom was travelling in a G-Wagon armoured jeep when a suicide bomber slammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the convoy he was travelling in. 

He is the seventh Canadian to be killed in Afghanistan in the last nine days, and the 26th since 2002. 

The attack occurred around 3:30 p.m. local time on a re-supply convoy of Canadian troops near the Spin Boldak district of the southern Kandahar province, about a three-hour drive southeast of Kandahar, reported CTV's Matt McClure in Afghanistan. 

"Witnesses at the scene say there was a giant blast, and in the aftermath a huge fire after a suicide bomber detonated as he passed by the convoy near a Canadian G-Wagon jeep," said McClure. 
More on link

U.S soldiers die in Afghan battle
Saturday, August 12, 2006; Posted: 8:38 a.m. EDT (12:38 GMT) CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/08/12/afghan.attacks.ap/index.html

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked U.S. troops patrolling in the remote northeast of Afghanistan, killing three soldiers before American forces repelled the assault with artillery fire, an official said Saturday.

Three soldiers and one civilian were also wounded in the battle in Waygal district of Nuristan province Friday, said Col. Tom Collins, a chief U.S. spokesman. They were later taken by helicopter to a military hospital for treatment.

"We mourn their loss but their work continues," Collins said, referring to the killed soldiers. "We will honor them by continuing our mission to pursue extremist wherever they are," he added.

He did not say whether the militants suffered any casualties.

In recent weeks U.S. forces have been pushing to their northernmost points along the mountainous Afghan-Pakistan border, including Nuristan, opening military bases in one of the wildest regions in the country.

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## The Bread Guy (13 Aug 2006)

*Defence minister and military at odds on use of G-Wagons: documents *
Dean Beeby, Canadian Press, 14 Aug 06
http://www.recorder.ca/cp/National/060813/n081333A.html

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor assured Canadians in May that the military was restricting its G-Wagons to the Canadian compound in Kandahar, after the lightly armoured vehicles proved highly vulnerable to roadside attacks in Afghanistan. But newly released records indicate the minister's announcement came as a surprise to military commanders, who had imposed no such restrictions and continue to use G-Wagons in dangerous convoys . . . . 


*O'Connor misspoke on G-wagons: gov't records*
CTV News online, 13 Aug 06
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/afghanistan_gwagons_0600813/20060813?hub=Canada

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor assured Canadians in May that the military was restricting its G-Wagons to the Canadian compound in Kandahar, after the lightly armoured vehicles proved highly vulnerable to roadside attacks in Afghanistan. But newly released records indicate the minister's announcement came as a surprise to military commanders, who had imposed no such restrictions and continue to use G-Wagons in dangerous convoys . . . . 


*A soldier's story of Afghanistan *  
KATIE SCHMITT, Salt Lake City Daily Herald, 12 Aug 06
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/189686/

How to spot a Improvised Explosive Devise before it blows up your Humvee:

Look for freshly dug dirt.

Watch out for "choke points" -- places that you have to drive through due to a rock or a ditch.

In all questionable cases, get out of the Humvee and search the area on foot using mine detectors. 

If an IED is found, blow it up with C-4 . . . . 


*ISAF demands disarming of commanders in Afghan northwest province*
People's Daily Online (China), 13 Aug 06
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200608/13/eng20060813_292626.html

A NATO commander has called for the disarming of irresponsible commanders in the Faryab province of northwest Afghanistan, a Kabul-based daily reported Saturday. "The only solution to clash between commanders was to disarm them," the Outlook newspaper quoted Markus Kneip, the regional commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in north Afghanistan, as saying . . . .


*Afghani governor escapes attempt on life *  
Xinhua News Agency (China), 13 Aug 06
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/13/content_4955975.htm

The provincial governor of Afghanistan's northern Sar-i-Pul province Syed Iqbal Munib narrowly escaped attempt on his life as a bomb had gone off minutes before he left residence for office Saturday, a local English newspaper reported Sunday.  "A bomb planted on a motorbike and parked in front of the governor's residence exploded when the governor was to leave for office," daily Afghanistan Times said.  However, one of the cars of the governor parked around was damaged in the incident, it added . . . . 


*Afghan fighting kills 30; Education chief announces plan to protect schools from attacks *  
Chris Hawke, Associated Press, Santa Barbara News-Press, 13 Aug 06
http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=564787018576822929

Fighting in Afghanistan left at least 25 insurgents and five Afghan security forces dead, officials said Sunday. Defying the spike in violence, Afghan officials announced plans to thwart attacks on schools, which have killed 41 students and teachers and destroyed more than 140 schools in the last year.  Rebel violence has soared during the past year, leading to the heaviest fighting since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban regime. In the country's south and east, NATO- and U.S.-led troops are pursuing a fierce campaign against insurgents to extend the reach of Afghanistan's central government . . . . 


*Afghanistan denies al-Qaeda's presence *  
Kuwait News Agency, 13 Aug 06
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=896150

Afghanistan on Sunday rejected the link of US-bound airliners bombing plot to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Earlier, Pakistan's Foreign Office said the bombing suspects had connections with Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda.  A statement released by the Foreign Ministry said the terrorist network al-Qaeda was no more existing in Afghanistan; however, it had safe-havens outside this country . . . .


*Pak-Afghan-US military officials discuss border security*
Pajhwok Afghan News Agency, 12 Aug 06
http://www.pajhwak.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=22688

The US, Pakistani and Afghan military officials held a flag meeting on Friday to review the cross-border movement of militants and other issues related to security.  The tripartite meeting was held in Angoor Adda area of the South Waziristan Agency during which, military officials from the three countries discussed various issues, including the infiltration of militants from the South Waziristan Agency into Afghanistan . . . .


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## GAP (14 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 14 August 2006*



Afghanistan’s recent history doesn’t look good for NATO force’s prospects
SCOTT TAYLOR - The Chronicle Herald
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/521921.html

ALMOST lost in the rising casualty count among our troops in Afghanistan was last week’s quiet transition of overall command in Kandahar. 

Since our contingent first redeployed south from the relatively stable International Security and Assistance Force mission in Kabul last February, Canadians have been engaging in combat with Afghan insurgents as part of U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom. With the handover ceremony staged July 31, our 2,300 troops are now officially under NATO authority and under the direct command of British Lt.-Gen. David Richards. 

Readers may be forgiven if they mistakenly believe that the Canadians in Afghanistan had already been part of either a "UN-sanctioned" force or a "NATO coalition" in Kandahar. Those terms purporting a wider "coalition of the willing" were bandied about by both the Harper government and the military brass in an attempt to prop up sagging support for the war effort.

For the past six months, our troops have, in fact, been paving the way for NATO to officially take over the reins from the U.S. in the volatile southern Afghan sector. Now that this transfer of responsibility is complete, Richards has tactical control over some 18,000 NATO personnel, including the sizable Canadian contingent. 

Thrust into the media spotlight as a result of the recent heavy losses, Richards proclaimed himself to be a "lifelong" military historian. In-depth knowledge of the theatre of operations is certainly a welcome asset in a commander, and the British undoubtedly have their share of "lessons learned" from their prior ventures into Afghanistan. But the fact that their repeated historical attempts to subdue this region resulted in a series of unmitigated military disasters for the British Empire should be factored into Richards’ optimistic outlook. 
More on link

Medic killed in Afghanistan was determined to fulfill his duties
Donald McArthur, CanWest News Service; Windsor Star Monday, August 14, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=cd7fc4bc-4477-45ff-bd4e-bb9ec722ad2e&k=47339

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The first Canadian medic killed in Afghanistan was a "hero" who risked his life to save others under fire, and if Canada cuts and runs in the face of mounting casualties it would dishonour him and the other soldiers who have fallen here, colleagues of Cpl. Andrew James Eykelenboom said Sunday.

"He saved lives. People would have died if it hadn't been for Boomer. That's the bottom line. I can't be more proud of the man. He came here as a kid and he died a man, he really did. He died a hero is what he did," said Sgt. Mark Simons, a medic along with Eykelenboom with the First Field Ambulance, based in Edmonton.

"He didn't talk too much about it, but he was a hero. Boomer was a hero. I don't know if all of Canada realizes that, but he was, and to say that there was no cause or that he passed away for nothing doesn't do it justice. He was a hero and he died for a cause. He's the dude."

Eykelenboom, 23, of Comox, B.C., was killed doing the job he loved Friday when a suicide bomber targeted a Canadian resupply convoy en route from Spinboldak on the Pakistan border to Kandahar, engulfing a G-Wagon in flames and injuring Afghan civilians. Two other soldiers escaped from the vehicle unharmed.
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11 Taliban militants, 1 policeman killed in S. Afghanistan  
14 August 2006 The People's Daily Online
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/14/eng20060814_293023.html         


Eleven Taliban insurgents and one policeman were killed in a clash on Monday in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, a local official told Xinhua. 

Some Taliban militants attacked a police post in Kajaki district, northeast of the province, at around 10:30 a.m. (0600 GMT), said Amir Akhzava, assistant to the Helmand governor. 

Akhzava said the police fought back, killing 11 enemies and capturing three. 

One policeman was killed and two others wounded in the conflict, he added. 

Helmand, famous for its gigantic opium product, has been a stronghold of the Taliban. 

Afghanistan is suffering from a rise of Taliban-linked violence this year, during which more than 1,700 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed. 

Source: Xinhua 
End



Picture bleak for women in Afghanistan
 Monday, August 14, 2006 · Last updated 5:14 a.m. PT By FISNIK ABRASHI
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Afghan_Women_Violence.html

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Violence against women in Afghanistan is widespread and mainly happens inside victims' homes, according to a U.N. survey released Monday.

The survey, conducted between January 2003 and July 2005, paints a bleak picture for women who undergo physical, sexual and psychological violence in this conservative, Islamic country, which has long been wracked by violence and where women enjoy considerably fewer rights than men.

The survey warned that domestic violence against women is "hugely underreported" because of the stigma attached to it.

"Acts of violence (against women) are happening with impunity," said the report, conducted by the U.N. Development Fund for Women, or UNIFEM. "It appears that the government, communities and families are not doing enough to prevent violence against women."

More on link


Maine Soldier Killed In Afghanistan
POSTED: 5:50 am EDT August 14, 2006
http://www.wmtw.com/news/9673415/detail.html

WISCASSET, Maine -- A Maine soldier who died in Afghanistan followed a family tradition by joining the military, and he told his parents he hoped they'd be proud of his service.

Pfc. Andrew Small was killed when his patrol came under attack on Friday, and Gov. John Baldacci disclosed the loss over the weekend. The 19-year-old from Wiscasset was a member of the Army's 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, N.Y.

Small graduated from Wiscasset High School in 2005. His principal remembered him as someone who liked to joke, had lots of friends and "always did the right thing." 
 More on link


Nato convoy bombed in Afghanistan
Aug 14, 2006 
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/815115

Four French NATO soldiers suffered minor injuries when a bomb exploded near their convoy during this morning's rush hour in the Afghan capital Kabul.

The blast, in the city's northern Khair Khana district, appeared to have been caused by a roadside bomb, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

"The bomb went off when the French military medical convoy was passing by," said Colonel Jacky Fouquereau, a spokesman for ISAF's regional command. "Three soldiers were wounded on an armoured military carrier and a fourth soldier was wounded in a small light armoured vehicle."

Interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai said the bomb had been fixed to a bicycle that was parked by the roadside.
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Is Afghanistan still worth fighting for?
Richard Farmer - It's time to remind Australians what troops are actually fighting for
Date: 14 August 2006
http://www.crikey.com.au/articles/2006/08/14-1520-715.html

Last week Australia announced it was sending more troops to Afghanistan. Five months ago the Afghan Government was preparing to execute an Afghan citizen who returned home after converting from Islam to Christianity 16 years previously while working for a Christian aid organization in Peshawar, Pakistan. 

That execution did not take place, but the story is worth retelling because Australians should be reminded what its troops are actually fighting for. Abdul Rahman was arrested in March and hauled before a judge who said: "If he doesn't revert back to Islam, he's going to receive the death penalty, according to the law." Mr Rahman told the court he had no regrets about becoming a Christian.
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Soldier dies fixing tank in Afghanistan Update
ALISON PURDY 14 August 2006
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1180602006

A BRITISH soldier who died while repairing a damaged tank in Afghanistan was last night described as "exceptionally talented". 

Lance-Corporal Sean Tansey, 26, was servicing a Scimitar at a UK base near Sangin, in northern Helmand, when the accident happened. The soldier, from Newcastle upon Tyne, was serving with the Household Cavalry regiment, when he died on Saturday afternoon. L-Cpl Tansey had previously served in Iraq. 
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City soldier killed in Afghanistan had warned wife
Mon 14 Aug 2006 The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=444&id=1184252006

THE widow of the Edinburgh soldier killed while serving in Afghanistan has spoken of the last conversation she had with her late husband. 

Angela Nicholls, 30, said that her husband Ross had called and warned her of the danger he was set to face
More on link

Attack in Afghanistan Kills Three Fort Drum Soldiers
Last Update: 8/14/2006 11:19:20 AM
http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=14749B9F-C9F9-4886-ABEB-711EB02D0410

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (AP) - Three Fort Drum soldiers were killed in Afghanistan when their platoon was attacked by hostile forces, the Department of Defense said Monday. 

The three 10th Mountain Division soldiers died Friday in Nangalam during combat operations. 

They were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, the Pentagon said. 

Killed were Spc. Rogelio R. Garza, Jr., 26, of Corpus Christi, Texas; Pfc. Andrew R. Small, 19, of Wiscasset, Me.; and Pfc. James P. White, Jr., 19, of Huber Heights, Ohio.

Their deaths bring the number of Fort Drum casualties in Afghanistan to 37 soldiers. 

Another 45 Fort Drum troops have died in Iraq.

Two members of the 10th Mountain Division stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana also have been killed in Afghanistan.
End

Bagram Security Forces ‘Fly Away’ to Support Airlift Mission
By Maj. David Kurle, USAF  Special to American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=452

Security forces protect Air Force people and resources worldwide, even when those resources are on the move at more than 300 miles per hour. 
The C-130 Hercules cargo plane is the primary means of moving supplies and troops around Afghanistan. Aircrews frequently land at remote, dirt landing strips to support U.S. and coalition forces. 

In a combat zone, high-value assets, like aircraft and people, need protection. But these small, out-of-the-way airfields often have little or no security. The 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron has a solution to this security dilemma in the form of the Fly-Away Security Team, or FAST. 

"Our job is to protect the aircraft and its crew at all forward operating bases throughout Afghanistan,” said Maj. J. Scott Sanford, the squadron’s commander. 

Similar to the “Phoenix Raven” program in the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, which specially trains security forces members for duty aboard cargo aircraft, the teams here enable C-130s to land at airfields throughout the theater, and sometimes countries outside Afghanistan. 

When a Hercules lands at a remote strip, the security forces pour out from the back of the plane and take up positions where they can keep an eye on the surrounding landscape
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## GAP (15 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 15 August 2006*

6 Canadians injured in Afghanistan mortar attack
Last Updated Tue, 15 Aug 2006 17:05:57 EDT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/08/15/afghanistan-mortarattack.html

A mortar attack on a Canadian outpost in southern Afghanistan injured six soldiers Tuesday.

One soldier was treated at Forward Operating Base Wilson. Five others were flown to a military hospital at the Kandahar airfield, where three soldiers were treated and released, and two others were kept for observation.

None of the injuries was considered life-threatening.

The base is about 30 kilometres west of Kandahar in Panjwaii, an area where there have been several recent Taliban attacks.
End

Deaths of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan beyond difficult, Hillier says
Canadian Press Tuesday, August 15, 2006  ST. JOHN'S, N.L. (CP) 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=e8598d71-7c5f-4de4-ba9c-5b8bb5160845&k=34641

The recent rash of Canadian deaths has been "beyond difficult" for troops based in Afghanistan and their relatives, the country's top soldier said Tuesday. 

"I don't think tough quite describes it," said Gen. Rick Hillier in his first public remarks since the bodies of four Canadians killed on Aug. 3 were returned home. 

"Tough is when you lose one soldier. When you lose the number that we've lost over these 10, 12 days here, that goes beyond that difficulty." 

Seven Canadians have died in Afghanistan this month. 

Hillier, who attended the repatriation Monday night of a military medic at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario, said the knowledge that the victims were helping rebuild the war-torn country does little to console their mourning families. 

"All of that, when you meet grieving parents or a young widow with young children, is actually not a great deal of comfort when you're talking to them," Hillier said in a speech at the annual Canadian Bar Association conference. 

"But you know what? I go to Trenton to show my respect and show my gratitude to those great young soldiers and their families, maybe trying to help inspire the families to get through the toughest days of their lives. And you know something? I always leave Trenton inspired by them." 
More on link

Cdn. Forces to accelerate enlistment of recruits
Updated Tue. Aug. 15 2006 5:06 PM ET  Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060815/cdn_forces_060815/20060815?hub=Canada

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- Enlistment of recruits to the Canadian military will be accelerated this fall in a sweeping effort to boost its ranks, Canada's top soldier said Tuesday. 

By Oct. 1, the Defence Department will aim to have 30 per cent of recruits enrolled within a week, and 50 per cent more enlisted within a month. 

"We've thrown, if you will, a transformational grenade in the middle of our recruiting process,'' Hillier said after giving a speech at the annual Canadian Bar Association conference. 

"(In) a 15-minute conversational interview, you can pretty much make a judgment whether this is a winner _ a swimmer or a non-swimmer.'' 

Recruitment and retention has been an ongoing problem for the Canadian military. In May, the auditor general reported the military had been finding it difficult to meet the Conservative government's ambitious plan to add 13,000 personnel. 

Sheila Fraser also warned of a recruiting crunch that loomed ahead as thousands of people who enlisted in the 1980s prepare to retire. 

Several major factors, including a shortage of military doctors qualified to approve medical tests and a lack of training instructors, left the recruitment process "in shambles,'' said Alain Pellerin, executive director of the Conference of Defence Associations. 

"The system of recruiting and training was broken, and I think what the chief is trying to do now is to address that as a priority,'' said Pellerin, a retired colonel. 

But speeding up recruitment won't instantly reverse years of staff and resource cutbacks within the Canadian Forces, he said. 

"It's like a big ship that once you decide to change course, it takes a long time to change course,'' he said. 

Hillier acknowledged that qualified recruits were choosing other professions over the Forces because of a lengthy application process. 

"Medicals, security clearances, fitness tests and a variety of things like that were taking months and months and months,'' he said. "As a result, we were losing good kids
More on link

Body of medic slain in Afghanistan returns to Canada
BRETT POPPLEWELL Globe and Mail Update 15 August 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060814.wafghanistan0814/BNStory/Front/?cid=al_gam_nletter_newsUp

TRENTON, Ont. — Grieving family members of a Canadian army medic killed in Afghanistan wept under grey skies Monday as his body returned home in a solemn military ceremony at CFB Trenton.

With threatening clouds overhead and a piper playing a mournful lament, the flag-draped coffin bearing Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom was escorted by military pallbearers to a waiting hearse.

The soldier's body was met by his family and by Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor.
More on link

Six policemen killed by militants in western Afghanistan
15/08/2006 - 08:36:43 Ireland Online
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=192182378&p=y9zy83x84

Militants shot dead a local police chief and five other officers in an ambush on a desert road in western Afghanistan today.

Nassar Ahmad, who had been transferred from Farah province’s Gulistan district to the nearby Khaki Safed area, was travelling in a convoy to take up his new post when insurgents attacked at about 7am (3.30am Irish time), said Gen. Sayed Aqa Sakid, the provincial police chief.

Sakid said Ahmad and five other policemen were killed and four wounded in the attack in volatile Dalaram district, about 75 miles east of Farah city, where Taliban fighters have moved into after fleeing Nato-led military operations in southern Helmand province.
end

RAF jets under fire in Afghanistan
10.11, Tue Aug 15 2006


RAF fighter jets have been fired upon by surface-to-air missiles in Afghanistan.
15 August 2006 ITV News
http://www.itv.com/news/world_def2eac7cea265b97e5228ba178a2a6e.html

The Harriers provide crucial air support for British troops carrying out operations against the Taliban in the lawless Helmand province to the south of the strife-torn country.

Squadron Leader Damien Killeen, 33, operational commander for the Harrier detachment based in Kandahar, said Taliban forces had a number of American, Russian and Chinese weapon systems at their disposal.

Sqn Ldr Killeen said: "There have been engagements against aircraft, isolated engagements, whilst low flying - small arms, rocket propelled grenades, small rockets - the standard arsenal. We haven't suffered any damage.

"There are man portable air defence systems in theatre, definitely, there are also triple A systems, anti-aircraft artillery."

Although the Harriers are partly in Afghanistan to provide support to the US Operation Enduring Freedom targeting global terrorism, 75 per cent of their time is currently focused on supporting International Security Assistance Force troops in Helmand.
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NATO, Afghanistan to ink long-term partnership soon: envoy   
 www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-15 19:33:26  
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/15/content_4965350.htm

    KABUL, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Afghanistan would ink a long-term strategic partnership within month, the outgoing civilian envoy of the Western military alliance said Tuesday. 

    "Next month NATO and Afghanistan will sign an agreement on the NATO/Afghanistan enduring partnership cooperation," Hikmet Cetin said at a press conference here. 

    "We want the people to see Afghanistan as a prosperous stable country," he said. 

    He made the remarks amid growing security incidents in the post-Taliban nation particularity in the southern provinces where the Western military alliance took over the command from the U.S.-led coalition forces on July 31. 

    Since assuming the command, nine soldiers of the NATO troops have been killed and 17 others injured either in hostile fire or road accidents. 

    To root out militants in the southern region and stabilize security there, NATO has decided to increase its strength up to 23,000 in the volatile southern provinces of Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan and Kandahar by the end of year. 

    More than 600 Taliban-linked militants have been killed in the restive southern region over the past two months, according to military officials, bringing the number of casualties to 1,700 since January this year in Afghanistan. 

    "We are committed to support the government for as long as required and NATO/ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) will not abandon the people of Afghanistan," NATO's top diplomat in Afghanistan said. Enditem 
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Al Qaeda Terrorist Killed in Afghanistan; Extremists Die in Thwarted Attack
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=459

 Afghan and coalition forces killed an al Qaeda member and detained 13 other suspected terrorists today during an early-morning operation in Afghanistan’s Khowst province, U.S. military officials reported. 
The operation’s aim was to capture a known al Qaeda facilitator considered a significant threat to Afghan and coalition forces. Intelligence linked the targeted terrorist to weapons and explosive smuggling, officials said. 

The assault force first requested a peaceful surrender of people within the suspect’s hideout. Most inside immediately surrendered. 

During a routine search of the compound’s buildings, a man disguised as a woman resisted capture and was shot and killed, officials said. Numerous detonators and other bomb-making materials were discovered during the operation. The material was later moved outside of the compound and destroyed. No Afghan or coalition forces were injured during the operation. 

In other news from Afghanistan, a suicide bomber rammed an Afghan National Army vehicle near an open market in the country’s Paktika province yesterday, wounding seven Afghan troops and three civilians. Coalition forces provided security at the site until the wounded were evacuated. 

“This is what the Taliban offer the people of Afghanistan -- death and destruction for the innocent,” Army Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force 76, said. 
More on link

Afghan Reconstruction Cooperation Continues
American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=461

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2006 – Coalition forces and the U.S. Agency for International Development continue to work together to bring reconstruction and economic development to the people of Afghanistan, U.S. military officials said. 
“Together with Afghan national security forces and the coalition, USAID is working with the government of Afghanistan to build a safe, free and prosperous future, at peace with its neighbors and a friend to freedom around the world,” Army Col. Thomas Collins, a coalition spokesman, said. 

Since the spring, coalition forces and USAID have combined to contribute more than $40 million in reconstruction aid to the country. Over the last four years, USAID has contributed about $3.5 billion to various projects in Afghanistan, the agency reported. 

The following is a breakdown of where USAID funds have gone in Afghanistan: 

-Democracy and governance: $316.06 million; 
-Economic growth: $475.89 million; 
-Education: $208.92 million; 
-Health: $242 million; 
-Infrastructure: $1,093.02 million; 
-Agriculture: $164.59 million; 
-Alternative livelihoods program: $175 million; 
-Provincial reconstruction teams: $144.45 million; and 
-Reintegrating former combatants: $20.42 million. 

In other humanitarian news from Afghanistan, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan recently contributed $67,000 to the construction of a fire station at the Mazar-e Sharif airport, putting the airport on track to become certified as a regional airport, officials said. 
More on link


----------



## GAP (16 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 16 August 2006*

Defence chief committed to long stay in Afghanistan  
Photograph by : CanWest News Service    Janice Tibbetts, CanWest News Service Wednesday, August 16, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=2e7eaf55-e613-4299-b14e-987c1451c26b&k=53247

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - It will take at least threetofive years for Canadian troops to get the job done in Afghanistan, Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, said Tuesday.

In a speech to lawyers, Hillier delivered an unwavering and passionate defence of Canada's need to continue its deployment to the war-ravaged country at a time when the death toll is mounting and public support for the mission is flagging.

Twenty-six soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since Canada joined the U.S.-led mission four years ago, including the death last Friday of Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom, when a suicide bomber plowed an explosives-laden truck into a NATO convoy about 100 kilometres south of Kandahar, in a particularly heavy month of fatalities.

Hillier said the recent deaths have been ''beyond difficult'' for the troops and their families but ''we are soldiers, this is our profession, this is what we do.

''I don't think tough quite describes it,'' he told hundreds of lawyers at the Canadian Bar Association's annual convention. ''Tough is when you lose one soldier. When you lose the number that we've lost over these 10, 12 days here, that goes beyond that difficulty.''

The Conservative government hasn't spelled out how long the country's troops will remain in Afghanistan, although Prime Minister Stephen Harper has hinted it could be a lengthy commitment and that Canada will not ''cut and run.''
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A war like no other  
CBC News Viewpoint | Aug. 16, 2006 | More from Cpl. Brian Sanders
http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_sanders/20060816.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Cpl. Brian Sanders joined the Canadian Forces 11 years ago while he was in college. Shortly after, he decided to become a full-time soldier and joined the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) regiment. The 29-year-old native of Strathroy, Ont., has served in Kosovo and Bosnia. He is currently on duty in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he drives an armoured ambulance. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I wonder how soldiers did it back then. 

I am no expert in military history, but from what I do know, there is no way soldiers today could have ever fought the way our ancestors did. Being here in Afghanistan has given me a newfound respect for our comrades from decades ago.

For starters, here in Afghanistan where I am on a six-month tour, I have the luxury of knowing when I am returning to Canada. In 54 days, I will be back in Edmonton, enjoying the life that people like my grandfather secured more than six decades ago. Soldiers of the past never knew when they were coming home. One of the things that really underscores the difference between today’s soldiers and our heroes of the past is the technology we all take for granted. 

Communications have advanced so much I can call my friends back in Edmonton right from the battlefield. Soldiers fortunate enough to be near any satellite uplink can plug their laptop in and enjoy a video conference with their spouses and children back home. 

That same convenience allows us to check our banking, keep up on the local daily news and sports, and place another bid on that set of drums I want on eBAY. Of course, the age-old mail system that brings us care packages and letters from home remains the most comforting form of communication.

Video games
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Terrorists Killed in Thwarted Attack on Afghan Soldiers
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=442

 An estimated 18 to 20 terrorist extremists died in a thwarted attack on an Afghan National Army command post in the Bermel district of Paktika province early this morning, military officials said. 
Five ANA soldiers were killed and six were wounded when their unit received small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire from a group of extremists. Three of the wounded soldiers suffered only minor wounds and were returned to duty after being treated on the scene. The three other wounded soldiers were evacuated by air to a coalition medical facility for treatment, officials said. No report was available on their condition. 

The ANA unit, with a coalition embedded tactical training team attached, repelled the attack by directing mortar and artillery fire from nearby coalition bases. 

“With the coalition’s assistance, Afghan national security forces are gaining long-term capability and presence in these areas to provide security and stability to the Afghan people,” said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force 76. “Steady progress is being made, and we will continue together to pursue the enemy wherever they try to hide.” 

Meanwhile, Afghan and coalition forces continue operations in eastern Afghanistan to strengthen the government through an increased Afghan security presence and reconstruction and humanitarian aid assistance, officials said. 
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8 al-Qaeda suspects captured in eastern Afghanistan 
 August 16, 2006 People's Daily Online         
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/16/eng20060816_293751.html

Eight suspected al-Qaeda terrorists were arrested on Wednesday in the eastern Khost province of Afghanistan, coalition forces said in a press release. 

Afghan and the U.S.-led coalition forces conducted operations on two compounds near the villages of Paru Kheyl and Jabeh, capturing five and three al-Qaeda suspects respectively, it said. 

Several women and children were also present within the Paru Kheyl compound and were not harmed. 

Assault rifles, ammunition, telecommunication devices, and improvised explosive device material were discovered at the sites, the press release said. 

It added credible intelligence linked the targeted terrorists to assisting foreign fighters and plotting improvised explosive device attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in Khost province. 

Coalition forces said the eight detainees were being questioned to determine their identities and their level of involvement in known terrorist activities. 

No Afghan or coalition soldiers were injured during the operations. 

Col. Thomas Collins, coalition spokesman, said, "This and other recent operations in Khost province have helped deny safe havens for terrorists. We'll continue to pursue Taliban and al- Qaeda movements throughout Afghanistan." 

Khost, a mountainous region, has been a stronghold of Taliban and other anti-government militants. 
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 Al-Qeada suspect Killed, 13 detained in Afghanistan  
Pakistan Times Wire Service
http://www.pakistantimes.net/2006/08/16/top15.htm

KABUL: Coalition and Afghan forces killed a suspected Al-Qaeda member and detained 13 others in a raid Tuesday on a residential compound in the southeastern province of Khost, the US military announced.

The troops killed the suspect when he tried to flee, disguised as a woman, during the raid in Ya'Qubi district, the military said in a statement.

"The purpose of this operation was to capture a known Al-Qaeda facilitator considered a significant threat to Afghan and coalition forces," it said.

The forces seized detonators and other bomb-making materials. 

Attack by Taliban

And a report from Kandahar sais that five policemen were killed and three wounded in an attack by Taliban rebels in western Afghanistan, an official said on Tuesday.

Insurgents ambushed a two-vehicle police convoy in Gulistan district of Farah province late Monday, local official Mohammad Qasim told a foreign news agency.
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WSU gets contract to help rebuild higher ed in Afghanistan
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tuesday, August 15, 2006 · Last updated 7:44 p.m. PT
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_WSU_Afghanistan.html

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State University has won a $12 million contract from the federal government to help rebuild higher education in Afghanistan.

The five-year contract is from the U.S. Agency for International Development and went to WSU Extension's Center to Bridge the Digital Divide.

The grant begins with an initial obligation of $3 million this fiscal year.

"The USAID award is evidence of the growing leadership of WSU Extension in connecting with the world and connecting the world to WSU," said Bill Gillis, center director.
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Afghanistan’s burqa finds new followers of fashion
(AFP) 16 August 2006  
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/todaysfeatures/2006/August/todaysfeatures_August26.xml&section=todaysfeatures

Actually the all-enveloping cloak has never really been “out" in the five years since the fall of the ultra-Islamic Taleban regime that forced all women to wear it.

