# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread (MAY 2007)



## GAP (1 May 2007)

*The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread * (May 2007)  

*News only - commentary elsewhere, please.
Thanks for helping this "news only" thread system work!*Articles found 

*Articles found May 1, 2007*

]Article Link
It's all about the bang and thunder
 TheStar.com May 01, 2007 Rosie DiManno
Article Link

SPERWAN GHAR–Heavy metal Guns N' Roses music is blasting from the big gunners' hooch.

Naturally.

It's all about the bang and the thunder for D Battery, B Troop, 2nd Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, which is a quaint regimental anachronism.

They laid down some 700 rounds of mortar in Helmand province during the last month in support of British, American and Dutch infantry operations against a hardcore Taliban redoubt in the strategic Sangin River valley, fiercely contested for its water, hydropower source and the skein of supply routes that crisscross the district.

Just soothing their ears now with a dose of primordial rock licks, back at base, in preparation for the next howitzers-hither summons.

"Napoleon said artillery wins wars, infantry holds ground," quotes Bombardier Michael Hobb, a ridiculously cherubic-looking 20-year-old from Yarmouth, N.S. "Napoleon was in the artillery, you know."

He continues to wax rapturously about his particular component of Task Force Afghanistan, the sheer orgiastic thrust of firing cannons that, while technologically advanced to the point of pin-sharp precision, still pretty much resemble – to an untutored eye – the lumbering contraptions dragged into the field by Napoleon's forces a couple of centuries ago.

"Big guns, big boom."

"A ruuuuush," offers Gunner Adam Hannaford, 23, of Hamilton, drawing out the word so that it sounds like a rocket hiss.

Or, as described by Gunner Robert Kelly, 25: "Hours of boredom and then an intense moment of adrenaline." Adding: "All elbows and a--holes." As in elbows cocked to pull the lanyards and sphincters clenched in the heat of battle.

One fellow compares the subliminally percussive sensation to sex; another says it's as sweetly satisfying as chocolate.
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New NATO commander takes over in southern Afghanistan
GRAEME SMITH Globe and Mail Update May 1, 2007 at 5:43 AM EDT
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — The incoming commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan says one of his biggest concerns is improving the quality of Afghan security forces.

Major-General Jacko Page, a British officer with experience in Sarajevo and Iraq, formally took control of troops in the southern region -- including Canadian forces based in Kandahar -- at a ceremony on the back of a flatbed truck this morning.

“A lot has already been achieved, but there is, of course, a lot more to do,” Maj.-Gen. Page said, in a speech. “One of my priorities will be contributing the building of the Afghan national security forces.”

The behaviour of Afghan forces is now under scrutiny from Canadian investigators, as they try to determine whether suspected Taliban insurgents are tortured in Afghan custody. 
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Letter outlines torture allegations in Afghanistan
Opposition continues to call for O'Connor's resignation
Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service Published: Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Article Link

OTTAWA -- The Conservative government continued to deny the existence of torture in Afghan prisons despite the emergence Monday of a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay last year that asked NATO to curb such abuses.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch gave copies to MacKay and other NATO foreign ministers of a letter dated Nov. 28, 2006, on the eve of the alliance's summit at Riga, Latvia, that cited "credible reports" of torture and abuse in Afghan prisons.

The letter identified Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, or NDS, which Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said last week had agreed to grant full access to Canadian officials to monitor the well-being of detainees transferred there by Canadian troops. O'Connor's announcement of the NDS "arrangement" turned out to be premature; it caught MacKay off guard, and was later found to be a deal that was still being negotiated.
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Prisoners told Canadians of torture, Day says
CAMPBELL CLARK  From Tuesday's Globe and Mail May 1, 2007 at 4:39 AM EDT
Article Link

OTTAWA — Correctional Service Canada officials tasked with helping improve Afghanistan's jails were told by two prisoners that they had been tortured, Public Security Minister Stockwell Day said yesterday.

It remains unclear whether the two were among those handed over by Canadian soldiers to Afghan officials or when the prisoners made the allegations of torture.

But a spokeswoman for Mr. Day said the minister was informed of the reports last week. He has made no previous mention of their existence despite repeated questions following a furor that erupted after The Globe and Mail's reports on detainee abuse were published.

Mr. Day said: "They've actually talked to detainees about the possibility, if they were tortured or not. We've actually had a couple of incidents where detainees said they were."
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## MarkOttawa (1 May 2007)

(Carried over from April topic.)

British Maj. Gen. Jacko Page takes helm of ISAF's southern command
CP, May 1
http://www.news1130.com/news/international/article.jsp?content=w050129A



> Training and building up local military and security forces will remain a central priority for coalition forces in Afghanistan, the new leader of NATO's southern command said Tuesday as he formally took the helm from his Dutch predecessor.
> 
> To the strains of the Afghan national anthem, Maj.-Gen. Jacko Page - a 25-year veteran of the British military - was formally installed as the new commander of the southern command of the International Security Assistance Force, known as RC South.
> 
> ...



Some informative stuff here:

DoD Press Briefing with Royal Netherlands Army Maj. Gen. Van Loon from the Pentagon
DoD News Transcript, April 30
http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3952

Canada listening in on Taliban exchanges
_National Post_, May 1
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=b68ad20e-ac56-4b2c-a000-0724984bfc62



> Canada's ultra-secret electronic spy agency revealed yesterday it has been heavily involved in Afghanistan and has deployed a team to the country.
> 
> The Communications Security Establishment acknowledged its role in Afghanistan for the first time in testimony to the Standing Committee on National Security and Defence.
> 
> ...



Biography of Maj. Gen. (ret'd) Adams:
http://myschool.gc.ca/events/archives/Armchair/arm_descrip06_e.html



> Prior to his appointment as Chief, CSE, Mr. Adams served from 2003 to June 2005 as Associate Deputy Minister and Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, and from 1998 to 2003 as Assistant Deputy Minister, Marine Services and Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard. Both positions were held within Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
> 
> Before joining the Canadian Coast Guard, Mr. Adams enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the Canadian Armed Forces, from 1967 until retiring as Major General in 1993. His early career culminated with command of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment in Chilliwack, British Columbia. The second phase of his career included numerous staff assignments including several postings to National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. This phase culminated in promotion to Brigadier General in 1987 and secondment to the Defence and Foreign Policy Secretariat of the Privy Council Office for two years prior to assuming command of the Special Service Force and Canadian Forces Base Petawawa in 1989. His military career culminated in promotion to Major General and appointment as Chief of Construction and Properties for the Canadian Forces - the senior serving Canadian Military Engineer. Upon retiring from the Canadian Forces in 1993 he was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Environment, for National Defence, a position he held until 1998.



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (2 May 2007)

*Articles found May 2, 2007*

Troops upset at focus on detainees: Hillier  
Updated Wed. May. 2 2007 3:05 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

The attention on allegations over the torture of Afghan detainees has "pissed off" some Canadian soldiers who feel its detracting attention from the overall mission, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said Wednesday. 

"Let me just come out very frankly here: I met a variety of soldiers who are pissed off," Hillier told reporters. "They're angry that these allegations have detracted from the overall mission here." 

Hillier said the sentiments didn't apply to him because he never gets "pissed off." 

He addressed the issue after arriving in Kandahar with a group of former NHL players and the Stanley Cup in a show of support for Canadian troops. 

Hillier remains at the centre of controversy over a prisoner handover agreement he signed back in 2005. 

The agreement has been criticized because it has no clause to allow Canada to follow up on the treatment of detainees handed over to the Afghan government. 

On Wednesday, The Globe and Mail reported that Hillier did not consult with the Department of Foreign Affairs before striking the deal. 

"We were not consulted," one senior government source told the paper. 

Another senior foreign-service officer told The Globe that "Hillier went to Kabul thinking of them (the detainees) as 'scumbags' and made the deal. Hillier wanted to sign it; he insisted on signing it," he said. "Defence took the file and messed it up." 

Hillier said Wednesday that he doesn't respond to articles that use unnamed sources but explained the circumstances surrounded the agreement in question
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Detainee plan ‘right thing' to do: Hillier
TENILLE BONOGUORE Globe and Mail Update May 2, 2007 at 4:09 PM EDT
Article Link

The Chief of Defence Staff says he believed he was doing the right thing by signing a detainee transfer agreement that did not allow Canadians to verify the safe treatment of prisoners once they were put in Afghan custody.

Speaking from Kandahar, Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier said the agreement would have been made regardless of his involvement back in 2005.

“I signed it, in the presence of the ambassador who would have signed it had I not been here,” Gen. Hillier said.

“Truly at the time we thought that was the right thing to do, that it was the right approach. Obviously we'll reassess that as allegations come out that perhaps that was not sufficient.”
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Hillier pushed flawed detainee plan
Foreign Affairs shunted aside when Canada's top soldier insisted on signing 2005 deal that left no follow-up role for Ottawa
PAUL KORING , BRIAN LAGHI and CAMPBELL CLARK 
Article Link

WASHINGTON, OTTAWA -- The Department of Foreign Affairs was pushed to the sidelines when Canada struck its detainee-transfer deal in Afghanistan, two senior government sources have told The Globe and Mail.

"We were not consulted," said one, adding that Foreign Affairs was shunted aside by the Department of National Defence and Canada's top soldier, Rick Hillier, when he signed the accord in 2005. The deal has become mired in controversy because it includes no follow-up role for Canada on the fate of detainees in Afghanistan's notoriously brutal prison system. 

Another senior foreign-service officer gave a longer explanation: "Hillier went to Kabul thinking of them [the detainees] as 'scumbags' and made the deal. Hillier wanted to sign it; he insisted on signing it," he said. "Defence took the file and messed it up."

The comment played off a remark General Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, made in July, 2005, when he set off a national debate by referring to the Taliban as "detestable murderers and scumbags."
More on link

Hillier in Kandahar with Stanley Cup and ex-NHLers
Updated Wed. May. 2 2007 6:50 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier arrived in Afghanistan today with 19 former NHL players and the Stanley Cup in a show of support for Canadian troops. 

The group of players includes enforcers Bob Probert and Dave (Tiger) Williams, goaltender Ron Tugnutt and former Montreal Canadiens stars Rejean Houle and Yvon Lambert. 

The players also brought along the Stanley Cup for troops to take pictures with and even laced up for a little old-time hockey. 

Last month, Canadian troops received another taste of home when they were visited by Eugene Melnyk -- owner of the Ottawa Senators. 

Melnyk came to the base in Kandahar to deliver $50,000 worth of hockey equipment and 2,500 Tim Hortons gift certificates. 

The troops, many of whom play ball hockey as a pastime, received new goalie equipment, hockey sticks, inline skates, balls and NHL and Team Canada jerseys. 
More on link

Afghanistan to Recruit More Police to Counter Taliban (Update1)  
By Ed Johnson May 2 (Bloomberg) 
Article Link

Afghanistan will recruit about 19,000 more police officers to help tackle the Taliban insurgency, the international body tasked with overseeing the country's reconstruction said in a statement. 

``There have been some unexpected challenges from insecurity in the south and southeast of the country,'' said Ishaq Nadiri, senior economic adviser to President Hamid Karzai and co-chairman of the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board. 

The number of Afghan National Police will be increased to 82,000, the board said in a statement yesterday after meeting in the Afghan capital, Kabul. The police force currently stands at about 63,000 officers, according to the U.S. Defense Department. 

The Taliban have stepped up attacks over the past year in the south and east in an attempt to destabilize Karzai's government. The rebels have about 3,000 fighters, Major General David Rodriguez, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said earlier this month, compared with about 37,000 NATO personnel, 10,000 U.S. soldiers carrying out anti-terrorism operations and 35,000 trained and equipped soldiers in the Afghan National Army. 
More on link

Dutch transfer authority to British in Afghanistan
May 2, 2007, 8:59 GMT 
Article Link

The Hague - Dutch Army General Ton van Loon on Tuesday transferred authority over the ISAF NATO mission in Afghanistan to his British colleague Jacko Page, a spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Defence said. 

Van Loon, located at the international military base in Kandahar, commanded the 11,000 ISAF troops stationed in six provinces of Afghanistan, including the province of Uruzgan, which is controlled by Dutch troops. 

It was the first time a Dutchman held such a high position in the NATO's ISAF mission. 

The highest position of the security and stabilization troops in Afghanistan rotates every six months to a general of another participating NATO country. 
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Over tea, Afghan prisoners describe torture
 TheStar.com May 02, 2007  Rosie DiManno
Article Link

Warden keeps watchful eye as Taliban operatives speak

KANDAHAR–They've been to hell and survived it. Now they're in prison purgatory and blessedly thankful for it.

In this purgatory – Sarposa Provincial Prison, the largest and central detention facility in Kandahar province – there's even tea with the warden in his office and candy in a crystal goblet, a pleasant if suspiciously contrived tableau.

A damn sight better than whippings with electric cables and hanging upside down from metal hooks in the ceiling, limbs bound, or trussed and shackled in cages so constrictive a grown man couldn't stand upright – all torture allegedly inflicted during an earlier period of incarceration in the notorious National Directorate of Security headquarters across town.

These two inmates, both convicted as Taliban operatives – completely innocent, they each insist – have been summoned here to be interviewed by the Star, which was provided unrestricted access to the jail yesterday afternoon by the chief warden, Col. Abdul Qadar.

Mohammed Nadar, 43, is serving a seven-year sentence; Amadullah, 35, is down for 14 years.

They're wearing traditional Afghan garb rather than prison uniforms. Neither exhibits any outward sign of injury. Those scars have healed, they say, since being transferred to Sarposa from the widely feared NDS, this country's intelligence police agency, usually mentioned only in whispers. 

"I never saw any injuries when they got here," Qadar is quick to interject. 

"If they were hurt, they would have received medical attention immediately. They didn't need it."

Unlike some detainees – by no means the majority – Nadar and Amadullah never passed through Canadian hands on their way to NDS interrogation. But others at the prison did – and there are 136 men in the cells who are NDS transfers, political prisoners, out of a jail population of about 800. By law, the NDS can keep detainees for only 72 hours after which they must apply to the Ministry of the Attorney General for permission to extend that custody where warranted. Ultimately, all the prisoners are transferred to Sarposa.

The alleged torment of detainees at the un-tender mercies of the NDS has triggered a firestorm in Ottawa, with accusations that Canada is complicit in their abuse because they were turned over by Canadian troops as per a transfer agreement signed with Afghanistan in 2005.
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Troops 'kill five in Afghanistan'  
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
Article Link
  
US-led coalition forces and Afghan police have shot dead five militants in a clash in southern Helmand province, a coalition statement says. 
Three vehicles came speeding towards the checkpoint in Zara Kalay village and failed to stop, the statement said. 

Eight militants came out of the cars and started firing - troops returned fire, killing five, it said. 

Violence has surged in recent weeks. About 4,000 people were killed in Afghanistan last year. 

Protests 

The south of the country is a stronghold of the Taleban and has seen an increasing number of attacks by insurgents over the past year. 

The US-led coalition statement said the three remaining militants in the Helmand clash managed to escape. 
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Villagers return after 75 suspected insurgents killed by NATO offensive in Afghanistan .
By Fisnik Abrashi ASSOCIATED PRESS 5:34 p.m. May 1, 2007
Article Link

SANGIN VALLEY, Afghanistan – Villagers trickled back to their damaged farms, descending from the hills with their belongings in bundles or on donkeys Tuesday after a NATO operation in their valley killed some 75 suspected Taliban fighters. 
The latest salvo in the alliance's campaign to win control of southern Afghanistan chalked up a clear military victory. But the outcome of the tougher battle for the hearts and minds of ordinary Afghans remained unclear. 

 The suspected militants were killed Monday when heavily armed British, Danish and Afghan soldiers fought their way up the Sangin Valley in Helmand province – Afghanistan's most volatile, and the source of most of the world's opium and heroin. 
Maj. Dominic Biddick, who led a company of British troops in the operation, told The Associated Press that some of those killed Monday were local men whose deaths could turn their relatives against the NATO troops. Afghan troops were meeting with residents about how to bury the remains. 

Biddick said NATO troops also captured several militants and discovered an arms cache during “a full day of fighting” among the valley's walled compounds and opium poppy fields. 
More on link

UN-BACKED BODY SAYS RECONSTRUCTION PLAN FOR AFGHANISTAN ON TRACK
Press Release - UN News Center May 1 2007 
Article Link

The high-level United Nations-backed body tasked with overseeing the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year reconstruction blueprint for the war-ravaged country, said today that since its inaugural meeting last year, the implementation of the plan - which aims to bolster security, economic development and counter-narcotics efforts - is on track.

However, the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) also noted that while the Compact is capitalizing on momentum to meet both short and long-term goals, it is necessary to translate these efforts into meaningful changes for a majority of Afghans.

"Last year was successful," said Ishaq Nadiri, JDMB co-chair, professor and senior economic adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, referring to the problem-solving mechanism established and implemented. "We are glad that there is progress to report, but we must focus more energy on implementation to ensure that this progress soon becomes more evident on the ground."

He added that the Compact's success was challenged unexpectedly by the unstable security situation in the south and south-east of the country.

Meeting at the Afghan capital Kabul, the body welcomed increased commitments to meet the country's most pressing needs. The number of Afghanistan National Police officers has been raised temporarily to 82,000, and enhanced coordination on energy issues has yielded beneficial results. In addition, the Government and its partners have made progress in attaining the benchmarks of the Compact, which was adopted last January.

In terms of short-term targets, successes include the functionality of the National Assembly, the start of Government discussions with its partners on investment in natural resource harvesting and the coming into effect of four key laws regarding investment and the private sector.

Regarding longer-term benchmarks, the JCMB reported that school enrolment has surged 12 per cent to 5.4 million students, of whom 35 per cent are girls. Over 80 per cent of Afghans now have access to basic health services, while 132 million square metres of land has been cleared of mines since last March.
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Global terror report: steep hike in Iraq, Afghanistan
US intelligence analysis shows sharp increase in 2006 attacks and casualties, with Iran as chief sponsor.
By Jesse Nunes | csmonitor.com May 01, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. EDT
Article Link

An annual US Department of State report on terrorism indicates that Iraq and Afghanistan saw huge jumps in terrorist attacks in 2006, and an even larger increase in the number of civilians injured or killed in those attacks. 

The report, released Monday on the State Department website, is titled "Country Reports on Terrorism 2006," and includes statistics gathered from the National Counterterrorism Center. Although the report shows that overall incidents of terrorism worldwide increased by 25 percent over 2005, the jump was much higher in Iraq and Afghanistan, which together accounted for more than half of the 14,338 reported terrorist incidents worldwide in 2006. 

According to the report, Afghanistan saw nearly 750 terror incidents last year, a 53 percent increase, while there were nearly 3,000 such attacks in Iraq, an increase of 91 percent. In both countries, the number of people "killed, injured, or kidnapped" rose significantly: by 91 percent (to 6,630) in Afghanistan, and by 88 percent (to 38,813) in Iraq. [Editor's Note: The original version had the incorrect percentages for Iraq's increase in attacks and casualties.]
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Czech diplomat attacked in Afghanistan; 2 guards wounded  
The Associated Press Tuesday, May 1, 2007 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan: Insurgents opened fire on a vehicle carrying a Czech diplomat traveling Tuesday in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan, wounding two diplomatic guards, officials said.

The Czech charge d'affaires, Filip Velach, was not hurt in the daytime attack, which occurred about 100 kilometers (63 miles) south of Kabul, Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova said.

Velach sought refuge in a villager's home and was rescued by Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces, officials said.

The two Czech guards were slightly hurt, Opletalova said.

"This stupid guy went there with two bodyguards, who were wounded. The Taliban attacked them, and he ran into a village to hide," said Paktia province Gov. Rahmatullah Rahmat.

The U.S.-led coalition sent a patrol to the area, secured the site, and evacuated the people to a U.S. base in Paktia, said coalition spokesman Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch.
More on link


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## GAP (2 May 2007)

Corporal speaks of his recovery from deadly blast
Updated Wed. May. 2 2007 6:41 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Cpl. Shaun Fevens said when a roadside bomb ripped through the light-armoured vehicle he was riding in west of Kandahar City, it felt like he was surrounded by water. 

"When the blast hit, I didn't go unconscious," said Fevens, who described his recovery from the Easter Sunday blast that killed six of his fellow soldiers. 

"The pressure of the blast was like jumping into a deep pool of water. It was bright, so I couldn't see anything, and psychologically my ears had shut off. You can hear stuff, but it's not clear." 

Fevens returned to Nova Scotia on April 13, five days after the blast, but spoke publicly for the first time on Wednesday at an informal news conference in Halifax. He waited, he said, out of respect for the families of the other soldiers. 

Fevens was the most seriously injured of the four soldiers who survived, suffering a broken ankle and leg, burns, and shrapnel wounds in his wrist. 

With great composure and with his girlfriend at his side, Fevens recounted the events of April 8. 

"As we were rolling, we just came across an obstacle we normally come across everyday. This time we crossed it and we just didn't have as much good luck as we normally do. We struck the IED and that's what caused the destruction." 

Cpl. Brent Poland, Master Cpl. Christopher Stannix, Sgt. Don Lucas, Cpl. Aaron Williams, Pte. Kevin Kennedy and Pte. David Greenslade were killed instantly. 
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Afghanistan asks Iran not to force out Afghan refugees  
Tuesday May 01, 2007 (0231 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Afghanistan called on neighbouring Iran to stop repatriating tens of thousands of Afghan refugees, saying the destitute country could not afford to resettle them. 
More than 25,000 Afghans have been sent back by Iranian authorities since April 21, and more are being forced out, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 

"We would like to ask Iran to not repatriate Afghan refugees. Our capacity is very limited to receive a big number of refugees," foreign ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said. 

"Taking into consideration our good relations with Iran and international laws for refugees, we expect the Iranian government not to force out refugees in big numbers. It would create lots of problems for us here," Baheen said.
More on link

85 Killed in 2006 Afghan school attacks  
Tuesday May 01, 2007 (0231 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: At least 85 students and teachers were killed last year in attacks blamed on insurgents who oppose education for girls and teaching boys anything other than religion, Afghanistan's education minister said. 
Insurgents also burned down 187 schools, while 350 closed because of security concerns, Education Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said. 

The enemy of our nation ... has targeted our education system through destruction and inhumanity," Atmar told thousands of students at a stadium in Kabul in a speech marking Education Day. Militants are "killing our innocent teachers and students and burning our schools." 
More on link

Lalani new Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan  
Tuesday May 01, 2007 (0231 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: The Canadian government has announced the appointment of Arif Lalani as its new ambassador to Afghanistan. 
About the appointment, taking immediate effect, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay said: Mr. Lalani brings a wealth of experience and a track record of leadership to his new post." 

According to a statement from the Canadian embassy here, MacKay hoped Lalani, a graduate from the University of British Columbia, would ensure that Canada continued to make an important contribution to helping the government and people of Afghanistan rebuild their country. 

Lalani succeeds David Sproule, who MacKay thanked for his outstanding dedication as Canadas ambassador to Afghanistan since 2005. Sproule will now serve in an advisory capacity to the associate deputy minister of foreign affairs and interdepartmental coordinator for Afghanistan. 
More on link

British Death Toll Hits 200  
Thursday May 03, 2007 (0426 PST)
Article Link

LONDON: BRITISH military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan reached the bloody milestone of 200 yesterday. 
Troops in Iraq have come under increasing fire and, in Afghanistan, they have begun a huge push against the Taliban. 

In both war zones, UK forces are facing a sophisticated and reinforced enemy. 

Yesterday, the death toll in Iraq reached 147 after a Royal Signals soldier was killed when his bicycle was struck by a coach in Basra. 

A probe is being carried out into his "non-battle" death. 

In Afghanistan, the grim total since the 2001 "toppling" of the Taliban has hit 53.
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Afghan insecurity putting pressure on NGOs  
Wednesday May 02, 2007 (0220 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Amid kidnappings, assassinations, bombings and all-out battles, aid groups say Afghanistan's violence is forcing them to cut back on efforts to help the destitute country's neediest people. 
Worryingly, the security threat is growing in areas outside the southern stomping grounds of insurgents and the drugs mafia, where the non-governmental organisations which are sticking it out are already taking precautions, one analyst said. 

The Taliban's demand for France to pull out its troops or for Kabul to free prisoners in return for the release of one French and three Afghan aid workers has raised concerns about a trend in kidnappings for political reasons rather than financial gain. 

A French woman being held with them was freed Saturday. 

The government's release in March of five Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian hostage has had an "encouraging effect on these kinds of problems," said Handicap International country director Arnaud Quemin. 
More on link

Over tea, Afghan prisoners describe torture
 TheStar.com May 02, 2007 Rosie DiManno
Article Link

Warden keeps watchful eye as Taliban operatives speak

KANDAHAR–They've been to hell and survived it. Now they're in prison purgatory and blessedly thankful for it.

In this purgatory – Sarposa Provincial Prison, the largest and central detention facility in Kandahar province – there's even tea with the warden in his office and candy in a crystal goblet, a pleasant if suspiciously contrived tableau.

A damn sight better than whippings with electric cables and hanging upside down from metal hooks in the ceiling, limbs bound, or trussed and shackled in cages so constrictive a grown man couldn't stand upright – all torture allegedly inflicted during an earlier period of incarceration in the notorious National Directorate of Security headquarters across town.

These two inmates, both convicted as Taliban operatives – completely innocent, they each insist – have been summoned here to be interviewed by the Star, which was provided unrestricted access to the jail yesterday afternoon by the chief warden, Col. Abdul Qadar.

Mohammed Nadar, 43, is serving a seven-year sentence; Amadullah, 35, is down for 14 years.

They're wearing traditional Afghan garb rather than prison uniforms. Neither exhibits any outward sign of injury. Those scars have healed, they say, since being transferred to Sarposa from the widely feared NDS, this country's intelligence police agency, usually mentioned only in whispers.
More on link


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## GAP (3 May 2007)

Hockey day in Kandahar
 TheStar.com May 03, 2007 Rosie DiManno Columnist
Article Link

KANDAHAR – Violence in hockey. Or maybe hockey in violence. 

It is a war zone, after all, just beyond the wire. 

Either way, the late-game, not-entirely-pseudo-fight between Tiger Williams, ex-NHL pugilist, and Michael Loder, current Canadian soldier, was the crowd-pleasing highlight of yesterday's opening game here between old farts and young Turks. 

Well, not all so very young on Team Task Force. Goalie Steve Bassindale – that's Major Bassindale off the ball hockey court – is a silver-haired 43, up there in Eddie Belfour territory, and victimized on all the goals in a 7-1 loss to Team Canada alumni. 

Less lopsided than the score would suggest, the game was lively and hugely entertaining, with several hundred spectators – Canadians, Americans, Dutch, Brits, a few Jordanians and some very puzzled Afghans – looking on as the game was contested under a brutal morning sun, just off the boardwalk at Kandahar Airfield. 

"We were going at each other all 
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New Afghan prisoner deal
 TheStar.com May 03, 2007 Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa Bureau
Article Link

OTTAWA – The federal government – facing a daily firestorm over Afghanistan’s treatment of prisoners – today signed a new deal giving Canadians full access to prisoners as well as Afghan detention facilities. 
The existence of the new deal was announced not in Kabul where it was signed but rather in an Ottawa courtroom, where human rights advocates were seeking an injunction to bar the transfers of prisoners by Canadian troops into the hands of Afghan authorities. 

Federal Court Justice Michael Kelen called the new agreement a “major development” and said it’s likely the possibility of a court injunction forced the government’s hand. 

“It probably wouldn’t have happened if this court case hadn’t been happening,” he told a packed courtroom. 

He said government lawyers filed a new affidavit, containing news of the deal, at 9.30 a.m., just as the urgent application for the injunction was about to be heard. 

Federal officials have long insisted that the original prisoner transfer agreement signed in late 2005 –when the previous Liberal government was in charge – was adequate to protect detainees, even though it lacked safeguards like the right to follow-up visits secured by other allied countries, such as Britain and The Netherlands. 

Even this week, Conservative cabinet ministers were digging in their heels, downplaying the reports of torture and suggesting the allegations were Taliban lies. 

But today, the federal Conservatives decided to act, apparently keen to dampen the political furor that has created confusion and chaos among cabinet ministers scrambling to deal with the fallout. 
More on link

British Death Toll Hits 200 
Thursday May 03, 2007 (0426 PST)
Article Link

 LONDON: BRITISH military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan reached the bloody milestone of 200 yesterday. 
Troops in Iraq have come under increasing fire and, in Afghanistan, they have begun a huge push against the Taliban. 

In both war zones, UK forces are facing a sophisticated and reinforced enemy. 

Yesterday, the death toll in Iraq reached 147 after a Royal Signals soldier was killed when his bicycle was struck by a coach in Basra. 

A probe is being carried out into his "non-battle" death. 
More on link

Former PM approved detainee deal: papers
Martin gave nod 2 years ago to negotiate agreement 
Thu May 3 2007 By Andrew Mayeda and Mike Blanchfield
Article Link 

OTTAWA -- Former prime minister Paul Martin gave approval almost two years ago to then-defence minister Bill Graham to negotiate a detainee transfer agreement with the Afghanistan government, government documents obtained by CanWest News Service show. 
The revelation, contained in cabinet correspondence and Defence Department briefing notes, comes as the Harper government continues to face heavy criticism over allegations Afghan detainees were abused after being transferred to Afghan authorities. 

The documents show that Martin, now an ordinary Liberal MP who has yet to speak publicly on the controversy, was briefed on the outlines of the agreement more than six months before it was signed. 

In a May 27, 2005 letter from Graham to Martin, the former prime minister was told that Canada planned to negotiate an agreement with the Afghan government that would spell out "explicit undertakings" on how the detainees would be treated. 

The same day as the letter, Graham "authorized the Canadian Forces to seek arrangements with relevant authorities on the transfer of detainees," according to a Defence Department briefing note. 

"The Prime Minister concurred with this approach on 10 June 2005," the note states.    
The documents appear to undermine an increasingly popular view in Ottawa's corridors of power that says Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff, acted without proper government authority when he signed the detainee deal on behalf of the Canadian government in Kabul on Dec. 18, 2005. 
More on link


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## GAP (4 May 2007)

*Articles found May 4, 2007*

Spain rules out sending more troops in Afghanistan
MADRID, May 4, 2007 (AFP)
Article Link

Spain will not send more troops to Afghanistan to reinforce the 700 soldiers it already has deployed in the NATO-led force in the country, Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said Friday. 

"We do not plan to augment our troops and it is not necessary," he told a joint news conference with his visiting Portuguese counterpart Nuno Severiano Teixeira. 

Spain will, however, send two teams of some 50 soldiers to Afghanistan at the end of May or in early June to help train the Afghan military, he said. 

The minister was reacting to comments made by a Spanish military commander in Afghanistan who said Thursday that Madrid should send reinforcements to the west of the country to help put out growing Taliban violence there. 

"The greater the military presence, the easier it will be to guarantee security," Colonel Miguel Garcia de las Hijas, chief of general staff of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in western Afghanistan, told daily newspaper El Pais. 
More on link


1 Czech soldier dies in road accident in northern Afghanistan  
The Associated Press Friday, May 4, 2007 
Article Link

PRAGUE, Czech Republic: A mudslide in northern Afghanistan swept a Czech military vehicle off a road, killing one soldier and seriously injuring another, Czech officials said Friday.

The accident happened Thursday during a heavy thunderstorm while the troops were on a routine patrol, Defense Ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek said. Four servicemen were injured slightly in the incident, the ministry said later in a statement.

The Czech Republic opened a diplomatic representation office in Kabul last month. It has about 150 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, and has plans to increase the total to about 225 later this year.
More on link

British soldier killed in Afghanistan
8.58, Thu May 3 2007
Article Link

A British soldier has been shot dead by militants in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

The soldier, a member of Number 3 Company of the Grenadier Guards, was killed when the checkpoint he was manning near the town of Garmsir in Helmand Province came under attack from a force of between eight and ten Taliban fighters.

An MoD spokeswoman said: "The Grenadiers returned fire with small arms and during the ensuing gun battle, the soldier, who was manning a general purpose machine gun, sustained a gunshot wound."

"As the fire fight intensified, with the Taliban using rocket propelled grenades as well as small arms, ISAF forces called in support from British artillery."
More on link

U.S. Military Probes Reports Of Afghan Civilian Deaths  
May 4, 2007 (RFE/RL) 
Article Link

 The U.S. military has opened an investigation into allegations that scores of civilians were killed recently in fighting between U.S. and Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

The reports coincide with mounting public pressure on President Hamid Karzai and his international allies over noncombatant deaths as a violent insurgency continues.

The U.S. investigation was triggered by reports that at least 40 civilians died in western Afghanistan this week after U.S. special forces called in air strikes and an AC-130 gunship attack on Taliban positions. 

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Dan McNeil, said initial evidence suggested that "only firing insurgents were targeted" by his forces.

"The New York Times" quoted McNeil acknowledging the "allegations of civilian casualties" and saying it is "regrettable" if there have been such deaths. 
More on link
  
Aussie soldier wounded in Afghanistan  
04 May 2007 
Article Link

 An Australian soldier was wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up next to NATO-led troops in southern Afghanistan, while a British soldier was killed fighting militants, officials said.

The suicide attack happened four kilometres north-east of Camp Holland, the main Dutch base in southern Oruzgan province, and appeared to target Australian reconstruction workers, said Lieutenant Colonel Robin Middel, a Dutch defence ministry spokesman.

Australia's Department of Defence confirmed the injured Australian soldier was a member of the reconstruction task force serving in Afghanistan.

After the attack the soldier, who suffered minor wounds, was taken to the provincial capital for treatment.

"An Afghan national, identified as the attacker, was killed during the incident," a defence spokesman said in a statement.
More on link

Danish army reports death of fourth soldier in Afghanistan  
May 04, 2007          
Article Link

A Danish soldier has died after he was injured in a battle in Afghanistan, bringing the number of Danish soldiers to die in Afghanistan to four, the Danish army said Thursday. 

The soldier, 24, was shot in the neck last Sunday when the Danish troops were attacked near Denmark's Camp Bastion in the southern Helmand province in Afghanistan, Danish Army head Maj. Gen. Poul Kiaerskou said in a statement. 

Seriously injured, the soldier was sent to a field hospital and then transferred to the Copenhagen University hospital. 

It is the fourth death of Danish soldiers since they were sent to Afghanistan on mission in January 2002. 

A spokesman for the Danish army said that it was the first time that a Danish soldier had been killed in combat in Afghanistan. 

In March 2002, three Danish soldiers were killed in an explosion when they were defusing missiles in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (4 May 2007)

Afstan: More Bulgarians, fewer Romanians
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2007/05/afstan-more-bulgarians-fewer-romanians.html

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (5 May 2007)

*Articles found April 5, 2007*

Canadian troops attempting to block Taliban
Updated Sat. May. 5 2007 8:17 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan -- Canadian soldiers are setting up camp in the south of Kandahar province in hopes of deterring Taliban activity in the area.

A convoy of trucks, LAV-IIIs and Coyote armoured vehicles rolled into town to reclaim part of an old forward operating base just six kilometres from the Pakistan border.

Master Warrant Officer Bill Richards of the Royal Canadian Dragoons says the last time Canadians were here was about seven months ago.

He says Canada is 'coming in heavy' in an effort to discourage Taliban insurgents from operating in the Spin Boldak district.

There's not much on the base except for a few abandoned structures, but Richards says that won't be a problem for his troops
More on link

Rights groups balk over Ottawa`s Afghan prisoner deal by  
Saturday May 05, 2007 (0339 PST)
Article Link

 OTTAWA: Rights groups were blindsided in court by a deal that would allow Ottawa to monitor Taliban prisoners transferred into Afghan custody, amid allegations that some of the inmates have been tortured. 

For months, the rights groups and opposition parties have sparred with the government over the treatment of Afghan prisoners, once handed over to Afghan authorities. 

But the government has repeatedly denied allegations of torture by Kabul, and insisted safeguards were put in place to prevent such. 

The squabble ended up in court Thursday with rights group seeking an injunction to halt the transfers. 
More on link

Bomb attack on Afghan army bus in capital kills one, injures 29  
Friday May 04, 2007 (0720 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: A remote-control bomb hit an Afghan army bus in the capital Thursday, killing the driver and wounding 29 people, including 22 soldiers, officials said. 
The bomb was placed in a cart on the side of the road and exploded when the bus passed by, said Ali Riza, an Afghan National Army officer at the scene. The driver of the bus was killed and 22 soldiers were wounded, said Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a Defence Ministry spokesman. 

Seven civilians also were wounded, said Ali Shah Paktiawal, the Kabul police director of criminal investigation. He said the army was the target. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (6 May 2007)

U.S. raid kills 13 Afghans [Spin Boldak again]
_Edmonton Sun_, May 5
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/World/2007/05/05/4155901-sun.html



> SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan -- A bombing raid by U.S.-led forces battling the Taliban killed at least 13 civilians, raising to 70 the number of civilian deaths reported this week, an Afghan official said.
> 
> The rising toll of civilian casualties will put further pressure on President Hamid Karzai, who warned this week of serious consequences if the bloodshed did not stop.
> 
> ...



If deaths spike, we should retreat: Poll
48% question Conservative government's handling of mission
_Edmonton Sun_, May 6
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2007/05/06/4157643-sun.html



> Nearly half of Canadians think the Conservative government is fumbling the war effort in Afghanistan and a majority want to bring the troops home if the death toll continues to mount.
> 
> A new SES Research-Sun Media poll finds 54.6% of Canadians want a withdrawal if casualties climb, compared to 39.3% who see fallen soldiers as an unfortunate but necessary part of the mission.
> 
> ...



Pressure rises on PM over war
_Toronto Sun_, May 6, by Lorrie Goldstien
http://www.torontosun.com/Comment/Commentary/2007/05/06/4157792-sun.html



> Anyway you look at it, today's SES Research/Sun Media poll on the attitude of Canadians to our military mission in Afghanistan is bad news for Prime Minister Stephen Harper...
> 
> Of course, "cutting and running," as Harper has dismissively described it, isn't an option.
> 
> ...



A loud warning shot
Canadians losing their stomach for a war many see as futile will be bad news for Harper in an election
_Toronto Sun_, May 6, By GREG WESTON
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Weston_Greg/2007/05/06/4157975-sun.html



> If a federal election were underway today, Afghanistan would almost certainly be a major battleground of the campaign, and could easily become a political killing field for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.
> 
> That is the overwhelming political message of the exclusive SES Research-Sun Media poll taken over the past 10 days and released today.
> 
> ...


  

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (6 May 2007)

*Articles found May 6, 2007*

Roadside bomb kills 13 police in Afghanistan
Updated Sun. May. 6 2007 7:24 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A roadside bomb killed five police and wounded two others on 

Sunday in eastern Afghanistan, while a clash in the west left eight police and at 

least four suspected militants dead, officials said.

The latest violence comes amid an escalation in spring attacks and military 

operations after a winter lull.

A remote-controlled mine blew up as a police convoy was passing, killing five 

officers and wounding two others in the Chola district of eastern Ghazni province, 

said deputy governor Qazim Allayar.

In western Farah province, insurgents ambushed a police convoy on Saturday in Bakwa 

district, and the ensuing six-hour gun battle left eight police and at least four 

suspected militants dead, said police chief Gen. Sayed Aqa Saqib.

Intelligence reports indicate that 17 suspected militants were killed or wounded in 

the clash, but only four bodies of the insurgents remained at the scene after the 

gun battle, while others were removed by the attackers, Saqib said. Two other 

policemen were wounded, he said.
More on link

Cdn. peacekeeper among nine dead in Sinai crash
Updated Sun. May. 6 2007 7:28 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

CAIRO, Egypt -- Nine foreign peacekeepers, including French and Canadian soldiers, 

were killed Sunday when a French plane attached to the Sinai's multinational 

peacekeeping force crashed in a remote, mountainous area of the desert, the force's 

spokesman and police said.

Force spokesman Normand St. Pierre said as many as eight of the dead were French, 

but did not have exact figures. He said a "higher than normal" load of passengers 

and crew were aboard the aircraft at the time of the crash because it was on a 

training mission.

Capt. Mohammed Badr, a police officer in Sinai, said the nine who were killed 

included a mix of French and Canadian soldiers, but could not provide an exact 

breakdown. He said one of the plane's wings hit a car on its way down, but the 

driver escaped unharmed.

The crash occurred in the middle of the vast Sinai Peninsula near the village of 

el-Thamad, about 50 miles southeast of a town called Nakhl, said Badr.

Ahmed Fadhel, the press officer at the French Embassy in Cairo, had no immediate 

comment. The Defense Ministry in Paris also had no immediate comment.
More on link

DND issues clarification on Afghan abuse story
Updated Sat. May. 5 2007 7:45 PM ET Canadian Press
Article Link

OTTAWA -- The Canadian Forces has released more details about an incident in which 

soldiers in Afghanistan intervened to save a civilian who was being abused.

Reports of the June 2006 incident, taken from court transcripts, caused an uproar in 

the Commons on Friday.

Lt.-Gen. Walter Natynczyk, the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, said Saturday that 

the way the incident has been portrayed is inaccurate.

In cross-examination involving a lawsuit by Amnesty International, Col. Mike Noonan 

described an incident in which Canadian soldiers had to take custody of an Afghan 

man whom they suspected of being beaten by Afghan National Police officers. It was 

initially suggested the man had been captured by Canadian soldiers.

But Natynczyk said that's not the case and the individual had simply been questioned 

by soldiers in the village of Zangabad, 50 kilometres southwest of Kandahar.

The incident was used as illustration by Opposition parties that Canadian soldiers 

had handed prisoners over to abusive Afghan authorities, contrary to assurances by 

the Conservative government that no such incident had taken place.

Natynczyk said the Afghan man was later picked up by police, and Canadian soldiers, 

who later came across him, noticed he had been injured.
More on link


Why NATO misreads the Afghan rulebook
Article Link

In an essay adapted from her new memoir, Hamida Ghafour draws on her family history 

to explain what's gone wrong with Canada's mission in her ancestral homeland
HAMIDA GHAFOUR 

When I hear about the latest battles between Pashtun insurgents and NATO soldiers in 

Afghanistan, I recall an old family tale. 

Before the Afghan monarchy was abolished in 1973, the royal family enjoyed hunting 

trips to the eastern regions of Nuristan and Kunar to stalk deer and shoot red-eyed 

partridges. 

But these hunting trips were also diplomatic missions to the blue-eyed tribes that 

lived in the high valleys. Kabul relied on their powerful tribal aristocracy to keep 

the kingdom at peace.

My ancestors were among those families. My great-grandfather Pacha Sahib was a 

revered Sufi mystic who converted the pagans of the area to Islam in the late 19th 

century. Later he mediated between the warring Pashtun tribes and ensured they did 

not rise up against Kabul.
More on link

Canadians growing weary of war
By KATHLEEN HARRIS, SUN MEDIA NATIONAL BUREAU
Article Link

An SES-Sun Media survey shows support for Canada's role is falling as troop 

casualties mount.

OTTAWA -- Nearly half of Canadians think the Conservative government is fumbling the 

war effort in Afghanistan and a majority want to bring our troops home if the death 

toll continues to mount. 

A new SES Research-Sun Media poll finds 54.6 per cent of Canadians want a withdrawal 

if casualties climb, compared to 39.3 per cent who see fallen soldiers as an 

unfortunate but necessary part of the mission. 

"Canadians look at what the tradeoffs are in terms of whether the mission can 

succeed -- not just the financial cost of the mission, but the human cost," said 

pollster Nik Nanos, SES president. "It's pretty clear that a majority of Canadians 

think if the casualties continue, then we should have a pullout." 

Since Canada's Afghanistan mission began in 2002, one diplomat and 54 soldiers -- 

including six from Southwestern Ontario -- have died. 

In the SES survey, the difference of opinion in support for the Afghanistan mission 

is most stark with Conservative voters -- much more likely than Liberal, NDP, Bloc 

Quebecois or Green supporters to accept bloodshed in the war zone. 

But Nanos said it's not even a slam-dunk for committed Tories, since nearly 40 per 

cent would call for a troop withdrawal if casualties continue. 

He said the numbers suggest a major incident with a high death count could smash the 

foundation of support for the mission and escalate the issue politically. 

As the controversy rages over reports of torture and abuse of detainees in Kandahar, 

Canadians are divided on how well the government is managing the mission. Slightly 

more than 48 per cent say they disagree or somewhat disagree with the government's 

course and almost 44 per cent say they agree or somewhat agree with how the 

operation has been handled. 
More on link

Canadian soldiers walk fine line on Afghanistan's poppy crops
Sat May 5 12:10:10 CDT 2007 JAMES MCCARTEN AND A.R. KHAN
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Nearly a century since the humble poppy first blossomed as an enduring symbol of military sacrifice, Canada's soldiers find themselves shoulder-deep in flowers of a very different colour, striking a delicate diplomatic balance between policy and practicality.
The opium poppies that blanket Afghanistan in spring are far different and a great deal more treacherous than the red Remembrance Day variety that bloom on city streets in November.

As Canadian soldiers patrol the vibrant pink opium fields of southern Afghanistan, they walk a narrow bridge of neutral territory that divides the Afghan government's U.S.-backed program to rid the country of poppies from the interests of dirt-poor growers whose help keeps coalition soldiers alive.

"We walk through fields all the time; every time we were patrolling through the towns, we'd walk through all kinds of (opium) poppy fields, everywhere," said Maj. Steve Graham, a squadron commander with the Royal Canadian Dragoons, just back from two months in the volatile Zhari district west of Kandahar.

Graham and his soldiers took pains to distance themselves from the poppy-eradication teams of President Hamid Karzai, even as they worked alongside members of the Afghan National Police - the same agency that provides security for the crews tasked with destroying the crops.
More on link


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## GAP (7 May 2007)

*Articles found May 7, 2007*

Artillery arrives for Canadians in Afghanistan
Updated Mon. May. 7 2007 7:41 AM ET Canadian Press
Article Link

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan -- Some heavy artillery has arrived in this southern border town to lend support to Canadian soldiers on patrol. 

Two Canadian M777 Howitzer cannons made a dramatic arrival by helicopter at the forward operating base just six kilometres from the Pakistan border. 

A pair of Chinook helicopters thundered into view over the horizon, the guns dangling below, before dropping their cargo off in the desert. 

Soldiers from the 2nd Royal Canadian Horse Artillery were on hand to secure the cannons and tow them into the base. 

Over the past three days, the base at Spin Boldak -- all but abandoned when Canadians began arriving on Saturday -- has turned into a hive of activity. 

Master Warrant Officer Bill Richards of the Royal Canadian Dragoons says it's nice to have more boots on the ground as the Canadians prepare for their patrols in the area. 
More on link

Spain rules out sending more troops in Afghanistan  
Sunday May 06, 2007 (0916 PST)
Article Link

 MADRID: Spain will not send more troops to Afghanistan to reinforce the 700 soldiers it already has deployed in the NATO-led force in the country, Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said. 
"We do not plan to augment our troops and it is not necessary," he told a joint news conference with his visiting Portuguese counterpart Nuno Severiano Teixeira. 

Spain will, however, send two teams of some 50 soldiers to Afghanistan at the end of May or in early June to help train the Afghan military, he said. 

The minister was reacting to comments made by a Spanish military commander in Afghanistan who said Thursday that Madrid should send reinforcements to the west of the country to help put out growing Taliban violence there. 

"The greater the military presence, the easier it will be to guarantee security," Colonel Miguel Garcia de las Hijas, chief of general staff of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in western Afghanistan, told daily newspaper El Pais. 
More on link

Why the disabled do Taliban's deadly work
By SONYA FATAH  Monday, May 7, 2007 – Page A1 
Article Link

With so few rehabilitation services available, suicide attacks can offer easy escape

KABUL -- The suicide bombing at a Kabul Internet café drew attention for a number of reasons: It was one of the first in the Afghan capital after the fall of the Taliban; it struck a spot popular with foreigners; and a UN worker was among those who died along with the attacker, Qari Samiullah.

But a little-known fact about that 2005 blast offers a clue into the workings of the insurgents who recruit suicide bombers, and what, apart from religious propaganda, has motivated about 200 men to blow themselves up: In addition to being a deeply religious man, Mr. Samiullah was disabled.

His disability didn't come as a surprise. As the insurgency in Afghanistan gathers urgency, the Taliban and other forces are recruiting marginalized and vulnerable groups to carry out suicide attacks while men from their own ranks keep up the ground offensive.

The pool of the disenchanted and hopeless is large in Afghanistan -- people left on the fringes by their economic, physical or mental circumstances -- and there are few services to rehabilitate them after three decades of war.

"Almost 90 per cent of [suicide bombers] are people with some form of disability," forensic expert Yusuf Yadgari said. 
More on link

No word on motive for killings of two U-S soldiers in Afghanistan
May 07, 2007 02:12 EDT
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Two American soldiers working as mentors to Afghan troops have been shot dead and two others wounded. U-S officials say the gunman was an Afghan soldier.

The shooter was posted outside a prison being revamped to house Afghans transferred from Guantanamo Bay. He was shot to death by other Afghan troops.

The shootings took place Sunday at a prison some 20 miles east of Kabul.

No word on a motive for the attack.

The revamp is supposed to improve security at the jail, which is infamous among Afghans for tales of torture and appalling conditions dating back to communist rule in the 1970s. Since the U-S-led invasion in 2001 that topped the Taliban, hundreds of al-Qaida and Taliban suspects have been incarcerated there.
More on link

Attacks claim 15 cops’ lives in Afghanistan
Monday, 7 May, 2007, 08:49 AM Doha Time 
Article Link

HERAT: New attacks reported in Afghanistan yesterday took to 15 the number of police killed in a weekend of violence, including in the country’s west which has seen a surge in unrest.
Eight policemen were killed in a six-hour battle in the western province of Farah on Saturday when Taliban fighters ambushed a police patrol, the provincial police chief said yesterday.
A US-led coalition statement said 17 rebels were killed in the fighting, but Sayed Agha Saqeb said only four of their bodies were recovered from the battlefield.
Another policeman was missing, Saqeb said. “The fighting ceased when we sent reinforcements,” he added.
The attack occurred near the centre of Bakwa district, which was overrun by Taliban late February.  The militants were in control for less than a day before Afghan security forces drove them out.
The coalition said it assisted the police with close air support and sent forces to secure the district centre. Four police vehicles were burned by insurgents, it said.
More on link

Afghanistan: Six wounded in Kabul rocket attack
By ASSOCIATED PRESS May. 7, 2007 8:18
Article Link

A rocket slammed outside a building in the Afghan capital Monday, wounding six people including a small boy, officials said. 

The missile struck in a street outside a building complex in Kabul's east, said Gen. Ali Shah Paktiawal, the Kabul police director of criminal investigation. 

One young boy was seriously wounded and was taken to the hospital, said Hasib Arian, a local police chief
end



Taliban extend deadline again for French aid worker
07 May 2007 07:02:35 GMT Source: Reuters
Article Link

KABUL, May 7 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban extended again on Monday the deadline for a deal to release a kidnapped French aid worker, saying French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy had pressing domestic issues to deal with.

"Since it is a new government, that has to pick its cabinet and deal with the sort out the problems it has (at home), we give them more time about this," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters from an undisclosed location.

"We expect them to get in touch with us."

The Taliban had previously extended the deadline until after Sunday's French election run-off and said Eric Damfreville and three Afghans from Terre d'Enfance, an agency helping children in southern Afghanistan, would be freed if at least one demand was met.
More on link

Afghanistan trying to curb news media
KABUL, Afghanistan, May 7 (UPI) 
Article Link

Afghanistan's government is attempting to curb the nation's independent news media, which have flourished since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. 
For the past year, The New York Times reported, the Afghan government has been trying to quell the growth of the independent news media, as government officials try to fend off accusations of corruption and ineffectiveness. Because of government worries, Parliament is considering amendments that critics say would undo much of the press freedom that has been achieved since the Taliban's fall. 

Aqa Fazil Sancharaki -- director of the Afghanistan National Journalists' Union, which has been fighting the amendments -- said he was not optimistic. He said one of his main concerns is the possible establishment of a media commission under strong government control. 

"The government does not want to see and hear about its corruption and weaknesses on the media," said Shukria Barakzai, a member of Parliament and a former journalist
More on link

Japan mulls offering military help to Afghanistan
(AFP) 5 May 2007 
Article Link

TOKYO - Japan will consider enacting a new law to allow the deployment of troops to Afghanistan to help with reconstruction efforts, Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma was Saturday reported as saying.

In a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Brussels, Kyuma suggested Japan was willing to study the possibility of sending troops there, Kyodo News said.

The minister also told reporters that Tokyo would study revising the special anti-terrorism law as an alternative to enable Japanese troops to provide such help, Kyodo said.

The government “would like to conduct a study as to whether we can draw up a law to enable a broad range of activities such as those for enabling the Self Defense Force to go to help a country rebuild itself,” Kyuma said, according to Kyodo.
More on link

Taliban reap rewards of Afghanistan's poppy harvest
Jonathan Fowlie, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Saturday, May 05, 2007
Article Link

With Afghan officials predicting a 'dark future,' many poor farmers are faced with little choice but to tend their crops of opium poppies that fuels the insurgency, writes Jonathan Fowlie in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The fields of southern Afghanistan are once again alive with poppies and, once again, the forces charged with keeping the controversial crop out of the ground can't seem to do a thing about it.

Millions of brilliant red, white and yellow flowers bob in the gentle spring wind, promising a bumper crop of heroin -- possibly Afghanistan's largest -- will be ready for sale on the streets of Europe and North America by fall.

In a report finalized this week, and obtained by CanWest News Service, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said that while poppy eradication in Afghanistan has increased threefold over this time last year, the amount of crop left in the villages for harvest after eradication is also notably on the rise.
More on link

Legislator wants to stop VA bonuses
By ASSOCIATED PRESS Published May 5, 2007
Article Link

WASHINGTON - The chairman of a House panel wants to stop hefty bonus payments to senior Veterans Affairs officials until they reduce a severe backlog of veterans waiting for disability benefits.

Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., said Friday he was introducing legislation to place a hold on this year's bonuses after reports that senior VA officials involved in a budget foul-up, which jeopardized veterans' health care, received performance bonuses ranging up to $33, 000.

Under the measure, 2007 bonuses could not be released until the VA pares its backlog to under 100, 000 cases - a feat the VA has said could take many months, if not years. Currently, the backlog of claims ranges from 400, 000 to more than 600, 000, with delays averaging 177 days.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (7 May 2007)

Defence orders patrol vehicles in *secret * [emphasis added] deal
Five Buffalos, five Cougars to be used in action in Afghanistan
_ChronicleHerald.ca_, May 7
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/833830.html



> The Defence Department has quietly signed a deal with a U.S. defence contractor to acquire 10 heavily armoured patrol vehicles.
> 
> The US $8.8-million deal was announced by Force Protection Inc. of Charleston, S.C., on its website late last week.
> http://www.forceprotection.net/news/news_article.html?id=177
> ...



Adaptation key in Afghanistan
_ChronicleHerald.ca_, May 7, by Scott Taylor
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/833933.html



> LAST MONTH, there was a report released that indicated the new Canadian armoured vehicles were not making the grade in Kandahar.
> 
> The Defence Department documents, released under the Access to Information Act, revealed that more than 25 per cent of the new Nyala RG-31 personnel vehicles had been in maintenance workshops during the heavy combat operations of the Canadian battle group last summer.
> 
> ...



Artillery arrives to support Canadians 
_Winnipeg Free Press_, May 7
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/3960364p-4572953c.html



> SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (CP) — Some heavy artillery has arrived in this southern border town to lend support to Canadian soldiers on patrol.
> 
> Two Canadian M777 Howitzer cannons made a dramatic arrival by helicopter at the forward operating base just six kilometres from the Pakistan border.
> 
> ...



Beatings of detainees part of Afghan life
_Calgary Sun_, May 7, by Licia Corbella and Sheila Copps
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Corbella_Licia/2007/05/07/4159848-sun.html



> CORBELLA: I thought Liberal party members were supposed to be culturally sensitive? Then why the outrage about Taliban prisoners getting beaten by Afghan authorities? Like it or not, beatings are the Afghan way. I know this because I have been to Afghanistan and witnessed people getting beaten there daily -- children, women, men.
> 
> COPPS: The whole point of our presence in Afghanistan is that we are not the Taliban. By your logic any intervention outside Canada should ignore the rules of natural justice and throw the Geneva Convention out the window. George W. may cherry pick parts of the convention he ignores but thankfully most Americans now have his number. If Stephen Harper thinks this is just a liberal issue he is heading down the same solitary road. Unlike George W., Harper can actually run again. But not on his Taliban platform...
> 
> ...