But in today’s conflict-ridden Afghanistan, the garment seen by many as a symbol of oppression is finding new followers among Western women worried about anti-foreigner sentiment, and Western men looking for ironic gifts for lovers back home.

The growing number of women beggars and prostitutes on the streets of the capital are also choosing to hide their supposed shame beneath its all-covering folds.

And there are more and more cases of male insurgents caught using burqas to conceal themselves and their weapons -- with security guard searches under the voluminous veil a no-no even in these troubled times.

For most Afghan women the burqa is still a widespread item that can be a security blanket, protection against the pervasive dust, a shield for a breastfeeding baby, or a nifty cover for a nip down to the shops without putting on make-up.

In his burqa “boutique’ in Kabul’s main bazaar, Waheedullah Najimi admits sales have roughly halved since the Taleban were forced out of government in 2001.

But he still sells about 20 a day, the shopkeeper says in his small store lined top to bottom with burqas of different colours, sizes and quality.
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Prince Harry Could Be Sent To Afghanistan
August 15, 2006 3:55 p.m. EST Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer London, England (AHN)-
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004545700

Britain's Prince Harry could be sent to fight in Afghanistan. 

The 21-year-old royal-who is currently training at Bovington Army barracks in Dorset, England-will reportedly find out where his regiment will be posted before Christmas. 

Harry, who is third in line to the throne, will apparently be flown out to join his Blues and Royals regiment next spring and it is likely they will be based in Afghanistan. 

A source told Britain's newspaper The Mail that "Harry has started preparing himself to go to war. He expects to be sent to Afghanistan to join the rest of his regiment. The Blues and Royals provide valuable reconnaissance work, seeking out where the enemy is hiding, and there is a need for that in Afghanistan at the moment." 

Meanwhile, Harry's father, Prince Charles, is said to be concerned his son could be sent to the war-torn country and is allowing him to have some fun before he is posted, adding that, "Prince Charles has not been so strict when it comes to disciplining him recently, and has said he appreciates Harry needs some freedom." 

The source goes on to say, "Charles seems proud his son will soon be serving his country on foreign shores and Harry has been allowed drinking more often in the past few weeks."
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Pentagon studies examine 'mistakes' in Iraq, Afghanistan
Sources say reviews have found serious deficiencies 'across the board.'
By Tom Regan  | csmonitor.com  August 16, 2006 at 12:00 p.m.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0816/dailyUpdate.html?s=mesdu

Quietly admitting that operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have not gone as well as had been expected, the US military establishment has undertaken a complete review of its operations and strategy in those two countries, with the idea of identifying what went wrong, and fixing it before the US faces a similar conflict in the future.

The Boston Globe reports that over the summer, the Department of Defense ordered two separate studies to find the errors the military has made in these conflicts. The author of one of the reports says the results "won't be pretty."

The studies, according to several Pentagon officials involved, have found serious deficiencies across the board. For example, US troops in Iraq have often used too much force when conducting operations in civilian areas, unnecessarily alienating local populations. They cite US commanders as being too slow to establish working relationships with local allies, and note that providing security and safety for the Iraqi people wasn't an early priority.

The military's continuing shortcomings in gathering accurate intelligence about insurgents has particularly hampered its missions: "We know relatively little about insurgent motivation and morale, leadership, and recruitment," according to an unpublished study produced in June by the government-funded RAND Corporation.

The Globe reports that the military is also literally trying to "rewrite the book" on counterinsurgency operations, a skill that many in the military believe has been allowed to grow weak since the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 70s.
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WHO WILL TRAIN THE TROOPS AND HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?
December 31, 2005
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/005457.html

Once again the Conservatives appear ready to spout off on defence policy without thinking things through.

A significant increase in the number of troops in the Canadian Forces is expected to play a major role in a Conservative government's overhaul of the military, according to the party's defence critic and security analysts.

Some military analysts are already talking about the possibility the Conservatives would increase the size of the military from the current 62,000 to at least 80,000...

To deal with any large intake of recruits the military would first have to expand its training system, the Defence Department report added. Any new personnel would first be directed into existing units that are already understaffed. Only then could new troops for new capabilities and organizations be added, the planners determined.

In December 2004, the Senate committee on national security and defence was told by Vice-Admiral Ron Buck, the vice-chief of the defence staff, that it would likely take five years for the Canadian Forces to put into place the 5,000 new troops the Martin government promised...
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HOW MANY BATTALIONS HAS MR HARPER? AND HOW MANY IMMIGRANTS HAS MR MARTIN?
January 03, 2006
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/005467.html

I really wonder what an army unit would usefully do at Bagotville.

One really does hate to see this vote-pandering by the Conservatives. Sadly in Canada today this may be the only way to win elections.

So the Liberals will offer free immigration (quelle surprise: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal). 

Update: At last an article questioning immigration levels.

In recent weeks there has been no shortage of reports that raised serious questions about immigration policy and the problems it is creating for Canada. One study indicated that levels of poverty are much higher among the children of immigrants than the rest of the population. A Fraser Institute report concluded that the cost to taxpayers of bringing in recent newcomers has been billions of dollars a year because they had below-average incomes and tax payments while enjoying all the social and economic benefits provided by the state.

Public-opinion surveys indicate wide-ranging concerns among Canadians about immigration policy...
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From battle zone to beach bliss
Troops finish Afghan tour with stay in Cyprus 

Sun, fun to help them readjust to life after mission
Aug. 12, 2006. 01:00 AM MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS - The STAR
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1155333028135&call_pageid=1140433364397&col=1140433364286

Larnaca, Cyprus—After enduring six months of bloody combat that claimed several of their comrades, Canadian soldiers leaving Afghanistan are getting a dose of sun and fun whether they like it or not.

Over the span of a month, about 1,700 troops leaving the danger-filled streets of Kandahar are making mandatory five-day stops in this sun-drenched eastern Mediterranean island before they return to Canada.

In military jargon it's called "decompression" and experts say there is a sound psychological rationale for treating the troops to luxury hotels with golden beaches, parasailing, coastal cruises and boozy nightclub crawls.

"Most soldiers coming back from a tour of duty feel very revved up because they experience situations where they have to be very vigilant," said Dr. Brian Garber, one of seven medical professionals attached to the Canadian Forces decompression team.

"We have the transport capability to get soldiers from battlefield to their home's front door in 12 hours. That's a rapid shift ... so it's really important that they unwind."

Decompression is not standard for Canadian Forces missions. 

Garber said the top brass felt it is warranted because the Afghan mission fulfilled certain criteria, including a high proportion of casualties.

Canada has about 2,200 troops in the Kandahar region where, in recent weeks, the bloodiest insurgent attacks have taken place. 

The increasingly strong insurgency has helped make the mission increasingly deadly for Canada, with seven deaths in the past nine days alone. 

The grim toll rose yesterday when a Canadian soldier was killed by a suicide bomber near the Pakistan border. 

Many of the troops finishing their deployments are reservists, meaning they will have to adjust from full-time soldiering, with its tight-knight comradeship amid constant dangers, to full-time civilian jobs.

Regular forces and reservists alike will, after blowing off some steam here, also have to reintegrate into their families.

"Lots of guys and gals want to hit the beach ... sea and sun, it's what people want," said Lt.-Col. Darrel Zientek, leader of the decompression team, sitting in the lobby of Larnaca's four-star Sandy Beach hotel. Many soldiers, however, want to forego the sandy respite, with its information sessions on reintegration, and go straight home.

"At the end of the five days, they concede they needed this ... It's also a bit of recognition for doing a good job," Garber said. "We're helping them cope with the change they will encounter at home, like seeing grown children."
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 'People at home should be proud'
Soldiers recall horror and heroism of the day four Canadians died Orders to take school led Charlie Company 
to Taliban killing field
Aug. 8, 2006. 09:14 AM  TERRY PEDWELL  CANADIAN PRESS
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1154988610017&call_pageid=1140433364397&col=1140433364286

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—The day started as expected, with the soldiers of Charlie Company of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry setting out in the early morning darkness on orders to root out Taliban fighters.

It was Thursday, Aug. 3, 2006.

What they would not discover until many hours later was that they had witnessed what would become known as Canada's bloodiest day of combat so far in Afghanistan.

"We got our orders early in the evening for the mission," recalled Sgt. Patrick Tower, a blond, bespectacled 34-year-old whose body language displays a sense of authority.

"The mission was to move into a school in Pashmul, which is in Panjwaii district," he said.

The troops drove out in their heavy green machines under cover of darkness, heading west, and almost instantly got into a fight.

"As we were coming up to the objective ... we saw an enemy position lined up in front of us," Tower recalled.

Master Cpl. Tony Perry was the 2nd Platoon crew commander of the light armoured vehicle, or LAV III, at the front of the assault.

He radioed his commanding officer, asking if there were Afghan National Police patrolling the area, to make sure he wasn't about to hit friends.

"No, there's not," was the response heard on his headset, clearing the way for Perry to light up the guns, the loud rat-tat-tat of machine gunfire cutting through the night air.

Within only a few minutes, the initial engagement over and the enemy destroyed, Two Platoon moved forward.

They were far from being out of danger, however, as the third vehicle in the convoy, another LAV, was struck by two roadside bombs.

It would be their first casualty of the day. Despite valiant efforts to save him, Cpl. Christopher Reid would later succumb to his injuries from the bigger of the two blasts. 

The vehicle's platoon commander was also hurt, but survived.
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Afghan opium cultivation hits a record
By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 16, 2:28 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/afghan_opium_boom

KABUL, Afghanistan - Opium cultivation in        Afghanistan has hit record levels — up by more than 40 percent from 2005 — despite hundreds of millions in counternarcotics money, Western officials told The Associated Press. 

The increase could have serious repercussions for an already grave security situation, with drug lords joining the Taliban-led fight against Afghan and international forces.

A Western anti-narcotics official in Kabul said about 370,650 acres of opium poppy was cultivated this season — up from 257,000 acres in 2005 — citing their preliminary crop projections. The previous record was 323,700 acres in 2004, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

"It is a significant increase from last year ... unfortunately, it is a record year," said a senior U.S. government official based in Kabul, who like the other Western officials would speak only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive topic.

Final figures, and an estimate of the yield of opium resin from the poppies, will be clear only when the U.N. agency completes its assessment of the crop, based on satellite imagery and ground surveys. Its report is due in September.

The U.N. reported last year that Afghanistan produced an estimated 4,500 tons of opium — enough to make 450 tons of heroin — nearly 90 percent of world supply.

This year's preliminary findings indicate a failure in attempts to eradicate poppy cultivation and continuing corruption among provincial officials and police — problems acknowledged by President Hamid Karzai.
More on link


----------



## GAP (17 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 17 August 2006*

Anxious relatives in Winnipeg welcome 100 soldiers home from Afghanistan  
Canadian Press Thursday, August 17, 2006  WINNIPEG (CP) -
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=258c9032-8b83-450d-b413-b4610743412b&k=22861

 One hundred soldiers have arrived home in Winnipeg from Afghanistan. 

Dozens of anxious relatives waited at the 17 Wing terminal Wednesday night as the soldiers cleared customs. They cheered and loud, upbeat music played as the soldiers emerged. The soldiers then boarded buses bound for CFB Shilo, and an even bigger homecoming greeting. 

About 2,000 returning troops, mainly from Manitoba and Alberta, have begun arriving in waves from Afghanistan over the past several weeks. 

Another 2,000 replacement troops, mainly from Ontario and Manitoba, have been heading toward Kandahar. 
End

Medical team missing in Afghanistan
Thursday 17 August 2006, 14:58 Makka Time, 11:58 GMT   Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9C657C93-40F3-4E7B-931D-59DD11C067EE.htm

At least 15 members of an Afghan medical team have reportedly been kidnapped in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar.

The group was reportedly taken hostage while travelling to a refugee camp in the province's Zhela district on Thursday morning.

Aga Jan Nazari, director of the government's refugee department in Kandahar province, said: "We had a 15-member doctor team travelling to that district. Unknown people have kidnapped them and we don't know anything about their fates."

Dr Abdullah Fahim, spokesman for the ministry of health in Kabul, said 20 people were abducted, including a doctor and five nurses.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf, said that his group's members had not taken the medics.

Instead Taliban members had taken the group's minivan and left the medical team to flee to nearby villages, he said.

It was not clear if there were any foreigners among the missing.

Suicide attacks

Also in Kandahar province, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden van near a Nato and Afghan military convoy on Thursday morning.

One Nato soldier was wounded in the attack, officials and witness said.
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Suicide bomber hits US convoy in Afghanistan   
17/08/2006 - 9:15:06 AM Irish Examiner
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=192420300&p=y9z4zyxx6&n=192421060

A suspected suicide bomber in a car hit a US military convoy in southern Afghanistan today, wounding one US soldier, an Afghan army officer said.

The attack occurred on the main Kabul-Kandahar highway in Kandahar province, targeting a joint US-Afghan convoy, said Mohammadullah Khan, an Afghan army officer who was in the convoy.

The bomber died and one US armoured humvee vehicle was damaged in the blast, Khan said.
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Soviet mine kills US soldier in Afghanistan   
17/08/2006 - 10:50:27 AM Irish Examiner
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=158095240&p=y58x958zx&n=158095849&x=

A US soldier was killed in a mine accident in south-eastern Afghanistan but “enemy action” was ruled out, the US military said today.

The soldier died when his vehicle struck a Soviet-era mine late yesterday in Barmal district of the south-eastern Paktika province, said Col. Tom Collins, chief US military spokesman in Afghanistan.


No further details were provided. 
End

Afghan militants killed   
17/08/2006 - 8:09:50 AM Irish Examiner
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=4088070&p=4x88x85&n=4088162&x=

US-led forces killed eight militants after coming under attack in eastern Afghanistan, the coalition said in a statement today.

The militants attacked with small arms and machine guns in the Asad Abad district of Kunar province yesterday, the statement said. No coalition troops were injured.

US and Nato forces have stepped up operations along Afghanistan’s eastern and southern borders with Pakistan, where al-Qaida fugitives are believed to be at large along with allies from the toppled Taliban regime and other Islamic extremists.

A separate operation today in the south-eastern Paktika province turned up a weapons cache that included rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds, the military said.

US and Afghan forces also raided compounds suspected of being al-Qaida sanctuaries in south-eastern Afghanistan yesterday, seizing weapons and explosives and arresting eight people, the military said
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That's gratitude
Reservists are serving their country -- and risking their livelihoods
August 17, 2006 CHARLIE GILLIS  - Macleans.Ca
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/canada/article.jsp?content=20060814_132006_132006

When the call came through, Paul, a master corporal in the Canadian Forces reserves, was coated in camouflage, soot and a sheen of sweat. But the 35-year-old soldier from Toronto figured the message must be urgent, so he rushed to find out what was wrong. "It was my office telling me I had made a mistake filling out the forms for my leave," he recalls, noting that he was miles away from the nearest land line -- a pay phone at the base offices -- at the time. After weeks of trudging through the brush near Meaford, Ont., as part of his training for active duty, he was near the end of his tether with an employer who failed to grasp what he was trying to accomplish in the reserves. "I was totally exhausted, I hadn't eaten in two days," he says. "Here they were calling me over some stupid problem with paperwork. It definitely was not cool."
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Soldiers head to Afghanistan
'Let's blow kisses to daddy,' mom tells 4-year-old daughter 
Thu, August 17, 2006 By MICHELE HENRY, TORONTO SUN
http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2006/08/17/1760275-sun.html

CFB TRENTON -- As the plane began its slow taxi down the runway, Sarah Rankin summoned a smile and called to her 4-year-old daughter. 

"Kaitlyn, the plane's leaving," the 31-year-old mother of three said, cradling her 7-month-old son James on her left hip and grabbing for the arm of her 2-year-old son, William. "Let's blow kisses to daddy." 

With their noses and fingers pressed through a wire fence that separated them from the tarmac yesterday, the Rankins joined family members of many other soldiers in bidding farewell to their loved ones. 

With skirts billowing in the wind and sun hats and dark glasses concealing their tears, those left behind watched in silence as an airbus carrying 140 men and women took off for war-torn central Asia. 

The soldiers, who occupy diverse positions in the army, including medical, infantry and administrative roles, will eventually join camps in and around Afghanistan. 

Their departure yesterday came only 24 hours after a bloody day overseas, when six Canadian soldiers were wounded in a mortar attack on one of their outposts in southern Afghanistan
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Raise our flag
Canadians need to show support for our soldiers in Afghanistan and their families 
By JOE WARMINGTON Thu, August 17, 2006 Toronto Sun
http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2006/08/17/1760274-sun.html

There are some homes in this country where every time the phone rings it could be that dreaded call. 

"It's actually not a phone call," Billy Gorta, a former cop and a journalist from the New York Post on vacation here this week, cautions me as I write this. 

As an American scribe, he understands war death. And feels our pain. 

"When a soldier dies, they come to your house," he said. "The people inside know it's bad news before they even get to the step when they hear up to eight car doors closing at once. They know it's clergy and everybody else." 

That sure is a graphic image. It's a real image. It's happened too many times. As a cop, Billy had the horrible job of delivering this kind of news. More than 25 Canadian families this year know how it feels to receive it. 

With Canada at war, sadly there may be more. Bonnie and Gary Lewis live in one of those homes. Their son Jamie was recently deployed on his second tour in Afghanistan and they know that phone could ring or there could one day be a knock at their door. 
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NATO boss blames Taliban for Afghan evacuations  
Updated Thu. Aug. 17 2006 8:29 AM ET CTV
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/afghanistan_NATO_0600817/20060817?hub=World

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A top NATO commander has apologized to thousands of people forced from their homes by the fighting in southern Afghanistan, but he blames Taliban insurgents for causing much of the misery. 

Roughly 6,000 Afghans, mainly poor farmers, have been turned into refugees near Kandahar since fighting began in the spring, Afghan authorities estimate. 

Some villages in the Zhari and Panjwaii districts, about 30 kilometres west of Kandahar, have become virtual ghost towns, Col. Chris Vernon, the British chief of staff for NATO's Regional Command South, acknowledged on Wednesday. 

"Inevitably, the side effect of military operations are that civilians, innocent civilians, get affected," Vernon said. 

"In Zhari and Panjwaii at the moment there are very few civilians. They've been displaced." 

The region west of Kandahar has been a hotbed of military activity in recent months. It's where mainly Canadian soldiers have seen heavy fighting - and suffered their heaviest casualties - in running battles with Taliban forces, particularly within the past month. 
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UN opens new offices in Afghanistan’s troubled southern region
17 August 2006 
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=19547&Cr=Afghan&Cr1=

The United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) has opened a new regional office in Qalat, Zabul, in the south of the country, where a growing insurgency threatens stability, as part of its efforts to work with Afghans to boost development and monitor human rights. 

“The new offices build on our current network and will help us to listen closely to the needs of the people, the community, the elders and the local authorities to get a better understanding about what can be done to help to bring prosperity to Afghanistan,” said the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the country, Tom Koenigs. 

“The office will closely cooperate with the local government and local governors and with all the administration to strengthen good governance and the rule of law, as well as monitoring human rights issues and will assist the local population where needed to ensure that more development reaches these areas,” he said. 

UNAMA has plans to open more offices across in the whole country, the envoy noted. “We believe that our presence can help contribute to the stabilization of the country,” said Mr. Koenigs. 
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U.S. AID In Afghanistan Reconstruction Totals $3.5 Billion
August 17, 2006 11:24 a.m. EST
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004566620

Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent
Kabul, Afghanistan (AHN) - A statement released by the United States Agency for International Development said total assistance distributed for the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan totaled over $3.5 billion during the last four years.

The statement said most of the money was spent on infrastructure which received a big slice of the fund at $1.093 billion.

The allocation of the money was as follows: economic growth, $475.89 million; democracy and governance $316.06 million; health, $242 million; and education, $208.92 million.

Other areas which received funding from USAID were alternative livelihood programs with $475 million, agriculture with $164.59 million, provincial reconstruction teams with $144.45 million, and integrating former combatants with $20.42 million.
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RIR soldier shot in the head in Afghanistan gun battle
BY Debra Douglas 17 August 2006 
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=702840

A Royal Irish Soldier was today fighting for his life after being shot in the head in Afghanistan.

The Scottish soldier, a member of the Third Battalion, is believed to have been shot during fighting with Taliban forces in the Helmand province.

It is believed the incident happened last week but details have only emerged now.

The solider, who has not been named, is being treated in a civilian hospital in Pakistan where his condition is thought to be critical.

An Army spokesman said it was not policy to comment on injured soldiers but confirmed a soldier was being treated in a hospital in Pakistan.

He added: "The soldier is not from Northern Ireland. The soldier is Scottish, serving with the Third Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment which is our general service battalion which serves around the world."

About 60 soldiers from the First Battalion were deployed to Afghanistan at the end of July as part of military reinforcements as the fierce fighting continues.

They were drafted in from the Royal Irish's General Service 1st Battalion, which also serves worldwide, to support the Parachute Regiment. 

The battalion is regarded as one of the most experienced units in the Army and has already served in Kosovo, Iraq and Sierra Leone.

They are in the same area where Ulster soldier Captain David Patton was killed during fierce fighting last month.

The 38-year-old from the Coleraine area had been on night patrol in Sangin, in the southern province of Helmand.
End

NATO Chief: National Will, Not Military Might, Needed to Succeed in Afghanistan
By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=488

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2006 – Military might will not win the battle for Afghanistan, NATO’s top military officer said here today. 
Building a government that guards the liberties of its citizens, provides economic opportunities and treats all fairly before the law will do more than simple military pressure, U.S. Marine Gen. James L. Jones said during a Pentagon interview. 

NATO has assumed the security mission in southern Afghanistan. The alliance now has responsibility for about 80 percent of the nation and is scheduled to assume command for the rest of the country by the end of this year. 

Jones said this is a strategic moment for Afghanistan and for the North Atlantic alliance. “It’s a test of wills,” he said. “I believe NATO will be successful.” 

Jones said the people of Afghanistan will only benefit, if the world community shows Afghans the benefits of security and freedom under a national government. 

Afghanistan’s problem is not a military problem, Jones said. “The future of Afghanistan is tied to the international aid and development problem,” he said. “If I were to prioritize what needs to be done in Afghanistan, I would put the current military operations somewhat lower than the urgency needed for police reform, of (forming) a judicial system that works, of eliminating corruption at the senior levels in the districts and provinces, and of effectively attacking the narcotics problem.” 
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## GAP (18 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 18 August 2006*

Super salute to troops
By HOLLY LAKE August 18, 2006 Ottawa Sun
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2006/08/18/1762921-sun.html

Ceremony for Canadian Forces and veterans kicks off event

Veterans pass by a Ferris wheel as they parade their way through the midway to officially open Super Ex yesterday. (Blair Gable, SUN)  
People gathered to Salute the Troops at yesterday's SuperEx kick off, but it was their families who felt a swell of support. 

Speaking on behalf of all military families, including the busload who had travelled from Petawawa, Kim Hetherington told those gathered that the day was a reminder that soldiers' families are not forgotten. 

"It gives me the inner strength to support my children,"said the mother of seven-year-old twins Tara and Elizabeth. 

Their father, Lt. Col. Simon Hetherington, left for Afghanistan in June. During his eight-month tour he will be a part of the provincial reconstruction team. Hetherington said yesterday's event was a welcome distraction from the concern for loved ones. Since their father left, her daughters have peppered her with questions far more challenging than she anticipated. 

'SOLDIERS IN HARM'S WAY' 

"They know there are soldiers in harm's way. They know there are soldiers that have been hurt, soldiers that have been killed, so their questions are heart wrenching," she said. "They wonder if their dad is going to come home at all and I have difficulty answering that." 

But they understand that the soldiers are there to help the Afghans rebuild, to give children the opportunity to go to school and to live in a safe world, she said. 

Knowing what is being sacrificed today, Hetherington was very proud to see the parade of veterans at yesterday's ceremony, who have experienced sacrifice firsthand. 
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Taliban seek talks to end warfare with Canadians
GRAEME SMITH From Friday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060818.afghan18/BNStory/International/home
            OR in the Toronto Star
Taliban talk about disarming
Canadians, NATO involved in quiet negotiations As militants mass, faction signals desire for dialogue
Aug. 18, 2006. 08:08 AM BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH OTTAWA BUREAU Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1155851411150&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724

From Globe & Mail
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Taliban fighters are seeking talks with international players in southern Afghanistan, marking a new phase in the diplomatic efforts to end the bitter warfare between Canadian troops and insurgents.

Peace Through Strength, a government-funded mediation agency, has been quietly sending delegations from its Kandahar office to Taliban commanders in recent months with offers of amnesty, Afghan officials say. Those talks led to at least three defections by mid-level insurgent leaders, but failed to stop the escalating violence.

The insurgents have told PTS negotiators they'd rather talk with the United Nations, believing that negotiations with foreigners are more likely to guarantee them protection from Canadian and other foreign troops operating in Kandahar.

“We tried many times to offer the Taliban peace, but they didn't accept,” said Haji Agha Lalai, PTS program director in Kandahar. “They say, ‘If we accept your offer, the Americans will send us to Guantanamo anyway.'
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'Boomer' touched my heart
Aug. 15, 2006. 10:26 PM  ROSIE DIMANNO
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1155592216052&call_pageid=1140433364397&col=1140433364286

No Canadian soldier, killed in Afghanistan, dies in anonymity.

There is at least that: The number of casualties, even as they mount, are not yet so plentiful that names and faces are becoming interchangeable. Biographies of the fallen mutate into obituaries for lives cut brutally short, which has always been the don't-speak-of-it fate looming terribly real for fighting grunts. 

We read the stories and study the photographs, trying to imagine the totality of one soldier's existence from the paucity of details that make it into media dispatches, the comments often a little too reverent, given the solemn nature of the report, never quite capturing the essence of the individual. Because soldiers, especially those at the front, in close proximity to danger and the craziness of war, are wildly irreverent, fiercely scatological, monkey-shining.

This is what I know of Canadian army medic Andrew James Eykelenboom, or "Boomer'' as he was called by his mates, killed by a suicide bomber near the Afghan-Pakistan border on Friday:

He was sweetly goofy, more than a little bit off-centre in humour, with a deadpan delivery such that you never saw the punchline coming or even realized he was having you on, until the sly grin at the end.

He was an insatiable reader, of popular fiction mostly, and once noted that he couldn't imagine getting through the long periods of boredom that typify the lull of combat between skirmishes without the weighty collection of paperbacks in his kitbag.
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Suicide bomber wounds 8 policemen in S.Afghanistan  
August 18, 2006 The Peoples Daily Online         
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/18/eng20060818_294200.html

At least eight Afghan policemen were injured as a suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province on Thursday morning, an official at the office of Interior Ministry spokesman said. 

"A man strapped explosive material in his body detonated himself inside a police post in Uruzgan's provincial capital Trinkot at 6:30 a.m. local time, killing himself and wounding eight policemen," the official told Xinhua but refused to be named. 

This is the second suicide attack in Afghanistan's volatile southern region in a single day where Taliban-led insurgency is on the rise. 

Another attack on NATO and Afghan troops in Uruzgan's neighboring province of Kandahar left at least the bomber dead and injured a soldier. 

The southern provinces of Kandahar, Zabul, Helmand and Uruzgan, commonly known as the hotbed of the former Taliban regime, have been the scene of increasing militancy as more than 600 insurgents, according to officials, have been killed since early June. 

More than 1,800 people mostly rebels have been killed in Taliban-linked insurgency since the beginning of this year in Afghanistan. 
End

Terror plot mastermind hiding in Afghanistan says Pakistan  
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200608181611.htm

Islamabad, Aug 18. (AP): Pakistan has told the U.S. military that an Arab al-Qaida operative who masterminded the London terror plots is hiding in mountainous terrain in northeastern Afghanistan, an intelligence official said on Friday. 

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the investigation, said the al-Qaida member is believed to be moving between Afghanistan's Nuristan and Kunar provinces, which border Pakistan. 

The information was obtained by interrogators questioning a British suspect in the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic passenger planes, Rashid Rauf, who was arrested in eastern Pakistan and is regarded as a ``key figure'' in the plot that was foiled last week. 
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Local reservists to train for Afghanistan-style deployment
Thu, August 17, 2006 By RANDY RICHMOND, LONDON FREE PRESS REPORTER
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2006/08/17/1761545.html
  
Almost 1,000 reservists from Southwestern Ontario will get a taste of the new style of war next week in a training exercise designed to match the reality of Afghanistan. 

“This year the exercise is right into what we are seeing overseas,” said Capt. Alex Peterson, media-relations officer for the exercise, to be held at CFB Petawawa near Pembroke. 

More than 2,500 reservists from all 40 units in Ontario will take part, with a third coming from Southwestern Ontario. 

It’s the first large-scale exercise helping reservists prepare for what the army calls the three-block war — where a unit could be involved in humanitarian aid, traditional peacekeeping-style work and medium-intensity fighting within three blocks of an urban area. 
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Inter news radio station torched in Afghanistan  
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=101096

LOGAR: A radio station built by Arcata-based Internews Network in Logar, Afghanistan, was deliberately burned down over the weekend, but plans are already being made to rebuild. 

Annette Makino, senior vice president for communications and corporate affairs for Internews Network, said no one was seriously hurt in the fire that destroyed everything except a generator and a satellite dish. 

The station was one of 32 stations Internews established in the country since the fall of the Taliban. 

"We have also provided equipment and training to local journalists; produced independent radio content with local journalists; and established a satellite distribution system for radio programming that reaches a majority of the population," Makino wrote in an e-mail. 

In the days before the arson, a "night letter," or leaflet, was being passed throughout Logar condemning the music the station played and "decadent" Western behavior. 

The station manager was sleeping in the station when he heard something and discovered the building on fire. The station broadcast 10 hours a day. Makino said talks on rebuilding the station have already begun. 

"Internews runs a multifaceted program designed to ensure that Afghanistan has an independent, pluralistic and trustworthy media providing accurate news and information on a broad range of issues in both local and national contexts," Makino said
End

Rights Group Worried About Media Freedom In Afghanistan  
August 17, 2006 (RFE/RL) --  Radio Free Europe
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/08/95277766-10BF-40CA-BFED-AA23F327638B.html

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) media watchdog today said that it is worried about what it called a recent wave of press freedom violations in Afghanistan.


In an open letter posted on the group's website, RSF Secretary-General Robert Menard urges Afghan President Hamid Karzai "to take all necessary measures to protect journalists and their news organizations."

RSF singles out an August 11 attack on the offices of Radio Isteqlal (Radio Independence) in Eastern Logar Province.

It also condemns Afghan legislators who verbally attacked the Tolo private television station on August 14 for broadcasting footage showing parliamentarians asleep during hearings.

RSF also draws Karzai's attention to the case of radio reporter Abdul Qudoos, who was detained and jailed for seven months without charges, and BBC correspondent Kamal Sadaat, who was reportedly assaulted on August 16 in Khost Province.
End

Coalition Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan; Forces Kill Extremists, Uncover Weapons
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=494

Two coalition soldiers were killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan Aug. 16 and yesterday, and coalition forces killed eight extremists and discovered a weapons cache, U.S. military officials reported. 
A coalition soldier was killed yesterday during a battle with extremists just west of Asadabad, in Kunar province. In addition, one wounded coalition soldier was evacuated to a nearby coalition treatment facility, where he remains in stable condition. 

Reports indicate the fight started when extremists attacked a coalition patrol about seven kilometers east of the coalition forward operating base. In response to the enemy attack, coalition troops pounded extremist positions with direct and joint fires, but have not confirmed how much damage was inflicted. 

“Our fallen comrade served and died here so that others may enjoy the fruits of democracy,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. James Terry, Combined Joint Task Force 76 deputy commanding general for operations. “He will not be forgotten.” 
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Coalition Defends Attack in Afghanistan’s Paktika Province
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=495

A joint Afghan National Army and coalition patrol struck an improvised explosive device and was subsequently engaged by extremists with small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire in the Waza Khwa district of Afghanistan’s Paktika province yesterday, military officials reported. 
One Afghan soldier was killed, and one coalition vehicle was damaged in the attack. 

The extremists fled the area in two trucks identified by coalition ground forces, and this information was relayed to coalition aircraft overhead. The fleeing trucks were traveling off-road in an attempt to avoid detection. Overhead aircraft observed 10 to 15 people and heavy weapons in the retreating vehicles. Those trucks were engaged and destroyed by coalition aircraft. Numerous secondary explosions were observed, indicating the presence of ammunition or explosives in the vehicles. 

“Coalition forces are confident that the two trucks destroyed by coalition aircraft were the same two trucks fleeing the site of the attack on the joint coalition patrol,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, Combined Joint Task Force 76 spokesman. “We are aware that local officials have stated that Afghan Border Police were attacked and killed by coalition aircraft, and we are investigating that report. At this time, coalition forces cannot confirm the identity or affiliation of the extremists who attacked our patrol and were subsequently destroyed by coalition aircraft. However, we will work closely with the Afghan government on this investigation.” 

Six IED incidents have occurred in this area in a six-week period. IEDs are a serious threat to all Afghans and kill and injure more innocent civilians than coalition and Afghan security forces combined, officials said. 

(From a Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news release.) 
End

Coalition Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan; Forces Kill Extremists, Uncover Weapons
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2006 


Two coalition soldiers were killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan Aug. 16 and yesterday, and coalition forces killed eight extremists and discovered a weapons cache, U.S. military officials reported. 
A coalition soldier was killed yesterday during a battle with extremists just west of Asadabad, in Kunar province. In addition, one wounded coalition soldier was evacuated to a nearby coalition treatment facility, where he remains in stable condition. 

Reports indicate the fight started when extremists attacked a coalition patrol about seven kilometers east of the coalition forward operating base. In response to the enemy attack, coalition troops pounded extremist positions with direct and joint fires, but have not confirmed how much damage was inflicted. 

“Our fallen comrade served and died here so that others may enjoy the fruits of democracy,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. James Terry, Combined Joint Task Force 76 deputy commanding general for operations. “He will not be forgotten.” 

A coalition member was killed Aug. 16 in southeastern Afghanistan when the vehicle he was traveling in struck a Soviet-era mine. Reports indicate recent rains in the area exposed the old mine, and enemy action was not the cause. The vehicle struck the mine south of Bermel, in Paktika province, while on a routine patrol in the area. 
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Afghanistan: America's options
 Subhash Kapila August 18, 2006
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/aug/18guest3.htm   

The United States has been finally forced to recognize that its laudable political and strategic objective of building Afghanistan into a moderate, democratic Muslim state is seriously endangered by Pakistan, its Major Non-NATO ally in the region.  
This was very much in evidence when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was forced to make a long detour in the last week of June, en route to the G-8 Foreign Ministers meeting in Moscow. She spent a day each in Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

The President of Afghanistan, American military commanders and the NATO Force Commanders in Afghanistan have all agreed that the resurgence of the Taliban, the incidents of terrorism in Kabul and the violence in South and East Afghanistan all originate from Pakistan. These Pakistan-based insurgents are targeting US and British soldiers and the fledgeling Afghan National Army. 

The big question is: why this selective targeting of these forces? The answer is that all of them are engaged in the security of Afghanistan's reconstruction and its emergence as a model democratic state with moderate Muslim credentials. 

The next big question is, who is interested in preventing Afghanistan's emergence as a model democratic state in the Muslim world? The answer is obvious. 

But while Condoleezza Rice made all the correct noises in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the major impression that one gets is that the US Administration continues to be in a "state of denial" over Pakistan's continued involvement in the de-stabilisation of Afghanistan through its proxy organisation, the Taliban. 

Years ago, I had predicted that Afghanistan was of greater strategic importance to United States national security interests than Iraq, and suggested that the US should desist from military intervention in Iraq till it stabilizes Afghanistan. This holds more true today. 

The United States at no cost should give up or abandon Afghanistan. It is far too important for US strategy in relation to the Gulf Region, the Central Asia region and its "Grand Strategy" on China. 
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Bagram A-10 Thunderbolts Surge for Summer Offensive in Afghanistan
By Maj. David Kurle, USAF Special to American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=499

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Aug. 18, 2006 – Six U.S. and coalition troops peer out from a remote position on a ridge top in Afghanistan. At sunset on the third day of their vigil, a large force of Taliban extremists carrying heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades surround and pin down the team.  

By design, an Air Force joint tactical air controller is with the team. His job is to direct strike aircraft to targets on the ground. The situation on the ridgeline is desperate until an Air Force pilot flying an A-10 Thunderbolt II in the vicinity contacts him. 

Helping the A-10 pilot find and target his attackers on the ground, the air controller stays in radio contact, except when forced to pick up his weapon and fire at the enemy closing in. 

The A-10 and its pilot hammer at the enemy with bombs and the plane’s massive gun. 
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Meanwhile in Afghanistan
Posted by: McQ on Friday, August 18, 2006
http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?Entry=4437
   
An interesting article about what the Taliban is now targeting:
Education Minister Mohammed Hanif Atmar says attacks have closed more than 208 schools — including 144 burned down — in the past year as militants changed tactics to hit soft targets. By some estimates, attacks have increased six-fold over 2005.

"Over the past couple of months, the enemy of this nation has been targeting our kids in schools, our schools and our teachers," Atmar says.

"They know that education is about the future of our people. They know that education is about democracy, about true Islam, and about prosperity in Afghanistan. The main reason is killing the future, the future of Afghanistan.

"Because they cannot now face our national army and national police ... there's been a significant change of tactics."
This is bottom line "hearts and minds" stuff. Frankly I find this to be an encouraging bit of news. 

Now one thing to keep in mind is that this doesn't mean the Taliban has abandoned its assault on the government, but it does point to a realization that the government's success in building and staffing schools which will educate the next generation is indeed a threat to them. They no longer enjoy the monopoly of selective information they once had when they controlled the country.

The attempt is two-fold on the part of the Taliban. An effort to show up the government and make the point to the locals the government is too weak to protect them. Secondly to keep them poor, illiterate and dependent. The locals, however, are figuring it out: 
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Who are the militants in Afghanistan?  
By Pam O'Toole   BBC News  Friday, 18 August 2006, 15:05 GMT 16:05 UK  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4801303.stm

There has been a huge increase in violent attacks in Afghanistan in recent months, particularly in the south where Nato forces are helping the Afghan government to extend its authority. 

The government blames most of the violence on what it calls "enemies of Afghanistan" - shorthand for the Taleban and their al-Qaeda allies. 


Both groups appear to be stronger than they have been since before the fall of the Taleban administration in 2001. 

Pakistan continues to deny Afghan allegations that it is sheltering and aiding the Taleban. 

But it is becoming increasingly difficult to establish with any certainty who is behind some of the violence and exactly who supports the insurgency. 
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Afghan officials, U.S. clash on bombing
FISNIK ABRASHI  Associated Press 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060818.usafgh0818/BNStory/International/home

KABUL — A top Afghan border police official rejected a U.S.-led coalition claim Friday that 10 police officers reported killed in an air strike were militants, while in another province, an insurgent ambush killed a coalition soldier.

The U.S. military said it was investigating Thursday's coalition air strike in southeastern Paktika province but believed it had struck insurgents fleeing the scene of an attack on U.S. and Afghan troops, not police.

President Hamid Karzai, who depends on U.S. military support to prop up his weak government but has become increasingly outspoken over heavy-handed tactics by international forces in Afghanistan, condemned the air strike and called for an investigation.

The U.S. military said coalition aircraft had destroyed two trucks used in an insurgent attack Thursday that killed an Afghan soldier and damaged a coalition vehicle.
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## The Bread Guy (19 Aug 2006)

*Taliban fighters confront Canadian troops *  
GRAEME SMITH, Globe and Mail, 19 Aug 06
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060819.wafghanistan0819/BNStory/International/home
Permalink:  http://milnewstbay.pbwiki.com/19648

Fighting erupted again today in the notorious Panjwai district, as Canadian troops struggled to control a strategic belt of farmland in southern Afghanistan.  Residents of Kandahar watched fireworks marking the country's Independence Day, while grape farmers saw red tracers flying through the night, only 30 kilometres southwest of the city.  Initial reports of the clashes were somewhat contradictory, and could not be confirmed by the Canadian military. But local sources said Taliban fighters had previously overrun a compound owned by Haji Agha Lalai, a prominent local politician who was trying to broker amnesty deals for Taliban commanders. That same group of Taliban sent warnings to local farmers last night and today, telling them to stay away from the district government compound because of an impending attack . . . . 


*Camp Nathan Smith's patron saint*
Graeme Smith, Globe & Mail, 19 Aug 06
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060819.wpopeye-smith0819/BNStory
Permalink:  http://milnewstbay.pbwiki.com/76835

Canada's military base in Kandahar city has a patron saint, and his name is Popeye.  His real name is Fida Mohammed, but the squinty handyman was re-named by U.S. troops who noticed his resemblance to the squinty, spinach-eating cartoon character.  The Americans were just one of several forces that occupied the old fruit cannery over the years, before the Canadians established Camp Nathan Smith within the compound's high walls.  As the cannery's owners changed, and Afghanistan's civil wars swept through Kandahar, Popeye always stayed in the same place . . . . 


*Four US troops, two Afghans killed in Afghanistan violence*
Agence France Presse, via TurkishPress.com, 19 Aug 06
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=138298

Four US troops and two Afghan security force members were killed as Afghanistan celebrated its Independence Day amid the bloodiest phase of a Taliban insurgency.  Another six US troops were wounded in two separate clashes in the country's east and south -- areas which see the worst of the insurgency launched by the extremist Taliban after it was toppled from government in 2001 . . . .


*Four US troops die in Afghanistan *  
BBC News online, 19 Aug 06
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5266942.stm

Four US servicemen and at least one Afghan soldier have been killed in two separate incidents in Afghanistan.  Three US soldiers died in clashes in the volatile eastern Kunar region, a spokesman said.  Another US soldier and an Afghan soldier were killed in a gun battle with Taleban fighters in southern Uruzgan province, an official said . . . .


*Four soldiers killed in Afghan clashes*
Reuters (UK), vua Yahoo.com, 19 Aug 06
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/19082006/325/four-soldiers-killed-afghan-clashes.html

Four foreign soldiers were killed in two separate clashes in Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, the latest casualties among foreign forces in the rising violence with the Taliban.  Three soldiers with U.S.-led coalition forces were killed in a clash in the eastern province of Kunar. A soldier with NATO troops was killed along with an Afghan soldier in a gun battle with Taliban fighters in the southern province of Uruzgan.  Three other NATO soldiers were wounded in the Uruzgan incident, a spokesman for the force said . . . .


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## GAP (21 Aug 2006)

Canadians hammer Taliban  
GRAEME SMITH  From Monday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060821.wxafghan21/BNStory/Afghanistan/?cid=al_gam_nletter_newsUp

Troops, artillery inflict heavy casualties on insurgents in battle near Kandahar 

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Canadian soldiers scored a major victory against Taliban insurgents on the weekend, pounding their opponents just hours after they took charge of security in one of Afghanistan's most volatile regions.

A heavy barrage from Canada's precision-guided artillery, apparently aimed using remote-controlled aircraft, helped Afghan and Canadian forces kill as many as 72 insurgents and protect a key district near Kandahar.

As many as seven Afghan soldiers died in the battle, but no Canadians were injured and no civilian casualties were reported. The burned and shredded bodies sprawled in the dust after the battle were wearing traditional clothing and ammunition belts, suggesting they were Taliban fighters.

It was an unusually clear-cut success in the notorious district of Panjwai, where previous battles have killed hundreds of Taliban fighters but also inflicted a deadly toll on local residents, Canadian soldiers and Afghan forces.

Even the Taliban fighters seemed surprised, acknowledging that they didn't expect to find their opponents waiting to ambush them from rocky outcrops about 30 kilometres southwest of Kandahar.

"It was night and we couldn't see them," said a young Taliban fighter who escaped the battlefield. "They were waiting for us."

The battle started less than three hours after the 1st Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment formally replaced an outgoing rotation of Canadian troops on Saturday. In the days before the handover, however, events in Panjwai suggested that the troops' first day on the job might not be peaceful.

Hundreds of insurgents had been gathering in Panjwai's warren of lush farms and mud-walled compounds. Friday, insurgents forced their way inside the family estate of Haji Agha Lalai, a wealthy landowner and provincial council member who has been a key negotiator of amnesty deals for Taliban who want to surrender.

For the first time in 14 years, Mr. Lalai was forced to evacuate his land, moving 66 family members into two houses in Kandahar.

Taliban fighters captured and beat some locals who didn't leave, he said, and others were forced to prepare meals for the insurgents.

An estimated 6,000 people have fled the violence in Panjwai, and the few who remain sometimes help the Taliban voluntarily, giving them food, shelter and sons who want to fight. These locals quietly got word from Taliban on Friday that the insurgents planned to attack the Panjwai District Centre, a government office that houses the local governor and police chief. It would be an audacious feat for the insurgents, helping them to control a vital transit route between the opium fields of Helmand Province and the Pakistani border.

The Taliban's warning appears to have reached Afghan or Canadian forces, however, because they were well prepared on Saturday night, when insurgents started to advance north from the Lalai compound through dense grape fields.
More on link


Canada AM: Matt McClure with Canada's commander 2:00 

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=TopStories&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/21/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_08_21_1156159139.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/08/21/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_08_21_1156157743.wmv&clip_start=00:01:41.43&clip_end=00:02:00.12&clip_caption=Canada AM: Matt McClure with Canada's commander&clip_id=ctvnews.20060821.00159000-00159437-clip1&subhub=video&no_ads=&sortdate=&slug=&archive=CTVNews



Clashes highlight NATO challenge in Afghanistan
Bronwen Roberts AFP August 21, 2006 Middle East Times
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060821-043657-6456r

KABUL --  Deadly weekend clashes in southern Afghanistan have highlighted the scale of the task facing NATO as it tackles the dual challenge of establishing security and promoting reconstruction to break a resilient Taliban insurgency. 

Nearly 90 people were killed in a series of attacks in the deadliest weekend since NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) took over command of the south from a US-led coalition July 31. 

In one attack overnight Saturday, more than 70 rebels were killed by Afghan and NATO forces after they tried to storm a district headquarters in the southern province of Kandahar. Five Afghan police or soldiers also died. 

On Sunday a British soldier was killed in a gunfight in neighboring Helmand province, becoming the 10th ISAF soldier to die in hostile action since the takeover. 

Other clashes claimed the lives of four US coalition soldiers in attacks Saturday in the eastern province of Kunar and southern Uruzgan. 
More on link

Why are we in Afghanistan?
By Colin Kenny The Hamilton Spectator (Aug 21, 2006) 
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156111825186&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1129025140139

Stephen Harper must give Canadians clear reasons and say how he will measure success

Afghanistan is Canada's first major military deployment of the 21st century. It started out being Paul Martin's war. It is now Stephen Harper's war.

Because war - even if it is sometimes necessary - is such an ugly, brutal, end-of-the line solution to any human dispute, it is essential that the citizens of any country waging war continually measure costs against benefits.

Countries that fail to do this -- at the beginning and as the war goes along -- can get in over their heads in a hurry.

Citizens need to know why they are at war, what the financial and human costs are likely to be and what their government believes any given war can accomplish. They can then judge for themselves whether combat makes sense to them.
More on link

Australian troops embark Afghanistan mission  
AM - Monday, 21 August , 2006  08:12:00 Reporter: Anne Barker TONY EASTLEY: 
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1719757.htm

Just as Australian troops are about to head off there, Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest period since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Yesterday a British soldier was killed in the north of the country. His death came a day after four US soldiers and an Afghan soldier were killed in clashes in the south and east.

Tomorrow the first of 400 Australian soldiers will leave on a mission, which will see them helping in the reconstruction of the country.

The troops were given an official farewell in Darwin last night.
More on link


Steinmeier Reasserts Germany's Pledge to Afghanistan  
21.08.2006  
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2142155,00.html

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier began his first visit to Afghanistan by urging the international community not to forget the war-torn country and reiterating Germany's own commitment.

Considering the recent upsurge in combat between NATO forces and the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier's remarks from Kabul on Sunday that the international community should not forget about Afghanistan's plight because of the crisis in Lebanon should not have been necessary.

Despite fresh outbreaks of heavy fighting in the war-torn country, Afghanistan has slipped down the agenda as more high-profile and politically volatile conflicts have taken center stage. Steinmeier's comments, therefore, were far from redundant.

Germany's top diplomat began a three-day visit to the insurgency-wracked country late on Sunday, his first to Afghanistan, during which he will meet with President Hamid Karzai and other officials. 
More on link

Afghanistan begins polio vaccinations
Sunday, August 20, 2006 · By FISNIK ABRASHI ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Afghan_Polio.html

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Tens of thousands of health workers fanned out across Afghanistan Sunday in a polio vaccination campaign to immunize more than 7 million children under age 5.

Afghanistan has suffered 24 polio cases so far in 2006, compared to nine cases during all of 2005, the Ministry of Public Health said. All cases except one were in the insurgency-wracked south.

In a three-day campaign, more than 45,000 health workers and volunteers will go across the country to immunize more than 7 million children under 5, a statement from the office of President Hamid Karzai said.
More on link

Taliban asking for their warriors' bodies back after weekend of bloody battles
Monday, August 21, 2006 Hamilton Spectator
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/breakingnews/breakingnews_7656341.html

The Taliban is asking for their warriors' bodies back after a weekend of bloody battles with Canadian and Afghan forces. 

Afghan government officials say 72 Taliban fighters died in a massive ground, air and artillery assault west of Kandahar. 

NATO officials say the losses were a big blow to the Taliban, eliminating up to 10 per cent of their estimated numbers in southern Afghanistan. 

Sources tell Broadcast News that 18 bodies have been returned so far in a gesture of reconciliation. 

Late last week, moderate Taliban leaders expressed an interest in ending the fighting with Afghan government and NATO forces in the region. 

Haji Niamatullah, a member of the Kandahar provincial council and part of the government's reconciliation program, says those efforts continue despite the weekend violence. 
More on link

British soldier killed, three wounded in Afghanistan
Monday, August 21st, 2006 India E News
http://indiaenews.com/2006-08/19213-british-killed-wounded-afghanistan.htm

Kabul, Aug 21 (DPA) A British soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed and three others were wounded in a fire fight with suspected Taliban guerrillas in the southern province of Helmand.

Both ISAF ground troops and air assets were involved in the battle, which took place in a former Taliban stronghold.

The three wounded soldiers were British. The British defence ministry issued a statement late Sunday acknowledging that the ISAF casualties were all Britons.

The majority of the ISAF forces in Helmand province are Britons.

The slain soldier, a paratrooper, is the 20th Briton killed in Afghanistan since the US-led ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

Taliban casualties in the engagement were not yet known, the ISAF statement said.
More on link

British Army faces weapons crisis in Iraq, Afghanistan
Monday, Aug 21, 2006,Page 6  THE OBSERVER , LONDON, Eng.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/08/21/2003324157

TROOPS ENDANGERED: A leaked memo from the UK Ministry of Defense has revealed a cash shortfall that is putting its forces in harm's way 

The full extent of the financial crisis affecting the British army has been revealed in a leaked British government document obtained by Observer newspaper. The internal memo, written by the UK Ministry of Defense's second most senior civil servant, has sparked fears that requests by commanders for vital equipment to save the lives of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq may not be met.

Ian Andrews admits that the budget for the acquisition of new equipment for soldiers is the worst affected and that "painful measures are required." He has even ordered ministry staff to cut travel expenses as the department attempts to cope with the cost of an army which is enduring its busiest period of operations since the end of World War II.

Union officials on Saturday warned ministers that more troops will be killed in Iraq and Afghanistan because of the budgetary crisis.

"These cuts could eventually see more body bags returning to Britain as a result of inadequate equipment," said an official who specializes in defense logistics from the Public and Commercial Services Union. 
More on link

Afghanistan vet donating marble slab to NYS Military Museum
http://www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=5305079&nav=2aKD

VICTOR, N.Y. An Army veteran is donating a piece of history linked to the September Eleventh terrorist attacks to the New York State Military Museum.

Later this week, Steve McAlpin of Victor will deliver an 80-pound marble slab from his suburban Rochester home to the museum in Saratoga Springs.

McAlpin says the slab was part of the grand staircase at a mansion in Kabul, Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden was given safe haven by the Taliban.

McAlpin was serving with the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion four years ago when he and some comrades decided to bring a piece of the bombed-out mansion back to New York.

The 47-year-old Army Reserves retiree had the slab engraved with the words, "Let this stone serve as a reminder of the resolve of our American spirit, courage and patriotism."

Military museum director Michael Aikey (AYE'-kee) tells the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle that the marble slab will eventually be put on display at the museum.
End

Commander says NATO passing test in Afghanistan  
SmallGovTimes.com  By: VOA News | Published on 08/17/06    
http://www.smallgovtimes.com/story/06aug17.commander.nato.test/index.html

WASHINGTON D.C. (VOA) - General Jones says Taleban insurgents, drug-traffickers and criminal gangs are testing NATO, as he expected they would.

"This is a strategic moment in the southern part of Afghanistan. It's a test of wills. Certainly the opposition is testing NATO to see if we in fact do have the will and the capability to stand and fight. And I think the evidence is so far that the answer is overwhelmingly yes," he said.

General Jones said in March that he did not believe insurgents in Afghanistan had the ability to "re-start an insurgency of any size and major scope." Since then, as warm weather returned to Afghanistan, there has been a significant increase in attacks by insurgents and criminals. In addition, NATO troops have tried to take the fight to the insurgents, challenging them in their strongholds.

But General Jones says he did expect some increase in violence, and he predicts that the situation will improve in the coming months.

"I believe that with the forces that we now have currently based in that particular section of Afghanistan that we will soon see an area that is going to gradually, over the next several months, become a little bit more stable," he added.
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Stench Prompted U.S. Troops to Burn Corpses
The treatment of Taliban dead prompts outrage in Afghanistan
By TIM MCGIRK Friday, Oct. 21, 2005 Corrected version posted Nov. 3, 2005. 
http://www.time.com/time/world/printout/0,8816,1125699,00.html

There simply wasn't enough room on the rocky hilltop above Gonbaz village in southern Afghanistan for the U.S. platoon and the corpses of the two Taliban fighters. The Taliban men had been killed in a firefight 24 hours earlier, and in the 90-degree heat, their bodies had become an unbearable presence, soldiers who were present have told TIME. Nor was the U.S. Army unit about to leave—the hilltop commanded a strategic view of the village below where other Taliban were suspected to be hiding. 

Earlier, the U.S. military had asked the villagers to pick up the bodies and bury them according to Muslim ritual. But the villagers refused—probably because the dead fighters weren't locals but Pakistanis, surmised one U.S. army officer. 

"We decided to burn the bodies," one American soldier recounts, "because they were bloated and they stank." News of this cremation might have remained on these scorching hills of southern Afghanistan had the gruesome act not been recorded on film by an Australian photojournalist, Stephen Dupont. Instead, when the footage aired on Australian TV on Wednesday, it unleashed world outrage. A Pentagon spokesman described the incident as "repugnant" and said that the army was launching a criminal investigation into the alleged desecration of the corpses, which is in violation of the Geneva Convention on human rights. 

Fueling the furor was the fact that the TV report showed that after the bodies were torched, a U.S. Psychological-Operations team descended on Gonbaz in Humvees with their loudspeakers booming: "Taliban, you are cowardly dogs. You are too scared to come down and retrieve the bodies. This just proves you are the lady-boys we always believed you to be." 
More on link

Nine Lines From the Front
By: David Bathgate
reprinted with permission from the July 2006 issue of The Digital Journalist
http://www.forces.gc.ca/health/news_pubs/engraph/Bulletin_August06_digital_journalist_e.asp

It's barely dawn, 4:00 in the morning and cool by summer standards. In a few hours the temperature will climb steeply, like it did yesterday and as it will tomorrow - 40-plus degrees C (93+F), with no clouds in sight. Joggers slog by, their reflective safety belts slapping at their sides. The running shoes they wear crunch at the dusty cinders, squeezed to the roadside. The din of a helicopter from the flight-line a half-kilometer away is a constant sound, an annoying sound and - somehow - a comforting one, too.

I need 10 minutes to reach the Jerrod Dennis Combat Hospital from my air-con barracks room. It takes 25 minutes to get a Blackhawk Medevac helicopter into the air at Kandahar Airfield and out to where it's needed in the southern provinces of Afghanistan. It's a length of time I've grown used to. I've been photographing around and through it for more than a week now.
More on link

Afghanistan Celebrates 87th Anniversary of Independence  
Sunday, August 20, 2006 zaman.com 
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20060820&hn=35808

The 87th anniversary of independence of Afghanistan was celebrated on Saturday in the capital Kabul.

State officials and several foreign visitors attended the ceremonies for the 87th anniversary of the country which had gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1919. 

President Hamid Karzai said in an official ceremony that his country would look forward the future with hope. Karzai pledged that his country would move forward in the fields of technology and education in particular. 

Karzai called on Afghan youth to understand the significance of the independence. "Courage and information are two main factors to preserve the independence and wealth of a country." 

An estimated 10,000 people attended the celebration in the capital
More on link

Camp Nathan Smith's patron saint
GRAEME SMITH Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060819.wpopeye-smith0819/BNStory

Kandahar — Canada's military base in Kandahar city has a patron saint, and his name is Popeye.

His real name is Fida Mohammed, but the squinty handyman was re-named by U.S. troops who noticed his resemblance to the squinty, spinach-eating cartoon character.

The Americans were just one of several forces that occupied the old fruit cannery over the years, before the Canadians established Camp Nathan Smith within the compound's high walls.

As the cannery's owners changed, and Afghanistan's civil wars swept through Kandahar, Popeye always stayed in the same place.
More on link

DoD Identifies Air Force Casualty
August 20, 2006
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711
August 20, 2006
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711

The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

 Senior Airman Adam P. Servais, 23, of Onalaska, Wis., died Aug. 19, when his vehicle came under hostile fire in Uruzgan province.He was assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.



The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

 Senior Airman Adam P. Servais, 23, of Onalaska, Wis., died Aug. 19, when his vehicle came under hostile fire in Uruzgan province.He was assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
More on link


----------



## GAP (22 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 22 August 2006*


6 Canadian Troops Wounded in Afghanistan
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2342081

6 Canadian Soldiers Wounded in Afghanistan in Separate Attacks; 5 Police Officers Killed

By FISNIK ABRASHI 

KABUL, Afghanistan Aug 22, 2006 (AP)— A suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a Canadian military patrol in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, wounding four soldiers. Two Canadian soldiers were wounded in a separate attack in the same province. And insurgents ambushed a police vehicle near the Pakistan border, killing five officers. 

The series of attacks added to one of Afghanistan's bloodiest outbreaks of violence since the ouster of the Taliban regime in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001. 

Over 100 people including four U.S. troops and one British soldier have died in three days of intense fighting centered on southern Afghanistan, which threaten NATO efforts to stabilize the region. 

The suicide bomber plowed his car into a Canadian military convoy in the city of Kandahar, wounding four soldiers and a civilian and killing a child, officials said. 

Two Canadian military vehicles were set on fire, according to an Associated Press reporter on the scene. 

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, said the suicide bomber was an Afghan from Kandahar province. He said the insurgents will continue with attacks against NATO and U.S. troops. 
More on link

NATO troops attacked in Kandahar  0:40 
Four NATO soldiers injured in Afghan suicide blast
Updated Tue. Aug. 22 2006 12:23 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Four NATO soldiers and one civilian were wounded Tuesday after a suicide bomber rammed his car into their convoy near Kandahar City, NATO officials reported.

The nationality of the wounded soldiers has not yet been disclosed.

At the same time, a series of explosions rocked the city not far from a compound housing Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).

Canadian troops could be seen crouching behind a mud wall in the area, the Canadian Press reported.

The suicide attack and series of blasts came just hours after two Canadian soldiers were injured, one seriously, when their patrol was ambushed on a treacherous highway in southern Afghanistan.

The patrol was struck at around 9:30 p.m. local time while driving on Kandahar's infamous Highway One, in an area known by Canadian soldiers as ambush alley.
More on this link
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/afghanistan_blasts_060821/20060822?hub=TopStories
Video Clip on CTV NewsNet
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=TopStories&video_link_high=mms://a886.v85875.c8587.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/886/8587/3edd4aa/fs6.insinc.com/akamai/ctv/news/afghan_700_060822.wmv&video_link_low=mms://a886.v85875.c8587.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/886/8587/3edd4aa/fs6.insinc.com/akamai/ctv/news/afghan_200_060822.wmv&clip_start=00:00:00.00&clip_end=00:00:40.00&clip_caption=NATO troops attacked in Kandahar&clip_id=ctvnews.manually_insert.afghan_700_060822&subhub=video&no_ads=&sortdate=20060813&slug=afghanistan_blasts_060821&archive=CTVNews




2 Canadian soldiers wounded in Afghan ambush
Last Updated Tue, 22 Aug 2006 00:40:55 EDT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/08/21/canadian-soldiers-afghan.html

Two Canadian soldiers are recovering in hospital after being wounded in an ambush in southern Afghanistan Monday night.

The Canadian patrol came under small-arms fire about 20 kilometres west of Kandahar.

Cpl. Jesse Melnyck was listed in stable, non-critical condition, and was to be flown to a hospital in Landstuhl, Germany for further treatment.

The other soldier, whose name has not been released, was reported in good condition in hospital at Kandahar airfield.

The patrol was attacked at around 9:30 p.m. local time while driving on the Highway 1 corridor, known among the soldiers as "ambush alley" because its potential for danger.

Canadian soldiers were involved in a prolonged weekend battle in the Panjwaii district, about 30 kilometres west of the city of Kandahar, that led to dozens of Taliban casualties.

Afghan government officials and NATO declared it a considerable blow to the Taliban.
More on link

CFB Petawawa Soldier Ambushed in Afghanistan  
Josh Pringle Tuesday, August 22, 2006 CFRA Radio Station
http://www.cfra.com/headlines/index.asp?cat=2&nid=42034

Two Canadian soldiers have been injured after their convoy came under attack along "ambush alley" in southern Afghanistan. 

The Canadian Forces says the patrol came under small arms fire Monday night while troops were driving on Kandahar's infamous Highway One. 

Corporal Jesse Melnyck of CFB Petawawa is listed in stable, non-critical condition. He is scheduled to be flown to a hospital in Germany for further treatment. 