Why Canada should stay
Al Qaeda poses a threat to this country that will not decrease if we withdraw troops from Kandahar, says Seth G. Jones
_Toronto Star_, May 7
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/210617



> There is a growing movement in Canada to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, illustrated by such newspaper headlines as: "Is it time to go?" and "Canada must leave Afghanistan." Such a move would be a tragic mistake. Withdrawing would be a severe blow to NATO's efforts in Afghanistan and would ultimately undermine Canada's own security.
> 
> There are at least three myths in the Canadian media that need to be dispelled.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (8 May 2007)

*Articles found May 8, 2007*

Disfiguring skin disease plagues Afghanistan
Tue May 8, 2007 2:29PM BST By Robert Birsel
Article Link

KABUL (Reuters) - The 10-year-old Afghan girl has big eyes, a shy smile and a dark lesion speckled with blood on her right cheek.

The girl has leishmaniasis, a disease caused by a parasite transmitted by a tiny sandfly that can lead to severe scarring, often on the face.

The girl, Sahima, wearing a purple tunic and trousers and pale blue shoes, answers "no" softly when asked if the sore hurts.

But her father is worried about the lesion, the size of a big coin.

"Of course, this doesn't look good," the father, Najibullah, said at a leishmaniasis clinic crowded with children with sores in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Najibullah said he first noticed a mark on his daughter's face two months ago. "It was a very small dot but it grew and grew. If it grows any more it will cover her whole face."

Leishmaniasis isn't a priority for the government and its aid donors, grappling with shocking rates of infant mortality, tuberculosis, malaria and trauma.

The most common form of the disease is not fatal but it causes untold misery. Victims with scarring on their faces are stigmatised: children are excluded at school and girls often won't be able to find husbands.

Long-neglected by the rich world, the disease is attracting a bit more attention in the West, if not more funds.

Some foreign troops in Afghanistan and Iraq have also been bitten by the sandflies and have developed the disease. NATO saw about 150 cases in Afghanistan in 2005 and about 12 last year, a force spokeswoman said.
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Living with an eerie silence
At a base near Kandahar City, does the quiet mean the Taliban are gone? Or lying in wait? 
GRAEME SMITH From Tuesday's Globe and Mail May 8, 2007 at 2:19 AM EDT
Article Link

Sperwan, Afghanistan — Last year, the biggest secret in Canada's artillery regiments was their shortage of ammunition. The heavy guns west of Kandahar city pounded Taliban bunkers with so many shells that their supply lines couldn't keep up with the demand, and soldiers asked reporters not to reveal how dangerously low they were running.

But this year, things are very different. Posing beside their silent hulking gun, the troops ask a photographer to overlook the fact that the weapon hasn't fired at enemies since they arrived at this hilltop a few months ago.

“Don't tell them we aren't doing any shooting,” a soldier said. “It's just embarrassing.” 

The artillery isn't the only thing that's quiet here at Sperwan Ghar, a forward base in the heart of Panjwai District, southwest of Kandahar city. Some of the infantry platoons that patrol the fields and villages around this base haven't fired a single shot. Even the dog seems tired, lolling in the shade beside a neatly constructed dog house.
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Soldier's lawyer wants charges dropped
Last Updated: Monday, May 7, 2007 | 10:28 AM AT CBC News 
Article Link

There should be no trial for Master Cpl. Robbie Fraser, who is charged with manslaughter in the death of a fellow soldier in Afghanistan, says his lawyer.

Saul Simmonds said his client, who is based at CFB Shilo in Manitoba and grew up on P.E.I., has suffered enough.

Fraser is facing charges of manslaughter and negligent performance of duty under the National Defence Act. Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh died in August 2006 when Fraser's gun allegedly went off while he was travelling in a military vehicle along a bumpy road outside Kandahar.

Simmonds, who is also based in Manitoba, said manslaughter is a wilful act, and there was no wilful act in this case.

He is hoping a Defence Department review of the case will see the charges dropped.
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O'Connor should stay, poll majority says
Canadians give defence minister benefit of doubt in alleged mistreatment of detainees: pollster
Jack Aubry, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Monday, May 07, 2007
Article Link

The majority of Canadians believe Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor should hang on to his cabinet post despite the furore over the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan, partly because the minister should not be expected to know everything that happens to prisoners after they are handed over to Afghan officials.

A new Ipsos Reid poll, conducted exclusively for CanWest News Service and Global National, found 53 per cent of Canadians believe it is unfair for opposition parties to call for Mr. O'Connor to step down as they have been doing almost every day recently in the House of Commons. On the other hand, 36 per cent of Canadians believe Mr. O'Connor has been negligent and should have been monitoring what was happening to the detainees after they were turned over to Afghan officials.

The Harper government has been under steady siege in the Commons since allegations surfaced in late April that as many as 30 prisoners transferred by Canadians may have been abused.
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Afghanistan: Two U.S. soldiers shot dead at prison
Mon. May 07, 2007 02:58 pm.- By Zainab Osman. 
Article Link

(SomaliNet) A rogue Afghan soldier shot dead two U.S. soldiers at the high-security Pul-i-Charkhi prison on the eastern outskirts of Kabul, the U.S. military said. 

The Taliban said it was behind the shooting, saying the attacker was one of its fighters who had infiltrated the Afghan army. 

The soldier shot at vehicles leaving the prison on Sunday, and was then shot by other Afghan soldiers at the jail, U.S. coalition forces said in a statement. It said two American soldiers were wounded in the attack while the Taliban said six were killed. 

"A large number of our Taliban mujahid (holy warriors) have infiltrated the U.S.-puppet Afghan government to find good targets," Taliban commander Mullah Hayatallah Khan told Reuters by satellite phone from an undisclosed location. 

The dead soldiers were military trainers working with Afghans at Pul-i-Charkhi prison, which is being upgraded by U.S. 

forces to house suspected Taliban prisoners being returned from U.S. custody in Afghanistan and Guantanamo in Cuba. 

"We're helping build the facility and we're helping to train the guard force," U.S. military spokesman Major Sheldon Smith said. The first 12 U.S.-held Taliban were returned to Afghan authorities last month, to be held in a newly refurbished wing. 

Pul-i-Charkhi has been notorious since the 1970s when a hardline communist regime threw large numbers of military rivals, clergy and other political prisoners into the jail, with executions held daily. 

Since 2001, Taliban prisoners captured by Afghan forces have staged at least two revolts at the prison and several have escaped. 

The prison also holds Jonathan "Jack" Idema, an American jailed in 2004 for running a private jail and illegally detaining and torturing people in a freelance hunt for Osama bin Laden. Two others convicted in that case have been released. 
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‘Abuse happens, unfortunately’: local soldier back from Afghanistan  
By ANDREA HOUSTON Local News - Monday, May 07, 2007 Updated @ 11:58:53 PM 
Article Link

With snapshots and stories from his time in Afghanistan, Maj. Ross Cossar spoke proudly yesterday about his role in reshaping the country, even if it's interacting with one person at a time. 

The Norwood area man's presentation — Rebuilding Afghanistan: People Helping People — made at yesterday's Peterborough Rotary Club meeting, documented his recent seven-month tour of duty in the war-ravaged country with pictures of Afghan children, Afghan military and shots of the cities and countryside. 

"Fifty years from now, the history books will tell us if we did good work there or not," Cossar said. "War fighting is not what were all about over there." 

After the presentation, Cossar spoke to The Examiner on allegations raised by the Globe and Mail recently that Taliban prisoners picked up by Canadian soldiers were turned over to Afghan authorities and tortured. 

"Abuse happens, unfortunately. But you have to remember, we're talking about people who are trying to kill us," Cossar said. 
"But for the military, part of the process (with prisoners) is to hand them over. 

"We were invited there to help them." 

In the Globe and Mail report, 30 Afghan men said they had been beaten, starved, frozen, choked and subjected to electric shocks while in Afghan custody. 

"Definitely, when we try to teach and educate," Cossar said, "we need to make sure that the message is clear that prisoners need to be treated with respect and dignity." 
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Canadian engineers detonate IED in southern Afghanistan; nobody hurt
Canadian Press Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Article Link

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (CP) - Canadian engineers have safely detonated an improvised explosive device at the side of a dirt road near Spin Boldak in southern Afghanistan. 

The device, a rusty bucket packed with explosives and wired to a battery box, erupted in a huge cloud of flame and smoke as soldiers watched from the safety of their armoured vehicles. The controlled explosion came after engineers spent several hours poking and prodding the bomb with a remote-control robot. 

The roadside bomb, which was found exposed at the side of the road, was later fitted with explosives and detonated remotely. 

Soldiers say it's unusual to see such a device out in the open, and suspect insurgents were preparing to set it up when it was spotted. 
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Taliban may not listen to 'Pakistan-Afghanistan jirga  
Malaysia Sun Tuesday 8th May, 2007  (ANI)
Article Link

Islamabad, May 8 : A member of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Peace Jirga Commission has said that the commission might not succeed in pacifying a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Daily Times quoted Rustam Shah Mohmand, an adviser to Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao Khan and the heads the Pakistani commission in the jirga, as saying that "I do not have much hope for success."

The meeting appears to have hit snags before it has even started, as the Taliban ruled out their participation, rejecting the move as an 'attempt by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to prolong' his rule.

The governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed on May 4 to hold their first joint jirga in the first week of August in Afghanistan, which would be followed by another one in Pakistan. 

The two countries recently decided to try using the traditional tribal system to combat the Taliban. 

President Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai agreed to the idea during their joint meeting with US President George W Bush in September last year.
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Graveyard shift for Afghan med students
 TheStar.com May 08, 2007 Rosie DiManno
Article Link

KANDAHAR–They want to heal the sick. But first they have to steal the dead.

Some medical students at Kandahar University have been turned into grave robbers at a faculty that doesn't permit dissemination or dissection of cadavers.

On this campus, as apparently at all others in Afghanistan, no one is allowed to open up and scrutinize the human corpse, forbidden under the local interpretation of Islamic law.

"I have heard about this being done but I haven't stolen from graves myself,'' says Farhad Shinwari, now entering his seventh and final year of study at Kandahar U.

Yet the smile on the 28-year-old's face suggests he's not quite telling the truth about his involvement in the macabre business of enlightenment by disinterment, which has become wink-wink common out of necessity, the mother of invention. And these are bright young Afghans.

It's widely understood, as well, that instructors at the medical faculty adhere to their own policy of "don't ask, don't tell.''

"I know that it's a sin to dissect cadavers,'' Shinwari continues, picking his words carefully. "But how else are we to learn? We cannot only look at pictures in books.''

For many years, during the Taliban era, medical students were not even allowed that, with anatomy books burned, so much of their education deemed un-Islamic because the study of physiology and biology clashed head-on with what was most hysterically taboo to the "Talibs'' – the human body.

At first, religious authorities declared that studying with skeletons was all right but then reversed themselves making Dr. Bones persona non grata. Further, there has been historical disagreement on whether dissection can be practised on the remains of non-Muslims, who don't count.
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Canadian antiwar activists mingle with terror groups at Cairo conference
Representatives of four groups on Canada's list of terrorist organizations at recent gathering
Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service Published: Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Article Link

OTTAWA - Canadian activists were out in force at a recent conference in Cairo that sought to forge closer links between the international antiwar movement and Islamic resistance groups, including several on Canada's terrorism list.

About 20 Canadians attended the March 29-April 1 Cairo Conference, the largest delegation from Canada in the event's five-year history.

According to one report, it was also one of the largest delegations from outside the Middle East. In total, as many as 1,500 delegates from the Middle East, Europe, South Korea and the Americas attended.

Many of the Canadian delegates were from the Canadian Peace Alliance, the country's largest umbrella peace organization, and some of its 150 affiliated groups, said peace alliance co-ordinator Sid Lacombe, who attended the conference.
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NATO convoy ambushed in Afghanistan
5/8/2007, 9:50 a.m. EDT By NOOR KHAN  The Associated Press    
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Suspected Taliban militants ambushed a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan early Tuesday, and a gunshot victim said soldiers fleeing the scene shot him and killed a man in a bakery.

NATO said one civilian was killed and two wounded in the cross-fire after militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and guns as the convoy passed through a civilian area. NATO said soldiers returned fire, but did not specify if the casualties were caused by militants or soldiers.

Afghan officials have pleaded repeatedly with international troops to exercise caution to prevent civilian casualties, which has fueled distrust of international forces and the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.
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UN staff member shot dead in Afghanistan
From correspondents in Kabul, Afghanistan, 8 May 2007 - (www.indiaenews.com)
Article Link

A UN staff member was shot dead Tuesday in volatile Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan, a statement of the UN Assistance Mission said.

Sadequllah, 38, who was a driver for the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, was killed apparently by gunmen on a motorbike at around 7 a.m. on his way to his office in Kandahar, the statement said.

'The safety and well-being of those Afghan and international staff who work for the UN in Afghanistan is a matter of paramount importance to us,' said Tom Koenigs, the special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan.

On April 17 four Nepalese security guards and an Afghan driver working for a UN agency were killed in a roadside bomb in Kandahar.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (8 May 2007)

NATO paces Afghan offensive
_Washington Times_, May 8 [VE DAY]
http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20070507-115823-8325r



> NATO officers and diplomats say they are selectively securing some areas of southern Afghanistan ahead of others, hoping the contrast between Taliban and government rule will gradually undermine support for the Islamist insurgents.
> 
> Officers responsible for "Operation Achilles," the spring offensive being undertaken by U.S., British and Canadian forces, say they are in no hurry to drive the Taliban from some of the strongholds they captured in northern Helmand province last year.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (9 May 2007)

*Articles found May 9, 2007*

'A good day' for bomb squadEngineers neutralize one more deadly IED
By CP Wed, May 9, 2007
Article Link

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan -- Canadian military engineers fought fire with fire yesterday as they safely detonated a crude roadside bomb in a cloud of flame and smoke near this border town in southern Afghanistan. 

The soldiers of Engineer Squadron, attached to the Royal Canadian Dragoons, tried in vain to use a remote-controlled robot to split apart the device -- a rusty bucket packed with explosives and wired to a black battery box. 

After severing the wires from a distance, the engineers and a team of explosive experts dispatched from Kandahar Airfield used their own high-powered explosive to reduce the device to little more than bits of rubble. 

When it was over, all that was left was a hot, blackened crater in the middle of a parched, barren tract of land just a few kilometres from the Pakistan border. 

As soldiers examined the charred hole, section commander Sgt. Dave Camp beamed with the satisfaction of a job well done. 
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color=yellow]Canadian troops engage Taliban for second day[/color]
Updated Tue. May. 8 2007 9:02 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Canadian soldiers fought a fierce battle against the Taliban on Tuesday for the second day in a row, alongside soldiers from the Afghan National Army. 

In Nalgham, about 35 kilometres south-west of Kandahar city, members of Hotel company made their way over mud walls and through waist-high water, as militants shot at them with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. 

The company's commander, Maj. Alex Ruff, told CTV News the battle has gone well. 

"Well, so far, and keep your fingers crossed, we haven't lost anybody and there are a lot less Taliban running around," he said. 

Initial estimates suggested 23 militants were killed in the firefight. 

But Ruff has reason to be cautious. On April 8, he lost six soldiers to an improvised explosive device: Cpl. Brent Poland, Master Cpl. Christopher Stannix, Sgt. Don Lucas, Cpl. Aaron Williams, Pte. Kevin Kennedy and Pte. David Greenslade. 

Soldiers are trying to train Afghan troops so they can eventually take up the war against the Taliban, allowing Canadians to focus on a supporting role when engaging the enemy. 

On Tuesday, Afghan army members fought on the front line in Nalgham, using similar weapons as the Taliban and with the same expert knowledge of the landscape. 

The Taliban are now using poppy fields to their advantage. It's near the end of Afghanistan's poppy harvesting season, and insurgents are using the long stems to hide from coalition forces. 

But Canadian soldiers, far better trained, are using the Taliban's tactics against them. 
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Canadian soldiers guard Afghan-Pakistani border as two governments meet
Canadian Press  Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Article Link

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (CP) - Canadian soldiers stood guard at the Pakistan border Wednesday as Afghan government and security officials met to discuss border issues with their Pakistani neighbours. 

The two sides get together every few months to discuss security and other issues that come up along their shared boundary. 

Soldiers closed the border for nearly two hours as they waited for the delegation to arrive. 

It includes Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan, who is representing coalition forces at the meeting. 

Canada has established a significant military presence in this district of southern Kandahar province in an effort to stem the flow of Taliban insurgents across the border. 

An estimated 12,000 people cross the border every day at Spin Boldak, about 70 kilometres southeast of Kandahar city. 
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NATO troops not leaving Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 8 (UPI) 
Article Link

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in Pakistan Tuesday the military alliance has no plans to pull its troops out of Afghanistan. 
Scheffer was in Pakistan to discuss regional security with its leaders because of the growing terrorist violence along the border and inside Afghanistan. 

"My answer always is -- and let me repeat it here -- that my expectation is that NATO forces will be there for the foreseeable future," said Scheffer, Voice of American reported. 

The force, led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has about 35,000 troops in Afghanistan. The troops have been conducting a major offensive in southern Afghanistan to put down Taliban violence, the report said. 

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Scheffer praised Pakistan's efforts but said more needs to be done in the region. 

Officials in Afghanistan and the United States say Taliban militants have set up a number of safe havens inside Pakistan, from where they mount attacks inside Afghanistan. Pakistan has denied the claim. 
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Britain says Iran may be helping Taliban forces in Afghanistan  
The Associated Press Tuesday May 8th, 2007   
Article Link

LONDON (AP) - Britain's defense minister said Tuesday there was some indication that Iran may be helping Taliban forces fighting NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Des Browne said that, in other respects, Iran was playing a positive role in the region.

Britain and the United States have accused elements within the Iranian regime of aiding insurgents in Iraq, and Browne told the House of Commons Defense Committee that Tehran might be playing a similar role in Afghanistan.

"Demonstrably they have sought confrontation by proxy with us and the United States and other NATO members elsewhere in the region, and there is some indication that they are doing the same in Afghanistan," he said, without elaborating.

Browne said that, in other ways, Iran was playing a positive role, providing investment and sealing its border with Afghanistan to cut off the flow of illegal drugs.

"This is a complex environment," he said. "Regionally, an Afghanistan which is not a failed state and has a reduced drugs economy is in the strategic interest of all these countries."

Britain has several thousand troops in Afghanistan, most based in the volatile southern province of Helmand. Earlier this year, Browne announced plans to boost troop levels in Afghanistan to around 7,700 while reducing the number in Iraq from 7,000 to about 5,500.
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Force 'cannot solve Afghanistan'  
Article Link

Nato head Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said he believes there is no military solution to the Afghan situation. 
Mr Scheffer was speaking during talks in Pakistan on ways of containing the Taleban insurgency on the Pakistan-Afghan border. 

Violence in Afghanistan has returned to levels not seen since the Taleban were ousted in 2001. 

More than 4,000 people were killed last year in fighting between militants and international-led forces. 

'Nation-building' 

"It is my strong opinion that the final answer in Afghanistan will not be a military one and cannot be a military one," the Nato secretary general told a joint news conference after talks with President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad. 

"The final answer in Afghanistan is called reconstruction, development and nation-building." 

Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Khurshid Kasuri, said his country had deployed more troops and suffered more casualties than international forces in its attempts to secure the border. 

"The onus for border control cannot be placed on Pakistan alone," he told the news conference. 

"We expect a matching response from Afghanistan as each side must play its due role to combat the menace of terrorism." 
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'Afghanistan attacks Iran link'
By MICHAEL LEA May 09, 2007
Article Link

BRITISH troops in Afghanistan are being targeted by weapons supplied by IRAN, Defence Secretary Des Browne has said. 

Militant elements of Iran’s regime have been behind deadly attacks on UK forces in Iraq, supplying mortars, rockets and roadside bombs to insurgents around Basra.

Now evidence suggests they are also operating secretly in Afghanistan.

Mr Browne told the Commons Defence Committee: “They have sought confrontation by proxy with us, the US and other Nato members elsewhere in the region.

“There is some indication they are doing the same in Afghanistan.”  
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Guard unit begins journey to Afghanistan
By CHUCK CRUMBO ccrumbo@thestate.com  CAMP SHELBY, Miss.
Article Link

As the S.C. National Guard soldiers started to climb the airplane’s steps Tuesday, Chaplain Roy Butler offered each a small silver cross and a hug.

“It’s kind of a tough thing, putting those guys on the plane even though you know you’re going to follow them,” said Butler, pastor of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Columbia, who will join the troops later.

Tuesday’s departure of 218th Brigade Combat Team members from Gulfport marked the first in a succession of flights that will take them on a 7,000-mile trek to the Afghanistan war.

Including Tuesday’s planeload of troops, about half of the 1,400 soldiers in the 218th now have left Camp Shelby, where they have been training since Feb. 1.

All but two dozen of the troops here are expected to be on their way to the war-torn southwestern Asian country by the weekend. Those staying behind must pack office equipment and gear before their flight leaves in June.

The brigade has an additional 200 soldiers training at Fort Riley, Kan. They will be leaving for Afghanistan next week.

In the interim, commanders are trying to keep the troops focused, said Lt. Col. Ken Braddock of Columbia, the brigade’s executive officer. “This is the time that scares me.”

Someone could get hurt if the soldiers aren’t alert when they reach Afghanistan, he said.

“It is not a safe place. There are people there who don’t like us. The time you let your guard down is when bad things happen.”

After being at Camp Shelby for three months, the soldiers are ready to go, said Lt. Col. Bob Bradshaw of Goose Creek, commander of the brigade’s security forces.

Getting there will be a challenge. From Mississippi, it takes three to seven days to reach Kabul, Afghanistan, where the brigade will take over command of Task Force Phoenix, charged with training the Afghan army and police.

Lengthy delays can occur after the troops reach the Persian Gulf because the area is in the midst of its sandstorm season.

Tuesday’s departure to Afghanistan contrasted sharply with the emotional send-offs the troops received from South Carolina.
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Study: VA must update how it handles PTSD
More veterans make mental health claims than before
By Rick Rogers UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER May 9, 2007 
Article Link

A federal study released yesterday urges the most sweeping changes since World War II on how veterans are diagnosed with and compensated for post traumatic stress disorder. 
  
The Department of Veterans Affairs needs to replace its narrowly defined and unevenly applied criteria for PTSD screening with broader standards based on the latest knowledge about psychiatry, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council said in their joint report. The agencies also called on the VA to jettison its current rating scale for disability payments and establish a system of fixed, long-term benefits. 

“As the increasing number of claims to the VA shows, PTSD has become a very significant public-health problem,” said Nancy Andreasen, who led the committee of mental-health experts that conducted the yearlong study. “Comprehensive revision is needed.” 
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Canadian soldiers guard Afghan-Pakistani border as two governments meet
Canadian Press  Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Article Link

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (CP) - Canadian soldiers stood guard at the Pakistan border Wednesday as Afghan government and security officials met to discuss border issues with their Pakistani neighbours. 

The two sides get together every few months to discuss security and other issues that come up along their shared boundary. 

Soldiers closed the border for nearly two hours as they waited for the delegation to arrive. 

It includes Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan, who is representing coalition forces at the meeting. 

Canada has established a significant military presence in this district of southern Kandahar province in an effort to stem the flow of Taliban insurgents across the border. 

An estimated 12,000 people cross the border every day at Spin Boldak, about 70 kilometres southeast of Kandahar city. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (9 May 2007)

Afghan deployment 'beyond 2009'
BBC, May 8
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6636113.stm



> UK forces will remain [not exactly what is said later - MC] in Afghanistan beyond 2009, Defence Secretary Des Browne has told a committee of MPs.
> 
> He said February's announcement of a troops boost, with forces committed to 2009, was "for planning purposes only".
> 
> ...



Official: 21 Afghan Civilians Killed
AP, May 9
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6619855,00.html



> KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - Airstrikes called in by U.S. Special Forces soldiers fighting with insurgents in southern Afghanistan killed at least 21 civilians, officials said Wednesday. One coalition soldier was also killed.
> 
> Helmand provincial Gov. Assadullah Wafa said Taliban fighters sought shelter in villagers' homes during the fighting in the Sangin district Tuesday evening, and that subsequent airstrikes killed 21 civilians, including several women and children.
> 
> ...



69 Afghans' Families Get a U.S. Apology
Marines Killed 19 Civilians in March
Washington Post, May 9
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801360.html



> A U.S. Army brigade commander in Afghanistan yesterday told the families of 69 civilians who were killed or wounded by members of an elite Marine Special Forces unit in March that he is "deeply, deeply ashamed" about the incident, describing the series of shootings along a civilian thoroughfare as a "terrible, terrible mistake."
> 
> Col. John Nicholson said he apologized to a group of Afghan people in the eastern Nangahar province on behalf of the U.S. government and delivered solatia payments of approximately $2,000 to the families of 19 innocent civilians who died as a result of the March 4 attacks. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon via a video feed from Afghanistan yesterday, Nicholson said the payments were "essentially a symbol of our sympathy to them" and "a way of expressing our genuine condolences over the incident occurring."
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (10 May 2007)

*Articles found May 10, 2007*

Do we remember why our troops are in Afghanistan?  
Sault Star Editorial - Thursday, May 10, 2007 @ 09:00 
Article Link

A recent poll suggests 54.6 per cent of Canadians would want the country's troops pulled out of Afghanistan if casualties climb. That compares to 39.3 per cent who consider casualties an unfortunate but necessary part of the military mission. 

At the risk of being flippant about a topic as serious as war and casualties, we doubt our soldiers are the type who want to run when the going gets tough. 

A better question to ask is whether Canadians understand the mission in Afghanistan and how it helps that country develop and how it's part of the war on terror. 

Another question we can ask is at what point do we declare our mission a success and bring our troops home? Unlike The Second World War, success of the Afghan mission is tougher to define. It's easier for Canadians to become skeptical and dismissive of the fight. 

Fiascos such as the recent controversy over torture and the lacklustre support of some NATO nations chips away at public support. 

The disastrous campaign in Iraq doesn't help either because people are tempted to equate the two conflicts. 

And just what is the Afghan mission? 

In case we've forgotten, at one time a group of thugs called the Taliban ran the country. Not only did they trample on most basic human rights, but they also provided a safe haven for al-Qaida which was responsible for terror attacks around the world, including 9/11. The mission in Afghanistan is to make sure the Taliban never regain power. We do this through humanitarian assistance, and through force if necessary. 

It is a noble mission supported by NATO and the United Nations. Since Canada joined the NATO-led mission in 2002, 54 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed. We pray that no more will die, but understand that this won't likely be the case. 
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Cdn troops spread goodwill among remote Afghan villagers
May 10, 2007 SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (CP)
Article Link

 Canadian soldiers were on patrol Thursday along the edge of the sprawling Registan Desert in southeastern Afghanistan. 

The convoy barrelled down dry riverbeds and across barren plains, stopping to talk with goat herders and villagers. 

It soon reached the desert, which resembles a massive mountain range of hot, reddish sand. 

Several of the soldiers, members of Recce Squadron from the Royal Canadian Dragoons, tested their endurance by climbing up the steep 40-metre incline. 

Later, soldiers with the Provincial Reconstruction Team met with a group of local farmers. 

They handed out toys to children and shared tea and candies with village leaders, letting them know they would be looking out for their safety. 
More on link

1,000 Polish troops more to Afghanistan   
Posted : Thu, 10 May 2007 
Article Link

WARSAW, Poland, May 10 Poland plans to sent 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan to join NATO forces fighting Taliban and al-Qaida rebels, Poland Radio reported Thursday.

Polish troops already in Afghanistan number about 500, of whom 100 were deployed last year and 400 earlier this year.

Abdul Haider, Afghan ambassador to Poland, said Warsaw's efforts to beef up its contigent symbolize the strength of strong links between the two countries.

Krzysztof Bobinski of the Polish Institute of International Affairs said dispatching additional troops to Afghanistan "will be a hard pill to swallow for plenty of Poles." Bobinski said firing rockets and guns is not the way to win the war. He suggested government reform and economic development as more effective tools.
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Rules wanted for terror suspects caught at sea: sources
May 9, 2007  By MURRAY BREWSTER
Article Link

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada and the United States held talks last fall to set formal rules for the handover of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters captured by Canadian warships at sea. 

The talks began with a visit to Washington last October by two senior members of the Defence Department's judicial branch, one of them a naval commander, and the exchange continued with at least one follow-up visit last winter, defence sources told The Canadian Press. 

The revelation comes amid the uproar over allegations of torture and abuse of militants transferred to Afghan authorities by Canadian soldiers. 

Officials at both the Defence Department and Foreign Affairs declined to discuss the negotiations. 

"The government of Canada regularly engages on a number of levels on many issues with our allies and partners," Tanya Barnes, a Defence spokeswoman, said in a terse e-mail. 

"Obviously, such consultations on operational questions are not made public."' 

Late Wednesday, Defence Department spokesman Marc Raider said no agreement has yet been struck with the Americans. 