The other soldier is in hospital at Kandahar Air Field in good condition. 

The ambush occurred near where Canadian and Afghan government soldiers fought intense battles with Taliban forces over the weekend. 

Afghan government officials said 72 Taliban were killed in a massive ground, air and artillery assault in the volatile Panjwaii District, west of Kandahar. 
End

Blasts rock Kandahar City near Cdn. compound
Updated Tue. Aug. 22 2006 7:55 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/afghanistan_blasts_060821/20060822?hub=CanadaAM

A series of explosions rocked Kandahar City in southern Afghanistan Tuesday -- not far from a compound housing Canadian troops.

Eyewitnesses said the first explosion erupted into a giant fireball followed by a giant black plume of smoke. A series of smaller explosions was also heard shortly afterwards.

All of the blasts took place near the camp housing Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Witnesses say Canadian troops could be seen crouching behind a mud wall in the area, the Canadian Press reported.

The blasts come just hours after two Canadian soldiers were injured, one seriously, after their patrol came under attack on a treacherous highway in southern Afghanistan.

Lieut.-Col. Ian Hope, the outgoing commander of Canada's battle group in Kandahar, described Monday night's incident as an "ambush."

The patrol was struck at around 9:30 p.m. local time while driving on Kandahar's infamous Highway One, in an area known by Canadian soldiers as ambush alley.

"There have been dozens of ambushes on that highway in the past two or three months," said Hope. "There were dozens last year as well."

The two Canadians were hurt when their patrol came under small arms fire about 20 kilometres west of Kandahar
More on link

Why they’re over there  
By PETER WORTHINGTON
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Worthington_Peter/2006/08/22/pf-1768946.html

It was arguably our military’s most decisive victory so far. 

Even more impressive, it was achieved by troops relatively freshly arrived from Canada — the RCR (Royal Canadian Regiment) who’ve not had the public attention that, say, the Princess Pats have had. 

The RCR, which has the reputation of being stuffier and more formal than either the Pats or Vandoos, have got to be feeling chuffed up after a defensive battle over the weekend that left their Taliban enemy south of Kandahar with 70-plus dead, and no casualties among their own. 

One battlefield victory is not the war, but it is yet another indication that our military’s days as strictly “peacekeepers” (social workers in uniform) are past, a thing of history. 

And every soldier will be pleased. 

From accounts of the battle, the incoming RCR commanding officer, Lt.-Col. Omer Lavoie, worked out a plan with the outgoing CO of the Pats, Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, on what the enemy was likely to do in what turned out to be a nine-hour battle. 

The Taliban did exactly as anticipated, and air and ground support was devastating. More significant is that the RCR suffered no casualties — another indication of professionalism that has always been a characteristic of the Canadian military — for those who want to see it. 
More on link






Bodies returned after 72 Taliban killed in battle
Last Updated Mon, 21 Aug 2006 10:32:43 EDT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/08/20/afghanistan.html

Canadian and Afghan soldiers are returning some of the bodies of dozens of Taliban fighters killed during a major air and ground battle near Kandahar this weekend, according to a report published Monday.

Afghan government officials calculated that 72 Taliban fighters were killed — a number that NATO officials say could make up as much as 10 per cent of the hardline organization's estimated numbers in southern Afghanistan.

As a gesture of goodwill, Canadian troops under NATO and Afghan forces have returned at least 18 of the bodies, the Canadian Press said Monday.

"It was an extremely big blow [to the Taliban's] combat effectiveness," said Lt.-Col. Omer Lavoie, who took over as Canada's battle group commander in Kandahar just three hours before the fighting began.

1st major battle for recently deployed Canadians

The battle began late Saturday and continued into early Sunday in the Panjwaii district, a Taliban stronghold about 30 kilometres west of the city of Kandahar
More on link

Canada may enlist immigrants to boost military
Updated Mon. Aug. 21 2006 7:30 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060821/immigrants_military_060821?s_name=&no_ads=

Proposals to boost flagging recruitment levels mean soldiers may no longer have to be Canadian citizens before they enlist in the Forces, military officials revealed this week.

Canadian Forces soldiers from A Company, 1 Platoon, 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry patrol and search compounds within the Zjarey district, west of Kandahar

Dropping the Canadian citizenship prerequisite and signing up landed immigrants is just one idea being considered, Capt. Helene Tremblay said.

"If we want to meet our recruitment targets, it might be necessary," Tremblay, a military career counsellor at Montreal's Canadian Forces recruiting centre, told the Montreal Gazette.

A decision is expected in the next few months, she added.

Major Andy Coxhead, spokesperson for the Forces' main recruiting group at Ontario's Camp Borden, confirmed discussions among military officials about boosting recruitment were ongoing and some changes would indeed be implemented.

No decision that threatens national security will be taken and any "radical change" to the recruiting process will require high-level approval, Coxhead told the Gazette.
More on link


Soldier killed in Afghanistan firefight named  
By Caroline Gammell and Alison Purdy, PA 22 August 2006 
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1220915.ece

The latest British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan was named today as Corporal Bryan Budd. 

The 29-year-old soldier, from 3 Para regiment, was involved in a firefight with against the Taliban in Sangin, in the northern part of Helmand province yesterday. He was on a routine patrol near the district centre in the town when he died, the Ministry of Defence said. 

Cpl Budd, from Ripon, was married to Lorena and was father to two-year-old Isabelle. Mrs Budd is expecting the couple's second child in September and the soldier's "keenest passion" was said to be his wife and daughter. 

An MoD spokesman said Cpl Budd, who was softly spoken and a calm character, was "incredibly proud" of his family. He was described as a shining example to those under his command, with great courage and a quick sense of humour. 

Cpl Budd, who had been in the Army for 10 years, enlisted with the Parachute Regiment before joining the elite 16 Air Assault Brigade's Pathfinder Platoon. He had served in Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, Macedonia, Afghanistan and Iraq and was about to be promoted to platoon sergeant. 

His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Tootal, said he had been a natural leader. "Cpl Bryan Budd was an outstanding young man who had quickly risen through the ranks in the regiment. 

"Extremely popular, he had a calm and professional manner that inspired confidence in all that worked with him - a natural leader. Bryan died doing the job he loved, leading his men from the front - where he always was. Bryan was proud to call himself a paratrooper and we were proud to stand beside him." 

Lt Col Tootal went on: "One of the very best in all respects, he will be sadly missed by all his comrades in 3 Para and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time." 

The 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, is based at Colchester Garrison in Essex. Earlier, Defence Secretary Des Browne offered his condolences to the family and friends of Cpl Budd. 

Three other British soldiers received minor injuries in the incident which happened at around midday local time yesterday. 

Cpl Budd's death brings the number of British forces personnel who have died in Afghanistan since the start of operations in November 2001 to 20. 

He is the latest victim of persistent attacks on British troops who are in Afghanistan to help rebuilding and to tackle terrorism and heroin cultivation. They were serving as part of a multinational Nato force in the lawless south of the country. 

Earlier this month British General Lieutenant-General David Richards assumed command of the 8,000-strong Nato force which is made up largely of British, Canadian and Dutch troops, as well as some US personnel. 

The latest British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan was named today as Corporal Bryan Budd. 

The 29-year-old soldier, from 3 Para regiment, was involved in a firefight with against the Taliban in Sangin, in the northern part of Helmand province yesterday. He was on a routine patrol near the district centre in the town when he died, the Ministry of Defence said. 

Cpl Budd, from Ripon, was married to Lorena and was father to two-year-old Isabelle. Mrs Budd is expecting the couple's second child in September and the soldier's "keenest passion" was said to be his wife and daughter. 
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Britain flooded by cheap heroin from Afghanistan  
By Andy McSmith Published: 22 August 2006 
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1220860.ece

Afghanistan's bumper poppy crop will turn up on the streets of British cities in six to nine months in the form of cheap but high quality heroin, experts warn. 

Afghanistan is the source of about 95 per cent of the heroin in Britain, and the revival of its poppy trade since the overthrow of the Taliban has kept the price low, encouraging the spread of addiction. A gram of heroin that would have cost £60 10 years ago now sells for £40.

According to experts, there is a simple explanation for the fall in price - more of the drug is being supplied. And the criminal gangs who smuggle it into the country are rich enough and sufficiently well organised to regulate the market and keep the price steady.

Afghanistan produced a record harvest of 4,581 tons of opium in 1999, but instead of flooding the market with cheap heroin, the gangs built up stockpiles which saw them through 2002, when a clamp down by Afghanistan's Taliban government reduced the country's output to 185 tons.

While the drug dealers have kept up a steady supply, the British Government has poured more and more money from the NHS into combating drug addiction - doubling its spending in five years - to prevent the criminals from expanding their customer base.

Harry Shapiro, from the charity Drugscope, said: "The price of heroin has been consistently low for several years and the supply line is very long, so we aren't expecting an immediate effect on the price of heroin on the streets. It could take six or nine months to feed through.The reason heroin is cheap can be summed up in one word - availability. It is the law of supply and demand. There has been an increase in supply, and so far as we know - though obviously we can't know this for certain - the number of problem users has remained roughly constant at between 250,000 and 280,000.

"What has gone up is the amount the Government is spending on treating addiction, because it is seen as a law and order issue, and that has kept the number of heroin users constant. It also seems to have pushed up their average age, by getting young people off heroin.

"We've seen years when we expected a fall in the price of heroin because of a bumper harvest in Afghanistan. Then in 2001, when the Taliban clamped down, we expected the price to rise, but that didn't happen because the gangs had stockpiles, and supply was interrupted only for one year and recovered in 2002."

A research paper published by the House of Commons library acknowledged that Afghanistan's small farmers had no choice but to return to poppy cultivation as soon as the Taliban had been overthrown, to pay off debts. But poppy cultivation has spread since then onto land where they had never been grown before. By 2003, it was the main source of income for 2.3 million Afghans, or 10 per cent of the population.

Chris Mullin, a Labour MP and former Foreign Office minister, believes that the long-term solution may be not to try to destroy the crop, but to arrange for the NHS to buy it in bulk for medical use. The idea has been promoted by the respected charity the Senlis Council, which is based in Paris and has field workers in Afghanistan.

"I'm not saying this is a simple solution, because there are serious problems about enforcement when the cartels can offer a better price than the NHS, but I think it's an idea that should be taken seriously," Mr Mullin said . 

Afghanistan's bumper poppy crop will turn up on the streets of British cities in six to nine months in the form of cheap but high quality heroin, experts warn. 

Afghanistan is the source of about 95 per cent of the heroin in Britain, and the revival of its poppy trade since the overthrow of the Taliban has kept the price low, encouraging the spread of addiction. A gram of heroin that would have cost £60 10 years ago now sells for £40.
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Nine Suspected Insurgents Killed In Afghanistan  
August 22, 2006 
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/08/4C5EC797-DC10-46F3-90D0-F23BA0920B08.html

British troops killed nine suspected insurgents in the southern part of the country, a spokesman for NATO-led forces in Afghanistan said today.


Major Toby Jackman said the troops targeted the militants with high-explosive ammunition in Naw Zad district of the southern Helmand Province on August 21. He said there were no British casualties in the clash.
End

Aussie engineers head to Afghanistan
August 22, 2006
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20217935-29277,00.html

AN advance party of Australian engineers will begin work in Afghanistan tomorrow in helping rebuild the war-torn country.

The defence department tonight said the first members of the 400-strong Reconstruction Task Force (RTF) will join a small team already on the ground preparing for the arrival of the main force.

"The advance party will focus on preparation of base facilities and logistic support infrastructure for the main force," Defence said in a statement.

"The RTF will begin planning reconstruction activities immediately, however works are not expected to commence until late November."

Most of the task force would begin work in Afghanistan in late September with the final elements expected to deploy in November, Defence said.

Hundreds of Australian soldiers were farewelled in Darwin on Sunday as they embarked for Afghanistan, where they will be based in Oruzgan Province.

The 240-strong engineering contingent will be protected 
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Bomb wounds NATO soldiers in Afghanistan
Aug. 22, 2006, 7:14AM  The Associated Press 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4132896.html

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A suicide car bomber attacked a NATO patrol Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, wounding four soldiers from the alliance and one civilian, a spokesman said. The attacker plowed his car into the convoy in Kandahar, said police officer Amanullah Khan.

NATO spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy would not disclose the nationality of the wounded soldiers
More on link

A plan for Afghanistan's future
Tue, August 22, 2006 Edmonton Sun
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/World/2006/08/22/1769283-sun.html

Stopping the opium trade, implementing strong community policing and increasing the lifespan of Afghan people are just part of Ambassador David Sproule's vision for that country's future. 

Edmonton-born Sproule took a break last weekend from his job as Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan to visit family here, enjoy a home-cooked meal courtesy of his mother and take a run through the city's picturesque river valley. 

"I'm realizing, yet again, how much we take for granted in Canada," Sproule said of his taste of home. "We have so much to be thankful for." 

He added in addition to the peace and democracy here, he misses the Oilers and Edmonton Eskimos when he's overseas. 

Sproule, who assumed the ambassadorship in October of last year, said eradicating Afghanistan's opium trade is a top priority and officials are coming up with some creative options for oppressed farmers. 
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Doubts about Karzai growing in Afghanistan   
By Carlotta Gall The New York Times  Published: August 22, 2006

After months of widespread frustration in Afghanistan over corruption, the economy and a lack of justice and security, doubts about President Hamid Karzai have led to a crisis of confidence in the country.

Interviews with ordinary Afghans, foreign diplomats and Afghan officials make clear that the expanding Taliban insurgency in the south represents the most serious challenge yet to Karzai's presidency.

The insurgency has precipitated an eruption of doubts about Karzai, widely viewed as having failed to attend to a range of problems that have left Afghans asking what the government is doing.

Corruption is so widespread, the government apparently so lethargic, and the divide between rich and poor so great, that Karzai is losing public support, warn officials like Ahmad Fahim Hakim, vice chairman of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.

"Nothing that he promised has materialized," Hakim said, echoing the comments of diplomats and others in Kabul, the capital. "Beneath the surface it is boiling."

For the first time since Karzai took power four and half years ago, Afghans and diplomats are speculating about who might replace him. Most agree that the answer for now is no one, leaving the fate of the U.S.-led military involvement in Afghanistan intimately tied to Karzai's own success or failure.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (22 Aug 2006)

More on returning Taliban dead, a very smart move in the context of the insurgency:

Fighters' bodies returned
Canadians follow Muslim tradition and give back casualties to the Taliban
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/World/2006/08/22/1769282-sun.html



> At least 22 bodies were returned by late yesterday, said Haji Niamatullah, a member of the Kandahar Provincial Council and part of the government's reconciliation program.
> 
> The rest, many of which had already been buried, were to be retrieved and handed over today, Niamatullah told The Canadian Press.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (23 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 23 August 2006*

Suicide bomb kills Canadian
GRAEME SMITH With a report from Oliver Moore in Toronto and Canadian Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060823.AFGHANSB23/TPStory

Three soldiers injured after Taliban attack on patrol; Two Afghan youths shot as they sped toward checkpoint; Troops brace for backlash after widespread unrest in Kandahar

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Soldiers shot two Afghan youths in the tense aftermath of a suicide bombing that killed a Canadian soldier in Kandahar yesterday, leaving one of the teenagers dead as Canada's troops braced for a possible backlash.

Worried relatives gathered at the gates of a military base last night, clamouring for answers about the young Afghans, who were shot around 5 p.m. local time as they drove a motorcycle toward a roadblock.

The Canadian troops were defending a cordon around the smoking wreckage of a convoy hit by a powerful car bomb just two hours earlier. The blast killed one Canadian soldier, Corporal David Braun of CFB Shilo, Man., and injured three others. An Afghan child also died in the explosion, which set fire to nearby stores and two military vehicles.

"A motorcycle carrying two people broke through the Afghan National Police outer security cordon at high speed," said Lieutenant-Commander Kris Phillips. "The driver failed to heed multiple warnings to stop as he headed towards the inner Canadian cordon. A Canadian ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] soldier then opened fire in a defensive application of our rules of engagement. A single round struck both the driver and the passenger of the motorcycle."
More on link

Afghan boy's body returned to parents
Canadian Press Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060823.wafghanis0823/BNStory/International/home

Kandahar — The body of a 10-year-old boy shot and killed by a Canadian soldier in southern Afghanistan was returned Wednesday to his grieving parents.

The boy died Tuesday after a suicide attacker struck a Canadian convoy in Kandahar, killing one soldier and injuring three.

The 10-year-old, whose name has not been released, was the passenger on a motorcycle that military officials say crossed a security perimeter that was set up around the bombing site.

Officials said soldiers were fearful of another suicide attack and fired on the motorcycle after several warnings to stop.
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Let's All Self-Destruct  
August 23, 2006: Strategy Page
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20060823.aspx

In Afghanistan, often the best counter-terrorism strategy is to just stand aside and let the terrorists self-destruct. For example, the current Taliban invasion of southern Afghanistan, using several thousand hired guns from Pakistan, has produced some unanticipated, by the Taliban, side effects. For example, the Taliban's efforts to enforce Sharia (Islamic law) have been one reason some tribes have been reluctant to provide support. Another factor is atrocities. In one case, a group of Taliban hanged a 71 year old woman and her grandchild, allegedly for being "spies." However, the victim's tribe knew was nonsense. The result was that the tribe basically turned the local Taliban in to the police, with some casualties. In cases like this, police respond promptly when they get tips from tribesmen pissed off at the Taliban. The cops have learned that, if they want to survive, they have to be respectful of tribal customs and attitudes
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Death of Afghan boy 'devastating,' says Hillier
Updated Wed. Aug. 23 2006 11:04 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/afghan_backlash_canada_060823/20060823?hub=TopStories

An investigation will be held into death of a 10-year-old Afghan boy, shot and killed by Canadian soldiers just hours after a suicide attack claimed the life of a troop member. 


Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's top general, called the boy's death "devastating." 

"Unfortunately in this mission, which is complex and dangerous, the conditions which caused that death to occur are set by a Taliban who refuse to accept the fact that a stable Afghanistan is better for all people,'' Gen. Rick Hillier said on the tarmac of the St. John's airport. 

"It's always devastating when you lose anybody, particularly a child.'' 

The 10-year-old was killed shortly after a suicide attacker struck a Canadian convoy in Kandahar, killing Cpl. David Braun and injuring three others. 
More on link

Motorbike explosion kills 2 in S. Afghanistan  
August 23, 2006  People's Daily Online
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/23/eng20060823_296094.html

Two pillion riders of a motorbike were killed in an explosion in Taliban's former stronghold of Kandahar in south Afghanistan on Wednesday, provincial government spokesman Daud Ahmadi said. 

"The incident took place in Khoshab village near Kandahar airport at 6:00 a.m. as a result two persons riding a motorcycle were killed," Ahmadi told Xinhua, adding both victims were civilians. 

He blamed the enemies of Afghanistan, a term used against Taliban militants, for the incident. It is the third reported explosion in the troubled Kandahar province over the past 48 hours. 

The two previous attacks killed one NATO soldier, one Afghan civilian, and injured five others. 

More than 1,800 people, including some 80 foreign troops, have been killed in Taliban-linked insurgency since the beginning of this year in this post-Taliban nation. 

Source: Xinhua 
End


Marine Corps stretched thin by wars in Iraq, Afghanistan
By Drew Brown Tue, Aug. 22, 2006 McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/15335368.htm

WASHINGTON - The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are stretching the U.S. Marine Corps, forcing the service to take extraordinary measures to bolster both manpower and equipment.

On Tuesday, the Marines announced plans to recall as many as 2,500 inactive reservists to involuntary active-duty service to meet manpower needs, the first such call-up since nearly 2,700 Marines were recalled to active-duty before U.S. forces invaded Iraq in 2003.

The announcement coincided with a report to be issued Wednesday by two military experts who say that the Marines are having to borrow equipment from non-deployed units and pre-positioned stockpiles to replace tanks, trucks, armored vehicles and other hardware worn out by more than three years of combat duty in Iraq.

The two events are the latest signs that the U.S. military is having difficulty maintaining its combat readiness with the Iraq war well into its fourth year.

A Marines spokeswoman denied that the Marines are having difficulty finding recruits or volunteers for war-zone duty. Instead, Maj. Gabrielle Chapin said the service is looking to deepen the availability of Marines with specific training. "What we do need is a pool of very specific skill sets to fill critical job specialties," she said.

Yet the call-up is a rare one for the smallest of the country's four military services, which has always prided itself on its recruitment and retention record. Less than 180,000 Marines serve on active duty, but the Corps has consistently met or exceeded its recruiting and re-enlistment goals for years, even as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq drag on.
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afghanistan, nato: An ‘enduring partnership’ 
http://www.mmorning.com/ArticleC.asp?Article=3893&CategoryID=7

Once signed, the agreement will allow NATO to stay on a long-term basis in the country, which is plagued by a bloody Taliban-led insurgency, NATO’s senior civilian representative Hikmet Cetin told a press conference in Kabul.
“Next month, NATO and Afghanistan may sign an agreement on the NATO-Afghanistan enduring partnership co-operation”, Cetin said. “To do that will require a long-term commitment not just of NATO but the whole international community, and will need more resources than are currently committed”.
Cetin said that under the pact, likely to be signed by President Hamid Karzai and the alliance’s top commander, NATO will help Afghanistan through 15 initiatives, chiefly by promoting security and rebuilding the armed forces. “It’s significant, because NATO for the first time is having this kind of unique partnership co-operation”.
NATO has 21,000 troops in Afghanistan, of whom more than half are in the volatile southern and eastern parts of the country.
Since NATO took over in the South from a US-led coalition on July 31 it has lost 10 troops in hostile action by militants loyal to the Taliban whose regime was toppled in late 2001.
NATO, whose mandate also includes development, is expected to take command of Eastern Afghanistan later this year. Thousands of US-led coalition troops are currently in the east hunting Taliban insurgents. 
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Purple Heart Recipient Praises Pre-Deployment Training  
By Tech. Sgt. Melissa Phillips, USAF Special to American Forces Press Service
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del., Aug. 23, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=532

Whenever Air Force Tech. Sgt. Randy Gardner drove a short distance from the protected gates of Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan to pick up rental vehicles, he always felt uneasy.

Purple Heart recipient Air Force Tech. Sgt. Randy Gardner, a vehicle mechanic with the 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron from Dover Air Force Base, Del., recovers with his wife, Kathy, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., after a mortar attack at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Melissa Phillips, USAF  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. 

He told himself it was only for a few minutes, but he admits now that each time he left the protected bubble he was scared. 

The sergeant, who was in charge of maintaining 30 rental vehicles and 117 government vehicles at his deployed location, never saw any "action" outside the compound. But, the action found him when a rocket slammed into his work center July 18. 

"It sounded like an airbag going off," recalled Gardner, a special purpose vehicle mechanic with the 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron here. 

He said he was eating lunch in the break room when he felt as if he had been slugged in the arm and was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. At first, he thought the television exploded. In reality, a rocket sliced through the back of his left shoulder and peppered his hands and arms with metal shards. 
More on link

Coalition Refutes Taliban Claims; Terrorists Captured
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=529

A Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan recently made several claims to the media that were proven false by coalition forces, and in recent operations three suspected terrorists were captured and two civilians injured by extremists, U.S. military officials reported. 
An unnamed Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan has made several claims recently to Afghan media outlets. Coalition forces have compared each of the claims with facts and information reported by coalition troops on the ground in each of the provinces mentioned, officials said. 

The unnamed spokesman reported that Taliban fighters killed eight coalition members during an attack Aug. 21 on a coalition convoy in Qala Bazaar of Alishang district, located in Laghman province. The coalition had already confirmed that an attack occurred; however, there were no casualties and no damage to coalition vehicles or equipment, officials said. 

The spokesman also claimed that 50 Afghan and coalition forces were killed during the last 10 days of fighting in the Laghman province. The spokesman went on to say that 15 coalition vehicles had been destroyed and 10 coalition weapons had been seized. These claims are not true, officials said. The only other incident that has occurred in Laghman province since Aug. 15 resulted in only one U.S. military member injured. 
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NATO warplanes kill 11 Taliban in Afghanistan
Wednesday, August 23, 2006  18:43 IST
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1048930

KANDAHAR: NATO warplanes bombed Taliban fighters preparing an ambush in southern Afghanistan and killed 11 rebels while a Canadian soldier died after being struck by a suicide bomb, the force said on Wednesday.

Officials also reported that three Afghan civilians were killed by bombs apparently laid for NATO troops, who separately shot and killed another civilian who broke through a security cordon at the scene of yesterday's suicide attack.

News of the latest violence came as the commanders of the Afghan military, NATO and US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan met their counterparts from Pakistan to discuss the surging Taliban insurgency.

They agreed to explore the possibility of joint border patrols to stop militants moving into Afghanistan from Pakistan, where many are said to be trained and armed.

International Security Agency Force (ISAF) warplanes dropped a "precision-guided bomb" on a nearby compound into which 15 Taliban fighters had retreated after realising they had been spotted preparing an ambush.
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Afghanistan: Women's Music Program Angers Conservative Clerics 
Radio Free Europe PRAGUE, August 23, 2006 (RFE/RL) 
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/08/BF4A4E2C-0A29-4CA0-84D6-19B4505CA346.html

Young Afghan women would have been executed a few years ago for performing music. Today -- nearly five years after the downfall of the Taliban regime -- Afghan women are finally getting a chance to enroll in a music school.

At the Nagashand Fine Arts Gallery in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, women laugh and joke with their faces exposed as they play musical instruments and sing in the country's first all-women's music school. The project, funded by a $9,000 grant from the European Commission, is implemented by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan.

"We are giving women in northern Afghanistan their voice in society again."Musical Freedom 

Masoma Mazari is a 25-year-old Afghan woman who heads the six-month-old project. She says the school's 18 students relish their newfound freedom.

"Music is needed by our souls," she said. "We can relax through music. We can express our views. We can bring peace. Finally, I can say that everybody has a certain need for music."

But even the youngest student in the school, 14-year-old Zohra Amiri, says she faces criticism in her neighborhood because of her love for music.

"At the moment, there are restrictions for women to play music," Amiri said. "People don't welcome women learning music. It is all due to insecurities and the lack of freedom in our country. But we are hopeful about the future. God willing, we will have a better future through this."

All of the students lived for years in Iran as refugees. Amiri and Mazari had never seen Afghanistan until they moved to Mazar-e Sharif from Iran two years ago. Like millions of other Afghan refugees, they have experiences that could help break down barriers for women and lead to cultural changes in the conservative religious society.

Pressure Not To Play 
More on link

No ban on Indian workers going to Afghanistan  
Special Correspondent 
http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/22/stories/2006082204901100.htm

NEW DELHI: No ban has been imposed on Indian workers going to Afghanistan but a requirement for Emigration Check Required (ECR) continues to remain in force, a release said on Monday. 

"As some projects [in Afghanistan] have been approved by the Ministry of External Affairs, deployment of workers to such projects has to be permitted. As such, no formal ban on deployment of Indian workers ... [in] Afghanistan has been imposed." 

According to the statement, 444 Indian workers had obtained ECR clearance for Afghanistan from January 1 to June 30, 2006 while the figure for 2005 as a whole stood at 739. 

It may be recalled that Indian workers, including those deployed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), have been targeted by militants in Afghanistan and Indian personnel have, time and again, been asked to quit the country. 

In a bid to ensure the safety and security of Indian workers in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has directed that a suitable provision be introduced in the employment contract making the company responsible for the worker's security. Also, a special insurance cover (to be paid by the employer) prior to emigration for each worker is required and all employment documents had to be attested by the Indian missions in Afghanistan. 
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Afghanistan appears dangerous place to use a mobile phone  
Talibanned By Tony Dennis: Monday 21 August 2006, 17:19
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33826

IS AFGHANISTAN the world´s most dangerous place to use a mobile phone? A recent report in the Independent on Sunday, suggests it is.
An Afghan describes the dangers of passing through Taliban checkpoints on the road to Kandahar. He said that mobile phones are checked and often any suspicious number stored on the mobile phone, will be dialed by the Taliban.

If a voice answers the phone in English, reports Besmillah, the Taliban immediately kill the phone's owner. 

The same report suggests that the Taliban themselves are keen mobile phone users. 

"They are all Afghans," the paper quotes a villager from Panjwai as saying, "But they talk to Pakistan two, three times a day on the phone."

We wonder who's listening. 
End

AFGHANISTAN: USAID pledges US $105 million to road project
21 Aug 2006 15:19:09 GMT Source: IRIN
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/5da3a8b69c03ac75f95fb6221dca39e6.htm

KABUL, 21 August (IRIN) - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has pledged US $105 million to construct a 110 km road in northeastern Badakhshan province that will serve 730,000 people.

The road would link Kishem district to Faizabad, Badakhshan's capital. Construction was expected to start next year, USAID said.

"The rehabilitation of this road is one of the critical elements in Afghanistan's development," Ronald Neumann, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, said during a visit to the area on Sunday.

USAID said the road would be an important trading link to major markets in Badakhshan, the north and neighbouring Tajikistan. It would enhance Afghanistan's position as an internal land bridge between central and south Asia, promoting the import and export of goods.
More on link


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## GAP (24 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 24 August 2006*


Clashes and NATO air strikes killed at least 36 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's violence-hit south, officials said.
Thursday, August 24, 2006 (Kandahar):
http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=Afghanistancopes&slug=Taliban+men+killed+in+Afghanistan%0D&id=92030&callid=1

The militant attacks left a NATO soldier dead and five others wounded.

Two roadside bombs also killed three Afghan civilians on Wednesday as renewed bloodshed in the south underscored the threat posed by resurgent Taliban militants.

The Taliban is trying to topple US-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Eighteen suspected Taliban were killed in a clash with Afghan forces Wednesday in the Khake-Afghan district of southern Zabul province, said Jailani Khan, the province's deputy police chief.

The militants left the bodies beside their weapons at the scene, Khan said. 

One Afghan army soldier was killed and three others were wounded while aiding the police in the clash, General Rahmatullah Raufi, an army commander said.

Another attack

Militants also attacked an Afghan army patrol in Zabul, killing a soldier and wounding four, a Defence Ministry statement said. 

NATO warplanes responded to Tuesday's ambush, bombing a Taliban position and killing seven fighters. 

Another NATO air strike also killed 11 militants Tuesday in the Zhari district of Kandahar province, a former Taliban stronghold, said spokesman Major Scott Lundy. 

The militants were among 15 who were preparing an ambush on the main highway in the area, but fled into a compound after realising they were being watched.
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AFGHANISTAN: SEVEN SUSPECTED AL-QAEDA MILITANTS KILLED
Kabul, 24 August (AKI)   
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.333407246&par=

 The US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have confirmed that they have killed seven men who they say were suspected al-Qaeda militants in a raid in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, close to the border with Pakistan. According to the spokesperson for the coalition forces, Colonel Tom Collins, a child between 10 to 12 years old was also killed in the clashes and a woman was injured. According to the Pakistan-based, Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) news agency, the seven people killed were civilians.
The AIP, quoting deputy police chief of Kunar province, Abdul Baseer Allahyar, said that the seven were meeting in Shultan village of Shegul district when they were attacked by coalition forces. He said the attack killed seven civilians and injured a woman. 

However the coalition spokesperson Col. Collins said that al-Qaeda fighters deliberately put women and children at risk in their efforts to protect their operations. 

The US-led forces referred to seven people as al-Qaeda "facilitators" and that the coalition forces and Afghan soldiers were fired upon when they approached the compound where the men were and had fired back to defend themselves. 

Reports say that Afghanistan is experiencing the bloodiest period since the fall of the hardline Taliban regime in 2001. 
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PAKISTAN: PROVINCES PUT ON ALERT FOR SABOTAGE AND KILLING THREATS
Lahore, 24 August (AKI/DAWN)  
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.333440070&par=0

Pakistan's interior ministry has warned the provinces of threats of sabotage, sectarian killings and strife in the country, particularly in the southern port city of Karachi, the North West Frontier Province and Pakistan's tribal areas in the coming days, it is learnt from reliable sources. The warning, according to the sources, is contained in a "threat assessment" report prepared by the National Crisis Management Cell of the ministry on the basis of intelligence reports.

A letter recently sent by the Home Department of Pakistan's Punjab province to the Provincial Police Officer quotes the ministry as saying that there is likelihood of an increase in sectarian incidents.

The provincial home department’s letter to the PPO quotes the threat assessment report as saying: “Karachi will remain a hub of sabotage acts by RAW [India's foreign intelligence agency]. Another sponsored killing of a prominent religious personality is being planned. Attempts are also under way to further exacerbate the existing confrontation between the MQM [political party Muttahida Quami Movement] and the religious parties in Karachi.”
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PAKISTAN: DISGRACED NUCLEAR SCIENTIST 'HEARTY', PARLIAMENT TOLD
Islamabad, 24 August (AKI/DAWN)  
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.333389718&par=0

 Two ruling party figures told the Pakistani National Assembly that they found detained nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan "merry and hearty" when they visited him on Wednesday. The government on Tuesday announced that Khan - under virtual house arrest since last year over accusations of running a rogue nuclear trafficking ring - was suffering from prostate cancer. However some opposition members voiced concern about the condition of the man considered the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb.

Pakistan Muslim League (PML) president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said he and Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani had a one-hour meeting with Dr Khan at his home earlier Wednesday.

“He appeared to be ‘hashash, bashash’ (merry and hearty),” the PML chief said about the scientist who, he added, “came up to our car to see us off”.

His comment came after Tehmina Daultana of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) said she feared the scientist was “being killed slowly” and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) president Qazi Hussain Ahmed said he was prevented from meeting the “national hero” .
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PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN: JOINT PATROLS ALONG BORDER
Islamabad, 24 August (AKI/DAWN)  
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.333399983&par=0

The Pakistan Army, Afghan National Army, coalition forces and the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have agreed to conduct coordinated patrols on their respective sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. According to a press release by Pakistan army's public relations wing, the ISPR, the decision was taken at a meeting of the Tripartite Commission, comprising senior military and diplomatic representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, coalition forces in Afghanistan and NATO/ISAF, held in Kabul to coordinate the movements along the border.

Vice-Chief of the Pakistan Army Staff Gen Ahsan Saleem Hayat represented Pakistan at the meeting which was also attended by Gen Bismullah Khan Mohammedi, Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army, Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry, commander of US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, and Lt Gen David Richards, commander of NATO-ISAF.

The 18th meeting consisted of several briefings to update the participants on issues of mutual interests. The border security subcommittee discussed the progress being made in regional command in the east and south. The focus of the subcommittee, which held its first meeting in May 2006, has been on better coordination of security operations along the border area.

The Afghan and Pakistani militaries have been conducting operations using better communication, helped by the use of a geospatial data base and high frequency radios, provided by the United States.
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India to join Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pak pipeline project  
2006-08-24 09:05   Source : Moneycontrol.com 
http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/economy/iranpakistan/indiatojointurkmenistanafghanistanpakpipelineproject/market/stocks/article/236152

Even as the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline is stuck over pricing, India is all set to join the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline project. A top official said India, which is looking for alternative sources of gas, would participate in the TAP meeting scheduled for September to join as a partner in the project. 

A high-level team of the Petroleum Ministry is expected to participate in the meeting. Some of the issues, which are likely to be discussed, include finalising amendments to the inter-governmental and framework agreements of the project. Though TAP is not being considered as an alternative to the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, it would be easier to implement as it is supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In mid-February, the Steering Committee of TAP had given India three months' time for submitting a formal request to join the $3.3-billion project. The feasibility report has been prepared by ADB, which is the lead development partner. 

TAP is expected to transport 100 mmscmd (million standard cubic metres per day) of gas, of which India's share at best is likely to be 60 mmscmd. The Union Cabinet had in May approved participation of India in the TAP natural gas pipeline project. With this participation TAP would become TAPI - Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The Cabinet had authorised the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to submit a formal request to join the project to the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan, a process, which was facilitated by the ADB. 
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Canadian soldiers dying in vain in Afghanistan, Muslim informant says
Sonya Fatah, The Canadian Press  Wednesday, August 23, 2006 TORONTO
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=872b3c5e-9529-40e6-a5cc-c24d8690e78d&k=87640

Canada cannot "conquer" Afghanistan and Canadian soldiers stationed there are dying in vain, says a Muslim activist who served as an RCMP and CSIS informant inside an alleged Toronto terror plot.

Mubin Shaikh was both hailed as a patriot and derided as a betrayer of Islam when he admitted to his role in helping police arrest 17 men and youths on terror-related charges in early June.

The federal Conservative government "is endangering the lives of Canadian soldiers to meet objectives that cannot be attained," Shaikh said in an interview. 

"You know the last one who conquered Afghanistan? Alexander the Great – 300 BC. All right. You think you can do it? Okay, well, get ready."

Shaikh also disagreed with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s characterization of the Israeli military response against Lebanon as "measured."

"Killing Canadian citizens of Lebanese descent is not a measured response," Shaikh said. 

He was also critical of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It is the United States, he said, that is the root of the problem there. 

If those views appear to contradict his actions, Shaikh has an explanation: it is a matter of faith and honesty.

He is keen on maintaining his independence from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP, for whom he has worked for two years. 

He said he is still owed money by the authorities.

He is not a pawn, he said, but merely on the side of truth. He revealed his identity as an informant because he felt it was important for Muslims and non-Muslims to know that most of them are on the same side, he said. 

"I told 1/8officials 3/8 to say that the community helped. How come nobody’s saying it? We’re the best partners in the war on terror. Law enforcement is losing credibility among the Muslims. It’s time to gain it back." 
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Pakistan actively participating in reconstruction of Afghanistan: minister  
August 24, 2006 People's Daily Online         
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/24/eng20060824_296164.html

Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao Wednesday said that Pakistan is actively participating in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. 

He told a United Nation delegation headed by special representative Thomas Koeings that out of the pledged assistance over 100 million U.S. dollars had been successfully utilized on important projects in Afghanistan, state-run APP reported. 

Thomas Koeings briefed the interior minister about UN projects in Afghanistan and appreciated the leading role being played by Pakistan in the reconstruction efforts. 

Sherpao said that peace, reconstruction and development in Afghanistan are in the best interest of the region and Pakistan. It would encourage the 2.6 million Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan to return to their homeland. 

"We respect the principle of voluntary repatriation and would like them to return home with dignity and honor," he said, adding that the government in cooperation with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is working for registration of Afghan refugees. 

"The United Nations is doing a commendable job in Afghanistan," Sherpao said. 

Source: Xinhua 
End




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## GAP (25 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 25 August 2006*

CFB Shilo mourns soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Friday, August 25, 2006 CBC News 
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2006/08/25/walsh-memorial.html

As Canadian Forces Base Shilo prepares to welcome about 80 soldiers home from Afghanistan on Sunday 

and continues to mourn the death of a colleague this week, another soldier will be remembered in a 

ceremony Friday morning.

Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh, 33, was killed in a weapons-related accident Aug. 9 outside Kandahar. His 

funeral was held in Regina on Aug. 17 and he was buried in the military section of the city's 

Riverside Memorial Park.

While the Manitoba base honours Walsh, it will also be remembering Cpl. David Braun, who was killed 

Tuesday when a suicide bomber hit the military convoy he was travelling in. A funeral will be held 

for Braun, 27, in his hometown of Raymore, Sask., next week and a memorial will be held at Shilo 

later.

'It's almost like we've stepped back'

Gayle Raynor, a military spouse in Brandon, Man., and founder of the Military Wives Sisterhood, said 

the recent deaths have been hard for Canadians to handle, especially since they don't fit the image 

of the Canadian soldiers as "peacekeepers."

"I think we felt a great honour to be participating at that call to duty to be international 

peacekeepers, and now ... we're put into a position where we're back to the battle," Raynor said 

Thursday.
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Dutch Commandos Kill 18 in Afghanistan
THE HAGUE, Netherlands Jul 21, 2006 (AP)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2220344

Dutch Commandos Kill 18 Enemy Fighters in Afghanistan; No Dutch Casualties During Mission

Dutch commandos killed 18 enemy fighters who set up positions in rugged hills overlooking a Dutch 

camp in southern Afghanistan, the country's military chief said Friday. There were no Dutch 

casualties during a 10-day mission. 

"If we had not done something then our soldiers could have come under fire and the construction of 

our camp could have been hindered," Gen. Dick Berlijn, commander of the Dutch armed forces, told 

reporters in The Hague.
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Raid kills seven in Afghanistan
Associated Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060824.wafghanraid0824/BNStory/Internation

al/home

Kabul — U.S. and Afghan forces said they killed seven suspected al-Qaeda operatives in a pre-dawn 

raid Thursday in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. But police said local families meeting 

to resolve a dispute were targeted.

More than 1,000 people, mostly militants, have died in the last three months, in the country's worst 

spate of violence since late 2001 when American-led forces toppled the Taliban regime for hosting 

Osama bin Laden.

U.S. forces launched the raid Thursday to capture a “known al-Qaeda facilitator” at a compound in 

Asmar village, Kunar province, the military said in a statement. Kunar is a volatile region 

bordering Pakistan where Mr. bin Laden's allies and other Islamic extremists operate.
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Dutch air force provides air support to ISAF troops in Afghanistan 
August 19, 2006  People's Daily Online       
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/19/eng20060819_294681.html

Dutch F-16 jet fighters and Apache combat helicopters have on several occasions provided air support 

to British and Canadian troops involved in exchanges of fire with enemy fighters in southern 

Afghanistan, the Dutch Financiele Dagblad newspaper reported Friday. 

The Dutch Defense Ministry has said there have been a number of enemy fatalities and casualties 

resulting from four actions in the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. 

Britain, Canada and the Netherlands led a southward expansion campaign of the NATO-led International 

Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.Together with troops from Australia, Demark, Romania and 

Estonia, they took over control of the region at the end of July from American troops. 

The three countries each holds a province: Britain in Helmand, Canada in Kandahar and the 

Netherlands in Uruzgan. 

Dutch F-16s have been called into action three times in Helmand, said the newspaper. 

In the province of Kandahar, two Dutch Apaches provided air support to Canadian troops and Afghan 

police who had been ambushed by a group of six to eight gunmen on Wednesday last week. 

The Dutch combat aircraft also provided cover to the Dutch convoys between the air force base in 

Kandahar and the Dutch headquarters in the province of Uruzgan. 

Source: Xinhua 
End 
 ===================================================================

Report:Domestic Violence Widespread in Afghanistan 
By George Dwyer Washington, D.C. 24 August 2006
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-08-24-voa65.cfm 

The U.N. survey finds that women continue to suffer from high rates of domestic abuse in 

post-Taleban Afghanistan.  The report says violence typically occurs in the home at the hand of a 

spouse. 

Sumantra Guha is a program specialist in the Asia/Pacific section of UNIFEM -- the United Nations 

Development Fund for Women -- in New York. "Levels of sexual abuse, levels where intimate partners 

are involved in violence are quite high in Afghanistan,” he says.


Sumantra Guha 
Guha says victims frequently decline to report domestic abuse because of the social stigma attached. 

"If a woman goes and talks about violence against her, this is considered immodest, and she is 

supposed to have committed dishonor to her family. So this is the biggest reason why women don't 

come out."

Contributing factors include the general climate of violence in a nation at war, its often-limited 

economic resources, the traditional patriarchal ideology still common in many areas, and a lack of 

social systems to uphold legal rights.

"If you look at Afghanistan's constitution, Afghanistan's new constitution, it guarantees women and 

men equal rights as citizens. The problem is in the practice of those laws, is in the actual 

interpretation of those laws. Institutional justice mechanisms must expand their outreach right up 

to the village level."

The report's authors also believe that neither the government, communities, nor families are doing 

enough to prevent violence directed at women. But UNIFEM's Guha says that is beginning to change as 

the government attempts to implement a national action plan for women.
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Town grieves 'great kid' who died in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Thursday, August 24, 2006 CBC News 
 http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2006/08/24/braun-raymore.html 


People in the town of Raymore, Sask., are mourning the loss of a soldier who was killed in 

Afghanistan. Cpl. David Braun, 27, died Tuesday in a suicide bombing.

The news stunned the town of 620 residents, about an hour's drive north of Regina.

"Words don't adequately express the sense of loss we feel," said family friend Jim Braman. "He was 

just a great kid."

Braman said he has known Braun since the young man was five years old and he and Braman's son were 

attending kindergarten together. Even then, Braman said, Braun talked about growing up to be a 

soldier.

Family and friends spoke of his generosity, his sense of humour and his devotion to duty.

He visited with family and friends in Raymore last month before he left. He also paid a visit to the 

local school and told students about his experiences in the military. Braun felt strongly about 

going to Afghanistan.

"When he talked to them, they knew that he liked what he was doing, that he thought he was making a 

difference in the world, that it was something he believed in," school teacher Eva Dionne said.
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Casualties in Afghanistan
Editorial Comment August 25 2006 Herald & Times
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/68739.html  
  
What will be the cost, in lives lost and wounds sustained among British soldiers, of a military 

commitment in Afghanistan stretching years into the future? Senior defence sources raised the 

possibility earlier this week of troop numbers in Iraq being halved within nine months. But they 

also warned that Britain would be in Afghanistan for the long haul.
Transparency appears to emerge as an early casualty of the Afghan deployment. The Herald reports 

today the unease of military figures who are concerned that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is not 

disclosing figures for the number of British soldiers wounded in action in southern Afghanistan. 

Since May, 11 troops have been killed. According to the MoD, a further 125 troops have been 

evacuated to the UK (they were sick, injured or granted compassionate leave). The military sources 

suspect there have been perhaps 50 more casualties of the intense fighting with the Taliban. There 

is no way of knowing the exact total as, despite an undertaking from the MoD to update the casualty 

list monthly, there are no figures on the signposted internet site for numbers wounded in the Afghan 

mission.
At present there are 4500 British soldiers in Helmand province, 1000 of whom are combat troops. When 

he was Defence Secretary, John Reid expressed a hope they would not fire a single round during a 

three-year peacekeeping deployment. Already they have fired more than 80,000. Britain is leading the 

Nato force to pacify and stabilise the province, much of which is lawless. The campaign involves 

helping the Afghan government eradicate the opium crop and establishing secure garrisons to 

distribute £20m in aid - and win local hearts and minds. But the job is being made all the more 

difficult, and dangerous, by the ferocity of the Taliban resistance. 
British casualty numbers are a reminder of the scale of the task, and its fraught nature. There 

might, perhaps, be a temptation to conceal the exact numbers. The higher they rise, the greater the 

negative impact on recruitment at a time when fewer young people are opting to join the armed forces 

anyway. In addition, gloomier figures could cause a public made sceptical by the bloody folly of the 

Iraq adventure to raise difficult questions about the nature and extent of British involvement in 

Afghanistan.
Publishing all casualty figures can give succour to the enemy in times of conflict. Although the 

government has failed to clarify the exact role of British forces in Afghanistan, they are supposed 

to be there as peacekeepers. There is not a conventional enemy to gain from a propaganda war. As we 

know, however, it can and does inflict damage. If we are to scrutinise effectively government policy 

in the region, we should do so on the basis of all the information. The peacekeeping mission is 

coming at a price. We have to know the exact cost in casualties so that all necessary action can be 

taken by the government to protect British troops.
What will be the cost, in lives lost and wounds sustained among British soldiers, of a military 

commitment in Afghanistan stretching years into the future? Senior defence sources raised the 

possibility earlier this week of troop numbers in Iraq being halved within nine months. But they 

also warned that Britain would be in Afghanistan for the long haul.
Transparency appears to emerge as an early casualty of the Afghan deployment. The Herald reports 

today the unease of military figures who are concerned that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is not 

disclosing figures for the number of British soldiers wounded in action in southern Afghanistan. 

Since May, 11 troops have been killed. According to the MoD, a further 125 troops have been 

evacuated to the UK (they were sick, injured or granted compassionate leave). The military sources 

suspect there have been perhaps 50 more casualties of the intense fighting with the Taliban. There 

is no way of knowing the exact total as, despite an undertaking from the MoD to update the casualty 

list monthly, there are no figures on the signposted internet site for numbers wounded in the Afghan 

mission.
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Former Afghan PM's men active in E. Afghanistan: U.S. military   
August 25, 2006 People's Daily Online
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/25/eng20060825_296521.html

Militants loyal to former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbudin Hekmatyar are also operating against the 

government in the mountainous Nooristan and Kunar provinces, a spokesman of the U.S.-led coalition 

forces said Thursday. 

"In Nooristan and Kunar you have the head network under Hekmatyar which has declared an alliance 

with the Taliban and other forces who are anti-government, anti-coalition and anti- international 

forces," Thomas Collins told newsmen at a press conference. Around eight soldiers of the U.S.-led 

coalition forces have been killed over the past couple of months in Nooristan and Kunar provinces 

which border Pakistan. 

Meanwhile, the spokesman rejected the claim that eight civilians were killed in Kunar early Thursday 

morning when the U.S. military raided a suspected militants' house, saying seven al- Qaeda 

terrorists were eliminated in the raid. 

A former anti-Soviet Union Afghan resistance leader and a wanted man by the U.S. government, 

Hekmatyar has been resisting the presence of the U.S.-dominated foreign troops in Afghanistan since 

their deployment in Afghanistan nearly five years ago. 

The former prime minister, who is leading an outlawed radical Islamic party, the Hizb-e-Islami 

Afghanistan, announced his support to Taliban and al-Qaeda network against the United States and 

allies a few months ago. 

More than 1,800 people, mostly militants have been killed in Afghanistan since January this year, 

according to Afghan officials. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

US Army reviews Afghanistan and Iraq combat deaths  
25/08/2006 - 08:14:16 Ireland On-Line
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=193305624&p=y933x633x  

The US Army has opened a review of casualty reports on American soldiers killed in Afghanistan, Iraq 

and elsewhere since 2001, a response to complaints that it has not always given families accurate 

information.

The review covers hundreds of casualties in Operation Enduring Freedom, the campaign in Afghanistan, 

and Operation Iraqi Freedom, two senior military officials said. It also includes American soldiers 

killed in neighbouring countries in support of the two operations.

In coming weeks, the Army will issue a directive formalising the review, according to the military 

officials.

“We are actively screening every Criminal Investigation Command report to ensure that there were no 

disconnects with the Casualty Reporting System. We are about half way through with that mission,” a 

memo states.

The purpose of the forthcoming Army-wide order is to tell units in the field that they must tell the 

Army's headquarters of any change in investigative findings that differs from what a family was 

initially told, a third official said.

Brig. Gen. Anthony A. Cucolo, who heads the Army’s public affairs office, said the Army’s move was 

not new but a continuing “rigorous and routine review of current casualty cases with outstanding 

issues”.

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Interview: 'Afghanistan can go either way'  
By STEFAN NICOLA UPI Germany Correspondent BERLIN, Aug. 24 (UPI)
http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20060823-114336-5485r

Washington is under increasing pressure to stop the violence in Iraq. In Afghanistan, meanwhile, the 

situation is gradually deteriorating for the International Security Assistance Force, the 

U.N.-mandated peacekeeping mission. Add to that the simmering conflict in the Middle East, and it 

becomes clear the region is not more at peace today than it was before the U.S.-led Iraq war. 

United Press International's Berlin correspondent Stefan Nicola spoke to Rolf Tophoven, Germany's 

leading terrorism expert, who says the situation in the Middle East -- and especially in Afghanistan 

-- has reached a crucial juncture. 

Nicola: How has terrorism changed since Sept. 11? Are there new targets, new recruiting methods, new 

strategies? 

Rolf Tophoven: Al-Qaida now has a ghost army in many European cities. They are not those who fought 

against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and not the ones in the terror camps in the Hindu Kush in 

the 1990s, where up to 30,000 Arabic men were trained. They are the third generation of al-Qaida 

fighters. Often, they stem from immigrant circles or migrant families. They live quiet, independent 

lives right in the middle of our society. Only their ideology still links them to Osama bin Laden; 

they emerge out of their hiding only for the enactment of the attack. In Germany and most of Western 

Europe, the recruiting does not mainly happen in mosques anymore, because people know they may be 

observed. It has moved into the underground, into private circles, where two or three people meet in 

an apartment to plan an attack. 
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AFGHANISTAN: Battle against poppy cultivation deepens
 KABUL, 24 August (IRIN)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/30e99078d06edc0a70428d66dc9cbb7e.htm  

Widespread corruption, a growing Taliban-led insurgency in the south, and a lack of proper 

alternative livelihoods for farmers, are causing a continued rise in poppy cultivation in 

Afghanistan, officials warn.

"Undoubtedly there is an increase in poppy cultivation this year," Said Mohammad Azam, director of 

public relations and communications for Afghanistan's Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN), told IRIN 

in the capital, Kabul, adding the government had yet to complete its national survey of poppy 

cultivated areas. 

The southern province of Helmand had seen the largest poppy cultivation this year, Azam said, mainly 

due to the deteriorating security situation in the area.

"Due to current instability and weak governance, the area of land used for poppy cultivation has 

nearly tripled this year in Helmand province," the government official claimed.

Although an effective ban on poppy cultivation instituted by the hardline Taliban regime, which was 

ousted in late 2001, had resulted in a considerable decline in opium production in 2000, today's 

fledgling MCN confirmed that opium production had increased, despite the fact that over 15,000 ha of 

poppy land had been eradicated by the government this year compared to 5,000 ha in 2005, due to 

denser cultivation. 

Compounding the problem, corruption amongst government authorities presents a serious challenge for 

poppy eradication efforts in the landlocked nation of 31 million, where more than half of the 

population lives below the poverty line and unemployment remains rampant.

"Corruption is the main obstacle towards poppy eradication in the country and there won't be victory 

unless it is tackled effectively," Azam asserted.

But while the issue of some high-ranking officials in the opium trade has been discussed by the 

government and members of the international community, nobody has yet to be formally charged.

"The government knows who are involved [in the drug trade] but there is no action and prosecution 

against them because of their powerful positions," an MCN official, who requested anonymity, told 

IRIN.

Analysts describe poppy cultivation in the Central Asian state as a multi-factorial issue and one 

that is becoming increasingly complicated.
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[color=yellowMilitary denies tanks being readied for Afghanistan[/color]
David ********, CanWest News Service Thursday, August 24, 2006
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=c9a53264-2da6-40d8-915d-bac126d37e8e&k

=5146

OTTAWA - Maintenance crews are working overtime to prepare the military's Leopard tanks for a 

deployment, but the army says soldiers who believe the armoured vehicles are being readied for use 

in Afghanistan are mistaken.

Several soldiers have said the tanks are being prepared for shipment to Afghanistan by early next 

year and that work is underway at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton to prepare the vehicles for that 

mission. They say the tanks would not be used in an offensive role, but instead to add more 

protection for Canadian patrols and convoys that have faced increasing attacks from suicide bombers 

and improvised explosive devices. In addition, some soldiers suggest the presence of tanks would 

make insurgents think twice about attacking Canadian convoys.

But an army official said Wednesday there is no truth to such suggestions and that the Leopards are 

instead being prepared for a September exercise at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, Alta.

''Right now there are no plans to send tanks to Afghanistan,'' said army spokesman Maj. Daryl 

Morrell. ''Who knows what rumours are out there, but the tanks have to be in great shape to go to 

Wainwright and take part in the exercises there.''


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Canadians in Afghanistan
Aug. 24, 2006: DAVID FRUM'S DIARY
http://frum.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y2M5Zjc4MGE0NzVhMjBhYTkxMTUwZjM5Y2IwMDUwNGY=

My father-in-law Peter Worthington, who served in WWII and Korea and then went on as a foreign 

correspondent to witness more wars than even he can count, offers these observations on Canada's war 

in Afghanistan, in which some 2300 Canadian soldiers have suffered 27 killed. Excerpted from an 

article to run in full in Sunday's Toronto Sun: 

 After Korea, beginning in 1956 in Gaza, “peacekeeping” became the hallmark of the Canadian army – 

until we joined the war against terrorism in Afghanistan. True, Somalia in 1993 was a UN Chapter 7 

“fighting” mission, foisted surreptitiously  on the Canadian people, but it was more peacekeeping as 

expected fighting never occurred.


Although the country hasn’t noticed it, our military has abandoned tradition peacekeeping and 

returned to more active soldiering, now fighting an unorthodox war against an able and elusive enemy 

in Afghanistan. Credit (or blame) for this change in direction can be attributed to General Rick 

Hillier, who has forced (or persuaded) the government to let the military play a more proactive 

role.


Many Canadians don’t realize how significant the changes are, though predictable sources fret as 

casualties increase. Every soldier killed gets headline treatment and creates the impression that 

casualties are horrendous, when in fact they are relatively modest.    

The bottom line is that peacekeeping is passé. For the moment. For an idea as to the competence and 

effectiveness of our soldiers in the field, here’s an account by
American photojournalist Scott Kesterton, a former Oregon National Guardsman (1983-1991) who spent a 

year embedded with troops in Afghanistan and was attached to 2 platoon of “A” Company of the 

Princess Pats when they were part of a 14-day operation  that included
eight attacks on - or from - Taliban and al Qaida fighters
More on link

Losing Afghanistan
24. August 2006 Afghan News Network
http://www.afghannews.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=1060
Editorial, The New York Times 
Reclaiming Afghanistan from the Taliban remains a crucial element in America’s global struggle 

against terrorism. So it should be setting off alarm bells in Washington that Afghans are becoming 

disenchanted with the performance of the country’s pro-American president, Hamid Karzai. 

The democratically elected Karzai government is a big improvement over any of its recent 

predecessors. But it has not brought security, economic revival or effective governance to most of 

the country. That has left it vulnerable to complaints about blatant corruption, the pervasive power 

of warlords and drug lords, and escalating military pressure from a revived and resupplied Taliban. 

Nearly five years after American military forces help topple a Taliban government that provided 

sanctuary and training camps to Osama bin Laden, there is no victory in the war for Afghanistan, due 

in significant measure to the Bush administration’s reckless haste to move on to Iraq and 

shortsighted stinting on economic reconstruction. 

The Taliban, operating from cross-border sanctuaries in Pakistan, has exploited Washington’s 

strategic blunders and Mr. Karzai’s disappointing performance to rebuild its political and military 

strength, particularly in the southern region where it first began its drive to power more than a 

decade ago. Daily battles now rage across five southern provinces. Civilian and military casualties 

are rising sharply, including those among the NATO forces that have recently moved into these areas. 

Mr. Karzai cannot deliver security and redevelopment without sustained and effective international 

help. But he should be doing a lot more to curb the corruption of his political allies and 

appointees
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August 25, 2006 Friday 29 Rajab, 1427 A.H. 
http://frontierpost.com.pk/index.php?page=news&nid=2431&tname=city_news

Mother of raped Afghan student seeks Durrani?s help

PESHAWAR (PPI): Mother of an Afghan student allegedly raped by an influential, who latter killed an 

Afghan citizen and injured other seriously when they went to ask about the sexual assault on the 

boy, sought chief minister?s and IGP help against the malefactor. ?The malefactor Ihsan rapped my 

older son and threatened to keep silence otherwise he will kill him however we informed social 

workers of the area about the matter they went to Ihsan?s home where he opened fire on them, killing 

Babrak on the spot and injuring Ishrat Bacha seriously? mother of the Afghan boy told reporters on 

Thursday. She said his son Jamal was working with his brother Faisal in a shop in Bakhshi Pull to 

earn livelihood for the family but on August 15 when a neighbor shopkeeper, Ihsan, resident of the 

same area, found him alone entered the shop and forced Jamal to satisfy his lust. ?We have no 

support in Peshawar, my husband is working in Afghanistan and my sons could not protect themselves 

from a man who already killed an innocent person? she said and urged Chief Minister Durrani, IGP and 

Chair person Human Right Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) to provide them protection. Flanked by his 

two sons, Jamal and Faisal she said case against the offender, Ihsan had been registered in Daudzai 

police station however no arrest so for been made in the case. ? Ihsan?s brothers are threatening my 

child to kill therefore they are terrified? she said. She said Babrak, who was killed by Ihsan had 

nothing to do with the case but just supported us for the sake of Allah while Ishrat Bacha, who 

being badly injured was a social worker therefore government should arrest Ihsan to award him 

exemplary punishment. The Afghan family after addressing the media went to Afghan Consulate in 

Peshawar to seek Afghan government?s help in the case. 
End

80 Taliban join reconciliation campaign
August 25, 2006 Friday 29 Rajab The Frontier Post
http://frontierpost.com.pk/index.php?page=news&nid=1742&tname=afghan_news

HERAT (Online): About 80 former Taliban guerrillas joined a government-initiated reconciliation 

scheme in western Afghanistan, an official and some of the former rebels said. The bearded, 

turban-wearing former fighters declared at a ceremony held in the western city of Herat that they 

had decided to stop fighting the current government, which took over from the Taliban regime ousted 

in late 2001. "Now they have joined peace," the provincial head of the reconciliation programme, 

Sayed Sharif Mujadadi, said. Among the group was a man who said he had been the Badghis province 

head of the Taliban's notorious religious police. 
End


Expired drugs torched
The Frontier Post August 25, 2006 Friday 29 Rajab
http://frontierpost.com.pk/index.php?page=news&nid=1743&tname=afghan_news

KABUL (PAN): The Ministry of Pubic Health torchedabout five tons of expired and substandard 

medicines here on Wednesday. The drugs were confiscated by inspection teams of the ministry during 

raidson medical stores in Kabul last week. Dr Sayed Ibrahim Kamil, head of inspection team of the 

ministry, told Pajhwok Afghan News the medicines were seized from pharmacies and shops indifferent 

parts of the city. The medicines were smuggled from Pakistan and India, he said, adding theministry 

officials had sealed 12 drug stores and six medicines depots for 15days. 
End


Batch of 20 women completes midwifery course in Samangan
The Frontier Post August 25, 2006 Friday 29 Rajab
http://frontierpost.com.pk/index.php?page=news&nid=1738&tname=afghan_news

AIBAK (PAN): As many as 20 women completed midwiferycourse in the northern province of Samangan on 

Wednesday. The 18-month course was organised by the Aid Medical International (AMI) inthe province. 

The objective of the course is to control mother and childmortality rate. Addressing the graduation 

ceremony, Karin Batamtas, provincial in charge ofAMI, said the midwives were professionally trained 

to help women duringmaternity. The newly-trained midwives come from capital Aibak and different 

districtsof the province and will be deployed to remote areas for providing healthservices to women. 