New Democrats recently tabled in the Commons a heavily censored memo, dated Oct. 12, 2006, to Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor which referred to the handling of detainees at sea. 
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Canadians won't fire if women, children present: officer
'We're very much reflective of canadian society'
Tom Blackwell National Post Thursday, May 10, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Canadian troops take pains to avoid civilian casualties even if it means not firing on Taliban fighters when they hide among women and children, a key combat officer said yesterday.

Canada's contingent tried hard to distance itself from fresh controversy over sometimes deadly collateral damage inflicted by international operations in Afghanistan.

A U.S. bombing that reportedly killed more than 20 civilians and shootings by British soldiers in which a Kandahar man died have revived feelings among some Afghans that the foreign troops pay little heed to innocents caught in the crossfire.

But Major Alex Ruff, whose unit was involved in two days of intense fighting this week, said Canadian soldiers take the issue seriously.

"Canadians conduct our business as we conduct it and we're very much reflective of Canadian society," he said. "We had a couple of incidents where the Taliban were hiding amongst women and children inside compounds, but we won't engage them. It's not what we do.

"We know there are civilians in and about the area, and we won't engage where they're at."

Maj. Ruff heads the Hotel combat team, which was attacked by the Taliban this week, forcing it into firefights that resulted in more than 20 insurgents being killed.

He said some Taliban hid among civilians as they fled, but were not firing at Canadians at the time. Although the Canadians did not go after them, they continue to be under surveillance by "higher assets."

At least 21 civilians, including women and children, were reportedly killed after U.S. special forces called in airstrikes against Taliban fighters in the Sangin district of neighbouring Helmand province .
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Kabul police showcase key terror suspect
Charged with assassinating former afghan PM
Tom Blackwell National Post Thursday, May 10, 2007
Article Link

KABUL - The Kabul police captured a key terrorism suspect yesterday, and went to unusual lengths to tout their coup.

As a journalist arrived for a meeting on a different matter, the head of criminal investigations proudly revealed the arrest of Sher Ahmad on charges of assassinating a former Afghan prime minister last week -- and then offered up the suspect for a photograph.

Two doors down, the journalist and a translator were ushered into a room where a neatly dressed Mr. Ahmad sat on a well-stuffed sofa, being quietly interrogated by two officers.

He seemed unfazed by the flashing of a camera as he spoke animatedly to detectives. Finally, another officer shooed the visitors out of the room.

Mr. Ahmad is charged with killing Abdul Sabur Farid Kuhestani, a conservative Afghan senator who was prime minister for a few weeks in 1992.

Farid, as he is known, was shot dead last Wednesday by assailants who had set up an ambush for him as he left his home to drive to a mosque, police and media sources said at the time.
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[Senior U.S. Commander Apologizes For Marine Shooting In Afghanistan  
Thursday May 10, 2007 (0314 PST)
Article Link

 Kabul: A senior military commander in Afghanistan has apologized for the conduct of U.S. Marines who fired on civilians near Jalalabad, killing 19 people, including women and children. 
A U.S. commander in eastern Afghanistan, Army Colonel John Nicholson, says, "Today we met with the families of those victims... and we made official apologies on the part of the U.S. government and on the part of the coalition." 

Colonel Nicholson read to reporters the apology he delivered to the families, which says, "I stand before you today deeply, deeply ashamed and terribly sorry that Americans have killed and wounded innocent Afghan people." 
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Pentagon to Fortify Force in Afghanistan 
Thursday May 10, 2007 1:01 AM AP Photo RYR102 By ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer 
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon said Wednesday that it will maintain a heightened level of U.S. troops in Afghanistan well into 2008 by sending elements of the 101st Airborne Division as a replacement force. 

The 101st Airborne's commanding general and his headquarters staff, plus the division's 4th Brigade, will deploy early next year, the Pentagon said. They will replace the 82nd Airborne Division's headquarters and its 4th Brigade. 

Extra combat troops are in Afghanistan in anticipation of a tougher fight in coming months against the Taliban militants who have demonstrated a more organized, better trained resistance, particularly in the southern part of the country. 

The Pentagon did not say how long the new units would stay in Afghanistan, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently said all units in Afghanistan and Iraq would deploy for up to 15 months instead of the normal 12 months. 

While President Bush's troop increase in Iraq has aroused widespread public and congressional opposition, there has been little dissent over efforts to intensify U.S. operations in Afghanistan. Both conflicts, however, are continuing to put severe strains on a military that is constantly scrambling to find fresh troops and equipment to send to the war zones. 
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At the breaking point in Afghanistan
Experts say local Pashtuns offer more support to Taliban than to NATO troops.
Dateline: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 by Paul Weinberg 
Article Link

While the explosive detainee torture scandal continues to monopolize the front pages, a growing chorus of defence experts are declaring NATO's Afghanistan mission to be on the razor's edge of stinging humiliation. 

Last month saw a new round of devastating critiques on the course of the war in the Pashtun south. One of them comes from University of Victoria professor Gordon Smith, a supporter of the mission, who urges a stepped-up NATO presence along with his trenchant dissection of current strategies. 

In a report for the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, Smith doesn't mince words. While the goal of self-sustaining peace is worthy, he argues, current NATO policies are "not on course to achieve that objective, even within a period of 10 years." 

   Current policies "producing as many enemies as we are killing."

The Taliban — a "fluid coalition" not to be confused with the centrally controlled organization pre-2001 — may not be popular with many Pashtuns, he says, but they recognize it as an anti-colonial force with more loyalty to country than transient NATO. 

And his punch line: failure to negotiate with this expression of Pashtun localism "will almost surely cede the field to them. We do not believe that the Taliban can be defeated or eliminated as a political entity in any meaningful time frame by Western armies using military measures." 

Says Smith, in an interview, "I hear General Rick Hillier's optimism, but he is not the only general in charge of armed forces who has been optimistic. In the end, no matter how good the troops and how good the will, [victory] couldn't be pulled off." 

So, too, in March, Walter Dorn — a professor at the Canadian Forces College — bluntly observed in a submission to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, that the current NATO strategy is "unworkable and fatally flawed" and is "producing as many enemies as we are killing." NATO, he complains, has not even started talking or negotiating with its opponents, who, he says, "are motivated by the defence of their country, not love for the Taliban" and who "long to live and die like the heroes of their folklore." 
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Bulgaria to increase Afghanistan contingent to 400 by June  
May 10, 2007          
Article Link

Bulgaria will increase sharply its contingent in Afghanistan, Bulgaria's Defense Minister Veselin Bliznakov revealed Thursday at the country's second seaside city Burgas. 

The minister released the news at a wreath-laying ceremony on the occasion of the Victory Day of the Second World War. 

The service members of the Bulgarian peace-keeping contingent will increase from the present 83 to a total of 400, said the minister. 

He explained that at the end of 2006, NATO's Riga Summit adopted a decision on an increase of the participation of all member states so as to stabilize Afghanistan. 

The Bulgarian soldiers will be sent to Kabul and Kandahar, where they will guard the airports, Bliznakov added. 
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Local villagers kill three Taliban in southern Afghanistan   
Posted : Thu, 10 May 2007  
Article Link

Kabul - Local villagers fought a group of Taliban militants who were trying to attack a governmental police post in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing three, including a local commander, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday. Local residents in Sangin district of southern Helmand province fought a group of insurgents who attempted to attack a security post in the district, an Interior Ministry statement said. 

Three rebels, including their local commander, were killed during the firefight, it said. 

The gunbattle came a day after over 20 civilians, including women and children, were killed in the center of the district in a US military air raid against Taliban militants who had initially fired upon Afghan and coalition forces in the area. 
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Kuwait backs Afghanistan in war against terrorism  
Tuesday May 08, 2007 (0155 PST)
Article Link

 KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said, "There is an international responsibility to support Afghanistan in fighting terrorism and Kuwait is part of that effort." 
He further said, "We in Kuwait have supported our brothers in Afghanistan and we will continue to do so." 

Afghan Foreign Minister Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta, who met with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohamed Al-Sabah along with Sheikh Mohamed, was in Kuwait for a three-day visit to discuss bilateral relations, Afghani government efforts to achieve peace within its borders, what Afghanistan needs from the international community and conversely, what Afghanistan can offer the international community. 

Sheikh Mohamed said, "There is a real effort for development that is needed by Afghanistan and the Afghan people." He further said that Afghanistan is a Muslim brother country and "we are obliged to come to their aid". 

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New French govt must withdraw troops: Taleban  
Wednesday May 09, 2007 (0741 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: A new French government must pull troops out of Afghanistan, the Taleban said after France's presidential election, and offered to extend a deadline over the release of a French hostage. 
A spokesman said the insurgent movement is ready to extend the deadline for its demands to be met for the release of the Terre d'Enfance (A World For Our Children) aid worker if the Afghan and French governments make contact. 

"We ask the new French government to secure the national interests of France and Afghanistan," Yousuf Ahmadi said hours after rightwinger Nicolas Sarkozy won the election. 

"It mustn't sacrifice its national interests for the interests and strategies of the Americans. It is also not fair that the French youth or the Afghan youth die in fighting. 

"Our first demand from the new government of France is that before anything else they must present an exact timetable for the withdrawal of their troops from Afghanistan." 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (11 May 2007)

A good Clip with a full clip
_Toronto Star_, May 11, by Rosie DiManno
http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/212833



> KANDAHAR–Taxi!!!
> 
> Well, maybe not quite.
> 
> ...



Abducted aid worker freed by Taliban
AP, May 11



> KABUL, Afghanistan --A French aid worker kidnapped by the Taliban five weeks ago was freed Friday, and the militant group credited the release to comments by France's president-elect that French troops would eventually leave Afghanistan.
> Article Tools
> 
> The release of Eric Damfreville was confirmed by the international Red Cross, which said its workers had taken custody of the Frenchman, who was abducted along with a female colleague and three Afghans on April 3.
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (12 May 2007)

*Articles found May 12, 2007*

Pakistan Army fenced part of the border with Afghanistan
Tariq Iqbal | May 11, 2007, 21:33
Article Link

Pakistan has completed part of the first phase of fencing which will prevent Talibans and other militants crossing the 1,500 mile porous border with Afghanistan. 

The decision to fence off and mine parts of the western borders occurred after American and Afghan officials accused Pakistan of not doing much in stopping the militants from crossing the border and conducting raids. 

It is widely known that those accusations were released in order to make Pakistan to do more on the War on Terror and increase the troops presence in those areas. 

Analysists believe that comments came even after knowing that it is impossible to stop the militants from crossing 1,500 mile porous border.

A military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, said that the first phase would be a stretch about 20 miles long in the North Waziristan region and that the fencing for the first 12 miles had been completed. 

Afghanistan opposes the fence because of a longstanding territorial dispute, saying it would penalize Pashtun tribal communities living on both sides of the frontier, or Durand Line, named after the 19th-century colonial administrator who drew the border.

However, it is in the interest of the both countries to fence off the border in order to stop the attacks by Taliban in parts of both countries which is the main reason of instability in Afghanistan and causing Pakistan to go on the war on terror.

Pakistan acknowledges cross-border raids by the militants, but urges Western and Afghan forces to tighten border controls on their side.

On 19 April, Afghan and Pakistani troops clashed briefly when the Afghans destroyed a part of another section of the fence being erected between the Shkin and Barmal areas along the border in South Waziristan. 

Pakistan confirmed the clash, but denied that it was erecting a fence there. The authorities have held off plans to mine the border.

Musharraf has challenged Afghan and foreign forces to match Pakistan's effort to seal the border, which officials say include the deployment of 90,000 troops and the establishment of 110 border posts. 

Pakistan is a leading major non-NATO ally of the United States, fighting on the war on terror. 
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Canadian detained in Afghanistan receives consular visit
24-year-old reportedly detained on suspicion of al-Qaeda ties
The Ottawa Citizen Saturday, May 12, 2007
Article Link

Foreign Affairs has verified the well-being of a Canadian being detained in Afghanistan, a department spokeswoman said yesterday.

Citing the Privacy Act, Ambra Dickie was unable to confirm a media report suggesting the person under arrest is a 24-year-old former Calgary resident of Pakistani origin, suspected of being involved with militants of the former Taliban regime.

In Halifax, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said the man was receiving consular services from the Canadian Embassy in Kabul.

"At this point in time, for privacy reasons, we're not at liberty to say a lot about this case, but it is somewhat unusual."

A newspaper report yesterday said the man was detained on suspicion of attending a training camp in Waziristan, a Pakistan-Afghanistan border region which contains hideouts and training grounds for Taliban insurgents and al-Qaeda fighters.

The man was carrying a Canadian passport at the time of his arrest.
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Sweet opposes deadline for leaving Afghanistan
Kevin Werner, Ancaster (May 11, 2007) 
Article Link

Canada is rebuilding a devastated Afghan society and withdrawing Canadian soldiers would upset the nation-building the country has begun, says an area Conservative MP.

David Sweet (Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale) says he opposes setting a deadline to pull Canada's soldiers out of war-ravaged Afghanistan because their job isn't over.

"We are trying to nurse this country and those kinds of things you can't put a time limit on," said Mr. Sweet.

Canadian soldiers, he said, are in Afghanistan with 36 other countries as part of a United Nations mandate to rebuild a devastated country, while at the same time fight the continuing war on terrorism.
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Feature: Afghanistan fights flower power
By Farhad Peikar
Article Link

Baghlan, Afghanistan (dpa) - Neatly attired in a dark blue suit, Shah Mohammad Poya deftly wields a long stick as he and 30 other men hack clumps of pink, red and white flowers from the poppy bushes - the crops Afghanistan's government has banned. 

But Poya is not harvesting, he is destroying the abundance under a new drive to curb the booming narcotics trade that has fed insecurity inside his country and earned it a bad name around the globe. 

One of several new policemen who have received special training, he recently returned from a counter-narcotics course in Egypt and now heads a poppy eradication department in the northern province of Baghlan. 

"With this last plot in this village, I can say with certainty that we have completely eradicated the poppy lands in two districts of the province," Poya says, hands on hips and exuding satisfaction as he surveys the stripped field in the village of Zorabi, 40 kilometres south of the provincial capital of Pul-i-Khumri. 

During a nine-hour search operation the previous day, his team had discovered the intact poppy crop in Dooshi district and, after collecting their sticks, returned to shred it to the last bush. 

Making a 30-minute trek across rough terrain and several small rivers because of the inaccessibility of Zorabi by road, the officers then awaited Poya's order as they stood before the bright swathes of flowers that are just a few weeks from harvest. Within an hour they have decimated about a hectare of the crop. 
More on link

Afghan women's lives on the line in struggle for equality
POSTED: 11:25 a.m. EDT, May 11, 2007 From Nic Robertson and Sarah Sultoon CNN
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Bibi Kuku, a 19-year-old Afghan woman, wanted to die. Forced to marry and soon pregnant, she set herself on fire in an extreme act of self-harm, she told the nurses who treated her.

She denies that happened now, saying the burns on her belly came from an accident with an oil lamp. Kuku and her baby survived, but her scars will always remain.

Human rights activists and officials say Kuku's case is not uncommon in Afghanistan. Although strides have been made for women's rights in the post-Taliban era, many women are still made to feel like second-class citizens. (Watch the brutal reality of life for Afghan women )

Afghan laws stipulate that men and women have equal rights, these experts say, but they are just not recognized.

"There is a thinking of men in my country that women are not real, not complete humans," said Homa Sultani, an Afghan woman and human rights activist.

"That is why they think that if they are not complete humans, then they do not have the right to go to the doctor or the other rights, to get education."

The culture allows Afghan men to go even further, she said.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (12 May 2007)

No signs of torture
Cages, ceiling chains not found as officials look to disprove torture claims
_Ottawa Sun_, May 12, by Scott Taylor
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/2007/05/12/4173858-sun.html

'We don't do anything that is against the law'
Afghan officials grant Citizen access to controversial detainee holding facilities
_Ottawa Citizen_, May 12, by a certain reporter
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=d760255b-18d5-4777-9341-bdae2b6a64cc&k=33986

(As for the reporter...)

Citizen writers win National Newspaper Awards
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=0bbfa528-54e8-4b34-a4af-9ee2abc7338e

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (12 May 2007)

Fresh clashes in Afghanistan leave dozens of Taliban dead
May 12, 2007, 13:31 GMT 
Article Link

Kabul - Afghan and coalition forces clashed with Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan in past two days, leaving dozens of Taliban dead while at least nine policemen were also killed, officials said on Saturday. 

At least 20 Taliban were killed in a clash with US-led coalition and Afghan security forces in Sangin district of southern Helmand province on Friday, the interior ministry said in a statement on Saturday. 

The dead bodies of 12 militants were left on the battlefield, the statement said, adding that no Afghan and or coalition soldiers were hurt in the gun-battle. 

Coalition forces while confirming the fighting, said that their joint patrol first came under attack by Taliban militants. 

The combined forces 'observed Taliban reinforcements preparing a second ambush site and requested close air support to destroy the enemy position,' US military said in a statement, adding that 'a number of enemy fighters were killed' but did not provide any figures. 
More on link

Afghanistan sacks foreign minister 
 Last Updated 12/05/2007, 20:24:05 Select text size:    
Article Link

Afghanistan's parliament has sacked the foreign minister amid controversy over Iran's forced return of thousands of refugees. 

Rangeen Dadfar Spanta has lost a no-confidence vote by a large majority in a second round of voting, after a first round on Thursday hinged on a single spoilt ballot. 

The Refugees Affairs Minister lost his job in Thursday's vote.
end


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## GAP (12 May 2007)

Turkey donates 24 howitzers to Afghan Army 
Saturday May 12, 2007 (0126 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Turkey has donated 24 heavy guns, costing six million US dollars, to the Afghan National Army (ANA). 
Speaking at the handing over ceremony held at the Ministry of Defence, deputy minister for defence General Baz Muhammad Jauhari thanked the Turkish government for the assistance. 

He said the equipment would enhance strength and capability of the Afghan National Army (ANA). Turkey had pledged the assistance on April 19. 

The howitzers, along with 2,200 cannon shells, gunpowder, fuses and spare parts were shipped by a Russian company to Afghanistan. 

The artillery guns could hit the target up to 39 kilometres, Jawhari informed. He said the artillery guns would be moved wherever needed by the ANA inside the country. Jauhari said 110 ANA officers would be sent to Turkey in the days ahead to get training in using the donated arsenal. Speaking on the occasion, Turkish military commander Nusret Tasdeler said his country was standing side by side with the international community in helping the Afghan government in restoration of peace and security in the country. 
More on link

Former Dutch defense minister expresses fears over extension of Afghan mission 
Friday May 11, 2007 (0811 PST)
Article Link

 HOLLAND: Former Dutch defense minister Joris Voorhoeve has warned against an extension of the Dutch mission in Afghanistan, the Dutch weekly magazine Vrij Nederland reported. 
In an interview with the magazine, Voorhoeve said the Dutch mission in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan could become a "mission without an end" unless the Netherlands sets clear limits to its presence there. 

The Netherlands has about 1,400 troops in Uruzgan, mainly engaged in reconstruction work. The government will decide this summer whether the mission will be extended after its two-year mandate expires in August 2008. 

The Netherlands is under great pressure from the United States and other NATO allies to stay, since no other country is eager to take over the tasks. 

Voorhoeve said an extension will bring risks. "If other countries don't accept their responsibility the Netherlands will be trapped in Uruzgan as it was in Bosnia," he said, referring to the drama of Srebrenica in 1995, when he was defense minister. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (12 May 2007)

Now, it's the Van Doos' turn to carry the load
'Heavy casualties in Afghanistan for Van Doos could have a major impact on an election'
_Toronto Star_, May 12
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/213071

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (12 May 2007)

Capt. Scott Lang - A Soldier's Diary
"Reassess Strategy"
Letter in hometown newspaper prompts reply from Kandahar
May 8, 2007
Article Link
I recently received a care package from my parents. Inside was the best morale booster of all: my mom’s homemade fudge and Rockets… I love them candies! But inside the box was a daily newspaper from March 7. It was noticeable immediately because Cpl. Kevin Megeney stood smiling out at me from the cover, with "We’re so very, very proud" as the major headline.

As I read through the paper I flipped through the Editorial section, then came across a letter by Mr. John van Gurp from Halifax. His letter was entitled "Reassess Strategy". 

Mr. van Gurp comes to his point immediately: "Through the government’s misguided military aggression, support for insurgency is the only option for many Afghans." The article goes on to end with "Canada needs to adopt policies that will win trust and confidence in Afghanistan and must end U.S.-style blind aggression before the challenges become insurmountable."

Reading such comments dishearten me, as it is a shame to see the nobility of our action in Afghanistan be trivialized down to an assumed political puppetry assimilation, and poor leadership.

Before the Canadians' and coalition military involvement there were two options for Afghans: brutal conformity or death. There is now a greater force than religious extremist tyranny in Afghanistan and it is in the form of well-guided and restrained military action. This has created a third option, Hope and the development of trust.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (13 May 2007)

Civilian Deaths Undermine War on Taliban
_NY Times_, May 13, by CARLOTTA GALL and DAVID E. SANGER



> Scores of civilian deaths over the past months from heavy American and allied reliance on airstrikes to battle Taliban insurgents are threatening popular support for the Afghan government and creating severe strains within the NATO alliance.
> 
> Afghan, American and other foreign officials say they worry about the political toll the civilian deaths are exacting on President Hamid Karzai, who last week issued another harsh condemnation of the American and NATO tactics, and even of the entire international effort here.
> 
> ...



Britain fights to curb US Afghan onslaught
_Sunday Times_, May 13



> BRITAIN will step up its presence in Afghanistan this week with the deployment of a high-profile new ambassador as concern mounts that the toll of civilians killed in the war is setting back the coalition’s efforts to win Afghan “hearts and minds”.
> 
> There is growing alarm over a wave of US bombing raids in which 110 civilians have died in the past two weeks. Twenty-one people were killed last week after US special forces called in airstrikes on the town of Sangin in Helmand province. “Sometimes you wonder whose side the Americans are on,” said a British official.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (13 May 2007)

*Articles found May 13, 2007*

No holiday for Canada’s soldiers in Afghanistan  
2007-05-13 By JAMES McCARTEN The Canadian Press 
Article Link

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan — Sean Boak’s parents would be proud.

A day before Mother’s Day, the 26-year-old Royal Canadian Dragoon was promoted to the rank of captain at the base of a jagged mountain range before embarking on a bone-jarring and at times nerve-rattling patrol of remote villages in southeastern Afghanistan, pledging to keep farmers and their families safe.

Two separate troops of soldiers were readying for an early-morning patrol Saturday when Boak stepped briskly forward to receive a new epaulet from Col. Steve Cadden, the commanding officer of the Dragoons.

"I can’t think of a better place to do this, under the sun" Cadden smiled as the morning light broke and he fixed the new decoration on Boak’s combat shirt.

"Sure beats a field parade."

Even though he dismissed the morning’s promotion as routine, Boak said he planned to call his parents as soon as his shift ended.

"They would have liked to have seen it," he said of the impromptu ceremony.

"They’re typical parents; they’re proud of any accomplishment, whether it’s routine or not."
More on link

Canadian was on suicide mission, Afghans claim
13/05/2007 10:45:42 AM 
Article Link

If his reported admissions to Afghan authorities are true, a young Canadian man of Pakistani origin went to Afghanistan to die as a suicide bomber -- just like his brother.

"(Afghan authorities) say in the written statement that the Canadian has admitted to planning to carry out a suicide bomb attack in the city," CTV's Steve Chao told Newsnet on Saturday.

"It also goes on to say that he confessed that his brother was the suicide bomber behind a Sept. 30 attack last year in Kabul that happened in the main gate of the government office.

"You may recall that this was one of the more spectacular or massive bomb attacks in Kabul in recent years. It killed as many as 12 people and injured more than 42."

Chao issued a caution: "We want to stress that these are incredible revelations that have yet to be confirmed. And at this point, we understand that the Canadian has not been charged with any crime. But if it turns out to be true, it will be the first time in several years that two Canadian brothers or a Canadian family has been involved in Afghanistan fighting alongside or for the Taliban or al Qaeda."

In Ottawa, Foreign Affairs spokesman Rejean Beaulieu  told The Canadian Press that he couldn't confirm any Canadian had been involved in the 2006 Kabul bombing, adding he was "not aware of this."
More on link

Top Taliban commander said killed
 TheStar.com - News - Top Taliban commander said killed
May 13, 2007 Associated Press
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A U.S.-led coalition operation supported by NATO troops killed the Taliban’s most prominent military commander, dealing the insurgency a “serious blow,” a NATO statement said Sunday, confirming Afghan reports of Mullah Dadullah’s death.
Dadullah, a Taliban commander who trained suicide bombers, was killed after he left his “sanctuary” in southern Afghanistan, according to a statement from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. It said the Afghan forces assisted in the operation.

“Mullah Dadullah Lang will most certainly be replaced in time, but the insurgency has received a serious blow,” it said.

Dadullah is one of the highest-ranking Taliban leaders to be killed since the fall of the hardline regime following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, and his death represents a major victory for the Afghan government and U.S. and NATO troops.

Dadullah, a top lieutenant of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was killed Saturday in the southern province of Helmand, said Said Ansari, the spokesman for Afghanistan’s intelligence service.

A second intelligence service official said Dadullah was killed near the Sangin and Nahri Sarraj districts of Helmand province, which have seen heavy fighting involving British and Afghan troops and U.S. Special Forces. The official was not authorized to give his name.

Earlier Sunday, Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid showed Dadullah’s body to reporters at a news conference in the governor’s compound.

An Associated Press reporter said the body, which was lying on a bed and dressed in a traditional Afghan robe, had no left leg and three bullet wounds: one to the back of the head and two to the stomach. Dadullah lost a leg fighting against the Soviet army that occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s.
More on link

Confessions from the combat zone
 TheStar.com - May 13, 2007 Rosie DiManno KANDAHAR 
Article Link

Embedded with Canadian troops in Afghanistan, Star columnist Rosie DiManno reflects on the sights, sounds and bad smells encountered in cramped armoured vehicles and along Panjwaii district's swoon-inducing trails

The reporter is up to her waist in water and up to her knees in mud.
This embarrassing predicament has halted the progress of the entire Charlie Company platoon.

It wasn't even a river, more like a creek, that should have been easy to traverse with a good running-start leap.

But this is what happens on a 10-kilometre hike in Panjwaii district when a person is suffering from dehydration and it's 55C and the Kevlar vest suddenly feels like a piano strapped around one's shoulders: 

Legs cramp, the stomach lurches and every breath is an admonition against that two-packs-a-day smoking habit.

So, the reporter launches off one bank with hope in her heart but plops halfway across with silt seeping into her butt. Repeated attempts to scale the opposite bank, grabbing handfuls of thorn grass – ouch, ouch, ouch – result only in repeated slides back into the creek. Finally, with two infantrymen pushing from the rear and two hauling from the front, the reporter is lugged, rolled and heaved onto dry ground.

She is now some six inches taller, tottering on shoes encased in mud, rather like the Gary Glitter platform heels of the 1970s.

"Just 800 metres to go," the medic, Cpl. Lorne Smith, says encouragingly.

Warrant Officer Marco Favasoli offers a more stimulating comment: "You don't keep walking, Rosie, I'm going to tie a rope around your ankles and drag you back."

Unlike the Afghan National Army platoon that had started out this mission on a joint patrol with Canadians – gagging at the midway point and requiring rescue by pickup truck – the rubbery-legged reporter does finish the hump.

Then collapses beneath a LAV armoured transport vehicle, the only handkerchief of shade in the desert.

From under an ANA truck parked close by, one recovering Afghan soldier whistles: "You want sleep with me?"

Delirious, the aging reporter thinks: I've still got it.

There's a donkey in the middle of the road.  

It's not moving. In fact, it's lying down, untroubled by honking traffic. The reporter, standing up in the gunner's hatch of a LAV III, doesn't remember ever seeing a donkey lying down before, much less in the middle of the road.

The other gunner, the real gunner, Warrant Officer Sam Budd, is trying to come up with a punch line for "Why did the donkey cross the road?"
More on link


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## GAP (14 May 2007)

*Articles found May 14, 2007*


It’s hockey morning in Afghanistan
Tom Blackwell, National Post Published: Sunday, May 13, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Dozens of Canadian troops stationed in the Afghan desert roused themselves in the middle of the night this week for some high-priority missions.

They weren't heading out to hunt Taliban or befriend local villagers and tribal leaders. That could wait.

They were up as early as 3:30 a.m. for Hockey Night in Canada and the Ottawa-Buffalo playoff series, beamed half-way around the world to this sprawling military base.