The course was completed at the cost of $150,000 provided by the World Bankand implemented through 

AMI and Ministry of Public Health, said KarinBatamtas. She said they would launch a new training 

session for another 20females in the province soon. Shakila, a doctor in Aibak, hoped the course 

would help in mother and childhealthcare in the province. She said many women die during delivery 

due tonon-availability of proper health services. 
End

Facing deluge of problems, Afghanistan's Karzai under attack in US
25. August 2006, 01:05 By P. Parameswaran, AFP 
http://www.afghannews.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=1063

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is coming under increasing criticism in the United States for 

rampant graft, poor security and failure to slash poverty in the insurgency-wracked nation. 

While the democratically elected Karzai government is a big improvement over any of its recent 

predecessors, it has not brought security, economic revival or effective governance to most of the 

country, the New York Times lamented in an editorial Thursday. 

A day earlier, in a lengthy commentary attacking his rule, the newspaper said, "For the first time 

since Mr Karzai took office four and half years ago, Afghans and diplomats are speculating about who 

might replace him." 

"Most agree that the answer for now is no one, leaving the fate of the American-led enterprise tied 

to his own success or failure," it said. 

Recently the Washington Post, another influential daily, reported on a growing rift between Kabul 

and some of the foreign establishments whose money and firepower helped rebuild and defend the 

country. 

Several European governments particularly expressed concerns about Karzai's leadership, it said, 

citing such problems as corruption, highway police robbing travelers, booming drug trafficking and 

vanishing aid money. 

Karzai became Afghanistan's transitional leader soon after US-led troops ousted the Taliban regime 

for giving sanctuary to Al-Qaeda supremo Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the September 11, 2001 

attacks on the United States. 
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (25 Aug 2006)

Canadian CC-130 Hercules crews conduct Dutch troop insertion
http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/8wing/news/releases_e.asp?cat=99&id=1568

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (26 Aug 2006)

*Taliban leaders distance themselves from suicide attacks against civilians  * 
Terry Pedwell, Canadian Press, 25Aug06

Faced with a public backlash in the birthplace of their movement, Taliban leaders in Kandahar are distancing themselves from deadly suicide attacks that they blame on a breakaway faction that works with "foreigners."  Suicide attacks aimed at western coalition troops have also killed many Afghan civilians, eroding local support for the Taliban, an extremist group often held responsible.  Published letters from Kandahar province's purported Taliban military council, however, said the group will take action against the attackers who are said to have connections with foreigners - possibly from Pakistan . . . .


----------



## Edward Campbell (26 Aug 2006)

Reproduced, from the _National Post_ under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters/story.html?id=1eb84a61-4a90-436f-a246-f07be75c67a1 

Francophone units are 'sharing the burden'

National Post

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Re: Sharing The Burden In Afghanistan, letter to the editor, Aug. 22.

I am extremely disappointed that the letters editor of the National Post either has a short memory or decided to show his ignorance in allowing Quebec-bashing to occur in a national newspaper. This letter calls into question the desire of the Royal 22e Regiment (R22eR) or the 12e Regiment blinde du Canada (12e RBC) to "step up to the plate" on operations in Afghanistan, and also discounted the importance of a bilingual leadership.

I should not have to point out the exceptional record of francophone units that have faithfully served Canadians throughout wars (eight of the 81 Victoria Cross medals awarded to Canadian troops were to Quebec-born soldiers), domestically (in support of the Saguenay floods and the Ice Storm) and recently on peace support operations including in Afghanistan, Haiti, Bosnia and East Timor.

In fact, while I was Commander of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the 1,700-person-strong battle group that deployed to Kabul, between January and August, 2004, was led by, and was primarily composed of, soldiers from the 5e Groupe-brigade mecanise du Canada (5e CMBG), of CFB Valcartier, Quebec. Thankfully, we lost no CF personnel during that tour.

I also take offence at the implication that the army does not appropriately plan for deployments. We try to ensure that the operational tempo for deployments is shared evenly among different units. In fact, the 1st Battalion of R22eR is currently the lead for our "high-readiness" battle group, should the government decide to commit troops to a second operational deployment in the immediate future. Further, the 3rd Battalion R22eR is scheduled to replace the Royal Canadian Regiment in Afghanistan next August. Regardless of which unit's turn it is to deploy, francophone soldiers serve in units throughout the CF, not solely in 5e CMBG -- a fact that demonstrates the need for bilingual leadership in the Forces.

I am very surprised, and frankly disappointed, that the National Post published a letter that promotes such an anti-francophone sentiment, when CF personnel wear the uniform not solely to protect themselves, their families or their province, but rather to protect and defend all Canadians and to promote Canadian values. Je me souviens.


* R.J. Hillier, General, Chief of the Defence Staff, Ottawa.  

© National Post 2006​

*


----------



## MarkOttawa (26 Aug 2006)

The _Crvena Zvezda_ finds "experts" it likes:

Canadians face `a quagmire,' experts warn
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1156542610777&call_pageid=970599119419

But it buries this near the end of the story:



> This week, though, Taliban leaders in Kandahar tried to distance themselves from recent suicide attacks after a backlash from a population angry about the toll on civilians and businesses.



I guess some "backlashes" deserve more prominence than others:

Car bomb kills Canadian soldier
3 hurt in suicide attack in Kandahar
Backlash feared as Afghan child slain
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156284610681&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (26 Aug 2006)

*Canadian troops kill Afghan police officer, injure six others   * 
Donald McArthur, CanWest News Service, 26 Aug 06
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=4a75d9bb-0d2c-413e-86bd-c7d461284a83&k=88985

Canadian troops shot and killed an Afghan national police officer and injured four others Saturday and then shot and injured two other officers riding a scooter 40 minutes later in an incident reminiscent of the fatal shooting of a young Afghan boy by a Canadian soldier Tuesday.  The firefight began about 12:20 p.m., about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar City, when armed Afghan police officers in plainclothes "rapidly approached" a Canadian artillery position and "failed to heed" repeated warnings to stop, said Col. Fred Lewis, deputy commander of Task Force Afghanistan . . . .


*Canadian solider mistakenly kills police officer*
Graeme Smith, Globe & Mail, 26 Aug 06
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060826.wsmith-afghanistan0826/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

Canadian soldiers killed an Afghan policeman and wounded six others in the dusty flatlands west of Kandahar city today, mistaking their allies for enemies in the increasingly confused battlefields of southern Afghanistan.  The shooting comes just four days after a Canadian soldier shot two youths riding a motorcycle, killing a 10-year-old boy.  The latest incidents happened around a makeshift camp about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar, where a Canadian artillery troop had stopped for the night in the open desert . . . .


*Canadians kill police officer, injure six others in Afghanistan shootings  * 
Canadian Press, 26 Aug 06
http://www.recorder.ca/cp/National/060826/n082603A.html

Canadian soldiers have killed an Afghan National Police officer in one of two apparent friendly-fire shooting incidents in southern Afghanistan.  NATO officials say the Canadians fired on a truckload of armed men as they approached an artillery position west of Kandahar.  The men in the truck fired back, sparking a shootout that resulted in the death of one man and injuries to four others.  The Canadians later discovered that the truck was carrying Afghan police officers who were out of uniform . . . .


*Coalition Forces Kill Local Taliban Commander In Afghanistan *  
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 26 Aug 06
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/08/e973fb5d-ae25-4886-b2ea-600a4474a688.html

The U.S. military says coalition forces have killed a local Taliban commander and 15 other militants in a gun battle in southern Afghanistan.  A statement said the fighting took place on August 25 in the central Khod Valley of Oruzgan Province, and the slain commander was a "known Taliban commander."  It did not reveal the commander's name . . . .


----------



## GAP (27 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 27 August 2006*

In Afghanistan, a military milestone takes shape
Nation's army executes its 1st major operation
By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times  |  August 27, 2006
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/27/in_afghanistan_a_military_milestone_takes_shape/

RAMAZAN, Afghanistan -- This remote village in the high desert of southern Afghanistan is home to six mud huts and 70 people. A few miles away, tucked behind two soaring escarpments, the settlement of Qazi contains four huts, 50 people, and a few goats.

More than 100 Afghan army soldiers descended on the two villages one day last month looking for Taliban fighters. After a carefully scripted battle plan, the soldiers sealed the villages and searched every hut, shed, paddock, and fighting-age male.

They found nothing -- no Taliban, no weapons, no documents, no bomb-making material. But in the eyes of the U S military advisers who set the raid in motion, the operation was a milestone.

For the first time in Afghanistan, the Americans said, the Afghan army had conducted a battalion-sized combat operation that combined logistics, mortars, scouts , and infantry from three companies. It is the sort of operation U S troops conduct routinely, but the fledging Afghan army is just beginning to apply its training to real-life battlefields.
More on link

Canada looks for `instant' soldiers
Aug. 19, 2006. 07:19 AM BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH OTTAWA BUREAU
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1155937810971&call_pageid=971358637177

Doctors' notes instead of physicals could fast-track new recruits

OTTAWA—The Canadian military may soon begin accepting recruits who bring along a note from their doctor saying they're fit for military service, says the officer in charge of recruiting for the Canadian Forces.

Medical checks for new recruits currently are slowed by the forces' shortage of physicians, but Col. Kevin Cotten said yesterday that turning to recruits' own doctors may be the solution.

"Let's say we made a requirement to walk in with a questionnaire and a signed letter from a doctor," Cotten said in a telephone interview from CFB Borden. "We would take that at face value as our initial medical assessment."

Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's top general, has long been frustrated with the time it takes to get new recruits into uniform. So this week, he shook things up with some ambitious new deadlines.

By Oct. 1, Hillier has told military staff he wants 30 per cent of recruits enrolled within a week, and 40 per cent more enlisted within a month. That's down from the 90 days it takes on average now to get a new recruit enlisted and set for basic training.

It's a dramatic attempt to crank up recruiting to meet the Conservatives' vow to increase the armed forces by 13,000 new full-time soldiers and another 10,000 reservists over the coming years. 

"We've thrown, if you will, a transformational grenade in the middle of our recruiting process," Hillier said after giving a speech at the annual Canadian Bar Association conference in St. John's, Nfld.

Streamlining the recruiting process, Cotten said, won't lead to looser standards.

Security checks could be done soon after new recruits were enrolled; candidates could be subsequently ditched if a problem were found.

"Maybe we take some risk on the front end," Cotten said. "With a little bit of process, a good interview ... some verifiable background checks and you get a pretty good sense of who you are dealing with."

The military is also attempting to boost its medical ranks by dangling bonuses of up to $225,000, the promise of free tuition and rising salaries to medical school students willing to enrol. 

Nick Lischynsky welcomes any move to speed his dream of being in uniform. The 17-year-old Ottawa resident submitted his application a month ago to enlist as a medical technician and was back at the recruiting centre this week to check on its progress.

"It would help," he said. "It can take from three months to a year."

Despite grim news from Afghanistan, would-be soldiers are still flocking into recruiting centres and signing up for duty — more than 25,000 applications are expected this year.
More on link




UK soldier killed in Afghanistan
Sunday, August 27, 2006; Posted: 4:16 a.m. EDT (08:16 GMT) 
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/08/27/afghan.violence.reut/index.html

Casualty is latest since NATO took over in restive south

KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) -- A British soldier was killed in an insurgent attack in Afghanistan on Sunday, the British Defense Ministry said, the latest NATO soldier to die since the alliance took over in the Afghan south from a U.S.-led force last month.

"The Ministry of Defense can confirm the death of a British soldier during contact with insurgent forces in northern Helmand," a ministry spokeswoman said in London, referring to the southern province of Helmand.

British troops in Helmand are part of a NATO peacekeeping force. Six NATO soldiers have been killed in the province since the alliance took command there on July 31.

The province of jagged, mountains, deserts and narrow, fertile valleys is Afghanistan's main drug-producing region and has long been a Taliban stronghold.

NATO said troops used small arms and heavy machine guns to repel the early morning attack but the extent of insurgent casualties was not clear.

Afghanistan is going through the bloodiest phase of violence since U.S. and Afghan opposition troops overthrew the Taliban in 2001.
More on link

Afghan Taliban denies peace talks with NATO
Fri Aug 25, 2006 10:24 AM BST By Saeed Ali Achakzai 

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The Taliban on Friday denied secretly talking with the Afghan government and NATO to lay down their arms in the volatile south, rejecting such reports as propaganda by weakened foreign forces. 

The guerrillas' military commander, Mullah Dadullah, told Reuters by satellite phone NATO and U.S.-led forces were trying to sow dissent among Taliban fighters and supporters. 

"We have adopted the path of jihad and people are joining us in jihad," he said, adding foreign forces were pulling out of areas that have seen heavy fighting, especially in the Taliban's southern heartland, because they did not have the will to sustain heavy losses. 


NATO has also denied direct involvement in any talks with the Taliban in southern Kandahar province, which foreign media reports said were led by a government-backed mediation agency as part of the authorities' reconciliation effort with the Taliban. 

Some NATO troops were also involved in the talks, the reports said. 

Asked about the issue on Thursday, U.S. Major-General Robert Durbin told reporters in Kabul the coalition and NATO fully supported President Hamid Karzai's efforts for reconciliation. 

NATO troops have run into heavier than expected opposition from the Taliban in the run-up to and after their July 31 takeover from U.S. forces in the south. 

Violence across the country is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted in 2001 and the heaviest in the southern and eastern provinces, many of which border Pakistan

End

Detainee Transfer Announced
August 26, 2006 Defense Link News
http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=9869

The Department of Defense announced today that it transferred five detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Afghanistan. These detainees were all recommended for transfer due to multiple review processes conducted at Guantanamo Bay. 

          With today’s transfer, approximately 120 detainees remain at Guantanamo who the U.S. government has determined eligible for transfer or release through a comprehensive series of review processes. Departure of these remaining detainees approved for transfer or release is subject to ongoing discussions between the United States and other nations. The United States does not desire to hold detainees for any longer than necessary. The department expects that there will continue to be other transfers and releases of detainees. 
More on link


Coalition soldier killed in Afghanistan
Aug. 27, 2006, 3:36AM By FISNIK ABRASHI Associated Press Writer 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4143982.html

KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgent attacks in southern Afghanistan left one NATO-led coalition soldier dead and seven wounded Sunday, while police killed 10 suspected Taliban militants who struck a government compound, officials said.

The soldier was killed in the southern Helmand province, a NATO statement said. It did not provide the soldier's nationality or details on the clash.
More on link

Taliban militants assault 2 district centers in S. Afghanistan
2 coalition soldiers killed in E. Afghanistan 
Saturday August 26, 2006 (2000 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?152496

 HELMAND: At least 400 Taliban insurgents launched attacks on two district centers in southern Afghanistan, during which six insurgents, one local official were killed, officials told Xinhua Saturday. 
"Some 400 Taliban rebels raided the center of Arghandab district in Zabul province on Friday night," district chief Ali Muradi said. 

The police repulsed the attack after a fierce conflict, during which six rebels were killed and 12 others wounded, he added. 

The police suffered no casualties, the official said. 

Meanwhile, a large number of Taliban militants stormed the center of Moqor district in Ghazni province also on Friday night, spokesman of the provincial government Abdul Ali Fakori said. 

He didn’t give the exact number of the attackers. 

"One low-ranking official was killed in the assault and two policemen wounded, while three vehicles were set on fire." Fakori told Xinhua. 

However, the Taliban’s purported spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed that militants had killed 15 policemen and set ablaze on both district centers in the assaults. 

Southern Afghanistan has been a stronghold of Taliban insurgents, who attack government and foreign targets frequently. 
More on link

Minister: Afghanistan's peace, security same as that of Iran Tehran
Aug 26, IRNA ran-Defense-Afghanistan 
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-236/0608261067194300.htm

Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar in a meeting with his Afghan counterpart, Abdul Rahim Wardak, said here Saturday that peace and security in the neighboring Afghanistan is considered as those in Iran. 

According to a report released by the Publicity Department of Defense Ministry, he said that based on such a strategy, Iran has always supported promotion of peace and tranquility in Afghanistan. 

At the first round of talks with his Afghan counterpart, Najjar referred to Afghanistan's security and reconstruction and given close ties between the two states, declared Iran's readiness to promote security in this country and help expedite its reconstruction process. 

Congratulating the anniversary of Afghanistan's independence, the Iranian minister said that Iran's foreign policy gives high priority to expansion of ties with the neighboring Muslim states, in particular the brotherly and friendly country of Afghanistan. 

For his part, Wardak expressed satisfaction with his visit to Tehran and appreciated Iran's sincere support over the past two decades. 

He added that his government and people will never forget the support, aid and hospitality of the Iranian government and nation. 
More on link


Seven Taliban insurgents killed in Afghanistan  
date: 26 08, 2006   Bahrain News
http://english.bna.bh/?ID=49494

Kabul Aug. 26 (BNA) Seven Taliban insurgents were killed in a British force attack on a group of militants in Mosa Qala in the Southern district of Helmand. 
This was announced by the NATO-led ISAF forces today. Orders for the attack were issued after the target was determined by the British force on reception of intelligence information, said the ISAF statement. The statement pointed out that ISAF forces destroyed seven Taliban vehicles in the attack that took place yesterday afternoon. No ISAF soldiers were harmed in the operation. The frequency of attacks on NATO forces and Afghan forces has increased since they became responsible for security in six southern districts last month. The districts were ran by US-led alliance forces. 
End

Afghanistan's Women Along with Pres. Karzai Seek a Way Out
http://www.thinkandask.com/2006/082606-afghan.html

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, first appointed by the White House to oversee Afghanistan and later elected as president in December 2004, will not seek a second term. 

Less than one year after the United States declared the end to Taliban rule in Afghanistan, President Karzai said that his vision was for a "modern state that builds on our Islamic values, promoting justice, rule of law, human rights and freedom of commerce, and forming a bridge between cultures and civilizations." 

President Karzai said that Afghanistan would become a model of tolerance and prosperity based upon the rich heritage of the Islamic civilization, on 12 September 2002, but in the years following his original goal, the president has softened his view on the state of affairs. 

In July 2006, President Karzai said, "There is corruption in the whole system" of Afghanistan. He admits to underestimating opium production - a product that accounts for one third of the economy. The 49-year-old President Karzai blamed the international community for not supporting his goals. 
More on link

Two French soldiers die in Afghanistan
Saturday, August 26, 2006; Posted: 5:38 a.m. EDT (09:38 GMT) 
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/08/26/afghanistan.ap/

Clashes leave 13 Taliban fighters dead

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A roadside bomb and gunfight in eastern Afghanistan left two French soldiers dead and another two wounded as at least 13 insurgents were killed in clashes with police and NATO in the south, officials said Saturday.

The soldiers died when a roadside bomb exploded while they were conducting a combat patrol in eastern Laghman province on Friday, triggering a gunfight between coalition forces and "a group of enemy extremists," the U.S. military said in a statement.

The wounded soldiers were transported to a hospital where they were listed as being in a stable condition
More on link

Mournful lament greets body of slain Canadian soldier
Canadian Press Globe & Mail  27/08/06
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060826.wSoldier0826/BNStory/National

TRENTON, Ont. — The sun disappeared, tucked behind clouds, and a grey pall was cast over CFB Trenton as a military transport returned home Saturday carrying the body of the eighth Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan this month.

Cpl. David Braun, 27, was killed Tuesday when a resupply convoy was struck by a vehicle packed with explosives in Kandahar. 

Three other soldiers were injured. 

Cpl. Braun's mother, Patty, sister Diana, and brothers Mike and Chris, were joined by Cpl. Braun's friend Terry Braman on the tarmac for the solemn repatriation ceremony as a gentle breeze rippled over the eastern Ontario military base.
More on link



Bullets fly. Ottawa ducks
August 25, 2006 JOHN GEDDES
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/canada/article.jsp?content=20060828_132392_132392#

How Canada slipped into a war our leaders can't -- or won't -- explain

By now the image of a maple leaf-draped coffin being loaded into the belly of a military transport plane at Kandahar airfield is familiar to any Canadian with a TV set. Troops line the tarmac at attention, except for the recently wounded, who sometimes weep in their wheelchairs. The grimmest day so far for the Canadians was Aug. 3, when three soldiers from Canada's 2,000-plus contingent in Afghanistan were killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack, and a fourth died when his armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb. Ten more Canadian soldiers were injured by Taliban insurgents that day. "We've got to be patient," was the reaction of Brig.-Gen David Fraser, the top Canadian officer in Afghanistan. "We've got to be determined to see this through as long as it takes."

A commander in the field has little choice but to adopt a resolute tone when the news is so bad. And in wartime, a general making the case for staying the course might normally expect patriotic citizens back home to be inclined to agree. But recent polls suggest a majority of Canadians no longer support staying in Afghanistan, and misgivings about what it's all about are entirely understandable. Determined to see this through for as long as what takes? How much sacrifice and to what end? Canada's political and military leaders have done little to answer those fundamental questions about what is arguably the biggest test of Canadian military mettle and foreign policy savvy in a generation
More on link

Taliban Commander, 15 Other Militants Killed  
WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=581

Coalition soldiers killed a known Taliban commander and 15 other militants in Afghanistan Aug. 25, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials said in a news release.

Coalition forces engaged Taliban leaders with joint in the central Khod Valley of Uruzgan province, officials said.

 The Taliban commander and his associates were involved in attacks against the Afghan people, as well as Afghan, International Security Assistance Force and coalition forces, officials said.

Coalition forces used deliberate measures to limit the chances of property damage. No damage was reported to a mosque adjacent to the militant’s safe house after a precision coalition air strike, officials said.
No civilians were injured during the operation.

“Coalition forces are actively and aggressively extending the security and the reach of the Afghan government,” Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, Combined Joint Task Force 76 spokesperson, said. “Through tireless efforts, we continue to pursue terrorists and their leaders in making Afghanistan safer.” 
End


----------



## GAP (28 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 28 August 2006*

Cdn. soldier injured in Afghan mortar attack
Updated Mon. Aug. 28 2006 1:47 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060828/afghanistan_suicide_bombing_060828/20060828?hub=TopStories

A Canadian soldier was injured by a mortar attack in Afghanistan Monday, just hours after a suicide blast killed 17 Afghans in a crowded market.

CTV's Matt McClure, reporting from Kandahar, said the soldier and an Afghan security force member were injured after several mortar rounds struck the Canadian forward operating base.

The attack came at about 6 p.m. local time at Zhari District Centre, west of Kandahar.

The soldier, who has not been identified, received non-life threatening injuries, but was flown to a hospital in Germany for specialized treatment, McClure told Newsnet.

It's the second time in as many days that a Canadian has been injured by mortars at the base, and the third attack in the last 36 hours.

Early Sunday, a Canadian soldier and six Afghans were injured by mortar rounds.

Suicide attack

The mortar attack came just hours after at least 17 people were killed and dozens injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded market in southern Afghanistan.

Carrying explosives, the bomber walked into a crowed market opposite a police station in Lashkar Gah -- the capital of the southern Helmand province. 

A spokesman for the provincial governor told the Associated Press that 17 people were killed and 47 wounded. At least 15 of the wounded were children. 

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed the militia's responsibility for the attack. 
More on link

17 killed, dozens wounded in Afghan blast
Associated Press Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060828.wafghanblast0828/BNStory/International/home

Link to The Scotsman Same Story
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1269582006

Link to CBS   Same Story
http://keyetv.com/topstories/topstories_story_240053649.html

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — A bomber blew himself up in a crowded market in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 17 people and wounding dozens, a hospital official said.

The blast happened across from a police station in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern Helmand province, said Ghulam Muheddin, the provincial governor's spokesman.

Hanif Khan, a local hospital official, said 17 people were killed and 47 were wounded, six critically.

Among the dead were the owner of the market, a former Lashkar Gah police chief, his son and a nephew, said Hayatullah Khan, a security guard at the scene.
End

Canadians, Afghans at odds over killing of officer
GRAEME SMITH  Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060828.wxafghan28/BNStory/International

CTV Link to same Story
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060828/afghanistan_friendly_fire_060828/20060828?hub=TopStories


Local forces ignored warnings: military 

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — An angry split emerged between Canadian and Afghan forces in a key district west of Kandahar city this weekend as they disagreed about the circumstances in which Canadian soldiers killed an Afghan police officer and injured six other people.

Soldiers fired twice on Saturday at vehicles they mistook for approaching enemies in the barren desert under the midday sun.

The Canadian military expressed deep regret after discovering that the troops had attacked Afghan security forces, their biggest allies in the fight against Taliban insurgents in the country's violent south.

But Canadian officials said the soldiers had reacted properly to a perceived threat, as the Afghans drove toward a Canadian artillery position about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar city at high speed in unmarked vehicles, carrying weapons but wearing local clothing.
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Bulgaria Boosts Troops in Afghanistan
28 August 2006, Monday.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=68738

Bulgaria has vowed to send an additional 200 troops to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in the middle of next year. 

Bulgaria's contingent in Afghanistan now features a 120-strong-squad.

Bulgaria is planning to increase the number of its troops in missions abroad, Defense Minister Vesselin Bliznakov announced during his visit to Romania's Constanza.

At present the country has about 500 soldiers in international missions but this number should increase in 2007. The best option for Bulgaria, according to the minister, is to have about 8% of its land forces at the disposal of international missions, which would bring the total numbers to 1,700 - 1,800.
End

NDP chief says Canada can spare troops for Lebanon
Canadian Press Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060827.wlayton0827/BNStory/National/home

Montreal — Canada has the capacity to contribute as many as 1,200 soldiers to the UN mission enforcing the ceasefire in Lebanon, says NDP Leader Jack Layton.

In an interview Sunday with The Canadian Press, Mr. Layton rejected Prime Minister Stephen Harper's claim that Canada's presence in Afghanistan has stretched the country's military too thin to contribute to the Lebanon mission.

“We have the capacity, but the prime minister hasn't said so,” he said. “We have asked the Harper government to, first of all, tell the truth.”

Mr. Layton said his claims are based on an internal government document obtained through access to information laws that he said shows that Canada has military capacity to spare.
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Military overwhelmed by number of investigations
Mon Aug 28 2006 By Terry Pedwell Winnipeg Free Press
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/world/story/3655203p-4225761c.html

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Military investigators are trying to determine why Canadian soldiers mistakenly shot and killed what may have been an Afghan secret police officer in a weekend of violence. 
It was just one of a number of investigations that have overwhelmed Canada's National Investigation Service within the past two weeks, forcing the arms-length body to bring more forensics experts into southern Afghanistan. 

Canadian soldiers killed an Afghan police officer and injured four others Saturday in one of two apparent friendly fire shootings. 

The shooting was in self-defence, said NATO, after a truck carrying armed men approached a Canadian artillery position about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar. 

The men were in an unmarked vehicle, in plain clothes, said Col. Fred Lewis, the deputy commander of Canada's NATO contingent in southern Afghanistan. 

"Neither their vehicle, nor their immediate appearance, readily identified them as (police)," said Lewis, who added that several warning shots were fired at the vehicle, sparking a shootout with the men when they returned fire.    
Secret police? 

NATO and Canadian officials could not confirm reports from sources yesterday that the men were members of Afghanistan's notorious secret police and intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), also known as Amaniyat. 

NDS operatives rarely wear uniforms and often travel in unmarked vehicles. 

About 40 minutes after the initial shooting, a motorcycle carrying two people approached the same Canadian artillery position at high speed, military officials said. 

The Canadians once again opened fire after warning the driver several times to stop, injuring both motorcyclists. 

They, too, were later discovered to be Afghan police officers, NATO said. There were no Canadian casualties. 

NATO later apologized for the shooting incidents, but maintained that Canadian soldiers acted according to their training. 

Now under scrutiny by both Canadian and Afghan officials, the weekend shootings have added to what was already a large workload facing Canadian Forces forensic investigators. The National Investigation Service (NIS) team was to be beefed up from just two investigators to five. 

Saturday's shootings took place just days after a Canadian soldier shot and killed an Afghan boy and injured a teenager after a Canadian convoy was struck by a suicide bomber. 

NIS investigators were probing the boy's shooting, but also a fatal traffic accident in which a Canadian soldier died, as well as the shooting death of another Canadian at the hands of one of his colleagues. 
End

Forces ease security checks on potential recruits
Mon Aug 28 2006 By Alison Auld Winnipeg Free Press
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/canada/story/3655247p-4225812c.html 

HALIFAX -- The Canadian military has relaxed some of the background security checks it does on potential recruits and is considering easing others as it tries to speed up enrolment and meet ambitious recruitment targets. 
The military recently received an exemption from the Treasury Board that allowed it to shorten the period of time it covers when doing an applicant's background check, according to Defence Department officials. 

For example, a candidate who would be granted "secret" level clearance once had a background check done that went back 10 years. Checks now only cover the last seven years. 

The majority of people in the forces receive "confidential" level clearance, which previously required a check of the last 10 years. The exemption has cut that check by half, down to the last five years. 

"It's an acceptable risk given the number of clearances we do," Lt.-Col. David Shuster, a security officer in the Defence Department, said of the policy change that has been in effect for months. 

"Obviously, we've got a really big challenge here because we want to increase recruiting, yet we don't want to increase the level of risk in bringing people in faster."    
The military has also relaxed another security probe it does that can cause lengthy processing delays for applicants who have spent time outside Canada, according to a newly declassified document obtained by The Canadian Press under access to information legislation. 

The report, signed by Canada's top soldier, Gen. Rick Hillier, recommends easing assessments of recruits who have been in the United States, the U.K. and the original 16 NATO countries prior to applying to the military. 

Shuster said those reviews can add months or years to the screening process because they have to solicit help from officials in the country where the applicant spent time. But he downplayed concerns that limiting the checks could compromise security. 

"We want to be able to do as much recruiting as we possibly can, but at the same time we don't want to accept more risk than already exists right now," he said in an interview. 

"So there's a bit of negotiation going on to make sure we don't accept too much risk." 
End

Military bares its emotions; Local widow takes part in memorial service  
Bob Weber  /  CP  Saturday, August 26, 2006  Standard Freeholder
http://www.standard-freeholder.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=168491&catname=Local+News

In a rare glimpse into Canada's grieving military heart, soldiers in two provinces invited the public Friday to share in normally private remembrance ceremonies for their fallen comrades, who were hailed as "new heroes" in the fight for democracy. 

One of two memorials was held at CFB Shilo in Manitoba to remember Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh, 33, of Regina, who died in what appears to have been an accidental shooting by a fellow soldier. 

Taking part was Walsh's widow, Julie, who grew up in Alexandria, and her family. 

Master Cpl. Darryl Smith, who befriended Walsh in basic training almost 10 years ago, recalled how Walsh overcame his fear of heights by rappelling with him down the side of Smith's sister's apartment building in Ottawa. 

"Before anyone knew what was happening, Batman and Robin were gone." Walsh's father, Ben, an RCMP officer, said his son embarked on this latest mission just a week before he died with a belief in what he was doing strengthened by a previous tour in Afghanistan and an earlier tour in Kosovo. 

"He wanted to try to make a change in these countries so people could live in peace, have freedom. He was well aware of the dangers and said, 'Dad, I am very well trained,'" Walsh said. 
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Solemn return for Canadian soldiers  
By Barry Ellsworth Local News - Monday, August 28, 2006 
http://www.intelligencer.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=169333&catname=Local+News

CFB TRENTON Twenty five soldiers returned here Saturday, having completed their six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. But the happiness they should have felt was replaced with the sombre knowledge that also on board was Cpl. David Braun in a casket. 

Braun, 27, was killed last Tuesday in a suicide attack in Kandahar, Afghanistan, the area known as the spawning grounds of the enemy, the Taliban, a regressive Islamic extremist group that was ousted from power but fights on. Three other soldiers received non life-threatening injuries. 
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Music opens new world to Afghan girls
Sun 27 Aug 2006 9:03 PM ET By Terry Friel
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=ISL289638

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The lilt of a girl singing of homecoming blends pleasantly with a cacophony of different melodies from keyboard, guitar and drums in a music school in northern Afghanistan.

The female students, wearing burqas with their faces uncovered, chuckle and joke as they practice in Afghanistan's first women-only music school, relishing in their new found freedom.

Just a few years ago, music was banned by the hardline Taliban government. Musicians fled the country and women were barred from schools or leaving home without a male relative.

Now, this six-month project at the Nagashand Fine Art Gallery in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, near the border with Uzbekistan, is teaching 18 girls and women to become music teachers.

The women are taught singing and how to play a range of modern and traditional musical instruments.

"As a child, I liked music -- I wanted to prove women can play music," said 14-year-old Zahra Amiri, the youngest student at the school. "I want to be a musician some day."
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U.S. relatives of terror camp convict denied entry
Sat Aug 26, 2006 4:58pm ET 
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-08-26T205824Z_01_N26257418_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-CALIFORNIA.xml&archived=False

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. government has barred two relatives of a California man convicted of attending Pakistani terrorism training camps from re-entering the country after an extended stay in Pakistan, even though both are U.S. citizens, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Saturday.

Muhammed Ismail, 45, a naturalized U.S. citizen, and his 18-year-old son, Jaber Ismail, who was born in the United States, are the uncle and cousin of Hamid Hayat.

Hayat, 23, was convicted in April of providing material support to terrorists by attending training camps in Pakistan between March 2003 and June 2005, and of lying about it to the FBI. He faces a possible sentence of up to 39 years in prison.

Hamid Hayat's father, Umer Hayat, was sentenced on Friday to time served and 36 months of supervised release after he pleaded guilty in May to lying about how much money he was carrying on a trip to his native Pakistan from the United States in 2003. 


Umer Hayat, 48, told federal officials he was carrying only $10,000 but had $28,000.

The convictions resulted from a federal probe of the Pakistani immigrant community in Lodi, California, a small farm town in the state's Central Valley.

Federal authorities told the Chronicle that although neither Muhammed nor Jaber Ismail has been charged with a crime, they are barred from reentering the United States unless they submit to further FBI questioning in Pakistan.

Julia Harumi Mass, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represents the family, said agents want to know if Jaber Ismail attended Pakistani terrorist training camps.

The men tried to return to the United States on April 21 with other family members but were turned away in Hong Kong and forced to return to Islamabad because they were on the government's "no-fly" list, Mass said
More on Link

Canadians probing Afghan friendly fire incidents
Updated Mon. Aug. 28 2006 6:58 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/afghanistan_friendly_fire_060827/20060828?hub=CanadaAM

Fresh details have emerged about a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan that left one Afghan police officer dead, when Canadian troops opened fire on a police vehicle. Some reports suggest the car was clearly marked, contrary to initial reports. 


"The Canadians shot at my men," Wali Jan, a local police chief, told CTV News. "When I spoke to their commander, his excuse was, 'We are new here.'" 
More on Link

British soldier shot dead in Afghanistan  
Alex Kumi Monday August 28, 2006 The Guardian 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1859694,00.html

· Serviceman dies in clash with Helmand insurgents 
· MoD confirms inquiry into shootings by UK troops 

A British soldier has been shot dead during clashes with insurgents in southern Afghanistan, it emerged yesterday.
Details of the latest fatality came as the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the Royal Military police are investigating six serious shooting incidents involving British troops in the country.

The double blow points to the mounting pressure faced by troops amid an upsurge in fighting as Afghanistan goes through one of its bloodiest periods since the fall of the Taliban five years ago.
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Report: German troops could see action in southern Afghanistan
Aug 27, 2006, 22:43 GMT 
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1195217.php/Report_German_troops_could_see_action_in_southern_Afghanistan

Kabul - German troops could see action before autumn against the persistent insurgency in southern Afghanistan, Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa has learned from sources in the Kabul headquarters of the NATO-led ISAF mission. 

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) already has German troops serving in the more settled northern regions of Afghanistan. 
More on Link






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## The Bread Guy (29 Aug 2006)

*Defence Minister O'Connor visits war-torn Kandahar to bolster troops  * 
Canadian Press, 29 Aug 06
http://www.cp.org/premium/ONLINE/member/elxn_en/060829/p082903A.html

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor is visiting Canadian troops in violent southern Afghanistan.  Brass at Kandahar Airfield greeted O'Connor Tuesday morning as his flight touched down at Canada's main staging area in Afghanistan. O'Connor would only say he was in Kandahar to meet the troops and that he'll talk about his visit when it is over. The Conservative government has been under pressure to better explain the purpose and the duration of the mission amid mounting casualties and flagging public support . . . .


*Bomb near Canada troops kills two Afghans*
Middle East Times, 29 Aug 06
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060829-031754-4130r

A bomb exploded near a convoy of Canadian troops serving with a NATO force in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, killing two Afghans and wounding another, the force said.  Police said that the blast was caused by a suicide attacker driving a mini-bus filled with explosives, but the Canadian military said that it was caused by another kind of improvised explosive device . . . . 


*Suicide Bomber Targets NATO-Afghan Convoy  * 
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 29 Aug 06
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/08/620c698a-839e-4ceb-9056-57cb9669ed94.html

Authorities in Afghanistan say a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle filled with explosives near a joint NATO-Afghan military convoy today in the southern Kandahar Province.  Officials said the bomber killed himself, along with one Afghan civilian who was driving near the blast . . . . 


*Suicide blast hits Afghan NATO convoy *  
Reuters, 29 Aug 06
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060829/wl_nm/afghan_violence_dc

At least one Afghan civilian was killed in a suicide bomb attack on a        NATO convoy in the country's volatile south on Tuesday, the latest incident in the worst upsurge of violence since the Taliban were ousted five years ago. Police said it was not clear if the bombing on the road from Kandahar airport, a major foreign military base, into the city was a car bomb or explosives strapped to the attacker . . . .


*Two dead in Afghanistan blasts*
Agence France Presse, 29 Aug 06
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060829/1/43362.html

Foreign troops in Afghanistan have been targeted in separate bomb blasts that killed two civilians, a day after one of the deadliest suicide attacks of the year.  The first narrowly missed a convoy of Canadian troops outside the troubled southern city of Kandahar, which has been hit by regular attacks from the extremist Taliban movement . . . . 


Afghan, Coalition forces respond to IEDs
COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER KABUL, 28 Aug 06
http://www.blackanthem.com/News/military200608_440.shtml

Afghan and Coalition forces discovered and disabled explosive devices in three locations Aug. 28.  A Coalition unit discovered a landmine placed on the side of a road between Orgun-E and Sharona in Paktika Province . A Coalition explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the munition in place . . . .


*Lashkar Gah suicide bomber kills 17, injures 47 civilians*
ISAF News Release #2006-117, 28 Aug 06
http://www.afnorth.nato.int/ISAF/Update/Press_Releases/newsrelease/2006/Release_28August06_117.htm

A suicide bomber exploded in a crowded Lashkar Gah bazaar, reportedly killing 17 civilians and injuring 47 others shortly after noon today. The bazaar was located opposite an Afghan National Police station . . . .


*Thirty-nine soldiers from CFB Valcartier, Que., head for Afghanistan *  
Remi Nadeau, Canadian Press, 28 Aug 06
http://www.cp.org/premium/ONLINE/member/elxn_en/060828/p082817A.html

Although 27 of his fellow soldiers have died in Afghanistan, Regis Berube had a calm air about him Monday in the hours ahead of his own deployment to the Middle East country. Berube is one of 39 headed to Kandahar from Canadian Forces Base Valcartier near Quebec City. "I say, if life wants me, I'll be coming back," he said. "If she doesn't want me, I won't. I'm confident in life and I'm going to do my tour as best I can." The soldiers will be in Kandahar until next March, helping train the Afghan army . . . .


*Pakistan struggles to identify Taliban*
David Montero, Christian Science Monitor, 29 Aug 06
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0829/p06s01-wosc.html?s=hns

Imadad Ullah isn't afraid to talk about being a Taliban student, even after two of his friends walked away when the topic came up. They might have good reason: Mr. Ullah says that Taliban members are arrested every day in this region.  His friends wandered back into their madrassah, where some 50 other Afghan Taliban study. But Ullah remained seated by the roadside some 20 miles from Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan Province. Ullah wouldn't answer if he or his friends had plans to fight jihad in Afghanistan. He only spoke of the prowess of those already fighting . . . .


*Our military deserves support*
Letter to the Editor, Regina Leader-Post, 29 Aug 06
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/letters/story.html?id=044de4b9-8fc5-4c24-ab4b-3129defc64bd

The conflict in Afghanistan has cost Canada dearly, not only in terms of lives, but also in the escalating expenses the Canadian taxpayer must bear until a victory can be reached. The third loss we've incurred is the growing dissension among the public who can't decide whether we should fight the Taliban or bring our troops home . . . .


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## GAP (29 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 29 August 2006*

FACTBOX-Key facts about suicide bombings in Afghanistan
29 Aug 2006 07:30:47 GMT Source: Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP16369.htm

Aug 29 (Reuters) - At least one Afghan civilian was killed in a suicide bomb attack on a NATO convoy in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, on Tuesday. The attack comes one day after a suicide bomber killed 17 people and wounded dozens in a crowded bazaar in the south's restive Helmand province.

Here are some facts on suicide bombings recorded in Afghanistan since January 2005.

KEY FIGURES:

Attacks: 64

Casualties (not including suicide bombers): 181

Wounded: 273

Attacks without casualties: 31/64

Attacks where bombs go off accidentally: 6/64

Attackers pre-empted by police: 2

WORST ATTACKS:

- August 3, 2006: The worst attack to date occurs in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, when twenty-one civilians are killed when a suicide bomber rams his car into a NATO convoy on the main highway.

- June 1, 2005: The second worst attack occurs, when a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform kills 20 people, including a police chief, in an attack on a mosque in Kandahar.

BLOODIEST DAY:

- At least 26 people die in two separate suicide attacks in Spin Boldak and Kandahar on January 17 2006.

MOST FREQUENTLY HIT AREAS:

- Kandahar: 31 attacks

- Kabul: 7 attacks

- Herat/Khost: 3 attacks
End

Denmark Special Forces to Afghanistan  
Tuesday August 29, 2006 Pak Tribune
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?152623

COPENHAGEN: Amid rising Taliban violence Denmark`s Ministry of Defense has deployed an unidentified number of elite Special Forces soldiers to Afghanistan. 
The new forces will provide cover for the 122 Danish troops there facing Taliban guerrilla attacks. 

The Danish troops are part of the multinational International Security Assistance Force under North Atlantic Treaty Alliance command. 

The Copenhagen Post reported on Aug. 24 that Danish ground troops in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan have been targeted by the Taliban forces on a nearly daily basis since arriving in July. 

Danish Defense Minister Soren Gade said that the scope of the attacks was interfering with troops being able to conduct patrols, telling journalists, "We have sent a number of special forces out of recognition of the current situation in the camp at Musa Qala." 

Since arriving in Helmand Taliban guerrillas have attacked the Danish force 50 times and wounded eight soldiers. 

Head of operations Col. Henrik Sommer would not divulge further information, telling journalists, "Since we are dealing with an ongoing mission, we have instituted a restrictive information policy and will not provide details about how many specialists have been deployed." 

Meanwhile, the Berlingske Tidende newspaper reported on Aug. 28 that in light of the rising violence the Danish military has withdrawn all of its troops from Musa Qala base in Afghanistan following massive attacks. 

End.
  

Duceppe says Afghanistan mission falls short
Kevin Dougherty CanWest News Service; Montreal Gazette Tuesday, August 29, 2006
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=eaf3d2d0-b46a-4b40-bb8b-bfa26f8b44ef&k=85610

QUEBEC - Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe called on the Harper government Monday to address the effectiveness of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan in light of reports regarding the resurgence of the heroin trade in the battle-scarred country.

Quebec soldiers won't take the lead role in the Afghanistan mission until next year, but troops from CFB Valcartier who have served for six months in Afghanistan have returned and a new contingent of 33 members of the Royal 22nd Regiment left Monday to train the Afghan army.

Duceppe questioned whether the international effort is enough, noting the resurgence of regional warlords and resumption of the heroine production.

And he said Prime Minister Stephen Harper has accepted the view of U.S. President George W. Bush that ''it's the devil against God'' an opinion Duceppe does not share.

''Soldiers do a very risky job and they have all my admiration for that,'' he said. The problem is ''the kind of risky policy that the government has.''

''The question is, are the international efforts enough to maintain peace over there?'' Duceppe asked. ''Are we applying the necessary policies to make sure the Taliban is not coming back?

''It seems not to be the case.''

Nelofer Pazira, the Toronto-based, Afghan-born journalist who starred in the film Kandahar, wrote in an article carried by several British newspapers last week from Kandahar that the Taliban and warlords involved in the heroine trade are making gains, saying the poppy farmers have welcomed the Taliban.
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Why it's not working in Afghanistan  
By Ann Jones Aug 30, 2006 
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HH30Df02.html

Remember when peaceful, democratic, reconstructed Afghanistan was advertised as the exemplar for the extreme makeover of Iraq? In August 2002, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was already proclaiming the new Afghanistan "a breathtaking accomplishment" and "a successful model of what could happen to Iraq". As everybody now knows, the model isn't working in Iraq. So we shouldn't be surprised to learn that it's not working in Afghanistan either. 

The story of success in Afghanistan was always more fairy tale 
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Kennedy Calls for Canada to Leave Afghanistan Unless NATO Changes Mission  
Josh Pringle Monday, August 28, 2006 
http://www.cfra.com/headlines/index.asp?cat=2&nid=42210

Federal Liberal Leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy is calling on Canada to pull out of Afghanistan unless NATO changes its mission. 

Kennedy told young Liberals at Ryerson University that "someone has to pull the plug on this grand illusion that is not working." 

Kennedy adds Canada should leave Afghanistan if Canada can't get a mandate that does honour and respect the people of Afghanistan and Canadian troops. 
End

Foreign Ministry Confirms the Death of 2 Turks in Afghanistan  
By Cihan News Agency Tuesday, August 29, 2006 zaman.com 
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20060829&hn=36083

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday confirmed that two Turkish nationals working in Afghanistan were killed in an armed attack in the country.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said that Riza Ozsimsek was found dead in the garage of a construction company near a highway between Kabul and Pul-I-Charki, while Hasan Gedik was killed in a gun attack on a highway between Khandar and Harat. A Turkish security guard was taken hostage in the same attack. 

Turkish TV news channels reported on Monday that a Turkish national had been killed and another kidnapped in armed attack. 

Spokesman Tan said that they had called on the Afghan authorities to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice. 

Turkish engineers and workers have been exposed to attacks in Afghanistan in the past. Many Turkish companies are working in the construction sector in the country. 

A Turkish worker was killed in June in the western Afghan region of Farah
End

British soldier shot dead in Taliban assault on Army base is identified  
By Geneviève Roberts Published: 29 August 2006 Independant Online Edition
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1222348.ece

The sixth soldier killed in Afghanistan this month was named yesterday as Lance Corporal Jonathan Hetherington from 14 Signal Regiment. The 22-year-old was shot dead during an assault on his barracks in Musa Qala, in Helmand province, early on Sunday. 

L/Cpl Hetherington, who grew up in south Wales, joined the Army in September 2000 and trained as a radio systems operator. His commanding officer, Lt-Col Steve Vickery, paid tribute to "an outstanding soldier, trusted comrade and valued friend". 

He said: "He will be fondly remembered for his amiable nature and engaging sense of humour and without doubt a very promising military career lay ahead. He was a very bright junior non-commissioned officer who had integrated extremely well into regimental life since his arrival in February of this year. 
More on link

CENTCOM Commander Pleased by Afghanistan Security Progress
By Samantha L. Quigley American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=588

 As NATO forces prepare to take over security operations in portions of Afghanistan, Army Gen. John Abizaid said he’s pleased with the progress he sees in regard to the country’s security situation. 
“We’re pretty satisfied with the military situation despite the fact that there’s been a lot of fighting,” the commander of U.S. Central Command told “Fox and Friends” in a telephone interview from Bagram, Afghanistan, yesterday. “There’s nothing we can’t handle militarily out here, although we’re pretty realistic that there’s going to be continued fighting.” 

NATO forces recently took over security operations in the southern part of the country and are doing well, the general said. He added that he looks forward to turning over the eastern sector to NATO forces when the political and military conditions are right. 

Abizaid said the Taliban is the No. 1 problem in the south, and other groups, some of which are being aided by al-Qaeda, are operating in the east. 

“Then you have various other criminal groups that are associated with the drug trade and operating in areas that have not really had much military activity on our part for a while,” he said. “Now that the NATO forces have come in, they’ve allowed us to contest those areas, so there’ll be a lot of security activity going on.” 

Abizaid took the opportunity to express his approval of the Afghan National Army, describing it as “developing fairly rapidly.” 
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A rebel's killing roils Pakistan
By David Montero | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor August 28, 2006 edition
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0828/p01s04-wosc.html

QUETTA, PAKISTAN – For years, Nawab Mohammed Akbar Khan Bugti battled the Pakistan Army. The 80-year-old renegade hidden in the mountains of Balochistan became a legend in his fight for greater autonomy against what he saw as colonial brutality. 
Bugti was both hated and revered. But as a former federal minister and governor, he symbolized a political as well as a violent struggle. And his death this weekend, during a fierce three-day battle that left more than 30 dead, could prove a serious blow to Pakistan's stability. 

It could also close a door to a group seen as a counterweight to extremism represented in the region by a resurgent Taliban, analysts say. 

"This is not a good sign," says Samina Ahmed, South Asia director of the International Crisis Group. "Just a few years ago [Nawab Bugti] was talking to the government. Keeping that door open was the way to go. Now that door has been slammed shut."

Bugti's death could also reverberate in the region, some analysts say. The Balochis are spread across several countries, with millions living in parts of Iran and Afghanistan that border Pakistan.

"They will provide sanctuary to Baloch militants. There will be a lot of sympathy," says Lt. Gen. (ret.) Talat Masood, a defense analyst in Islamabad.
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Military Capable of Meeting All Its Challenges, Rumsfeld Says
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA American Forces Press Service Aug. 28, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=615

NAVAL AIR STATION FALLON, Nev.,  The U.S. military is capable not only of winning the war on terror, but also of fulfilling its other commitments around the world and dealing with unforeseen circumstances, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a group of sailors and Marines here today. 
“It would be unfortunate if other countries thought because we had 136,000 troops in Iraq today that therefore we are not capable of defending our country or doing anything that we might need to do,” Rumsfeld said at a town-hall meeting. 

Rumsfeld noted that the U.S. has a large active and reserve force, as well as the Individual Ready Reserve, and has many allies that provide support to the war on terror. No country can do everything at once, he acknowledged, but the United States has proved its readiness by responding to natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Pakistan, evacuating American citizens from Lebanon, and sending National Guard troops to fortify the southwestern U.S. border – all while maintaining troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
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Kiwi soldiers injured in Afghanistan  
30 August 2006  By NICK CHURCHOUSE
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3780532a11,00.html

Two New Zealand soldiers are in hospital after a four-wheel-drive accident in Afghanistan. 

The soldiers were on a routine security patrol in the Waras district when the road under their vehicle gave way about 4.30pm on Monday (1am Tuesday NZ time). 

The pair were in an army Toyota 4WD, which tipped when the surface collapsed under one wheel. It then rolled down a 20-metre bank, army spokeswoman Charmaine Pene said. 

The soldiers were treated at the scene for cuts and bruising. A United States Army Black Hawk helicopter then flew them to a coalition medical centre in Bagram. 

One of the men has been treated for concussion. The other had bruised vertebrae. 

The regional patrols were part of the 122-strong contingent's responsibilities as the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan province. 

The patrols could be away from base from three days to more than a week, and were aimed at keeping contact with local villages, Ms Pene said.
More on link

Intelligence official kidnapped in S Afghanistan
One Turk Killed, Another Kidnapped in Afghanistan 
Tuesday August 29, 2006 (1315 PST) Pak Tribune
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?152621

KABUL: Unknown armed militants kidnapped a local intelligence official in Afghanistan`s southern Ghazni province, an official at the spokesman`s office of Interior Ministry said. 
"An intelligence official who was also the son of Qarabagh district chief was abducted by armed militants Sunday evening," the official told Xinhua but refused to be named. 

The incident occurred when the ill-fated man, he added, was on his way home to the neighboring Andar district. 

He blamed the enemies of Afghanistan, a term used against Taliban operatives, for the incident. 

Taliban-linked militants raided the headquarters of Muqar district late in the week but forced to flee. 

Taliban-led insurgency has claimed the lives of more than 1,900 people including the rebels, Afghan and the U.S.-led foreign troops as well as pro-government social figures over the past eight months in Afghanistan. 
More on link

KABUL, Afghanistan --U.S.-led coalition troops foiled an insurgent ambush  in southern Afghanistan, killing 18 suspected militants, a military statement said Tuesday.  August 29, 2006
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/08/29/us_led_troops_kill_18_in_afghanistan/

Some 60 insurgents attacked the troops Monday with heavy machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the Cahar Cineh district of the southern Uruzgan province, the statement said. There were no coalition casualties.

Three insurgents also were captured for questioning, the statement said.
End


----------



## GAP (30 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 30 August 2006*

Nato allies slow to back UK in Afghanistan
By Our International Staff  August 30 2006 18:59
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/b100648c-384d-11db-ae2c-0000779e2340.html

Britain’s Nato allies are baulking at providing reinforcements for UK troops deployed as peacekeepers in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province because of the intensity of the fighting in the lawless region.

A British ministry of defence official said on Wednesday the UK had no need of further troops “at the moment”, neither has any formal request been made. But Nato officials continue to study whether deployments in Afghanistan need to be increased.

Germany and the Netherlands may only redeploy soldiers from elsewhere in Afghanistan on an ad hoc basis. The two countries, which maintain 2,700 and 1,400 troops in Afghanistan respectively, have concerns about dispatching troops to areas such as Helmand, where the strength of a Taliban-led insurgency has surprised military planners. 

Eight British soldiers have been killed in combat in Afghanistan this month, in what Lieutenant General David Richards, commander of the Nato force, calls the worst sustained fighting the British army has faced since the Korean war during 1950-53.

On Wednesday British officials added that poppy cultivation in Helmand and other turbulent regions would take the Afghan opium crop to a new high, according to United Nations figures expected shortly. The officials also called for Pakistan to “do more” to act against the Taliban leadership in the Pakistani city of Quetta, across the border from Afghanistan.
More on link





Defence minister visits troops in Kandahar
Updated Tue. Aug. 29 2006 11:21 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/oconnor_afghanistan_060829/20060829?hub=Canada

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor is in southern Afghanistan today meeting with Canadian troops for the first leg of a trip to the region. 

O'Connor's flight touched down at the Kandahar Airfield at about 10 a.m. local time Tuesday. Military brass was there to greet him. 

The defence minister, who will later visit Kabul and Pakistan, said he is trying to get "three perspectives" during his trip. 

"One is what's happening on the ground here. The other in Kabul for what's happening on the national level, and then I'm going to Pakistan for the international perspective," O'Connor said before sitting down for lunch with military leaders. 

His visit comes as Parliament is about to resume, and the Conservative government faces tough questions about the duration of the mission, and mounting casualties.
More on link

The bribe to exit Pakistan: 15 cents
By David Montero | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0830/p05s01-wosc.html

Afghanistan, Pakistan agreed last week to joint patrols of their border, but official crossings remain lax.

CHAMAN, PAKISTAN – For a little more than the price of tea, Abdul Razzak, a trader, says he crosses illegally from Pakistan into Afghanistan every day. 
Mr. Razzak, who stood recently near the border, preparing to cross, has no passport or identification documents of any kind. But that doesn't matter: For only 10 rupees (about 15 cents), he bribes the border security forces to let him through. Sometimes he pays 20. 

"I bargain for the price. All of these people," he says, indicating the throngs of pedestrians moving toward the border check post, "when crossing the border, don't have documents. They're all paying the Frontier Constabulary [the border security forces]." 

Chaman, the main border crossing into Kandahar 60 miles away, is supposed to be a model of border security, symbolizing Pakistan's commitment to containing the Taliban surge. Instead, security measures are breached for mere pennies, bolstering the accusation that Taliban fighters based in Pakistan are infiltrating the volatile Afghan provinces of Kandahar and Helmand.

That accusation was most recently leveled by Gen. John Abizaid, commander of the US Central Command. He told reporters at Bagram air base that militants are using Pakistan as a base from which to infiltrate into Afghanistan. He was quick to add, however, that he did not believe the Pakistani government is conspiring with them.

"I think that Pakistan has done an awful lot in going after Al Qaeda and it's important that they don't let the Taliban groups be organized on the Pakistani side of the border," he told reporters.
More on link

Bomb attacks kill three in southern Afghanistan
AP , KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006,Page 5 
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/08/30/2003325481

A suicide bomber in a car struck a NATO-Afghan military convoy yesterday, killing one civilian and wounding two others, a day after a bomb at a market left 21 civilians dead and 43 wounded, officials said.

A remote controlled bomb in Helmand Province also killed two police on patrol yesterday, an official said.

Yesterday's suicide bomber hit the military convoy on the main road linking Kandahar with the city's airport, said Colonel Sher Shah, who was in the convoy. No NATO soldiers were wounded.

A civilian driving near the convoy died in the blast, while another civilian and an Afghan soldier were wounded, Shah said. The bodies of the civilian and the bomber laid on the road.

The Taliban have increased suicide attacks this year, borrowing tactics from militants in Iraq. The escalation in the Taliban insurgency has stoked bitter fighting. 

A remote-controlled bomb hit a police vehicle on patrol in Grieshk district of Helmand Province killing two officers, said Ghulam Muhiddin, the Helmand governor's spokesman. 

He blamed the Taliban.

Another remote-controlled bomb went off in east Kabul shortly after a NATO vehicle patrol drove past, but there were no casualties, said Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai.

Meanwhile, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, said Monday's attack was conducted with a remote-controlled bomb, and that it targeted a former Lashkar Gah police chief because he had served under the pro-Communist government during the Soviet occupation of the 1980s. 
More on link

ADB pours loan to expand Afghanistan's mobile network  
August 30, 2006  People's Daily Online        
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/30/eng20060830_297894.html

Asian Development Bank (ADB) Tuesday lent 35 million U.S. dollars to Roshan, a leading Afghan mobile phone operator, to finance its network expansion, as that more Afghans can use cellphones. 

An agreement was signed between the two sides during a ceremony held here, at which three other multilateral institutions and commercial banks also announced a total loan of 30 million U.S. dollars to Roshan. 

The loan will significantly enhance the network coverage for Afghanistan, officials and businessmen at the ceremony said. 

ADB, based in Manila, the Philippine capital, defines its mission as to help Asian and the Pacific countries reduce poverty, and improve their citizens' life. 

Roshan, established in Jan. 2003, has 850 thousand subscribers in this country with a population of about 24 million. 

The company, which is currently present in over 150 major cities and towns throughout Afghanistan, will be expanding the service to another 70 or more towns and cities after receiving the loan. 

At present, there are three cellphone operators in Afghanistan, providing services to around 1.5 million customers. 

Mobile phone services have improved greatly in this war-weary country in the past five years after the Taliban regime's collapse in late 2001. 

During the extremist regime, few people could use cellphones and citizens only had access to very old-fashioned telephones. 
More on link


Clash leaves 2 militants dead, wounds 3 in Afghanistan  
August 30, 2006 People's Daily Online         
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/30/eng20060830_298179.html

A clash between Taliban-linked militants and Afghan police in Afghanistan's southern Ghazni province claimed the lives of two suspected insurgents and wounded three others, provincial police chief Tafsil Khan Khogyani said Wednesday. 

"The incident took place in Mehman Qala village of Andar district when the insurgents raided a police checkpoint Tuesday. The police returned fire, killing two rebels on the spot and wounded three others," Khogyani told Xinhua. 

There were no casualties on the police side. 

Police seized three motorbikes from the militants, he added. 

Meanwhile, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, rejected Khogyani's claim, saying two policemen were killed in the firefight. 

Taliban-led insurgency has claimed the lives of more then 1,900 people since January this year in Afghanistan. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

PRODI: WE CANNOT ABANDON AFGHANISTAN
292031 AGO 06 (AGI) - Telese Terme (Bn), Aug. 29 
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200608292031-1258-RT1-CRO-0-NF82&page=0&id=agionline-eng.italyonline

"The Italian contingent cannot abandon Afghanistan. We have taken pledges and there are not the conditions to diminish or rise them", prime minister Romano Prodi said at the Udeur party event in Telese Terme today. He replied to Clemente Mastella the day after the minister proposed a possible reduction of the Italian contingent in Afghanistan.
End

AFGHANISTAN: UNESCO helps officials to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS
30 Aug 2006 14:57:44 GMT Source: IRIN
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/ea4c607aa631ddc0e6bde135be38508b.htm

KABUL, 30 August (IRIN) - A two-day United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) workshop designed to help raise students' awareness of HIV/AIDS has been held in Kabul.

Roxanna Shapour, a UNESCO public information officer in Kabul, the Afghan capital, said the workshop aimed to revise the teacher training manual so it provided the tools needed to raise students' awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and improve preventive education.

More than 20 officials from the Afghan Ministry of Education, Kabul Education University representatives and teachers attended the event.

There are 58 registered cases of HIV in Afghanistan, but health officials believe the real number is much higher. 

Dr Shokrullah Waheedi, head of preventive medicine in the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), said a countrywide survey of the virus had not been conducted and it was spreading due to a lack of awareness.
More on link

Afghanistan security will improve, says O'Connor
Updated Wed. Aug. 30 2006 9:29 AM ET Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/afghanistan_oconnor_060830/20060830?hub=Canada

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor predicts the security situation in Afghanistan will improve over the next year. 

The retired general also says public support for the mission in Afghanistan remains steadfast, despite recent polls that say support is lagging. 

He says the public is getting only part of the story of what Canada is doing in southern Afghanistan because the recent upswing in violence is dominating headlines. 

He says Canadians must remember the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, which also killed Canadians, were launched from Afghanistan. 

O'Connor is in Kandahar on a visit to assess the situation and help give troops a morale boost.
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (30 Aug 2006)

*O'Connor lands amid attacks in Kandahar*
Donald McArthur, CanWest News Service. 30 Aug 06
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=ec355a40-7809-40a7-aa14-15feadfdd810

Attacks on Canadians bookended the first day of Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor's latest visit to southern Afghanistan as one soldier -- a mechanic -- complained his crew was struggling to keep battered vehicles on the road with "bubble gum and Band-Aids."  Just hours before Mr. O'Connor came down the stairs of a Hercules aircraft, outfitted in desert fatigues and boots, a suicide bomber targeted a Canadian convoy near Kandahar, killing two civilians and injuring another. No soldiers were injured but a logistics vehicle was damaged in the blast . . . . 