The cheering from one of two Canada Houses, the Canadian soldiers' recreation centres, could be heard 50 metres away as Ottawa took an early series lead over the Sabres Thursday.

The crowds were smaller Saturday - or Sunday morning in Afghanistan - with many of the troops out on patrol, but those left behind were almost as boisterous as the Senators went up 2-0 in their series.

"I'm what you call a hockey nut. I get up every time there's a hockey game, whether it's 3:30 or 4 o'clock," said Robert Jolivet of Ottawa, who installs armour plating on LAV III personnel carriers.

"When you play hockey all your life, it's part of you."

Having a chance to participate in the Canadian ritual 8-1/2 time zones from home "makes it easier for everybody. It's part of the morale," he said.

Cpl. Luis Diaz, an Ottawa native who is part of the Princess Patricia's Charlie company, showed up at 3:30 a.m. for the second Sabres-Senators match-up, an hour early, as it turned out.
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Key Taliban Leader Is Killed in Afghanistan in Joint Operation  
By TAIMOOR SHAH and CARLOTTA GALL KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 13 
Article Link

The man who probably was the Taliban’s foremost operational commander, Mullah Dadullah, was killed in a joint operation by Afghan security forces, American forces and NATO troops in Helmand Province, Governor Asadullah Khaled of the neighboring Kandahar Province said Sunday.

Mullah Dadullah’s body was displayed for journalists on Sunday morning in this southern Afghan city. The NATO force in Afghanistan confirmed his death in a statement issued in Kabul, saying that American troops had led the operation. There were various reports of the actual circumstances and day of the death.

Mullah Dadullah was one of the most wanted Taliban leaders, close to the leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, and with links to Al Qaeda, and was probably the most important operational commander. 

While the exact number of Taliban fighters or the command structure are not known, military officials say he organized fighters, weapons, supplies and finances across much of southern and southeastern Afghanistan, the centers of the Taliban insurgency. He had been sighted in various places in the last nine months to a year, apparently moving into and out of southern Afghanistan from Pakistan border regions.

His death would cause a “significant blow to the Taliban’s command and control,” said Maj. Chris Belcher, an American military spokesman at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, the capital. He added that Mullah Dadullah “was a military leader, primarily in charge of the effort to recapture the city of Kandahar,” once the Taliban’s stronghold.
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Pakistan, Afghan troops exchange fire at border
Updated Sun. May. 13 2007 10:53 PM ET Associated Press
Article Link

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged fire at their rugged border in their most serious skirmish in years.

Pakistan said it killed five Afghan soldiers in the fighting Sunday but Afghanistan said just two Afghan civilians died.

Tension has been running high between Afghanistan and Pakistan, its eastern neighbour, over controlling the 2,430-kilometre border and stemming the flow of Taliban and al Qaeda militants that stage cross-border attacks inside Afghanistan. Pakistan's move to fence parts of the disputed frontier has also angered Afghanistan.

Pakistan army spokesman Maj.-Gen. Waheed Arshad accused the Afghan army of sparking the two-hour gunbattle with "unprovoked'' fire at about six Pakistani border posts in Kurram Agency, a Pakistani tribal region opposite Afghanistan's Paktia province.

A Pakistan military statement said troops from its Frontier Corps returned fire and five Afghan National Army soldiers were killed. Arshad initially put the toll at six or seven and said three Pakistani troops were wounded.

"This was unprovoked and without any reason,'' Arshad said.

On the Afghan side, Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi accused Pakistani forces of encroaching two to three kilometres inside Paktia province's Jajai district.
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Blast hits Western forces in Afghanistan, several hurt
14 May 2007 07:56:07 GMT Source: Reuters
Article Link

HERAT, Afghanistan, May 14 (Reuters) - A roadside bomb ripped through a vehicle in a convoy of Western troops as it passed over a bridge outside the Afghan city of Herat on Monday, wounding several soldiers, witnesses said.

The incident, part of rising violence in recent months following last year's bloodiest fighting since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, prompted the troops to briefly seal off the bridge.

One vehicle was badly damaged in the blast.

Both NATO and U.S.-led troops operate in Herat, regarded as one of a handful of safe areas in Afghanistan until recent weeks.
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U.K. Skynet-5A Now Operational over Afghanistan and Iraq  
SatNews Daily LONDON, May 14, 2007 
Article Link

Although it’s hard imagining the technophobic Taliban as adept at using computer keypads as they are with using Kalashnikovs, it’s precisely the anxiety that they might somehow be more techno savvy than they look that’s prompted the British to use their most sophisticated military satellite in Afghanistan. 

Launched only this March, Skynet-5A is the UK’s most advanced military satellite—and is the highest power X-Band satellite in orbit. It is part of a $7 billion upgrade project by the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) to improve communications between military command centers around the world. 

Skynet- 5A is a next generation military satellite communications program to provide end-to-end, resilient, secure Beyond Line of Site communications services, including welfare, to the UK MoD and other non-UK MoD and multinational customers until 2020. 
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Get out of Afghanistan and Iraq  
By Patrick Seale, Special to Gulf News
Article Link 

Afghanistan will be high on the agenda when Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer visits President George W. Bush at his Texas ranch on May 20-21. 

The message de Hoop Scheffer has to convey is sombre: Nato is losing the war against the Taliban. A fundamental policy review is urgently needed.

The most important new development is that the Afghans themselves, sickened by war and mounting civilian casualties, want US and other foreign troops to leave. 

As President Hamid Karzai himself admitted Afghan patience with foreign troops is "wearing thin" five years after the US invasion. "It is difficult for us to continue to tolerate civilian casualties," he said at a press conference earlier this month. 

On May 8, the Senate in Kabul approved a Bill that called for negotiations with the Taliban, a ceasefire, and a date for the withdrawal of foreign troops. 
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Afghanistan president awaits high court ruling on foreign minister dismissal  
Bernard Hibbitts at 6:50 PM ET May 13, 2007
Article Link 
  
[JURIST] A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai [official website] said Saturday that Karzai would await a Supreme Court [Wikipedia backgrounder] ruling on the legality of parliament dismissing government ministers before relieving Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta [official profile] after Spanta lost a no-confidence vote. A previous effort to oust Spanta on Thursday failed by a narrow margin, but parliament did vote that day to remove Repatriation and Refugee Minister Mohammad Akbar Akbar. Karzai, who accepted Akbar's dismissal, has asked the high court to decide whether parliament can force out a minister on a matter not directly related to his portfolio.

Both ministers came under fire for not doing more to oppose the expulsion of thousands of Afghan refugees from neighboring Iran [RFE/RL reports]. The refugees are now living in an Afghan border province but have no shelter. Some 2 million Afghan refugees remain in Iran
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Nine police officers killed in Afghanistan 
May 14 2007 at 12:40AM  
Article Link

Kabul - Nine police officers lost their lives in fresh attacks in Afghanistan on Sunday as a provincial governor said around 55 Taliban fighters had been killed in two battles near the Pakistan border a day earlier.

Eight police officers were killed when a hail of bullets ripped into their vehicle in a Taliban ambush in the western province of Nimroz, which is on the border with Iran, provincial governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad said.

Another police officer was killed in the eastern province of Nangarhar in a blast caused by a remote-controlled bomb, provincial police spokesperson Abdul Gahfoor said.

The attack was in the Bati Kot area where US-led coalition troops were accused of firing on civilians after a suicide bombing. They have admitted 19 were killed.
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Calgary man arrested in Afghanistan spoke of jihad, not suicide bombing: imam   
 PAT HEWITT  The Canadian Press
Article Link

An Alberta imam says he spoke several months ago with a Calgary man he believes is the Canadian detained in Afghanistan and says the man talked about "helping his brothers and sisters in Afghanistan" by fighting the jihad, but didn't mention a suicide bombing.

In a report from Kandahar, CTV Newsnet quoted a written statement from Afghan authorities that alleged the Canadian admitted to planning to carry out a suicide bombing in Kabul. The statement also allegedly claimed the man's brother was the suicide bomber behind a Sept. 30, 2006 attack near the security gate of the Interior Ministry in Kabul that killed 12 people and injured at least 42.

In Ottawa, Foreign Affairs spokesman Rejean Beaulieu said yesterday he could not confirm any Canadian had been involved in the 2006 bombing in Kabul and added he was "not aware of this."
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Afghans display corpse of 'butcher'
Mullah Dadullah Lang; Slaying of Taliban's No. 2 a 'serious blow' to insurgents
Tom Blackwell, National Post Published: Monday, May 14, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Striking what they called a powerful blow against the Taliban insurgency, Afghan authorities and international forces announced yesterday they had killed Mullah Dadullah Lang, the group's second-in-command with a gruesome penchant for decapitation.

The coalition had reported one-legged Dadullah's death, prematurely, in the past. But to erase any doubt this time, the Governor of Kandahar showed journalists his blackened corpse, making a point of indicating the amputee limb.

The Mullah was a "brutal butcher," responsible for countless beheadings and other killings of Afghans and Western soldiers, said Governor Assadullah Khalid.
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Taliban leader Mullah Omar says jihad will go on
Updated Mon. May. 14 2007 8:27 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The Taliban leader Mullah Omar said the killing of the group's top field commander "won't create problems" for the hardline militia, a spokesman said Monday.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, told The Associated Press that Omar and other top Taliban leaders offered condolences to Mullah Dadullah's family over the killing by the U.S.-led coalition -- the first Taliban confirmation of Dadullah's killing.

Ahmadi read a statement attributed to Omar insisting that Dadullah's death "won't create problems for the Taliban's jihad" and that militants will continue attacks against "occupying countries."

Dadullah, a one-legged militant who orchestrated Taliban suicide attacks and beheadings, died of gunshot wounds after a U.S.-led operation over the weekend in the southern province of Helmand. Analysts called the killing the most significant Taliban loss since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Ahmadi said Omar and his council of top Taliban leaders decided against naming an immediate replacement for Dadullah.

"Mullah Dadullah was the commander of all the fighting groups. Now all of the mujahedeen will carry on his same type of jihad. They will carry out attacks just as Mullah Dadullah did in his life," Ahmadi quoted Omar as saying.
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Afghanistan under the microscope
 TheStar.com May 14, 2007 Terry Copp
Article Link

Canadians are confused about the UN-sanctioned, NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. What is its purpose? Waging war on terrorism, opium eradication, nation-building, protecting Afghan civil society from the strictures of the Taliban or simply holding on and hoping for a miracle amid the catastrophe unfolding in Iraq?

These and other questions continue to be the subject of a series of workshops held in Waterloo, Ontario.

Wilfrid Laurier University's Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, in partnership with the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the Academic Council on the United Nations System, is organizing a third attempt to come to grips with some of the many issues that challenge decision-makers. 

Last December, 28 specialists – including Chris Alexander, Canada's former ambassador in Kabul who is now a UN Special Representative for Afghanistan; Ali A. Jalali, the reformist interior minister who served Afghanistan from 2003-2005; and Husain Haggani, author of Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military – met to debate broad strategic and security issues. 

The workshop began with a presentation by William Maley of the Australian National University. His recent book Rescuing Afghanistan is basic reading for everyone who seeks to understand this complex country. Maley and 10 other participants have contributed essays to Afghanistan: Transition Under Threat which is being published this summer.

This week's workshop that begins today includes, among others, contributions from Lt.-Col. Simon Hetherington, who commanded the Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar in 2006, and Ramesh Thakur, formerly of the UN University in Tokyo. The plan is to produce a report to be made available as a supplement to Afghanistan: Transition Under Threat.

What can Canadians expect to learn from such events? Foreign and defence policies have become major political issues and may well determine the outcome of the next election. 

We need to examine our options on the basis of the best information available to us and the Waterloo conference will make an important contribution to a long overdue public debate. 

Prior to 9/11, Canada had little interest in Afghanistan and when the Chrétien government opted to commit resources to rebuilding that country, it was widely seen as gesture to Washington after rejecting participation in George W. Bush's Iraq war. 

Once on the ground in Afghanistan, successive Liberal governments embraced the 3D (development, diplomacy and defence) approach and Afghanistan became the focal point of Canadian external policy.

If Canada had stuck to its original commitment to Kabul, or opted for one of the calmer northern provinces, the mission would have attracted little attention and produced many fewer casualties. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (14 May 2007)

NEW ALLIANCE THREATENS KARZAI
Power Struggle in Afghanistan
_Spiegel Online_, May 14
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,482857,00.html



> In Afghanistan, an odd, new alliance of Mujahedeen, old communists, and royalists is threatening President Hamid Karzai's leadership. But can the motley crew solve the country's problems?..
> 
> Today, Kabul's establishment is celebrating the anniversary of the "Islamic Revolution" here. In Afghanistan, the reference is to the overthrow of the Najibullah regime in 1992 and the takeover by the Mujahedeen; the Karzai government elected to name April 28th -- the day the holy warriors triumphed over the communists loyal to Moscow -- as the fledgling democracy's national holiday...
> 
> ...



Afghan warlords can’t be ignored
_ChronicleHerald.ca_, May 14, by Scott Taylor
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/835309.html



> Just two days before 9-11 happened, al-Qaida assassins managed to kill Gen. Ahmad Shah Massoud, the nominal head of the Northern Alliance. His death caused a temporary power vacuum in northern Afghanistan, but just days after Massoud’s assassination, the Americans came calling with bags of cash.
> 
> With the Taliban unwilling to hand over Osama bin Laden and his senior al-Qaida lieutenants, America was prepared to invade [what "invasion"?-- read on - MC]Afghanistan to avenge the 9-11 attacks.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (15 May 2007)

*Articles found May 15, 2007*

Air strikes kill suspected Taliban in southern Afghanistan, officials say
Noor Khan Canadian Press Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - At least 11 suspected Taliban and possibly dozens more were killed by air strikes on Taliban compounds Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, officials said. 

Afghanistan's Defence Ministry said 11 Taliban were killed in the Zhari district of Kandahar province early Tuesday, though the provincial police chief said more than 60 suspected insurgents died, including three regional commanders. 

The air strikes were carried out at 3 a.m. local time, and many other suspected Taliban were wounded, said Kandahar Police Chief Esmatullah Alizai. He said there were no civilians killed or wounded. 

Casualty tolls from remote battle sites in Afghanistan often vary widely, and the number of casualties could not be independently verified. 

Alizai said NATO forces carried out the air strike, but NATO's International Security Assistance Force did not immediately have any details. The separate U.S.-led coalition said it was not their operation. 

Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi said the militants were killed during a joint NATO-Afghan operation. 

Alizai said the air strike was based on "good information." He identified the regional commanders killed as Mullah Abdul Hakim, Mullah Abdul Manan and Mullah Zarif, and said bodies were still being removed from under the mud and rubble of the bombed compounds. 

The latest violence comes days after
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Canadian soldiers meet locals in southeastern Afghanistan in bid to win trust
at 15:51 on May 12, 2007, EST. SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (CP) - 
Article Link

Sean Boak's parents would be proud. 

A day before Mother's Day, the 26-year-old Royal Canadian Dragoon was promoted to the rank of captain at the base of a jagged mountain range before embarking on a bone-jarring and at times nerve-rattling patrol of remote villages in southeastern Afghanistan, pledging to keep farmers and their families safe. 

Two separate troops of soldiers were readying for an early-morning patrol Saturday when Boak stepped briskly forward to receive a new epaulet from Col. Steve Cadden, the commanding officer of the Dragoons. 

"I can't think of a better place to do this, under the sun" Cadden smiled as the morning light broke and he fixed the new decoration on Boak's combat shirt. 

"Sure beats a field parade." 

Even though he dismissed the morning's promotion as routine, Boak said he planned to call his parents as soon as his shift ended. 

"They would have liked to have seen it," he said of the impromptu ceremony. 

"They're typical parents; they're proud of any accomplishment, whether it's routine or not." 

After a round of back-slaps, handshakes and good-natured ribbing - Boak apparently has a lot of beer to buy when the Dragoons get back to their base in Petawawa, Ont. - the soldiers of 2 Troop, Reconnaissance Squadron climbed into their Coyote armoured vehicles and fanned out across the rock-dotted moonscape at the edge of the steamy Registan desert, just a few scant kilometres from the Pakistan border. 
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Taking torture personally
 TheStar.com May 15, 2007  Rosie DiManno
Article Link

Canada only began caring about detainee abuse after issue came too close to home

KANDAHAR–It's a grim building. But then, most such detention facilities are in Afghanistan.

High walls and a compound that extends far beyond what the eye can see.

And the eye is not always the best judge of things.

Last week, the National Directorate of Security opened its feared prison and interrogation premises in Kandahar city to a couple of Canadian journalists. Preceding them, in the first flush of scandal, were Canadian diplomats and Afghan human rights scrutineers.

This is where prisoners – suspected Taliban – were tortured, allegedly. Before, that is, the alarming stories of abuse hit newspaper front pages on the other side of the world, the oh-so-civilized part of the world, and exploded in Parliament with accusations that Canada was complicit in the horrific mistreatment of detainees.

It became, very quickly, not a story about tortured detainees at all. There are undoubtedly thousands of those – political prisoners, criminals, garden-variety malefactors – as documented by one humanitarian agency after another, though much of the previous focus had been on the infamously wretched Pul-e-Charkhi in Kabul, where untold numbers of inmates have died in riots and protests and hunger strikes, their miserable fate recorded only in news digest items.

It was abysmally easy not to pay attention, the Canadian public more preoccupied with the bigger picture of just what their troops were doing in Afghanistan and whether they should be yanked home sooner rather than just a little later, as in 2009. Sometimes, the political conundrum was framed in the context of dead Canadian soldiers and dying for what? 

Just as often, the deployment devolved into polemics about Canada's tarnished reputation as a gentle peacekeeping nation and thus it had no place in Afghanistan other than as a toady to Washington – despite the core fact the NATO presence here is sanctioned by the United Nations (which Canadians so adore) and, only five years ago, the international community was falling over itself with declarations it would not abandon Afghanistan again. 

So, in our self-absorbed way, it became a story about Canada, its morals and precepts and obligations under the Geneva Conventions. Further, it turned into a wincing episode of partisan politics. The purportedly tortured Afghan detainees were rendered mere props.

Canadian politicians – the same rhetoricians who thundered on the Hill after The Globe and Mail first broke a fulsomely documented investigation of detainee abuse – had earlier uttered not a peep about these poor creatures and their predecessors, although their circumstances have been widely known for years, before and after the harsh Taliban era.

No, Canada only started caring after the issue brushed too close to home and reputation, with assertions that our own troops had handed over Taliban suspects to Afghan security forces, who promptly strung them up, caged them like animals and whipped them with electrical cords. Such was the moral outrage that Canada hastily revisited the document signed in 2005 by Gen. Rick Hillier, on behalf of the government, which dictated the terms of disengagement with suspects taken into custody. Canadians would not be custodians. They were Afghans and the responsibility of the Afghan government.

Nobody paid much attention to that little agreement either, its specifics long kept under wraps. Neither the present Conservative government nor the Liberals who got Canada into Afghanistan to start with made much ado about it, though the Star did publish columns last year questioning the transfer arrangement and pointing out that Canada – unlike the Netherlands, for instance – had secured no assurances that detainees would be treated humanely afterwards.
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Australian troops leave for Afghanistan
May 15, 2007 - 11:20AM
Article Link[/color]

A contingent of Australian Army commandos headed for southern Afghanistan has been farewelled by Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd.

The mostly Sydney-based soldiers from the 4th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (Commando) will boost Australia's troop deployment in Afghanistan to about 1,000.

Mr Howard wished the troops a successful mission and safe return, saying the deployment was made all the more dangerous by the resurgence of the Taliban.

"It is a very important mission," Mr Howard told the soldiers, many of them sporting new beards, at Sydney's Holsworthy barracks.

"If terrorism wins in Afghanistan, that would be bad for our part of the world as well as bad for the people of that country."
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EU agrees police missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo
Article Link 

Brussels (dpa) - European Union defence ministers Monday finalized preparations for police missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo in an expansion of the bloc's global security role. 

The 27-nation bloc also agreed joint efforts to build a Europe- wide industrial and technological base capable of responding to the military needs of its members. 

Both moves are seen as a vital leap forward in the EU's rapidly-developing plans to forge an independent defence and security identity, separate from the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 

The EU police operation in Afghanistan, involving the deployment of 160 police and law enforcement officers as well as legal experts, will be formally launched in June, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters. 

Training the Afghan police force is a vital element of international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and fight narcotics production and trafficking in the country. 
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Governor-General has reassuring words for families of soldiers
KEVIN BISSETT Canadian Press May 15, 2007
Article Link

FREDERICTON -- Military officials and families of soldiers deployed in Afghanistan said they were impressed and honoured that Governor-General Michaëlle Jean made Canadian Forces Base Gagetown the first stop on her first official visit to New Brunswick.

The Governor-General, who is also commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces, toured the base near Fredericton before spending about 90 minutes yesterday afternoon with families of some of the deployed soldiers.

"She spoke of having been to Afghanistan and said that wherever you look, there are pictures of family and banners of support. ...They are always thinking of you." said Kim Timon of Oromocto, N.B., whose husband is in Kandahar.

"She was very reassuring to let us know that she had been there."
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (15 May 2007)

*Environmental conditions challenge for helicopter operations in Afghanistan*
Darren Lake, Rotorhub.com, 15 May 07
Article link

Keynoting Shephard's Expeditionary Forces conference in London, Major General Ton van Loon of the Netherlands, who has just returned from Afghanistan where he was commander of Regional Command South (RCS) within the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had a stark warning for delegates. 'We have all bought the wrong helicopters. It's as simple as that,' he stated.

Gen van Loon said that the hot high conditions of Afghanistan were a major issue and that the only helicopter that really performs, especially in the summer months, is the Chinook. Using the Cougar as an example, he said that in the winter the aircraft was capable of carrying 14 soldiers onboard, but that by the time he left post at the end of last month environmental conditions had cut that number to four. He said that other aircraft, such as Lynx and the Black Hawk encountered similar problems.

At the same time Gen van Loon highlighted the crucial place that the helicopter force played in enabling opreations in the country, particularly in the areas covered by RCS, which includes Hellmand and Kandahar. He stated that without the helicopters operations in the region would be impossible and that air mobility was allowing ISAF to out manoeuvre the Taleban. He went further in stating that more infantry battalions and special forces would be of no use unless this was backed by further troop transport and casualty evacuation capabilities.


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## MarkOttawa (15 May 2007)

German defense minister calls for changes in Afghanistan tactics
AP, May 14
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/14/europe/EU-GEN-EU-Afghanistan.php



> U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan need to change tactics to limit civilian casualties and prevent a backlash from locals, Germany's defense minister said Monday, reflecting European unease about reports of high death tolls in incidents involving American units.
> 
> "We have to make sure that in the future, operations do not take place in this way," Franz Josef Jung told reporters at a meeting of EU defense ministers. "We don't want the population against us. We have to prevent that."
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (16 May 2007)

*Articles found May 16, 2007*

Angry Afghans protest at Pakistan Embassy against border skirmishes  
AMIR SHAH
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - About 1,000 Afghans shouting "Death to Pakistan" demonstrated in front of the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul on Wednesday to protest recent border violence. 

Many of the demonstrators were from the eastern province of Paktika, where fighting between Afghan and Pakistani troops on Sunday and Monday killed at least 13 Afghan border guards and civilians - the most serious skirmishes in years between the neighbouring countries. 

The demonstrators carried banners and shouted "Death to the ISI! Death to Musharraf," a reference to Pakistan's intelligence agency and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. 

Afghan police wearing riot gear guarded the embassy in a downtown street. There were no reports of violence, but emotions ran high. 

"We've run out of patience with Pakistan," said Sultan Uddin, 50, from the Jaji district of Paktika. "We're requesting President (Hamid) Karzai to give us weapons and remove the border police. We know how to deal with Pakistan." 

Tensions have been running high between Afghanistan and Pakistan over controlling their 2,430-kilometre border and stemming the flow of Taliban and al-Qaida militants who stage attacks inside Afghanistan. 

Afghan officials said this week's border clashes began when Pakistani soldiers entered Afghan territory. Pakistan said Afghan soldiers sparked the clashes by firing on border posts. 

On Monday, one U.S. soldier and a Pakistani soldier were killed by unidentified militants after a meeting in a Pakistani border region between officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan and NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The meeting was meant to cool tensions over the border fighting. 
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Ex-captives 'rejoined fight' in Afghanistan  
16/05/2007 - 7:23:26 AM
Article Link

Former Guantanamo detainees have organised a jailbreak in Afghanistan, kidnapped Chinese engineers and taken leadership positions with the Taliban, the US military says.

The former detainees were released from the prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba between 2002-2004 by claiming to be innocent or low-level figures, the military said in a statement, responding to questions about ex-prisoners who had allegedly resumed fighting.

The Pentagon gave brief descriptions of six detainees, including two it said were killed in fighting in Afghanistan, which the US invaded to oust the Taliban regime following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.

The statement suggested that the six were released from Guantanamo by mistake.

“These former detainees successfully lied to US officials, sometimes for over three years,” said Navy Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman.
More on link

Border bomb kills 25
Article Link

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) – A suicide bomber with a warning to spies for America taped to his leg attacked a crowded restaurant Tuesday near the Afghan border, killing at least 25 people days after a relative of the Taliban’s slain commander was arrested there, officials said.

The explosion deepened instability in a country still reeling from deadly political riots over the weekend in its commercial capital, Karachi.

The attack, while not directly related to that unrest, brought further instability to Pakistan and was a further indication that the war in Afghanistan between Islamic militants and NATO forces was spilling across the border.

Provincial police chief Sharif Virk said the message taped to the severed leg of the bomber said spies for America would meet the same fate as those killed and included the Persian word "Khurasan" – often used in militant videos to describe Afghanistan.

The owner of the hotel restaurant, who was killed in the bombing, was an Afghan with ties to an anti–Taliban warlord, and the restaurant itself was popular with many Afghans.

Two security officials told The Associated Press that a close relative of the Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah was arrested in the restaurant a few days before Tuesday’s attack. The officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, refused to be identified.
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Success and setbacks marked in Afghanistan  
Article Link to TehranTimes

The death of Mullah Dadullah, the one-legged commander of Taliban forces in Afghanistan who was high on the most-wanted list of U.S. forces, could deal a significant blow to the country’s Islamic insurgency (BBC). He is the third top Taliban leader to be killed by coalition forces in the past six months, signaling some success at repelling a resurgent Taliban in parts of southern Afghanistan. But the fluidity of the Taliban's command structure, noted by U.S. and NATO officials, could lessen the impact of Dadullah's removal. News of his death coincided with the fallout from a series of miscues that have damaged the image of U.S. and NATO forces in the country. Recent U.S.-led air strikes have left scores of civilians dead (Economist.com), resulting in growing anti-Americanism among Afghans.

Most recently a May 9 NATO air strike in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, killed at least twenty-one noncombatants, among them women and children (BBC). Previously in April, U.S. air strikes left at least fifty-seven Afghans killed in Shindand district. And in March, a convoy of U.S. Marines opened fire near the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, killing nineteen civilians. After the Jalalabad incident, the U.S. military issued an unusual apology for what it called a “terrible, terrible mistake” and promised a complete investigation. These attacks have prompted a number of anti-U.S. protests, while Afghan newspapers have published blistering editorials accusing NATO and the United States of “war crimes.” Lawmakers are calling for more oversight. Even President Hamid Karzai condemned the attacks and said his patience with foreign forces was “wearing thin.”
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Suspected Militant Captured in Afghanistan; Weapons Caches Seized
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 15, 2007 
Article Link

Afghan and coalition forces detained a suspected militant and discovered two weapons caches during operations in Afghanistan today. 
At a compound in the Mandozai district of Khowst province, combined forces captured one militant with alleged ties to the extremist Siraj Haqqani’s suicide-bombing network, military officials said. 

After detaining the suspect, combined forces found two AK47 assault rifles, a shotgun, 500 ammunition rounds and various other weapons. Troops also seized equipment used to manufacture improvised explosive devices and suicide bombs. 

Coalition forces removed the cache and destroyed it nearby. No shots were fired, and no one was injured in the operation. 

In other news, coalition forces received rifle fire from a group of insurgents this morning near Jusalay village, about a mile northeast of Sangin District Center, in Helmand province. Troops maneuvered toward the enemy position and pursued the insurgents as they attempted to flee. Coalition forces searched a compound during the pursuit and discovered a cache containing weapons and ammunition. 