*SPINNING THE WHEELS ON AFGHANISTAN*
Ceri Au, maisonneuve.org, 30 Aug 06
http://maisonneuve.org/index.php?&page_id=12&article_id=2379

Defense Minister Gordon O’Connor’s surprise visit to southern Afghanistan yesterday certainly grabbed the Big Seven’s attention. Arriving at the end of the bloodiest month for Canadian soldiers in the region since troops were first deployed back in 2003, the minister tried to put a positive spin on an otherwise grisly news cycle for the military. The PR move, however, was undermined somewhat when hours before O’Connor touched down, a Canadian convoy was targeted by a suicide bomber who ended up killing two civilians . . . .



*Allies balk at more troops for Afghanistan*
Financial Times, 30 Aug 06
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/b100648c-384d-11db-ae2c-0000779e2340.html

Britain’s Nato allies are baulking at providing reinforcements for UK troops deployed as peacekeepers in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province because of the intensity of the fighting in the lawless region.  A British ministry of defence official said on Wednesday the UK had no need of further troops “at the moment”, neither has any formal request been made. But Nato officials continue to study whether deployments in Afghanistan need to be increased . . . .

*Debate on additional Bundeswehr deployment to South Afghanistan*
German News (English Version), 28 Aug 06
http://www.germnews.de/archive/dn/2006/08/28.html#5

The Bundeswehr forces in Afghanistan are facing a possible additional deployment: according to sources for the German TV station ARD, the international protective forces, ISAF, are considering a possible move of German soldiers to include the troubled Southern Afghanistan region. With that move, the Bundeswehr faces possible involvement in the bloody fighting between ISAF soldiers and the strengthened Taliban rebels. . . . .



*Peril British troops face in Afghanistan 'was underplayed' *  
Brian Whitaker, The Guardian, 31 Aug 06
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1861430,00.html

Britons were probably not aware of the daunting problems ahead when the government sent additional troops to Afghanistan this year, the Ministry of Defence conceded yesterday. "The difficulty was perhaps not communicated properly," a senior defence official told journalists . . . .

*MoD revises Reid’s Afghan claim*
Michael Stettle, The Herald (UK), 31 Aug 06
http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/69119.html

John Reid, the former Defence Secretary, "probably insufficiently communicated" the level of threat to British troops in their mission in the highly-volatile Helmand province of southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence admitted last night.  Twenty-one British soldiers have been killed in Afghan-istan - six of them in the last month. Taliban losses have been put at "several hundred" . . . . 

*Public 'not told of real risk to troops in Afghanistan'*
Graeme Wilson, Telegraph, 31 Aug 06
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/31/nreid31.xml

John Reid failed to give the public enough warning of the dangers British troops would face in Afghanistan, a senior Ministry of Defence official claimed yesterday.  In an unusually candid assessment, the official conceded that the former Defence Secretary had "insufficiently communicated" the risks soldiers would face in the lawless Helmand Province . . . .

*Afghan danger deliberately played down, official claims*
James Kirkup, The Scotsman, 31 Aug 06
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1284672006

MINISTERS failed to fully inform the public about the dangers facing British troops before sending them to Afghanistan, a senior defence official said yesterday.  In an echo of the controversy over the decision to invade Iraq, the official even suggested that John Reid, then the defence secretary, omitted a crucial caveat about the dangers when talking about the mission before it began . . . .



*NATO in Afghanistan: A Test of the Transatlantic Alliance*
Paul Gallis, Congressional Research Service, 22 Aug 06
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33627.pdf

(....)

Although the allies agree on ISAF’s mission, they differ on how to accomplish
it. Some allies do not want their forces to engage in combat operations. None wants
to engage directly in destruction of poppy fields in countering the drug trade; how to
support the Afghan government in this task — largely through training the police —
is proving to be a difficult undertaking. In the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal and
criticism of U.S. practices at Guantanamo, the allies are insisting on close
observation of international law in dealing with prisoners taken in Afghanistan . . . .



*Obscure Neo-Taliban Group Claims to Join Afghan Insurgency*
Amin Tarzai, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 30 Aug 06
http://www.afgha.com/?q=en/node/966

A statement in the name of the Council of the Secret Army says it has joined forces with Hizb-e Islami, which is led by renegade former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported on August 28. "Until now we have carried out our activities using the name Secret Army...[but taking] into account the current situation in our country, we deemed it beneficial to join Hizb-e Islami," the statement noted. "We expect others to follow our example and join Hizb-e Islami to prevent division in the ranks of the mujahedin," the statement added, without naming the "others." . . . .

*Foreign fighters join Taliban*
TV New Zealand, 31 Aug 06
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411319/824345

Foreign fighters are starting to appear among Taliban forces fighting British troops in southern Afghanistan, a senior British official said on Wednesday.  The official also said that neighbouring Pakistan could do more to disrupt the activities of the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan until ousted by US-led forces in late 2001 . . . .

*Taliban seek ‘huge compensation’ for North Waziristan peace deal *  
Iqbal Khattak, Pakistan Daily Times, 30 Aug 06
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\08\30\story_30-8-2006_pg7_24

PESHAWAR: Negotiations between Taliban leaders and a tribal jirga in North Waziristan have reached an impasse over the formers demand for a “huge compensation”, sources told Daily Times on Tuesday. “The peace talks are hostage to the issue of compensation, which militants say the government should pay them for damages suffered in military operations,” said the sources. They said the ceasefire was extended because of “differences” between Taliban commanders and jirga members over the issue. “The sum they are demanding is quite large. It is in billions,” they added. Around Rs 50 million was paid to key Taliban commanders in South Waziristan in 2004 after they surrendered following a peace deal with the government, but the Taliban in North Waziristan, according to the sources, are demanding Rs 200 million as compensation. “We are trying to convince the Taliban commanders to reconsider their demand. We know about the damages, but the militants are trying to exploit the situation,” a senior jirga member told Daily Times over the telephone from Miranshah. He said the government saw the militants’ demand as “beyond justifiable”.


----------



## GAP (31 Aug 2006)

*Articles found 31 August 2006*

Home, with healing parts and heavier hearts
 CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/LAC.20060831.BLATCHFORD31/TPStory/Front

EDMONTON -- Yesterday came the moment that the magnificent Ian Hope was most dreading, when he would be face to face with his wounded men, in their wheelchairs and on their crutches and with their healing broken parts and hearts, and see the holes in the ranks where once, some of the 19 Canadian soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan this year would have stood, but are now gone forever. 

The moment arrived at the Edmonton Garrison at a welcome home and medals parade for the just-returned soldiers of the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the regiment whose soldiers were the core of the battle group there and bore the brunt of the casualties until they were replaced during August by the Royal Canadian Regiment. 

For so long as young warriors have gone into battle, the commanders who send them there have wrestled with the beast that is at its healthiest responsibility and at its most gnawing guilt. 

A student of military history, Lieutenant-Colonel Hope knew well what was coming. 

It was not long ago that his Regimental Sergeant Major, Randy Northrup, received an e-mail from one of those badly injured in March, Master Corporal Mike Loewen, Lt.-Col. Hope's first crew commander. 

MCpl. Loewen wrote that for all that he had been practising with his shattered elbow, he feared the only kind of salute he would be able to muster might land him in jail because it was pretty much indistinguishable from an awkward flip of the finger. 

"Tell him," Lt.-Col. Hope said to the RSM, "I don't care what he musters, I'll be honoured to take his salute." 

And thus did the CO and the men, each wanting to make things easier for the other, manage with grace and humour the day that marks the end of their exhausting and life-changing time in that 

faraway land and which, after a 

period of leave, soon will see many of them move on to new jobs or new postings across Canada. 

As Lt.-Col. Hope, who now has handed over the regiment to incoming CO Lt.-Col. Dave Anderson, remembered yesterday in his farewell speech, that seminal tour -- seven months and 1,500,000 kilometres long at a cost of 19 dead and 75 wounded -- by its end saw the young troops put in three months of the most ferocious and sustained combat Canadians have seen since the Korean War.

These soldiers won 100 gun battles; they were beset by improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers at every turn; they literally rode to the rescue of British paratroopers and stranded U.S. Army forces; they made it sufficiently safe that Dutch troops could make their way to Uruzghan Province without taking a hit. 

On this, the last time they will ever be together in their desert camouflage, not intact but as close to that as is possible now, the occasion was solemn and joyful, sweet and bitter, the way life at its furthest edges is always. 

The regiment's gorgeous Colonel-in-Chief, 82-year-old Lady Patricia herself, flew from England to present some medals, meet the injured and tell them all how proud she is of them. The 1PPCLI colours, which Lt.-Col. Hope took to Kandahar against pointed suggestions he leave them at home, were proudly marched in. The wounded struggled to rise from their wheelchairs. Babies squawked, young wives and family members took pictures. 

On the faces of the soldiers, skinny from weeks at a stretch of baking sun and hard rations and the great appetite-suppressants that are adrenalin and fear, was a look civilians might recognize. 

Most of us have seen a version of it during that curious lull on Christmas morning, when the presents under the tree all have been opened and youngsters realize the grand adventure is suddenly over, and the sensitive ones struggle to hide from their parents the disappointment, if there is any, and the relief, if there is any, and the funny loneliness which is so often present. 

So the boys got their medals, the South-West Asia Service Medal, which is a beauty, and gave various salutes (royal, regimental, general), and listened to the speeches. I expect that aside from Lady Patricia's remarks, which meant a great deal to these men and women who are such saps for tradition, two other speeches mattered most. 

The informal one came when the ceremonies were over, when Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier gathered them around in the middle of the parade square, and spoke to them privately, away from reporters' ears. His remarks always count because he is a Newfoundlander with the unique gift for plain talk that stamps that group of Canadians, and because it is under his leadership that the Canadian Forces have entered a new era. 

The formal one was the address from Lt.-Col. Hope. 

He matters because he led from the front, if not the front lines only because there are none of these in an insurgency. He matters because even when he probably should not have been in the thick of it, in the thick of it he was. And though he is not a Newfoundlander, he talks so bluntly he might as well be. 

He thanked them for what they accomplished, for the "three months of hard pounding, hard fighting" that was their lot in the second half of the tour. He exhorted them not to fall victims, either to the political winds that swirl about the Afghanistan mission or to their memories, but to make the choice to become better citizens because of what they saw and learned. He spoke of seeing their wounded, and some of the families of the dead (including Corporal Tony Boneca's dad, who was enveloped by the members of his dead son's platoon and taken into all that warmth), then said, "The cost has been great, and you need to know why it happened," and urged anyone with questions to e-mail him. 

He told them to stay in touch with one another, asked them to talk everywhere they go in order to "educate every single person we can of the importance to Canada of this fight." 

He went to bed the night before, he said, with no words written, and woke up at 2:16 yesterday morning, to the alarm "that is not an alarm that anyone else can hear or see," but that always wakes him now. 

From a Dolby-sound, Technicolor dream, he wakes, and woke yesterday, to the steady beat of the 25 mm cannon of the light armoured vehicle, the justly famous LAV. 

"Boom-boom-boom," Lt.-Col. Hope said. "Boom-boom-boom." He said it in the way that anyone whose ears have ever welcomed the rolling thunder of the cannon would know in an instant. 

He wakes, and woke yesterday, to the "zip-zip-zip of the .762 guns," to the tremendous boom of rocket-propelled grenades, to vivid colours and to, "thank God, the soft dark green of the LAV." 

"I know you have it too," he told his soldiers. "The dream was better last night. It woke me up to find some words . . . dreams fade. The sounds will fade." 

With his wife Karen and two youngsters, Ian Hope moves on to serve as a Canadian liaison officer to U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla., where perhaps the ocean, the muffled roar of moving tides, will fill his head. 

cblatchford@globeandmail.com
End

Toys for Afghan children
Aug, 30 2006 - 6:50 AM 
http://www.630ched.com/news/news_local.cfm?cat=7428545912&rem=46416&red=80154523aPBIny&wids=410&gi=1&gm=news_local.cfm

EDMONTON/630 CHED - Employees of an Edmonton company want to build wooden toys to ship to Afghanistan in memory of Canadian soldiers killed over there. 
The idea was hatched earlier this month after the death of Master Corporal Raymond Arndt, a reservist with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment. Artistic Stairs service manager Trevor Klein saw Shop Foreman Chuck Howe making a wooden cross for Arndt. 

Klein already had permission to make wooden toys out of shop leftovers and now he has bigger plans. 

With full support of Artristic Stairs management and the blessing of Ray Arndt's family, Klein and Howe hope to make wooden toys and dolls for children in Afghanistan to preserve the memories of our fallen troops. Each toy will be branded with a Canadian flag and a heart. The military will ship them and you can help by making a donation to buy additional supplies or by making clothing for the wooden dolls.

You can contact Artistic Stairs at 489-5591 or stop by at 17320 - 108th Avenue. 
End


Defence minister promises to boost Afghan forces
Updated Thu. Aug. 31 2006 8:39 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/afghan_oconnor_060831/20060831?hub=TopStories

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said Thursday that Canada needs to do more to help rebuild Afghanistan's army and police, and the federal government is prepared to put more military equipment into their hands. 

"This contribution will help the Afghan government take control of their own security," said O'Connor, on the last day of his two-day visit with Canadian forces in Kandahar. 

He also said Ottawa intends to increase its contribution to the provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar in an effort to win over hearts and minds in the war-ravaged region. 

"Canada can do more," said the defence minister. 

"I've asked (the army) to develop a plan to increase Canada's contribution to the provincial reconstruction team." 

O'Connor said the army will draft recommendations for both plans, and he didn't specify Thursday whether the boost would be in the form of troops, money, or both. 

He also didn't elaborate on exactly what kind of military equipment would be given to Afghan forces. 

O'Connor's visit comes amid a security situation in southern Afghanistan that has rapidly deteriorated. Eight Canadian soldiers have died in August alone. Twenty-eight Canadian soldiers have died since 2002. 
More on  link

Afghanistan mission must be questioned
The News-Record Wednesday August 30, 2006
http://www.clintonnewsrecord.com/story.php?id=251565

Clinton News-Record — As a general rule of thumb, it's never a good idea for a student to question a music teacher when it comes to reading music.
Yet, and sadly too often, the same tact is often taken by duly elected politicians when it is time to face questions they'd rather not answer.
Take, for instance, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's ongoing refusal to open up the issue of Canada's role in Afghanistan to proper debate in the House of Commons.
Instead, Harper seems to be employing the tactics honed by leaders before him by either accusing or insinuating those who question the effort of having less than noble intentions.
Fortunately, Harper has not gone so far as U.S. President George Bush Jr. Specifically, he is not repeatedly questioning the character of those who question the Afghanistan mission. Perhaps more tellingly though, he is not addressing the issue either.
Recent media reports reveal the Prime Minister's Office has received thousands of letters from ordinary Canadians, pleading for an end to Canada's involvement in Afghanistan. Given the fact most of those are Canadians acting on their own, and are not being organized by any one lobbying group, it is easy to discern the public is less than keen on the seemingly never-ending Afghanistan mission.
It's true Canada did the right thing when it stepped up following the terrorist-driven attacks on the eastern U.S. seaboard on Sept. 11, 2001. But, times have changed. It is interesting to note, for example, that the U.S. has called off its search for Osama Bin Laden.
As Canadian servicemen and women continue to fight, with what is often called inadequate equipment, and some of them are killed in the line of duty, it is important and necessary for the country's leaders to justify why Canadians are there in the first place.
Anything less pays a disservice to the men and women in uniform who were ostensibly sent there on a peacebuilding mission but are finding themselves in ever increasingly hostile environment.
In the interim, Canada is continuing in a capacity that has drastically changed since it first landed on Afghanistan’s soil five years ago. 
Simply put, Canada, with approximately 30 million people in a vast country that is the world’s second largest, does not have the resources -- or the will -- to engage in an never-ending war with terrorists. 
As history has shown, Afghanistan is not inclined to become a democracy, and democracy, as a rule, cannot be forced upon a country.
End

Scientist studies soldiers 'outside the wire'
Updated Sun. Aug. 27 2006 CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060826/military_anthropologist_060827/20060827?hub=QPeriod

It's important for Canadians to know what our soldiers are going through in Afghanistan, says a University of Calgary anthropologist who just finished spending three months with Canadians in a combat platoon. 

News reports, although they present accounts of specific battles or dramatic events, can't depict what life is like for a soldier in a war theatre, Dr. Anne Irwin told CTV's Question Period in Montreal on Saturday. 
More on link

Afghanistan's "Devil's Garden" Blooms Again
Unexploded land mines, munitions cleared from former battlefield
30 August 2006 By Lea Terhune Washington File Staff Writer
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=August&x=20060830164954mlenuhret0.8767359

Washington – It was called “The Devil’s Garden.” Planted with land mines, booby traps and unexploded ordnance, leftovers from fierce battles that raged there for more than two decades, the fertile lands around Bagram, Afghanistan, were considered the most dangerous minefields in the world. A walk through it could cost a life or limb.

Now, after five years of painstaking work by HALO Trust, thousands of the deadly weapons have been cleared from a significant stretch of land, once a section of the front line between Northern Alliance and Taliban forces. 

According to Cameron Inber, Central Asia desk officer for HALO Trust, 4.9 million square meters of Bagram Junction have been made safe. He told the Washington File that 9,140 mines and 12,180 pieces of unexploded ordnance and other explosive remnants of war have been removed from the land.

That makes at least part of the Shomali Valley, famous for its vineyards, safe to farm. But there is more work to do. While the Bagram clearance is an important success, “This isn’t the end of mine clearances,” Inber said. “We are still talking about another decade at current levels of funding.”
More on link


U.S. officials grapple with worsening narcotics trade in Afghanistan
By Philip Dine Wed, Aug. 30, 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/15400252.htm

WASHINGTON - The illicit Afghan narcotics trade is taking a sharp turn for the worse despite major efforts by U.S. and Afghan forces over the past year, continuing to fuel an insurgency that is increasingly killing American soldiers and destabilizing the country.

In light of dramatic figures expected to be announced in Saturday by the United Nations, U.S. officials plan a shift in policy including getting tougher with regional Afghan officials who fail to meet new goals for destroying poppy fields in their areas, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has learned.

The United States could urge that local Afghan officials who don't act aggressively enough be fired, while those who reduce poppy cultivation would get money for economic development. The U.S. action is spurred by concerns that a record of 375,000-400,000 acres might be under cultivation, up from 267,000 acres last year.

And a push is likely in Congress next week for aerial spraying of poppy fields - a highly sensitive matter bitterly opposed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai because it recalls the specter of the Soviet occupation and could spark social unrest among impoverished farmers.

Opium extracted from Afghan poppies is turned into the bulk of the world's heroin supply, with profits helping fund the Taliban resurgence, four years after its U.S.-led overthrow. The tyrannical regime provided a haven for Osama bin Laden to train al-Qaida terrorists and plan the Sept. 11 attacks.
More on link

Terror suspect 'was trapped in Afghanistan after 9/11 attacks'  
AP Australia Published: 08/31/2006 12:00 AM (UAE)
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Australia/10063882.html  

Canberra: The first suspect to have his movements restricted under tough new Australian counterterrorism laws said he had trained with the Taliban out of curiosity, but had been trapped in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

In an exclusive interview broadcast yesterday, Joseph Thomas, nicknamed "Jihad Jack" by Australian media, told Seven Network TV that curiosity led him to Afghanistan, where he had seven months of weapons training before the attacks.

"It was a Taliban training camp. That was where the Taliban took soldiers to fight the Northern Alliance," said Thomas, 33.

By the time of the attacks he'd "had enough," he said.

"I was trapped and basically stranded," he said.

A Victoria state court in February convicted Thomas of accepting $3,500 and a plane ticket to Australia from an Al Qaida agent in Pakistan, and of having a false passport. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
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Musharraf to visit Afghanistan next week for talks   
 Islamabad, Aug 31: 
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=319216&sid=SAS

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will travel to Afghanistan next week for talks with his counterpart, Hamid Karzai, an official said. 

Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam confirmed Musharraf's trip to Kabul, but refused to go into further details. 

Pakistan and Afghanistan are allies of the United states in its war on terror, but Kabul often accuses neighboring Pakistan of not doing enough to prevent the Taliban and other militants from sneaking into Afghanistan. 

Pakistan, which used to support the Taliban but switched sides after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in America, has deployed about 80,000 troops in its tribal regions near the Afghan border and says it is doing everything possible to curb militancy. 

Bureau Report 
More on link

Taliban Militants Attack Southern Afghanistan Town   
Thursday, August 31, 2006
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,211429,00.html  

KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban militants attacked a southern town Thursday, sparking intense fighting with Afghan troops that left two insurgents dead, the defense ministry said. 

A NATO airstrike pushed back the militants, who used mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns in the morning attack on Naw Zad, in volatile Helmand province, said Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi.

He said that the fighting between the Taliban and Afghan army troops was "intense."

CountryWatch: Afghanistan

In Zabul province, a suicide attacker plowed his explosives-filled car into a police convoy traveling on the main road, wounding three officers, said Jailan Khan, provincial police chief.

A purported Taliban regional Zabul commander, Mullah Nazir, claimed responsibility for the blast and said the bomber was an Afghan man from Khost province. His claim could not be independently verified.
More on link

Bombs kill civilian, 2 police in Afghanistan
Associated Press 
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060830/NEWS/608300467/-1/State

Kandahar, Afghanistan | A suicide bomber in a car struck a NATO-Afghan military convoy Tuesday, killing one civilian and wounding two others, a day after a bomb at a market left 21 civilians dead and 43 wounded, officials said.

The dead civilian was driving near the convoy.

Another bomb, detonated by remote control, killed two police on patrol in Helmand province, an official said. 
More on link

Suicide attack wounds three policemen in Afghanistan
AFP August 31, 2006
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060831-090251-6592r

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan --  A suicide blast in Afghanistan wounded three policemen Thursday while NATO forces reported that they had bombed rebel strongholds after a base was attacked. 

Police blamed the suicide attack in the southern province of Zabul on Taliban fighters, who have been waging an increasingly sophisticated insurgency since being driven from government in late 2001. 

The attacker rammed his vehicle into a police convoy on the highway linking the capital Kabul and the main southern city of Kandahar, provincial police said. 

"The initial reports we have is three police were wounded after a suicide attacker hit his explosives-laden car into an Afghan police convoy," deputy provincial police chief Ghulam Jailani Khan said. 
More on link

'Try not to kill people. You will feel better'
Kandahar doctor dispenses medicine along with a dose of the surreal, GRAEME SMITH reports 
GRAEME SMITH From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060830.wafghanclinic30/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Abdul Rahim Halimyar, 48, runs the only psychology clinic in Kandahar. He sits in a barren room with concrete walls and listens to the noises wafting up from the ancient bazaar at the heart of the city.

He hears terrible stories from the people who climb the narrow staircase to his office. The market is quieter these days, as people flee the fighting in southern Afghanistan, and nearly every visitor to Dr. Halimyar's clinic is suffering the effects of the renewed war.

"Day by day, it gets worse," he says.

Many of his visitors say they don't understand why they feel anxious or depressed. But the reasons emerge as they describe how their lives have been destroyed by this year's rising insurgency: dead relatives, smashed homes, harrowing escapes. Some patients would be unstable at the best of times, he says, but in a city rife with threats, conspiracies and rumours of violence, it's hard to distinguish sensible caution from paranoia.
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What happens to the wounded when they come home?
On the long road to recovery 
KATHERINE HARDING From Saturday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060826.wxsoldiers26/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

EDMONTON — While the country has stopped to mourn 27 young Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, the sacrifices of dozens more quietly continue at home, as they slowly recover from their battle wounds.

Edmonton has emerged as a key hub for treating the returning wounded: The University of Alberta and Glenrose Rehabilitation hospitals are becoming this country's version of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the U.S. military hospital that treats hundreds of soldiers.

A small army of military and civilian medical staff in Edmonton have had to come to terms with this new reality very quickly due to the jump in battlefield casualties since Canada's combat duties increased earlier this year. 

Doctors say those who return on stretchers are also coming back with devastating head injuries and damaged or lost limbs -- wounds more severe than military medical staff have seen in previous conflicts. Modern body armour is saving the lives of soldiers who would have died in battles of yesteryear.
More on link


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## KevinB (31 Aug 2006)

HALO Trust Operations (pics no commentary)


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## The Bread Guy (31 Aug 2006)

*Fallen Sask. soldier remembered as being passionate about the work he did*
Canadian Press, via Macleans, 31 Aug 06
http://tinyurl.com/ls9zv

Cpl. David Braun was remembered Thursday as a passionate soldier with a strongly held view that the Canadian military should do its part to promote stability abroad.  Braun was killed in Afghanistan last week when the convoy he was travelling in was hit by a suicide bomber. Based in Shilo, Man., the 27-year-old had been with the military for four years, but had been in Afghanistan for less than a month . . . . 



*Pakistan joins ISAF in Afghanistan*
Hamid Mir, canadafreepress.com, 31 Aug 06
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/mir083106.htm

The USA, UK and Canada have finally convinced Pakistan to send its Army officers to Afghanistan for a "well coordinated war against terror" in the region. For the first time after 9/11, the Pakistan Army will join International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The Pakistan Army will provide its officers to be deployed in ISAF Headquarters in Kabul. They will act as liason officers and will also coordinate their actions with the Afghan National Army. This significant development was revealed to me by a senior ISAF Commander in Kabul, Brigadier General N.A.W. Pope who is from the UK. He said that the number and time for the deployment of Pakistan Army officers in the ISAF Headquarters is not yet confirmed . . . .

*Tripartite Commission of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Coalition agrees on Patrols*
Pakistan Times, 24 Aug 06
http://tinyurl.com/mjevl

The Tripartite Commission, composed of senior military and diplomatic representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, and the NATO International Security Assistance Force, held its 18th meeting here on Wednesday.  Delegates included Gen. Ahsan Saleem Hayat, Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army; Gen. Bismullah Khan Mohammedi, Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army; Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan; and Lt. Gen. David Richards, commander of NATO-ISAF.  The 18th meeting consisted of several briefings to update the participants on issues of mutual interest.  In order to co-ordinate the movements along the border areas, the participants discussed and agreed to a proposal to conduct coordinated patrols by the Afghan National Army, Pakistan Army, Coalition Forces and NATO-ISAF forces based in Afghanistan, on their respective sides of the border, simultaneously . . . .



*NATO-ISAF aircraft crash*
ISAF News Release #2006-120, 31 Aug 06
http://tinyurl.com/s3o4g

An ISAF military plane crashed at around 7 a.m. after a distress call but no reported enemy action. The pilot was found dead at the crash site. A joint rescue and recovery operation was launched almost immediately and continues, in coordination with Combined Forces Command, Afghanistan (CFC-A). On receiving news of the incident Canadian Major General Angus Watt, head of ISAF air operations said, "Our pilots are doing a magnificent job providing crucial support for ISAF's ground forces. This is a tragic loss and we extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of the pilot. However, his sacrifice was not in vain and we all take comfort in knowing he died in support of a noble cause. We will continue with the mission undeterred. On behalf of COMISAF I would also like to extend ISAF's deepest thanks to CFC (A) for the outstanding support that they provided for the search and rescue operation."  The Netherlands have confirmed the aircraft as a Dutch F16. The location of the crash site is being withheld for security reasons.   Further details, including results of the investigation, will be released by the nation when they are available. 

*Dutch pilot killed in F-16 crash in Afghanistan *  
Xinhua (China), 1 Sept 06
http://tinyurl.com/qmaf2

A Dutch F-16 fighter plane of ISAF crashed on Thursday in Afghanistan, killing the pilot, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.  The Netherlands confirmed the aircraft is a Dutch F16, it said, adding the location of the crash site is being withheld for security reasons.  The plane crashed at around 7:00 a.m. (0230 GMT) after a distress call but no reported enemy action, the statement said, adding the pilot was found dead at the crash site . . . . 

*Dutch F-16 crash in Afghanistan *  
BBC Online, 31 Aug 06
http://tinyurl.com/rexnb

A Dutch F-16 fighter pilot has died after his plane crashed in southern Afghanistan, officials say. They said that the plane was flying at a "great height" when the accident occurred, which meant that it was unlikely that it was shot down . . . .



*Afghan Schools in Peril*
Hafizullah Gardesh, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 16 Aug 06
http://tinyurl.com/oehwk

Extremists are increasingly targeting schools in Afghanistan, threatening the education of thousands of children who only recently returned to the classroom following the fall of the Taleban. More than 100 schools have been set ablaze in recent months and dozens of others closed because of bombs and threats, according to the Afghan education ministry. Teachers have been killed and UNICEF claims that six children have died. Schools for girls have been hit particularly hard . . . . 



*ISAF helps jumpstart school construction in the west*
ISAF News Release #2006-119, 30 Aug 06
http://tinyurl.com/rzgb3

ISAF's Civil Military Cooperation personnel from the Italian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Herat earlier this month participated in a "first stone ceremony" to begin the construction of a female school in the Jebrail village of Injil District.  The project, developed by the PRT, is part of a wider initiative of school construction stemming from the Educational Department of Herat Province . . . . 



*New NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan *  
NATO News Release #2006(098), 24 Aug 06
http://tinyurl.com/ofc8g

The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ambassador Daan Everts of the Netherlands to the position of NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan.  Ambassador Everts (. . . . ) has a long and distinguished career in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including senior positions as Head of the European Community Monitoring Mission for the former Yugoslavia, Head of the OSCE Tirana Office in Albania, and Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo . . . . 



*Taliban tortures two kidnapped Afghan soldiers to death*  
People's Daily Online (China), 1 Sept 06
http://tinyurl.com/obbm7

Taliban extremists brutally tortured two abducted Afghan soldiers to death in southern Afghanistan, and even called one of the soldiers' comrades to show him the thrilling torture process, coalition forces said Thursday. "The U.S.-led coalition strongly condemns the act as a heinous crime," the forces said in a statement. The two soldiers, an officer and a sergeant from the 203rd Corps of the Afghan National Army, were apparently kidnapped in Qara Bagh district of the southern Ghazni province on Monday, the statement said . . . .



*NATO allies balk at reinforcing UK in Afghanistan* 
Afghan News Net, 31 Aug 06
http://tinyurl.com/pnv5n

Britain's NATO allies are balking at providing reinforcements for UK troops deployed as peacekeepers in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province because of the intensity of the fighting in the lawless region.  A British ministry of defence official said yesterday that the UK had no need of further troops "at the moment", neither has any formal request been made. But NATO officials are continuing to study whether deployments throughout Afghanistan need to be increased . . . . 



*Musharraf to visit Afghanistan next week* 
Hindustan Times, 31 Aug 06
http://tinyurl.com/r8z5h

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will travel to Afghanistan next week for talks with his counterpart Hamid Karzai.  However, no dates were given for Musharraf's trip because of security concerns, Dawn said.  "I can only say that this visit is planned, but we cannot release any other details because of security reasons," said an official . . . .


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