There were no reports of Afghan civilian or coalition force injuries during the firefight. 
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Bush Names Lute to New Post to Support Iraq, Afghanistan Ops
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service
Article Link

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2007 – President Bush announced yesterday that he has named Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, director of operations for the Joint Staff, as assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Bush named Lute to the new position to serve as the full-time manager for implementing and executing U.S. strategies for Iraq and Afghanistan, the president explained. Lute also will manage the interagency policy-development process for the two theaters, working closely with National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley, the Cabinet and the president. 

Luteâ€™s efforts will directly support Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command; Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq; U.S. commanders in Afghanistan; and the U.S. ambassadors to Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush said. 

â€œNothing is more important than getting Admiral Fallon, General Petraeus, American commanders in Afghanistan, and Ambassadors (Ryan) Crocker and (William) Wood what they need, and Douglas Lute can make sure that happens quickly and reliably,â€ the president said. 

Bush praised Lute as â€œa tremendously accomplished military leader who understands war and government and knows how to get things done.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (16 May 2007)

Improved intelligence helps target top Taliban
Coalition air strike kills Mullah Manan, local commander known for bloodthirsty tactics
_Globe and Mail_, May 16, by Graeme Smith
http://www.rbcinvest.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/LAC/20070516/AFGHANGTA16/International/international/international/4/4/29/



> The latest air strike against a Taliban leader has killed a notorious local commander who used villagers as human shields and fought in the largest battles Canadian troops have faced in half a century, Afghan officials and villagers say.
> 
> Mullah Abdul Manan was somewhere in the area of Nalgham and Sangisar, two clusters of villages west of Kandahar city, when he was struck while riding a motorbike by what locals described as a large blast that shook their farms at 3 a.m., local time.
> 
> ...



NATO sees importance of secret Afghan info
Intelligence crucial in fight against Taliban
_Ottawa Citizen_, May 16, by a certain reporter 
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=636a562e-6669-42c7-98fc-9d92088f05f7



> NATO would like to make more use of intelligence gathered by Afghanistan's secret police since such information can be fundamental in saving soldiers' lives and combating the insurgency here, says the Canadian general in charge of the alliance's intelligence section.
> 
> Canadian Brig.-Gen. Jim Ferron says he is confident that Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security or NDS is following proper procedures when it interrogates insurgent detainees.
> 
> ...



Soldiering on
Efforts to build Afghan National Army have long way to go
_Ottawa Sun_, May 16, by Scott Taylor
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2007/05/16/4183679-sun.html



> When I first met them at the Kabul airport, the three young Afghan men were wearing traditional civilian clothes -- white robes and baggy pants. What set them apart from the rest of the crowd waiting to board a Kandahar-bound flight was that they were speaking English among themselves.
> 
> When I inquired as to their identity, Ramin -- the oldest of the group at 22 -- explained they were Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers returning to duty after taking leave in Kabul. Their unit was based in Tarin Kot in support of the Australians and after flying to Kandahar on Ariana (Afghan) Airways they would travel in a convoy to their forward operating base.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (17 May 2007)

*Articles found May 17, 2007*

Two blasts in southern Afghanistan kill seven
Updated Thu. May. 17 2007 8:38 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Seven people were killed and several others wounded when two bombs exploded just minutes apart in Kandahar City on Thursday.

Three of the dead were police officers, said a Taliban spokesperson, who added the co-ordinated explosions were designed to kill as many police as possible.

The first blast on Thursday was reportedly a remote-controlled bomb that killed four private security guards. 

The second blast, just 15 minutes after the first, detonated as police officers attended to the wreckage created by the first explosion, killing three officers and wounding four, Kandahar province's police chief Esmatullah Alizai told The Associated Press.

CTV's Steve Chao said journalists were also hurt in the second explosion.

"It wounded journalists, including our own local freelance camera person, who rushed to the scene to cover the event," Chao told Canada AM. 

"Our own camera person was thrown several feet into the air during the second blast. He fortunately survived with minor injuries but many around him did not." 

Though the speculation has not yet been confirmed, Chao said it is possible that the attacks are intended as retaliation to last weekend's killing of the Taliban's Mullah Dadullah in neighbouring Helmand province.

"Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban key strategic field commander was killed last weekend and the Taliban obviously are very upset by that, they are upset that the governor of Kandahar buried his body at an undisclosed location in the city," Chao said.

"Time and time again in recent days we heard from a Taliban spokesman demanding that the Afghan government give back the bodies to families for burial." 

The Taliban had warned of "bad consequences'' if Dadullah's body wasn't handed over to his relatives. 
More on link

Opium in Afghanistan: A bad trip  
By Hayder Mili and Jacob Townsend 
Article Link

The opium economy in Afghanistan is a key component of the counterinsurgency campaign, yet remains one of the most difficult issues to tackle. It is a critical problem facing international efforts to create a functional government in Kabul that can prosecute counter-terrorism on its own territory. 

A successful counter-narcotics intervention would have the added benefit of undermining an important terrorist funding source in arenas as diverse as Chechnya, Xinjiang and Central Asia. 

While coalition and Afghan officials regularly acknowledge the power that the narco-economy has over their ambitions, it has proved exceptionally challenging to turn this into a national strategy that incorporates counter-narcotics into counterinsurgency and provides the resources for its execution. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), opium production had a boom year in 2006, rising to 6,100 tonnes. 

This marked a 49% increase over 2005, yielding an estimated US$755 million to farmers on the basis of a slightly decreased farm-gate price of $125 per kilogram of dry opium. With the national government's revenues at less than $350 million for 2006, the opium economy is a formidable financial power base beyond the state's control. Good weather conditions are expected in 2007, suggesting another huge harvest. 

Any national counter-narcotics strategy for Afghanistan must begin with a preface noting the geographical variations of the country. In 2006, the southern province of Helmand accounted for 46% of Afghanistan's opium production. To the east of Helmand, Kandahar produced 8%. In other words, the majority of Afghanistan's opium economy is built on production in two southern provinces. Of the remainder, 25% is produced in the northern belt close to the borders with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with lighter concentrations in the eastern and western provinces. 

Based on the UNODC's observations of recent opium planting, southern pre-eminence is likely to intensify further in 2007. [1] The distribution of production correlates strongly with areas of ongoing insurgency/terrorism and coalition fatalities. Using the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's divisions of Afghanistan, Regional Command South, which includes Helmand and Kandahar provinces, is where 62% of the country's opium is produced and where the coalition has suffered close to two-thirds of its combat deaths. [2] Basically, people are dying where poppies are thriving.
More on link

Afghanistan: British fight a subtle war
By Philip Smucker 
Article Link

GIRISHK, Helmand province - The Afghan elders sat cross-legged, waiting for their leaders and the British commander to speak. By mid-afternoon they had each accepted a turban from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and heard an expression of remorse from the Briton for accidental casualties inflicted by coalition forces. 

Britain's approach to the war in southern Afghanistan is unique. It addresses nuances of the home-grown Pashtun insurgency and values the art of persuasion over the use of bullets and bombs. 

(Talking of bullets and bombs, though, senior Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah was killed in the province on Saturday in a fight against US and Afghan forces - see Dadullah's death hits Taliban hard.) 

The brigadier in charge of operations in the area, John Lorimer, pleaded with the assembled elders: "We know the Taliban are still present in some villages. You must reject the Taliban and foreign fighters and persuade them to leave." 

While apologizing to some 400 assembled elders for civilian deaths of Afghans (nearly two dozen) in an air strike called in by US Special Forces, Brigadier Lorimer was also quick to blame the Taliban for what he called "cowardly action against your people", adding that the insurgents "do not care if they put the lives of civilians at risk by mounting attacks from their homes and compounds". 

In a subsequent interview, Lorimer characterized his enemy as "cunning and determined". 

But unlike most of the Western contingents on the ground here in 2001 and 2002, the British are not in an all-out race to seek and destroy terror cells wherever they can be discovered. Nor do the British apply the metric of daily or weekly body counts to their struggle here. 

So how does the British contingent of NATO judge success? "One measure is the ability and will of the Afghan people to deny the enemy, the Taliban, room to maneuver," said David Slinn, the United Kingdom's senior regional coordinator in Helmand, speaking from a lawn chair on a grassy plot in the heart of a drab desert compound lined with steel containers. 

It is a slow process that relies as much on the carrot of economic development as it does on military operations. Signs of progress are few, but tangible, said Lieutenant-Colonel Charlie Mayo, the British NATO spokesman in Helmand: "In some areas we've seen the elders, having spotted the Taliban laying mines, approach them and ask them to remove these mines." 

In another recent incident - possibly more significant than the former - Afghan village leaders assassinated a Taliban commander and his two bodyguards near the Sangin Valley in Helmand last week after he refused to move his guerrilla operations out of their neighborhood, according to local Afghans and Western officials. 

As sure as British soldiers often gaze down their barrels - without firing a shot - leering across parched fields as their enemy strolls casually through a village, there is also an element to the British peacemaking efforts that relies on the Taliban's ability - if it is possible - to shoot itself in the foot. 
More on link


Italy to send helicopters, tanks to Afghanistan  
Thursday May 17, 2007 (0616 PST)
Article Link

 KABUL: Italy is for the first time to send helicopters and tanks to Afghanistan to protect its peacekeeping contingent against a growing wave of attacks by rebel groups. 
Italian Defense Minister Arturo Parisi told parliament that Italy's 2,000 troops in Afghanistan would soon receive five Mangusta helicopters, eight Dardo tanks and an additional 10 Lince armored cars. 

An extra 145 soldiers will also be sent to operate and maintain the new equipment, Parisi said, stressing that the reinforcements should increase the contingent's security, at least in part, by a "deterrent effect." 

According to reports that two Italian soldiers were slightly injured on Monday when a device exploded on the road between Herat, where Italy has 1,150 soldiers, and the airport. Two weeks earlier two others were injured in the same way. 
More on link

First-ever govt-owned fish farm in Parwan  
Wednesday May 16, 2007 (0638 PST)
Article Link

CHARIKAR: The first-ever government-owned fishery was launched in the central Parwan province. The fish farm, built in Tajikan village of the Jabal Siraj district, will start production in the coming six months, officials told Pajhwok Afghan News. 
Amount for setting up of the fishery was provided by the government of France. Ahmad Zia Sharifi, representative of the French embassy in Kabul, said supply in the market would begin in the coming six months. 

Director of the agriculture department Shah Mir Ameeri said dozens of private farms were present in the province, but that was the first government-owned fish farm to be set up here. 

A farmer Abdul Khaliq said he also intended to set up a fish farm and start running his own business. 

People hunt fish by using explosives or passing electric current through water, which kill even the new-born fish. 

Agricultural officials in Parwan province said fish at the newly-opened fish farm have resistance against climate changes and can grow faster. Two weeks back, a fish farm was established with French support in Takhar province. 

Sharifi said fish farms at Qargha lake with 50,000 fish and another in the central Kapisa province, had been established at the cost of $164,000 last year. 
More on link

Better border management to spur revenues, says Ahady  
Wednesday May 16, 2007 (0638 PST)
Article Link


KABUL: Finance Minister Dr. Anwar Ul Haq Ahady and European Commission delegation's head Ambassador Hansj.rg Kretschmer laid the cornerstone of a new customs terminal in Sher Khan Bandar in the northern Kunduz province, bordering Tajikistan. 
Lack of efficient facilities is one of our biggest problems in managing borders, controlling incoming and outgoing goods, promoting trade and generating revenues, the finance minister told a ceremony. 

But we are working hard to cope with this problem by building customs facilities where we have none, and modernising those we already have, Ahady added, acknowledging the European Commission was playing an instrumental role in assisting the government of Afghanistan in the process. 

One of the biggest construction efforts going on in Central Asia, the custom terminal at the Sher Khan Bandar border post is seen as a major step towards improving border facilities, regional trade and generating important revenues for the Afghan government. 

It is hoped the new bridge and improved border infrastructure will lead to a substantial increase in trade with Tajikistan, with the customs terminal expected to process 1000 trucks a day. The total covered surface will exceed 5,100 square meters, including the main customs building, import warehouse and accommodation for customs officials. 
More on link

Ex-captives "rejoined fight" in Afghanistan  
Thursday May 17, 2007 (0616 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Former Guantanamo detainees have organised a jailbreak in Afghanistan, kidnapped Chinese engineers and taken leadership positions with the Taliban, the US military says. 

The former detainees were released from the prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba between 2002-2004 by claiming to be innocent or low-level figures, the military said in a statement, responding to questions about ex-prisoners who had allegedly resumed fighting. 

The Pentagon gave brief descriptions of six detainees, including two it said were killed in fighting in Afghanistan, which the US invaded to oust the Taliban regime following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks in the US. 

The statement suggested that the six were released from Guantanamo by mistake. 

"These former detainees successfully lied to US officials, sometimes for over three years," said Navy Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (17 May 2007)

Italy to send helicopters, tanks to Afghanistan 
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?178409

Actually the Dardo is an infantry fighting vehicle, not a tank:
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/dardo/

And the Lince is not an armored car:
http://www.ferreamole.it/images/vtlm/index.htm
http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=2132333&C=europe

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (18 May 2007)

*Articles found May 18, 2007*

Thousands of seized artifacts returned to Afghan museum
POSTED: 0244 GMT (1044 HKT), May 17, 2007 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- About 4,000 artifacts seized by border police in Denmark have been returned to the National Museum of Afghanistan, the Danish prime minister said Thursday during a visit to the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The Afghan archaeological artifacts -- including coins dating to the first and second centuries B.C., and figurines of lions and horses -- were seized a few years ago by Danish border police and have been returned to the museum in Kabul, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday during a visit to Kabul.

It is the "common responsibility for the international community to protect this cultural heritage as well as we can," Rasmussen said at a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The repatriation of the artifacts comes two months after more than 1,400 of them were returned from the Afghan museum-in-exile in Switzerland to the National Museum. The items returned from Denmark include coins that illustrate Afghanistan's former position as "crossroads of the world." Some include both Greek and the Indian Kharosti language, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

During the news conference, Rasmussen presented a lion figurine to Karzai as a symbolic gesture of the hand-over and said he hoped the returned treasures would strengthen cultural ties between the two countries and their people.

The National Museum of Afghanistan, founded in 1930, was looted and deliberately vandalized under the Taliban. After restoration and reconstruction, the museum reopened to the public in October 2004.
More on link

After years of delays Abu Hamza faces a fast-track extradition
May 18, 2007
Article Link

The process of extraditing the radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri to stand trial in the United States finally began yesterday – three years after he was arrested on an American warrant. 

Abu Hamza, 48, was brought before Woolwich Crown Court after a judge rejected his latest attempts to delay the case. 

Lawyers for the former imam of Finsbury Park mosque read a list of grievances ranging from complaints about strip-searching to grumbles about having to climb 40 steps to the courtroom from the cells. 

But District Judge Timothy Workman said that a doctor had declared Abu Hamza fit to appear and ordered the hearing to go ahead. 

The Egyptian-born preacher was arrested in May 2004 shortly after the introduction of the controversial Anglo-American treaty intended to fast-track extradition cases. 

But senior law officers, including the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney-General, insisted that he stand trial in Britain first. 

An Old Bailey jury convicted him in February last year of charges of incitement to murder and stir up race hatred. 
More on link

Cost of new tanks to be double initial estimate
Updated Fri. May. 18 2007 9:28 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

The government's deal to purchase 100 slightly used Leopard 2A6 battle tanks from the Netherlands will cost roughly double the estimate first presented last month.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor announced to the House of Commons Thursday that there will be a 20-year, $650-million service contract attached to the deal, raising the total cost to about $1.3 billion.

The initial capital acquisition of the tanks, to be used to bolster Canada's firepower in Afghanistan, was also about $650 million. 

CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said the higher total doesn't come as a total surprise.

"The $650 million was to purchase the tanks. Obviously in any kind of military purchases, there are servicing contracts that span the life of the vehicle or the piece of armament," Fife told CTV's Canada AM. 

"In this case, there's another $650 million to be able to service and upgrade these tanks over a 20-year period." 

On April 12, O'Connor announced that the military was going to borrow 20 modern Leopard 2 tanks from Germany and purchase 100 slightly used versions of the same model from the Dutch.

But O'Connor didn't mention the additional costs stemming from a support contract, only the purchase of spare parts and cost of modifications.
More on link

US Troops In Afghanistan Frustrated, Forgotten
 Soldiers: Afghanistan Is 'Forgotten War'
(May 17, 2007)
Article Link

Many feel the war in Afghanistan, where the United States-led coalition began their 'War on Terror' has long been overshadowed by the higher-profile Iraq war.

The soldiers call the mission to Afghanistan 'the forgotten war'.

"From the perspective of a US soldier here its pretty frustrating. I know a lot of soldiers have commented that this is the forgotten war," Army 1st Lt. Keith Wei told an Associated Press Television cameraman embedded with the US Army in the Zabul Mountains in southeastern Afghanistan.

The soldiers and officers also complain that fighting in Iraq and Taliban strongholds like Helmand and Kandahar provinces in Afghanistan are exhausting resources, leaving units like the one stationed in Zabul with little support and resources.
More on link

Foreign troops would leave Afghanistan when al Qaeda is wiped out: Karzai
Islamabad, May 17
Article Link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that foreign troops would not leave Afghanistan till al Qaeda remains active in the country.

"Foreign troops would not leave till Al Qaeda, which is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is wiped out, and this may take two or three years or more," Karzai said in an interview to Pakistan Television. 

"Foreign troops would leave Afghanistan when the country becomes stable and has functioning institutions like the army and police. We do not want the foreign troops to stay here forever. The foreign troops themselves are not happy to stay here; they want to leave, but we are keeping them here. Their presence is bringing foreign investment in the country and infrastructure development activity," Karzai added. 

Karzai said Afghanistan was a sovereign country and had a right to develop relations with any country, adding that Kabul's relations with New Delhi would not harm Pak-Afghan relations at any point of time.

He further said nearly five million Afghan refugees had returned to their homeland from Pakistan and Iran, but many still had to return.
More on link

Danish premier visits troops in Afghanistan
Article Link 

Copenhagen (dpa) - Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday visited the Danish contingent based in southern Afghanistan during his second day in the country, Danish media reported. 

In remarks to Danish troops at Camp Bastion in Helmand province, Rasmussen touched on the recent death of a Danish soldier injured in a firefight at the end of April. 

The soldier was the fourth Danish soldier to have been killed in Afghanistan and in his remarks the premier said that while tragic, the deaths had some meaning, Danish news agency Ritzau reported. 

Rasmussen highlighted elections held since the Taliban were driven from power and that "women have been given rights and opportunities that they did not have before." 

The Danish premier Thursday visited a Danish-funded school for girls and said that the visit "convinced" him that Denmark's involvement was worthwhile. 

Rasmussen was due later Friday to fly to Jordan where he would attend a conference Saturday in the capital Amman. 
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (18 May 2007)

*‘Spy hid Dadullah’s fake leg during Nato raid’*
Gulf Times (QAT), 18 May 07
Article link

The Taliban have arrested an aide to Mullah Dadullah who allegedly not only provided information to US forces that led to the militant commander’s death in Afghanistan but also hid his artificial leg as troops closed in, a Pakistani newspaper said yesterday.  “We have captured Din Mohamed, an American spy who played a key role in trapping Mullah Dadullah,” an unnamed Taliban commander told Pakistan’s The News in a telephone interview.  The Taliban’s chief military strategist died Friday in a US-led operation with about 10 of his men in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand.  The Taliban commander claimed that Mohammed, a trusted friend of Dadullah, had confessed that he had spied for the Americans.  He had several meetings with American army officials at their military air base in Kandahar, where he was assigned the task of trapping Dadullah,” the commander said .... “When American and Afghan army forces attacked the house, Dadullah was searching for his leg while his men started fighting,” the Taliban commander told the newspaper.  According to conflicting versions, Dadullah lost his leg either after stepping on a mine near the western Afghan city of Herat in the mid-1990s or while fighting in Kabul around the same time.  Mohamed spent the night in a wheat field near Brahmcha after Dadullah died of bullet wounds to the head and chest, the Taliban commander said.  When the fighting ended, Taliban members moved his body to another place and were preparing to bury him when US helicopters mounted an airstrike on the area, allegedly also acting on a tip-off by Mohamed. They later removed the body, he said ....


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## GAP (19 May 2007)

*Articles found May 19, 2007*

Afghanistan suicide attacker kills eight
Updated Sat. May. 19 2007 9:30 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide attacker detonated himself next to German soldiers shopping in a crowded market in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing eight people and wounding 16, officials said.

Three Germans were killed and two wounded in the attack, said Gen. Noor Mohammad Omarkhail, the deputy provincial police chief. Five civilians were killed and 13 wounded, including seven seriously, said Azizullah Safer, the director of the provincial health department. One translator working for the Germans was also wounded.

A statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force confirmed that three ISAF soldiers were killed and two wounded in the attack.

The provincial police chief, Gen. Ayub Salangi, said two German vehicles on a security patrol drove into the market area, where soldiers got out on foot to do some shopping.

"They were on a patrol, but they had gotten out of their vehicles with their translator to buy something in the market when the attack happened," he said.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung broke off a private trip to Denmark to return to Berlin when he heard the news, spokesman Thomas Raabe said. Raabe refused to give details of the casualties.

"It was with great dismay and shock that I heard of the cowardly attacks on our German soldiers and the Afghan civilians, by which several German soldiers lost their lives and others were seriously injured," Jung said in a statement Raabe read.

Germany's 3,000 troops here are responsible for northern Afghanistan, which sees relatively few attacks and is considered a much safer region than southern or eastern Afghanistan, where most of the country's fighting takes place.
More on link

Troops Detain Three Suspects in Afghanistan
American Forces Press Service
Article Link

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2007 – Afghan and coalition forces captured three suspected insurgents during raids in Afghanistan in the past two days. 
In an operation this morning against Taliban fighters in the Kajaki district of Helmand province, Afghan and coalition forces detained two militants. 

Credible intelligence had led the Afghan and coalition forces to the compound where the Taliban militants allegedly resided. Militants fired on the combined forces as they approached a building. Coalition forces responded with small-arms fire and followed up with an air strike that destroyed the militants’ firing position. 

The suspects are being held for questioning. 

“A precision strike was conducted when it was obvious the militants were well-armed and had no intentions of surrendering,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman. 

Afghan and coalition forces detained another suspected militant during a raid in the Mandozai district of Khowst province yesterday. No shots were fired, and no one was injured in the operation. 

Village elders provided information that led coalition forces directly to the man who is suspected of helping and training suicide bombers for extremist Siraj Haqqani, military officials said. 
More on link

U.S. thanks Canada for its efforts in Afghanistan  
By CHRIS MORRIS The Canadian Press 
Article Link

OROMOCTO, N.B. — The U.S. ambassador to Canada concluded a two-day visit to New Brunswick on Friday by thanking students in this small military town for Canada’s sacrifices in Afghanistan and its commitment to fighting the war on terror.

David Wilkins described Oromocto, N.B., as a "hometown of heroes" when he spoke at the local high school and neighbouring Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, where people are still grieving the loss of eight soldiers killed last month west of Kandahar City.

In an address to about 1,000 students, Wilkins said the soldiers who were killed — six on Easter Sunday and two more a few days later — gave their lives "carrying liberty’s light" to a faraway land.

"They died the way I imagine they lived — boldly and unafraid, knowing their cause was a just and worthy of sacrifice," Wilkins told the students in a hushed auditorium.

"There is a lot of discussion about Canada’s role in Afghanistan and about my country’s role in Iraq, but I believe history will note that we made the right decision at the right time. We didn’t run away when it was hard and when it was dangerous."

Six soldiers, all members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Gagetown, were killed April 8 when the light-armoured vehicle in which they were travelling struck a roadside bomb.
More on link

Denmark says troops to remain in Afghanistan 
 May 19, 2007          
Article Link

The Danish prime minister promised that Danish forces will remain in Afghanistan until the country was free of Taliban insurgents, according to reports reaching here from Copenhagen on Friday. 

Denmark will not leave Afghanistan in the lurch, said Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen during a visit to that country, the Copenhagen Post reported. 

He ensured the country that in addition to leaving troops in Afghanistan until the country is secure, Denmark will also continue to focus on humanitarian projects. 

Rasmussen met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Thursday to address the country's eroding security situation. 

"Outside forces will be required in Afghanistan over what I would call an open time period," Rasmussen told Denmark's Jyllands- Posten newspaper. 

Rasmussen said bringing security to Helmand province, where Danish forces are staying, and stopping the harvesting of opium there were keys to the Danish military's assignment. 

"In order to solve the opium problems and other issues, it is necessary that we secure full military control of Helmand province. Unfortunately, there are still parts of the region outside of that control," the prime minister said. 
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (20 May 2007)

*A Soviet in Afghanistan*
Common mission: Does a Victoria man's experience as a teen soldier under a different flag have lessons for Canada?
Jack Knox, Times Colonist, 20 May 07
Article link

He was an ordinary 18-year-old from an ordinary family when he marched off to war in Afghanistan.  He did so with the assurance that not only was he protecting his own country's security, but was bringing peace and happiness to an oppressed people, too.  "On my first mission, we had to secure an escape route for refugees who were fleeing the area under attack by the resistance, so my initial impression was that we were, indeed, protecting peaceful Afghans from 'Islamic extremists.'"  But by the time Nikolai Lanine and the rest of the Soviet army pulled out of Afghanistan 16 months later, his faith was shaken, his feelings conflicted.  And now the Victoria man hears the echoes of his Afghan experience in his new country, Canada.  There are the same simplistic assessments of a complicated war, the same assumption that foreigners can "fix" Afghanistan, the same media focus on "our" soldiers, with the Afghans reduced to bit players in their own tragedy. And there is the same fear that military action will backfire, fuelling, not extinguishing, the spread of terrorism and violence ....



*Silence surrounds fate of Canadian detainee in Afghanistan*
Joel Kom and Deborah Tetley, CanWest News Service, 19 May 07
Article link

Members of Calgary's Muslim community are questioning Ottawa's silence surrounding the case of a Canadian man being held in Afghanistan.  It was a little more than a week ago that Sohail Qureshi, a 24-year-old University of Calgary computer science grad, stepped off a bus in Kabul and, within hours, became the first Canadian in almost five years to be detained for alleged ties to the insurgency in Afghanistan.  Since then, diplomats and Canadian politicians - amid charges of detainees being mistreated after Canadian Forces handed them over to Afghan authorities - have said very little about the case.  Qureshi has not been charged with any crime.  "He's sitting in a jail and he hasn't been charged," said Nagah Hage, of the Muslim Council of Calgary. "Put pressure on the Afghan government to release him to the Canadian government. Let him come back home."  Hage said his community was stunned by the arrest, but many are still waiting for more details. Qureshi's family are strong community members, he said.  "He's one of ours, he's a Canadian," he said. "Unless he's charged, he's got no business sitting in a cell."  Qureshi's fate could take  months, even years, to be determined, say experts ....



*Warlord who came in from the cold*
Rosie DiManno, Toronto Star, 19 May 07
Article link

Let us now praise famous warlords.  Or perhaps just the one, faintly.  Ismail Khan is tiny and cherubic, with a beneficently smiling face, but eyes that are hard and probing. Dressed, as always, in crisp white shirtwaist, his small hands clasp the rounded belly that swells beneath a luxuriantly flowing Santa Claus beard.  The emir – as he prefers to be called – exudes fatherliness, kindly and stern.  Outside his Kabul office, supplicants sip sweet tea, awaiting their turn to present petitions.  This is how business is done in Afghanistan, with legitimacy accruing to those who have fought for their fiefdoms, because the country has known little other than war and warlords.  The Star is ushered into Khan's presence.  He shakes the female reporter's hand.  In the province of Herat, where he once was all but king, Khan was an intransigently conservative ruler, as strictly religious as the Taliban. Even mannequins in shop windows had to have their faces covered. Yet now he touches his visitor's fingers without flinching.  Khan has been marginalized, forced to dismantle his personal militia, lured to the capital – in an agreement orchestrated by U.S. diplomats – as water and power minister in Hamid Karzai's government ....



*New push for talks with Taliban*
Afghan leaders say it's path to peace
Kim Barker, Chicago Tribune, 20 May 07
Article link

A year ago, Mohammad Tariq and nine of his friends drove from Pakistan to Afghanistan and joined the jihad.  The young Taliban recruits met with local commanders in southern Helmand province, the heart of the Taliban-led insurgency against the U.S.-backed government. There, the men learned their fate.  "The leaders told us we would be suicide bombers," said Tariq, now 21. "I thought about it. Then I thought, 'Why should I kill myself for you?'"  Five men stayed. But within days, Tariq and four friends gave up their dreams of holy war and drove back to Pakistan. And last month, Tariq, a one-time Taliban foot soldier and former Afghan refugee, decided to join the government he once opposed. He sat in a room in Kabul with 40 other former insurgents and swore allegiance to the fledgling Afghan government, joining about 3,700 one-time insurgents who have signed up with the Afghan reconciliation program since it started two years ago.  Now, some government officials want to broaden this program and negotiate directly with the Taliban, which is mounting its most serious challenge since being forced out of power in late 2001. The idea of negotiation is also gaining more support among Afghans, frustrated with the continued fighting and with international troops, increasingly accused of causing large numbers of civilian casualties ....



*Pakistan: Local Taliban Commander Arrested*
Locals hope the arrest will help check the Taliban's growing influence
Irfan Ashraf, via OhMyNews, 20 May 07
Article link

Taliban commander in Pakistan Qari Sarfaraz Afghanis has been arrested in the Sara-i-Norang area of Lucky Marwat district, which is in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).  Qari Sarfaraz was arrested by local police at a Minchi Wala check post on Sunday as he was moving in public transport toward the Lucky Marwat bazaar.  Police sources say they were informed earlier that the Taliban commander was traveling by local commuter service to take part in some important activity at the bazaar. A heavy contingent of policemen took up positions along the check post and arrested the dreaded commander without any resistance.  Sources say Qari Sarfaraz was wanted by the local police in a number of cases. The night before he was arrested, he was involved in an attempted kidnapping of police officials; however, the attempt was foiled. Qari Sarfaraz also faces charges for killing a number of people in the southern districts of NWFP.  Qari Sarfaraz played a vital role in the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. He later moved his activities to the southern districts of NWFP, including Tank, Bannu, Lucky Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan, and the restive tribal areas of South and North Waziristan ....



*Taliban leader says he is loyal to Pakistan*
Anwarullah Khan, Dawn (PAK), 17 May 07
Article link

Chief of the local Taliban Maulana Faqir Mohammad on Thursday announced his allegiance to the government of Pakistan before a tribal jirga and promised to cooperate with the tribal administration in restoring peace in the Bajaur tribal agency.  Head of the Mamond tribal coordination jirga, Malik Abdul Aziz, told a press conference that they met Maulana Faqir, a leader of the banned Tehrik-i-Nifaz Shariat-i-Muhammadi (TNSM), and held detailed discussions with him regarding the security situation in the agency and the charges against him of being involved in anti-state activities.  Maulana Faqir had twice escaped bombardment in Bajaur in January and October 2006. This was the first direct contact between local Taliban and tribesmen here after the signing of a peace deal between the government and tribesmen in March last.  “Maulana Faqir dispelled the impression that he is against the Pakistani government and reiterated that he is a patriotic citizen and had rendered valuable sacrifices for the defence and safety of the country in the past,” Malik Aziz said ....



*German Forces Will Stay in Afghanistan, Top Politicians Say* 
Deutsche Welle, 20 May 07
Article link

The German military will not turn its back on Afghanistan despite suffering its worst casualties for four years in a suicide bombing, politicians from the governing coalition said on Sunday.  Three German soldiers and six Afghans were killed on Saturday when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded market in the northern city of Kunduz on Saturday.  The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the worst on the 3,000 German troops serving in Afghanistan since four were killed in a suicide car bombing in Kabul in 2003.  Members of both sides of the right-left coalition in power in Berlin said Germany's commitment to rebuilding Afghanistan would not be shaken by the attack.  Karl Theodor Guttenberg, a foreign policy specialist from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats, said: "It would be absurd to withdraw and it would only worsen the terrorist threat. It would also increase the demands from terrorists towards the international community and us." ....


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## MarkOttawa (20 May 2007)

Bush, NATO Chief Seek Ways To Bolster Afghanistan Mission
_Washington Post_, May 20
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/19/AR2007051900963.html



> NATO's top official is scheduled to arrive here Sunday for talks with President Bush amid growing anger in Afghanistan about civilian casualties from the alliance's war there and continued reluctance among many NATO members to increase their commitment to the six-year-old conflict.
> 
> Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Bush are to meet Sunday and Monday at the president's ranch in hopes of solidifying NATO's efforts in Afghanistan. Some experts worry that the international effort is fraying as the violence in Afghanistan has intensified in the past year, exposing fissures between alliance members.
> 
> ...



Influx of Al Qaeda, money into Pakistan is seen
U.S. officials say the terrorist network's command base is increasingly being funded by cash coming out of Iraq.
_LA Times_, May 20
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-binladen20may20,0,5046563.story?coll=la-home-center



> A major CIA effort launched last year to hunt down Osama bin Laden has produced no significant leads on his whereabouts, but has helped track an alarming increase in the movement of Al Qaeda operatives and money into Pakistan's tribal territories, according to senior U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the operation.
> 
> In one of the most troubling trends, U.S. officials said that Al Qaeda's command base in Pakistan is increasingly being funded by cash coming out of Iraq, where the terrorist network's operatives are raising substantial sums from donations to the anti-American insurgency as well as kidnappings of wealthy Iraqis and other criminal activity.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (20 May 2007)

U.S. Pays Pakistan to Fight Terror, but Patrols Ebb
_NY Times_, May 20
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/world/asia/20pakistan.html?ref=todayspaper



> The United States is continuing to make large payments of roughly $1 billion a year to Pakistan for what it calls reimbursements to the country’s military for conducting counterterrorism efforts along the border with Afghanistan, even though Pakistan’s president decided eight months ago to slash patrols through the area where Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are most active.
> 
> The monthly payments, called coalition support funds, are not widely advertised. Buried in public budget numbers, the payments are intended to reimburse Pakistan’s military for the cost of the operations. So far, Pakistan has received more than $5.6 billion under the program over five years, more than half of the total aid the United States has sent to the country since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, not counting covert funds.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (21 May 2007)

*Articles found May 21, 2007*

Tankers for U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan attacked in Pakistan 
 May 21, 2007          
Article Link

At least 10 tankers, carrying oil for the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, were destroyed early Monday morning when two missiles hit them at a Pakistani border area, witnesses said. 

The private NNI news agency quoted the witnesses as saying that the tankers caught fire at the Pakistani border town of Torkhum, in North West Frontier Province. 

No one was hurt in the attack at 4 a.m. local time. 

Witnesses said that the missiles were fired at tankers, standing at a parking lot near the border. 

Three missiles were also defused. A team of bomb disposal squad was called from the provincial capital of Peshawar to defuse the missiles. 

No group claimed responsibility for the attack but Taliban in the past had claimed carrying out similar attacks. 

Locals said that the missiles were fired from a small mountain. 

Officials said that the missiles were fired through remote control. 

The attack could not affect the cross-border traffic and it remained unaffected. 

It is the second attack on oil tankers, carrying oil for American-led forces, in three weeks. 

Eight oil tankers were destroyed when missiles hit them in Landi Kotal area of Pakistan's Kheyber tribal region. 

Torakhum is one of the official border points between Pakistan and Afghanistan and is also the major trade route. 
More on link

Brit soldier dies in Afghanistan   
By SEBASTIAN LANDER May 21, 2007
Article Link

AN investigation has been launched after a British soldier died in an accident in Afghanistan yesterday and not as a result of enemy action.

The soldier, from 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, died from injuries suffered during the incident at the British base in Sangin, Helmand Province.

The MOD are expected to release the name of the dead soldier later today.

They said in a statement: “The circumstances of the accident will be the subject of an investigation and no further details will be released until that investigation is complete, but we can confirm that the soldiers death was not the result of enemy action.”

The death is the 55th fatality among British forces personnel in Afghanistan since the start of operations in November 2001.
End

25 Killed in Southern Afghanistan
Monday, May. 21, 2007 By AP/RAHIM FAIEZ 
Article Link

 (KABUL, Afghanistan)—Suspected insurgents ambushed a U.S.-led coalition and Afghan patrol in the volatile south, sparking a battle and airstrikes that killed 25 suspected insurgents, officials said Monday. 

The coalition said the joint forces were attacked while on a patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand province on Sunday. An estimated 50 Taliban reinforcement fighters came by foot and boat along the Helmand River from surrounding areas, the coalition said in a statement. 

Coalition airstrikes bombed seven compounds, resulting in three secondary explosions from suspected weapons caches, it said. It said there were "several" confirmed militant deaths during the 14-hour battle and no reports of civilian injuries. 

The Afghan Defense Ministry said the clash and airstrikes in Sangin killed 25 suspected Taliban, including a group leader identified as Mullah Younus. 
More on link

14 killed, 31 injured as bomber targets U.S. convoy in Afghanistan
By Rahim Faeiz - ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated: 05/21/07 6:37 AM
Article Link


 GARDEZ, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber apparently targeting a U.S. convoy killed 14 people and wounded 31 Sunday in a crowded eastern Afghan market, witnesses and officials said.

The powerful explosion in the city of Gardez damaged about 30 shops, shattering windows and destroying the closest stores.

Witnesses said a U.S. convoy appeared to be the target. Maj. William Mitchell, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, said initial reports said NATO soldiers had been injured, though he didn’t have further details.

Nasar Ahmad, a 30-year-old shopkeeper whose three cousins were seriously wounded in the blast, said he saw a U.S. convoy driving through the city just before the explosion.

“I heard a strong blast and then saw a fireball go up,” Ahmad said in his hospital bed. “For 10 minutes, I couldn’t hear, and I didn’t know where I was. I saw a lot of people injured lying in the street.”

Shah Mohammad, 19, said all those killed or wounded by the blast were Afghan civilians.
More on link

A better way to deal with Afghanistan's poppy crop
Mon May 21, 7:45 AM ET
Article Link 

       Afghanistan provides more than 90% of the world's heroin, which is made from poppies. The amount has skyrocketed since the Taliban regime that sheltered Osama bin Laden was toppled in 2001.

The poppy boom feeds heroin addicts in Europe and in the USA. It also provides income for the resurgent Taliban, which is battling American and NATO forces and which has decided that its religious strictures against drugs don't preclude it from cashing in on the heroin trade.

So what to do?

The United States is pushing Afghanistan to spray poppy fields with a crop-killing herbicide, much as is done with coca in Colombia, and develop new sources of income for the poppy farmers.

This approach might sound reasonable, but it threatens to make a deteriorating situation even worse. Here's why. The American and NATO forces in Afghanistan rely on intelligence and support from Afghans. Yet the Afghans' resentment is rising as civilians increasingly get killed and hurt in operations against Taliban forces. Just the threat of spraying poppy fields is increasing that anger, because spraying could destroy the livelihoods of as many as 3 million farmers and drive them into the arms of the Taliban. 

There might be a better way to bridge the clashing agendas of the wars on terror and drugs.

The Senlis Council, a group based in Europe and Afghanistan, proposes legalizing and managing the poppy crops, turning them into medicines such as morphine. It wants to adapt a program that largely eliminated heroin production in Turkey in the 1970s with the support of President Nixon and Congress.
More on link

Afghanistan's Civilian Victims
By JOANNE MARINER Monday, May. 21, 2007
Article Link

The loud boom I heard just after I woke up on my first morning in Kabul, early last month, was the sound of a suicide bombing. By the time I made it upstairs for breakfast, the local news was reporting four dead.

Once unknown in Afghanistan, suicide bombings by insurgent forces are now frequent. At least 136 suicide attacks occurred in Afghanistan during 2006, a six-fold increase over the previous year. Even though a clear majority of these attacks were against military targets, they killed many times more civilians than combatants.

The increase in suicide attacks is part of a more general worsening of violence against civilians in Afghanistan. Notably, 2006 was the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since 2001. According to statistics compiled by Human Rights Watch, at least 669 civilians were killed in some 350 separate armed attacks by insurgent government forces in 2006, and at least 230 civilians were killed during coalition or NATO operations. 

By adopting the most brutal tactics of Iraqi militant groups--including hostage-taking and beheadings, as well as suicide bombings--the Taliban, Hezb-e Islami and associated groups are trying to turn Afghanistan into another Iraq. While the conflict has yet not deteriorated to that extent, the warning signs are unmistakable.
More on link

Harry may be deployed in AfghanistanPublished
Monday, 21 May, 2007, 07:54 AM Doha Time 
Article Link

Harry... new assignment 
LONDON: Prince Harry, who was last week stopped from joining his regiment’s deployment to Iraq, could be sent to join troops in Afghanistan, a newspaper said yesterday.
News of the World said it had information about plans for the 22-year-old officer, third-in-line to the British throne, to join the fight against the Taliban, but was withholding key details.
Harry is a second lieutenant in the elite Blues and Royals regiment of the British army’s Household Cavalry, responsible for 11 soldiers and four Scmitar reconnaissance vehicles.
Army chief General Sir Richard Dannatt blocked him from being sent to southern Iraq, due to threats against his life that would put his men in “unacceptable” danger.
News of the World said that insurgents planned to hit both British camps in southern Iraq with chlorine bombs – which kill victims by burning their lungs – to be certain of getting the prince.
Harry, known as Cornet Wales in the army, is set to be posted to Afghanistan before 2008 and could be seconded to join a Nato command unit, the newspaper said.
He would carry out low-risk operations and earn a campaign medal after serving for 30 days, said the weekly.
More on link

WHO'S WINNING (IN AFGHANISTAN)?  
Posted: Sunday, May 20, 2007 9:42 PM By Jim Maceda, NBC News Correspondent
Article Link 

 No matter how many times I’ve visited the country, or been embedded with U.S. forces, or covered the lives of ordinary Afghans caught up in the almost 6-year-old war, I still cringe when asked – and I’m ALWAYS asked when I get back – ‘How’s things in Afghanistan?’’ Invariably I pause for a few seconds, hoping to find the magic answer as I collect my thoughts. But there is no silver bullet: ‘’Good,’’ I venture. ‘’And bad.’’ 

In fact, if you were to list – as I often do after each trip – both the encouraging and disturbing developments in Afghanistan, or what is better now than, say, a year ago, I suspect your columns would be pretty much like mine: equal. And that holds true on ANY scale. Take Kabul, for instance. On the plus side, business is booming. 5-star hotels, shopping malls, modern glassy trade centers, electronics stores and expensive foreign cars jam the streets. Also, former enemies now seem to be working together. At a recent reception for the Ahmad Shah Masood Foundation, held at the relatively luxurious Serena Hotel in central Kabul, the ‘beautiful’ people I saw tended to be former Mujihadeen generals and wily warlords. Those nice, smiling men sipping their black tea and chatting now were killing each other’s militias 10 years ago. 

But, say critics, Kabul’s success is built on nothing but funny money: either from the billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance that never spread beyond the capital, or from war booty and drug money. And while there may be bubbles of peace here and there, overall, Kabul is too unsafe today for a foreign reporter to walk its streets without the kind of protection he would take into the streets of Baghdad. What about Afghanistan’s progressive president, former Baltimore restaurateur Hamid Karzai? We, in the West, tend to see him as a bastion of moderation, a leader who understands the value of bringing democracy to a nation that still lingers in a previous millennium. But many Afghans see Karzai as the failed leader of a failed state, rampant with corruption
More on link

Soldier's father sending popcorn to troops serving in Afghanistan
May 21, 2007 05:30 AM CDT 
Article Link

Valparaiso - A soldier who grew up in Valparaiso has arranged for his father to ship popcorn to Afghanistan so that he and fellow troops can pop up the treat during weekend breaks to watch movies.

Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Fischer in April took over command of an 800-person team rebuilding schools and hospitals in a remote area of Afghanistan.

His father, Gary Fischer, says he contacted him about getting some popcorn to go with the movies that are a weekend highlight.

His father made arrangements with Family Time Snacks of Valparaiso to donate about 120 pounds of popcorn, and he's working on getting a popcorn machine.

Gary Fischer sees the biggest hurdle as getting all that shipped to Afghanistan.
End

Death of a Talib
May 17th 2007 | KABUL From The Economist print edition
Article Link

But not of the Taliban

A CORPSE with one leg and three bullet holes; few would have been surprised at such an end for Mullah Dadullah Akhund, who was killed by American forces this week in Afghanistan. Like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq, to whom he was often compared, the Taliban's most notorious commander mixed extreme rhetoric and brutality with an appetite for publicity. 

Dadullah was revered by his fighters, but was also foolhardy and as careless with the lives of his men as he was thoughtless for his own safety. According to Rahimullah Yusufzai, a Pakistani authority on the Taliban, Dadullah was thought “too big for his shoes” by others in the organisation. Some commanders complained of his enthusiasm for sectarian massacres of Shia civilians and his refusal to listen to orders. Others thought his self-serving videos, with their frequent beheading sequences, were counter-productive or simply “un-Afghan”. He was stripped of his command three times during the Taliban's rise to power. 

His death is a blow to the insurgency and a boost to the Afghan government, not least because it is the third strike against the Taliban's old Kandahar-based leadership in the past six months. Of the three closest deputies to Mullah Omar, the Taliban's leader, Dadullah and Mullah Osmani are dead and Mullah Obaidullah is reported to be under arrest by the Pakistani government.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (21 May 2007)

'One step at a time, one village at a time'
Slowly – and not without danger – Canadians are helping ordinary Afghans rebuild their lives
_Globe and Mail_, May 21
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/RTGAM.20070520.wafghan21/BNStory/Afghanistan/home



> CAMP NATHAN SMITH, AFGHANISTAN — Sometimes, when the Taliban aren't breathing down their necks, the guys like to tease Captain Bob Wheeler by calling him the Duke of Dand for all the largesse he gets to hand out in the district around Kandahar.
> 
> In truth, there isn't that much money – a couple of thousand dollars here and there – and his superiors aren't fond of the image of a soldier as seigneur. But, noble or not, Capt. Wheeler is an enormously influential guy in the Dand district of Kandahar province.
> 
> ...



Horrors beyond detainee abuse 
_ChronicleHerald.ca_, May 21, by Scott Taylor
http://thechronicleherald.ca/print_article.html?story=836769



> WHILE TRAVELLING through Afghanistan the past couple of weeks and interviewing Afghan officials from various factions, it became apparent that the brewing scandal over detainee abuse is virtually a non-issue outside of Canada.
> 
> Even former Taliban spokesman Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef said he regarded the whole matter as insignificant. Instead of playing the propaganda card and bemoaning the fate of his fellow Taliban, Zaeef shrugged his shoulders and said, "Punishment is common in Afghan prisons, and perhaps it is a better fate for the detainees to be beaten rather than killed."
> 
> ...



Germany Tormented by its Pacifist Streak after Afghan Attack
_Spiegel Online_, May 21
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,483952,00.html



> Germany has been trying so hard to avoid clashes with the Taliban in Afghanistan that Saturday's attack in the usually peaceful northern city of Kunduz came as a huge shock. The blast that killed three soldiers has triggered a public debate that once again highlights the country's strong pacifist streak...



Germany Must Stay the Course in Afghanistan
_Spiegel Online_, May 21
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,483993,00.html



> Saturday's suicide attack that killed three German soldiers in Afghanistan has prompted left-wing calls for a review of Germany's entire peacekeeping mission. But most newspaper commentators say bringing the boys home would hand the Taliban a triumph...



Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (21 May 2007)

*Nato 'should share Afghan burden'*
BBC Online, 21 May 2007, 17:04 GMT
Article link

All members of the Nato alliance should share the "burden" of fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan, US President George W Bush has said.  Speaking at his Texas ranch with Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Mr Bush also said Nato must transform to meet modern-day threats.  Nato commands more than 35,000 troops battling Taleban rebels in Afghanistan.  More than 4,000 people were killed last year in fighting between militants and international-led forces.  


*Bush Presses Allies on Afghanistan*
Ben Feller, Associated Press, 21 May 07
Article link

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - President Bush said Monday he will press U.S. allies to do more to share the burden and the risks in fighting in Afghanistan as casualties rise with a resurgent Taliban.  ``In order for NATO to be effective it has to transform itself into an organization that actually meets the threats that free nations face,'' Bush said as he stood alongside NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas.  De Hoop agreed, saying, ``Afghanistan is still one of the front lines in our fight against terrorism.''  Bush is banking on NATO support to help quell the violence in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's surging violence, NATO's role in Kosovo and U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Europe all on Monday's agenda.


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## GAP (22 May 2007)

*Articles found May 22, 2007*

Harper in Afghanistan on unannounced visit
Updated Tue. May. 22 2007 6:31 AM ET Canadian Press
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has responded to criticism of his government's handling of the mission in Afghanistan by making an unannounced visit to the war-ravaged country. 
The surprise two-day trip comes after weeks of opposition attacks on his government's allegedly incompetent handling of the Afghan detainee controversy. 

Harper arrived on a military flight Tuesday in the Afghan capital, where he visited a school for underprivileged children and met with President Hamid Karzai. 

This is Harper's second visit to the war-torn country. 

Barely one month after taking office last year, Harper made Afghanistan his destination for his first foreign trip as prime minister. 

Unlike that last trip, this one is designed to emphasize Canada's non-military contribution to rebuilding of the country. 

The prime minister handed out pencil cases to students at a local school for underprivileged children. He dropped in on painting, acting, woodworking, and music classes at the Aschiana School in a tightly guarded compound in the capital's downtown core. 

The school received $39,500 in annual funding from the Canadian government and provides education to more than 10,000 Afghan children. 

He also visited diplomats at the Canadian Embassy for a briefing on progress made in that country since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001. 

In 2006, Harper spent almost the entirety of his three days in Afghanistan visiting military installations and camping out with soldiers. His current trip comes with public opinion polls suggesting support for his government has fallen amid opposition attacks of the last few weeks. 
More on link

Afghanistan suspends outspoken lawmaker
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) 
Article Link

Afghanistan's lower parliamentary house voted Monday to suspend an outspoken female lawmaker, who has enraged former mujahedeen fighters now in President Hamid Karzai's U.S.-backed government.

The lawmaker, Malalai Joya, 29, said in a recent interview with private Afghan station Tolo TV that the country's parliament was like a "stable or zoo."

"This is a word that fits -- a cattle house is full of animals, like a cow giving milk, a donkey carrying something, a dog that's loyal," Joya said.

The video was shown in the legislature Monday, and angry lawmakers voted to suspend her, said parliamentary spokesman Haseb Noori.

No formal vote count was held, but a clear majority of lawmakers voted to suspend her for the rest of her five-year term by raising colored cards, Noori said.

Parliament's Article 70 forbids lawmakers from insulting one another, Noori said.

Joya, elected in 2005, said the vote was a "political conspiracy" and that she had been told Article 70 was written specifically for her. She did not say who told her.

"Since I've started my struggle for human rights in Afghanistan, for women's rights, these criminals, these drug smugglers, they've stood against me from the first time I raised my voice at the Loya Jirga," she said, referring to the constitution-drafting constitution held several years ago.

Lower house speaker Yunus Qanooni told lawmakers that Joya's case would be introduced to "the court," without elaborating. When lawmakers asked why, Qanooni said, "If there is any issue, the court will explain it."

It was not immediately clear if a court could overturn Joya's suspension.

Joya, a women's rights campaigner from Farah province, rose to prominence in 2003 when she branded powerful Afghan warlords as criminals during the Loya Jirga.

Many commanders who fought occupying Soviet troops in the 1980s still control provincial fiefdoms, and have been accused of human-rights abuses and corruption.

After ousting the Soviets, the militias turned on each other in a brutal civil war that destroyed most of the capital, Kabul.
More on link

Suicide bomber attacks S.C. Guard convoy in Afghanistan
Blast injures five soldiers, none seriously; 14 civilians killed
By CHUCK CRUMBO Posted on Tue, May. 22, 2007 ccrumbo@thestate.com 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — Seconds after the last truck cleared a checkpoint, 2nd Lt. William Hillis heard a blast from behind his Humvee.

The S.C. National Guard soldier looked in his rearview mirror and saw only dust and smoke. Then, his radio crackled with reports of injuries. A suicide bomber had attacked Hillis’ convoy.

Five soldiers, all members of the Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team, were injured in the blast Sunday. The civilian toll totaled 14 dead and 31 injured.

None of the S.C. soldiers’ injuries was serious. However, two were evacuated to a military hospital at Kabul’s Bagram Air Base for treatment. Three others returned to duty after they were treated for injuries. None of the injured was identified.

The bombing was the first serious incident involving the 218th since it arrived in Afghanistan earlier this month to take over Task Force Phoenix.

The blast happened on a crowded street in Gardez, Afghanistan, a city of about 10,000 about 60 miles south of here.

“There were a lot of people out. Nobody was really paying attention to us,” Hillis said Monday. “We were talking in the truck that this is good.”

Hillis, of Charlotte, said the narrow, two-lane street lined with shops was crowded.

“There were donkey carts. Women and children. It was the normal hustle and bustle of Afghanistan.”

The convoy was taking soldiers to a base at Gardez, capital of the Paktia province, Hillis said.

Some reports said the bomber jumped onto the hood of one of the Humvees and then detonated his bomb. Hillis, who was not injured in the attack, said that did not happen.
More on link

Polish soldiers ready in Afghanistan  
Tuesday May 22, 2007 (0208 PST)
Article Link

 KABUL: 1300 Polish soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are getting ready to officially commence their mission. 
Their aim is to achieve full combat readiness at the end of May/ beginning of June which means that they will then be ready to patrol their region and face the Taliban forces if such a need arises. 

According to analysts, Polish troops in Afghanistan will have to face not only risky military operations but also an increasing dislike for foreign troops manifested by local communities. 

However, general Mieczyslaw Bieniek, an adviser to Afghani minister of defense in Kabul is confident their job will be done properly. Speaking for Polish Radio he reiterated that only the best and most experienced soldiers were sent to that country. 

Polish troops are stationed in four bases in the southern and eastern part of Afghanistan.
More on link

Nearly 70 rebels killed in attack: Afghan commander  
Sunday May 20, 2007 (0432 PST)
Article Link

KHOST: Nearly 70 Taliban militants were killed in an ambush by US-led forces and Afghan soldiers in eastern Afghanistan, a military commander said. 
The rebels were killed late Friday in Paktia province near the border with Pakistan, Afghan army general Sami-Ul Haq Badar said. 

"We set an ambush, attacked them and killed 67 Taliban. Their bodies were lying on the ground," he said on Saturday. 

The general said the soldiers had been tipped off that there were Taliban in the area. No Afghan or foreign soldiers were hurt in the gunfight, which lasted several hours, he said. 

The attack took place in Jaji district, where Pakistan and Afghan forces traded fire over two days last week. The Taliban, ousted from power more than five years ago, are still active in the south and east of the country. 
More on link

Amid cowboys and Tory blue, Muslims thrive  
Calgary's Islamic community, in the spotlight as the home of a Canadian detained in Afghanistan, is a surprisingly large and united group 
COLIN FREEZE From Tuesday's Globe and Mail May 22, 2007 at 4:29 AM EDT
Article Link

CALGARY — The Muslim youth conference held in Calgary was a big hit. Scores turned out this month to hear the keynote speaker talk about the 11 days she was held captive by the Taliban. 

Not only did Yvonne Ridley live to tell her tale, but it turned out to have a twist: The former journalist from the U.K. found her captors to be so courteous that she decided to convert to Islam and spread the word. 

"People actually really liked everything she said," said organizer Dana Dabash. The hijab-wearing 21-year-old estimates more than 250 young Muslims attended the event. 

In many Western cities, Ms. Ridley has been described as an apparent victim of Stockholm Syndrome. Yet her message about the Taliban went over way better - in Calgary - than one might suspect. 

The city remains a haven for oilmen and cowboys, and is the political heartland of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatism. But Muslims here say their community now comprises about 65,000 Calgarians, most arriving within the span of two generations.

As they've grown, Calgary Muslims have prided themselves on their unity. Other Islamic communities cleave by race, language and sect, but here, people from all corners of the globe pray together at a Sunni mosque in the city's southwest. 

The city's main mosque was surrounded by farmland when built 30 years ago. 

Today, its minaret looks out over a residential neighbourhood that has built up around it. 

Most Muslims actually live in the opposite corner of Calgary, in the northeast. Like most immigrants, they have been drawn to newly built subdivisions on cheaper land. To pray at the established mosque in the southwest, they make a lengthy commute, forgoing the relatively sparse prayer centres in the northeast.

There are some signs of a generation gap emerging. Several young Muslims say they are growing their beards and wearing Islamic dress, fighting the wishes of parents who urge them to conform.
More on link

Hurry up and wait
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 | 09:35 AM ET By Derek Stoffel
Article Link

There are certainly all kinds of differences between the media and the military – but in the last three weeks embedded with Canada's troops in Afghanistan – I've found we soldiers and reporters have one thing in common: waiting.

I'm used to almost every press conference that I attend back home in Canada being delayed by 15 minutes or half an hour. Or longer. Reporters wait for strike deadlines and for late interviewees. And for those of us who thrive on deadline pressure, we wait till the last minute to file our stories.

But all that waiting is nothing compared to what the men and women in uniform have to put up with.


Canadian soldiers hang out in LAV IIIs to escape the heat, waiting for a meeting that was cancelled. (Derek Stoffel/CBC)CBC cameraman Dave Rae and I spent some time "out of the wire" as they say – meaning we were away from NATO's main base in southern Afghanistan, Kandahar Air Field. We went up to one of Canada's Forward Operating Bases in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province. 

Of course, we had to wait to get there. We were told to report to the airfield at 07:00 for our brief helicopter ride to the base. When we arrived, the firm-but-polite soldier from the U.S. Army informed us that our flight would be delayed for about an hour. Dave and I were taking the helicopter out with a Canadian soldier who had just returned from his three-weeks of holiday, back home spending time with his wife in Toronto.

So, there we were, the three of us sitting on a wooden bench at seven in the morning, waiting. Sure, we had some Tim Horton's coffee to make things a little easier, but at that point in the day, it's already hot. In the end, we waited three and a half hours for a 10 minute helicopter ride.

The contrast between the two impatient journalists and the army captain was like night and day. We fidgeted around, reading our books, huffing as we checked our watches every few minutes. But for the military man, this was nothing. He summed it up pretty well when he told me a career in the army means getting used to 'hurry up and wait.'

That's something you hear quite often on base here. The night before, as Dave and I were waiting for the first helicopter that was supposed to take us to our destination (canceled because the U.S. pilots forgot about us), we met a team of Canadian snipers. These four really should win the grand prize for waiting, if there was one.

They told us about one recent mission that kept them out in the field (no comfy cots and mattresses like the ones we sleep on back on base) for more than forty days. And remember, during the day the temperature is pushing 40 degrees Celsius. Most of their time is spent lying on the ground, waiting to do some surveillance or take part in an operation. These men exemplified patience.

Sometimes the waiting takes on a more serious tone. When out last week, we met up with two Canadian soldiers assigned to a small defensive position above a village in Kandahar province. Their job is to help mentor and train a group of Afghan National Army soldiers who staff the outpost. Lush green fields surround the position. One of the soldiers says a few weeks before it looked quite different – beautiful red and white flowers lined the fields. They're the poppy crops that make Afghanistan the world's largest heroin producer.

The soldier leaned forward and had a look at the poppy fields. Most of them have now been harvested. "Wait a week or so," he tells me. "And the guys who harvested these crops will have no more work. That's when the Taliban will step in, offer them a little money, and then things are going to heat up out here."

For the Canadian soldiers on the ground, it's a tense waiting game. So far the so-called spring offensive promised by the Taliban hasn't materialized. But the soldiers on the ground know it's too soon to write the militants off. 

"We'll just to wait and see," the soldier says.
More on link

Visiting Kandahar's amusement park
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 | 10:44 AM ET By Chris Brown
Article Link

The other day, an Afghan journalist we work with from time to time called me and said that the amusement park was finally open. An amusement park? In Kandahar? Where it seems every day there's an explosion or a bombing or an attack of some kind or another?

And yet, there it was. 

On the city's outskirts, there is indeed an amusement park, with rides, a ferris wheel, popcorn and families having fun, just like in Canada. Well, almost like you'd see in Canada. There were no women at this amusement park. Only fathers with their kids. Though pretty much all Afghan women in Kandahar wear the familiar blue burka, I didn't see any at the park.

But back to the main point — how on earth can people relax and go to an amusement park in the middle of an insurgency? I was told it was an initiative of a former provincial governor. The park has yet to officially open but the manager told us staff opened it early because there is so much pent-up demand from Kandahar's population to go somewhere fun.

That's not to say there aren't problems. The electricity doesn't come on during the day, when the park operators need it — only at night. And because there isn't enough money in the civic budget, it may be months before any of the staff get a paycheque.

Is Kandahar safer?
So, does this mean the Canadian military is right — and that the city of Kandahar really is a safer place now than it was, say, a year ago? It seems a cop-out, but perhaps the best answer is yes, and no.

Statistically, the Canadian military confirms that suicide bombings and attacks with improvised explosive device (IED) have remained at the same level as last year. 

A recent report from Human Rights Watch suggested some 669 Afghan civilians were killed in 2006 and the first part of 2007 by Taliban attacks. Many of those attacks targeted NATO forces in the south yet took the lives of civilians instead. 

Very few private aid groups feel it's safe to work in Kandahar. Only a few dozen Westerners live permanently in the city and most of those brave souls reside in heavily guarded compounds. When they leave, they usually drive straight from one point to another, as fast as they can
More on link


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## GAP (23 May 2007)

*Articles found May 23, 2007*

Finnish soldier dies in Afghanistan
May 23, 2007, 3:53AM By AMIR SHAH Associated Press Writer 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — A bomb blast in northern Afghanistan killed a Finnish soldier and an Afghan civilian on Wednesday, while a suicide attacker in the capital killed two people, including a policeman, officials said.

The blast in the northern city of Maymana just 100 yards outside a Norwegian-led base killed a Finnish soldier and slightly wounded two Norwegian officers, the Norwegian military in Oslo said.

A civilian was also wounded in the blast, said provincial police chief Khalil Ziyaeehe.

Northern Afghanistan is relatively calm compared with the country's south and east, but the region has seen an increasing number of attacks in recent weeks. A suicide bomber in the northern city of Kunduz on Saturday killed 10 people, including three German soldiers who also had been walking through a market place.

In the capital, Kabul, a suicide attacker on a motorbike blew himself up next to highway police guarding a road construction project, killing one policeman and a civilian, officials said.

An SUV carrying foreigners that had its window shattered in the attack may have been the intended target, said Gen. Ali Shah Paktiawal, the Kabul police director of criminal investigations. The SUV drove off and officials didn't know what group or country it was from.

One policeman and one civilian were killed in the blast, said Asib Arian, a district government official. One woman and one child were injured, he said.

The attack came on one of Kabul's busiest and most dangerous roads, where more suicide and rocket attacks happen than in any other part of the city.
More on link

Nine abducted Pakistani officials released
Posted May 23rd, 2007 by TariqueMuslim World News By DPA
Article Link

Islamabad : Nine government officials abducted by suspected militants in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan were freed Wednesday after five days in captivity, media reports said. 

The group of development surveyors, which reportedly included six women, was taken to safety from North Waziristan to the city of Peshawar, according to the private Geo television channel.

It was not immediately clear if they were released by their kidnappers or freed by security forces that began a search operation in the tribal areas Tuesday.

Local officials had initially said masked gunmen snatched eight officials. The motive for the kidnapping was not clear. 

North Waziristan has been a centre of militant activities since 2001 when hundreds of Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists took refugee here as US-led forces toppled the Taliban from power in Afghanistan. 
More on link

German foreign minister arrives in Afghanistan
May 23, 2007, 5:31 GMT 
Article Link

Islamabad - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Pakistan Wednesday for talks about the conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan and Islamabad's tense relations with Kabul. 

Steinmeier, who visited Afghanistan on Tuesday, was due to meet Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his counterpart Khurshid Kasuri. A scheduled meeting with President Pervez Musharraf was cancelled for unclear reasons, according to the German delegation. 

The minister's visit was part of a German initiative through the Group of Eight bloc of leading industrial countries to help improve relations between the Afghan and Pakistani governments. 

The neighbours are both allies in the US-led war against terrorism but are experiencing their worst relations since the Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan in 2001. 
More on link

Army strikes Qaeda camp; four killed  
Web posted at: 5/23/2007 8:18:35 
Article Link

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan • Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships yesterday stormed a suspected Al Qaeda training camp in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing four foreign rebels, officials said. 

Soldiers raided the compound at Zargarkhel village in North Waziristan after the militants refused to meet a peace delegation flown in by helicopter and opened fire, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said. 

The strike came as the United States continued to press key ally President Pervez Musharraf to crush Al Qaeda and Taleban insurgents, who have allegedly regrouped in the rugged frontier area since 2001. 

“Four miscreants were killed when security forces launched an operation to bust a terrorist training camp at Zargarkhel. Helicopters were also there,” Arshad said. 

“We involved the local tribal elders to negotiate their surrender but the delegation was fired at when it was flown to the area. The security forces retaliated and there was a gunbattle,” he said. 

Residents said they saw US-built Cobra gunships flying repeated sorties towards the village, which consists of around a dozen mud-brick houses surrounded by barren hills. 
More on link

Harper Rallies the Troops  
Josh Pringle Wednesday, May 23, 2007 
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has told Canadian soldiers serving in southern Afghanistan that they stand among the greatest citizens of their time. 

Harper rallied the troops this morning during a pep talk at the Canadian base at the Kandahar Air Field. 

Harper said: "Each of you stands among the greatest of your generation. You are Canada's sons and daughters." 

The Prime Minister added, "Your country, as much as this country, owes you a debt of gratitude and its unwavering support." 

Harper kicked off the final day of his two-day visit to Afghanistan by having breakfast with the soldiers. 

Harper says it would be wrong for Canadian soldiers to pack up and leave or guarantee a pullout date in advance, adding "You know that your work is not complete." 

The Prime Minister told the assembled troops: "You know that we can't just put down our weapons and hope for peace. You know that we can't set arbitrary deadlines and simply wish for the best." 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (23 May 2007)

Most Germans want to pull out of Afghanistan-poll
Reuters, May 23
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23342924.htm



> Nearly two thirds of Germans want their troops to withdraw from Afghanistan after three German peacekeeping soldiers were killed over the weekend, a poll published on Wednesday showed.
> 
> Carried out on Monday by the Forsa polling agency for weekly Stern magazine, the poll showed 63 percent of respondents believe Germany's Bundeswehr armed forces should withdraw from Afghanistan compared to 35 percent in favour of remaining.
> 
> ...



Mark 
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (23 May 2007)

Taliban 'stalled by lack of commanders
_Daily Telegraph_, May 23
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/23/wafghan23.xml



> The Taliban's much-vaunted spring offensive has stalled apparently due to lack of organisation after dozens of middle-ranking commanders were killed by British troops in the past year, according to military sources.
> 
> The death last week of the key Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah at the hands of American special forces has harmed the Taliban's morale to the point that local commanders are having to tell their troops to "remain professional" despite the loss.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (24 May 2007)

No deadline for Afghan pullout: PM
Military makes plans to stay past February 2009 as Harper tells troops 'work is not complete'
_Ottawa Citizen_, May 24
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=6b6cb3dc-5319-4731-81eb-000ea2f66ed5



> The Canadian Forces are making plans to stay in Afghanistan beyond the current February 2009 deadline approved by Parliament, the military's senior commander on the ground here said yesterday.
> 
> "Our plan right now is based on a mandate that goes till February '09. But clearly, from the military standpoint, we have looked at plans, we have looked at contingencies that go beyond that time frame," said Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, commander of Canada's 2,500 troops in Kandahar.
> 
> ...



NATO Says 'Irresponsible' To Leave Afghanistan
RFE/RL, May 23
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/05/F29EBE4B-9976-4C89-8695-E935115539BE.html



> Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says NATO has "a long-term commitment in Afghanistan" and it would be "irresponsible" for the alliance to leave.
> 
> De Hoop Scheffer was speaking in Taranto, Italy, where he was attending a NATO naval exercise.
> 
> ...



Mark 
Ottawa


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## GAP (25 May 2007)

*Articles found May 25, 2007*

Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan
Updated Fri. May. 25 2007 8:42 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

A Canadian soldier was killed today at the start of a large offensive against the Taliban in the Zhari district of southern Afghanistan. 

"At approximately 8 a.m. Kandahar time today, one Canadian soldier, a member of our Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team was killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near a combined Afghan-Canadian patrol," Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan, confirmed Friday. 

The incident occurred approximately 35 kilometres west of Kandahar City, said Cessford. 

One other Canadian soldier, also a member of the mentoring team, and an Afghan interpreter were wounded in the incident. 

The Canadian soldier was evacuated by helicopter to Kandahar Air Field. 
More on link


Canadians lead major assault on the Taliban
MURRAY CAMPBELL  Globe and Mail Update with Canadian Press May 25, 2007 
Article Link

MA'SUM GHAR, Afghanistan — A Canadian soldier was killed Friday in the explosion of an improvised bombduring Operation Hoover in Afghanistan. The Canadian troops had earlier launched their most ambitious assault on the Taliban in nearly two months.

Shortly after dawn on Friday, a multinational force including Canadians, Afghans, Portuguese and British, began an operation designed to flush out Taliban believed to be in the area near the Arghandab River.

Illuminating flares lit the sky at in the middle of the night and as day broke Afghan, Canadian and other coalition forces fell into place on the north bank of the river. Within minutes, the troops began a sweeping operation near Ghundy Ghar, about 14 kilometres from Ma'sum Ghar, in an attempt to drive Taliban forces into an entrenched force of Canadian and other coalition soldiers.

This was accompanied by a push by a large number of Canadian tanks and armoured vehicles. As they got into position, one tank was hit by a buried bomb – a so-called “improvised explosive devise” – as the battle began. The vehicle was immobilized but no injuries were reported.
More on link



Pakistani elders resign over raid on militants
25 May 2007 06:56:59 GMT Source: Reuters
Article Link

By Haji Mujtaba

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, May 25 (Reuters) - Pakistani tribal elders overseeing a pact between the government and pro-Taliban militants have resigned over a government raid on a militant camp launched without their consent, an elder said on Friday.

Pakistan, under U.S. pressure to crack down harder on the hard-line Islamists, says the pact in North Waziristan along the Afghan border has helped isolate militants. Critics say it has provided them with a sanctuary and has failed to curb attacks into Afghanistan.

It was not immediately clear what impact the resignation of the elders from a council overseeing the peace pact would have on the agreement.

The elders handed in their resignation to the political agent, the top government official in North Waziristan, on Thursday to protest over Tuesday's raid on an Islamist training camp.

"The government sent us for negotiations with the mujahideen (militants) but they launched an attack before we returned and submitted our report," Malik Nasrullah Khan, the head of the 15-member tribal council, told Reuters.

"Under the agreement, the government had to take us into confidence before conducting any operation. They didn't do so and that's why we're resigning."

Four militants were killed in the attack on the camp in Zargarkhel, 25 km (15 miles) south of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

The military said security forces had attacked the camp after the militants refused to surrender and opened fire, despite the elders' efforts.
More on link

Crib Sheet: Redeploying to Afghanistan
Adding reinforcements to the front line of terror.
By Luis Vertiz Wednesday May 23, 2007
Article Link

While the Iraq War has divided the country and Congress largely along party lines, Democrats and Republicans have found common ground on Afghanistan. Senators Russell Feingold, John McCain, Joseph Biden, and Hillary Clinton have all spoken about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and the need to augment U.S troop levels. Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies are still headquartered in Afghanistan and now neighboring Pakistan. Our inability thus far to decisively root out Al Qaeda or the Taliban means they still pose a threat to the United States and the region. Al Qaeda and the Taliban will only strengthen if we do not address the security needs of the Afghan people.

U.S. forces currently are deployed to Afghanistan under two missions: Operation Enduring Freedom [OEF], the U.S. and Coalition counterterrorism mission, and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force [ISAF], which is implementing a counterinsurgency plan aimed at securing the countryside while helping the Afghan government expand its reach. 

An immediate deployment of more U.S. troops to Afghanistan under both programs is imperative to get Afghanistan back on track. Twenty-thousand of the 145,000 troops in Iraq should be transferred to Afghanistan under NATO command. This would enable NATO troops to more effectively deny the Taliban physical sanctuary in rural Afghan villages. 

Here’s why a redeployment of troops should happen now: 

Afghanistan has inadequate international troop levels compared to other missions: 35,000 NATO troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan at a ratio of 0.8 soldiers for every 1,000 Afghans. This compares to 20 soldiers for every 1,000 Bosnians and 40 soldiers for every 1,000 Kosovars in the 1990s. If the United States and NATO are serious about sustaining their counterinsurgency plan, they must put more boots on the ground. General David Petraeus‘s new counterinsurgency manual, dubbed Field Manual 3-24, calls for a minimum of 20 troops for every 1,000 civilians, which means Afghanistan would need more than 600,000 troops! Considering the overextension of our military forces around the world, we don’t have nearly that many to spare, but a redeployment from Iraq of 20,000 would be a practical solution to the problem of helping Afghanistan without further burdening our armed forces. 
More on link

Prime Minister sees Canada at its best in Afghanistan
22 May 2007 KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in the Afghan capital of Kabul today, to meet with frontline Canadian workers helping the country to build a democratic, economically viable future of lasting peace and prosperity.

Culminating a day of site visits and briefings related to Canada’s ongoing reconstruction and development efforts in the war-torn country, the Prime Minister met with President Hamid Karzai to reaffirm Canada’s ongoing commitment to help Afghanistan emerge from years of oppression under Taliban rule.

“It is precisely because we treasure the advantages that make our own country great – that we have extended our hand to Afghanistan,” the Prime Minister said. 

The Prime Minister met with President Karzai following a visit with students at Aschiana School, where Canada is partnering with Afghanistan to assist a vulnerable group of children who, because of war and chaos, were left out of the school system. 

Canadian aid and development workers on the ground in Afghanistan also met with the Prime Minister to discuss the details of a number of reconstruction and development projects currently under way, including the development of critical water and sanitation, power supply, irrigation and health facilities.

“This is Canada at its best, and Canadian people are proud to stand with Afghanistan,” said the Prime Minister. “As Canadians, we know that Afghanistan’s future will not be secured through military means alone.”
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (25 May 2007)

*Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan*
CEFCOM NR-07.014 - May 25, 2007
News release

OTTAWA – A Canadian soldier was killed today by an improvised explosive device, while conducting a joint Afghan-Canadian foot patrol close to the village of Nalgham, approximately 35 km west of Kandahar City.  The incident occurred at approximately 8:00 a.m. Kandahar time.  One other Canadian soldier and an Afghan interpreter were also wounded in the incident.  The wounded soldier was evacuated by helicopter to the Canadian-led multinational hospital at Kandahar Airfield for treatment and is assessed as stable.  The Afghan interpreter was slightly wounded and chose to remain in Nalgham and continue supporting the ongoing operations.

The name of the deceased soldier is being temporarily withheld at the request of the family.

The incident occurred as Canadian soldiers with the Canadian Operational Mentor Liaison Teams (OMLT) were participating in Operation HOOVER, an effort involving Canadian soldiers, elements from the Afghan National Army (ANA), and other ISAF forces to consolidate security in the Zharey District.  The OMLT advises, mentors and assists the leadership of the ANA.  This professional development initiative enables the ANA to help secure peace and stability in Afghanistan and extend the legitimate authority of the Government of Afghanistan.

This incident will not deter Canadian troops from continuing their work with the Government and the people of Afghanistan.  

Incidents like this one prove that, along with our Afghan National Security Force partners, Canadians need to continue working to bring about peace and security in the region.

-30- 



*Name of Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan released*
CEFCOM NR–07.015 - May 25, 2007
News release

OTTAWA – Killed earlier today in Afghanistan was Corporal Matthew McCully, a Signals Operator, from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, based at Petawawa, Ontario.  His next-of- kin have been notified.

Corporal McCully tragically lost his life after an improvised explosive device detonated in the proximity of where he was patrolling by foot, along with Afghan national security forces, close to the village of Nalgham, approximately 35 km west of Kandahar City.  The incident occurred at approximately 8:00 a.m. Kandahar time.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Corporal McCully, and with his comrades in Afghanistan who remain committed to helping Afghans improve their living conditions and build a free and democratic society.

The courage and dedication demonstrated by Corporal McCully in his efforts to assist the Afghan national security forces represent Canadian values in the finest tradition.  He will be greatly missed.

-30-



Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, on the death of Corporal Matthew McCully
May 25, 2007

“It was with great sadness that my husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, and I learned of the death of Corporal Matthew McCully of the 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, who was killed while on patrol with Afghan soldiers in a village near Kandahar.

Our Canadian troops are in mourning, but they remain resolute in their efforts to help bring peace and security to Afghanistan. We admire their unwavering commitment and remarkable audacity. Their task is daunting.

I know that all across the country, Canadians join with me in offering our deepest sympathies to the families and friends who are grieving this terrible loss, and our hopes for a speedy recovery for those injured in today’s incident. 

We pay tribute to the devotion of these fine soldiers and to their courage.” 



Statement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the death of Corporal Matthew McCully
25 May 2007

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the following statement today on the death of Corporal Matthew McCully:

"On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to extend my condolences to the family and loved ones of Corporal Matthew McCully on this sad day.  My thoughts and prayers are with them during this time of mourning. Corporal Matthew McCully was killed while on foot patrol helping secure peace and stability in Afghanistan, working alongside our allies and the Afghanistan government.

We are proud of Corporal McCully's contribution to our mission in Afghanistan, and of all our Canadian Forces men and women who soldier on in the name of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

They are aware of the risks of our mission, yet the members of our Canadian Forces family accept these risks and fulfill their duties to stabilize Afghanistan and build a better future for the Afghan people. We are saddened by their sacrifices and remain grateful for their dedication." 



Statement by the Minister of National Defence on the death of Corporal Matthew McCully
NR-07.043, May 25, 2007

OTTAWA - The Honourable Gordon O'Connor, Minister of National Defence, issued the following statement today on the death of Corporal Matthew McCully:

"It is with great sadness that I learned today of the death of Corporal Matthew McCully.

On behalf of all our brave men and women in uniform I extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Corporal McCully. Our thoughts and prayers are with them in their time of grief. Our thoughts are also with those who were injured in the accident. We wish them a prompt recovery.

Corporal McCully was killed while conducting a joint Afghan-Canadian foot patrol - part of an initiative that enables the Afghanistan National Army to help secure peace and stability in Afghanistan and extend the legitimate authority of the Government of Afghanistan.

Through the dedication and bravery of soldiers like Corporal McCully, Canada is helping Afghans, and working with Afghans, to build a better and brighter future for Afghanistan while ensuring that Afghanistan never again becomes a base for terrorism.

The sacrifice Corporal McCully made in honour of Canada and the Canadian people will not be forgotten."

Corporal Matthew McCully was a Signals Operator, based at 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, Petawawa, Ontario.



Statement by Hon. Stéphane Dion, Leader of the Opposition, on the Death of a Canadian Soldier in Afghanistan
May 25, 2007

On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary Caucus, I would like to express my sorrow and regret at the news of the death of Corporal Matthew McCully in Afghanistan today.

We send our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and comrades of Cpl. McCully as they cope with this tragic loss. I speak not only for our party but for all Canadians when I say that we are forever grateful for the hard work and sacrifice of the brave men and women of the Canadian Forces as they help the people of Afghanistan bring stability to the region.

Like all Canadians, we remain steadfast in our support for our troops as they put their lives on the line to provide us with a safe and secure world.



Statement by Jack Layton on the death of a Canadian soldier
25 May 2007

On behalf of all New Democrats, I would like to extend my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Corporal Matthew J. McCully, who was killed today in Afghanistan.

His efforts to mentor local security forces are commendable and will be remembered as an important step in helping the Afghan people rebuild their country.

I would also like to wish the wounded soldier a quick and complete recovery.

Today’s casualties are a distressing reminder of the treacherous situation facing our brave soldiers in Afghanistan. I truly hope this is the end to the tragic news.


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## GAP (26 May 2007)

*Articles found May 26, 2007*

British soldier killed in Afghanistan: report
Updated Sat. May. 26 2007 7:42 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An explosion during a fight with Taliban militants killed a British soldier and wounded four in southern Afghanistan Saturday, while U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces detained a Taliban commander and two suspected al-Qaida militants in the east, officials said.

British troops using artillery, mortar and small arms fire destroyed a Taliban stronghold on the outskirts of Garmsir in Helmand province, Britain's Ministry of Defense said. During the operation, an explosion killed one soldier and wounded four, including three seriously who had to be evacuated by helicopter.

On Friday, a roadside bomb explosion killed Canadian Cpl. Matthew McCully during a joint Canadian-Afghan patrol in the Zhari district of Kandahar province. Another Canadian soldier and an Afghan interpreter were injured.

The deaths Friday and Saturday brought to 56 the number of U.S. and NATO troops killed in Afghanistan this year.

In the southern province of Helmand, seven Taliban fighters, including two local commanders, were killed in a joint coalition-Afghan operation in Gereshk district on Friday, the Interior Ministry said.

The Taliban commander, detained in Nangarhar province by coalition forces and Afghan border police, headed a roadside bomb cell responsible for killing and injuring Afghans, the coalition said in a statement.
More on link

Roadside bombing attack kills two soldiers in Pakistani border region 
 May 26, 2007          
Article Link

At least two soldiers were killed and seven others injured in a roadside bomb attack on a convoy in northwestern Pakistan's tribal region on Saturday morning, the military said. 

The convoy was heading to Wana, the center of South Waziristan, from Tank, a major town at the edge of Waziristan tribal region, the army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said. 

"A convoy was heading to Wana from Tank at 7:15 a.m. (GMT 0215), when it was attacked with improvised device," Arshad said. "Two security men were killed and seven were injured." 

Wana, some 380 km southwest of Pakistani capital city Islamabad, is located in the so-called Federally-Administrated Tribal Areas, a semi-autonomous tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. 

The attack came days after the military raided a training camp in North Waziristan tribal region on May 22, killing four suspected militants. 

No one claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack but such attacks are usually blamed on pro-Taliban elements. 

The military spokesman said security forces are investigating into who was behind the attack. 

The security forces cordoned off the area soon after the attack, reports quoting witnesses said. 
More on link

US attacks cause NATO frictions in Afghanistan
AP, KABUL Saturday, May 26, 2007, Page 5 
Article Link

DENTING SUPPORT: Mounting casualties among non-combatants have sparked angry demonstrations and warnings by Afghan leaders that they are unacceptable 
  
US Staff Sergeant Matt Collins, second left, treats an Afghan national police officer hit by shrapnel at the Salerno Air Field hospital in Afghanistan's Khost Province on Thursday. Mounting Afghan civilian casualties caused by US forces have dented support for NATO's mission, NATO leaders said. 
PHOTO: AFP

US special forces operations that killed 90 Afghan civilians have caused friction with the US' NATO partners, who are concerned that such deaths hurt the standing of Western troops fighting the Taliban insurgency.

The deaths involved troops from the 12,000-member US-led coalition and not NATO's 37,000-member International Security Assistance Force, but NATO officials fear that Afghans and others don't understand the distinction.

Mounting civilian casualties have already dented support for the international mission, sparking angry demonstrations and a warning from Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Afghans can no longer accept them.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said on Wednesday that the operations by US-led troops show the need for restraint.
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Canuck soared - for BritainMedal winner had been denied here  
By PETER WORTHINGTON May 24, 2007
Article Link

There's certain irony that the first Canadian winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross since the Korean War tried to join the Canadian military after high school, but was rejected as too young. 

So Chris Hasler, now 26, born in Jasper, Alta., and raised in Halifax, joined the Royal Air Force instead, became a crack helicopter pilot, was sent to Afghanistan and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Flight Lieut. Hasler was one of five presented with medals by the Queen at Buckingham Palace for their deeds under fire in Afghanistan. His was a remarkable exhibition of flying skill and courage under fire. 

Last July 7, he flew his Chinook helicopter into the midst of a Taliban firefight, at a site with buildings on three sides, to drop supplies and to pick up wounded. He had to keep front and rear wheels just off the ground in order not to have the 'copter blades strike the roof, all the time being fired at. 

"I was concentrating so much on not crashing that I didn't have time to be scared," he said. The Taliban were caught off guard, not expecting a helicopter coming in. 

A week later Hasler repeated his feat, this time under intense small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. 

Base commander group Capt. Sean Reynolds commended the officer's bravery to the CBC, noting Hasler's "very high degree of flying skills," in an area that technically broke the rules as unfit for a helicopter landing. 

Had Hasler gotten his wish to join the Canadian military, he'd not be a proud wearer of the Distinguished Flying Cross today. 
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Special police unit to be deployed to Kabul  
Saturday May 26, 2007 (0127 PST)
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KABUL: A special unit of police force would be deployed to ensure security in Kabul city, Interior Ministry spokesman Zmaray Bashari told journalists. 
Personnel of the 300-man unit would be well-trained and well-equipped to control and act quickly in emergency circumstances, said the spokesman. He said the 300 police personnel had been trained for 16 weeks in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif by German trainers. 

Bashari said 4,700 more policemen would be trained on the same lines to complete the number of 5,000 specially trained men. They would be deployed in all big cities across the country. 
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Soldier's death the first among those leading 'next evolution'
By MURRAY CAMPBELL and TIMOTHY APPLEBY AND GRAEME SMITH From Saturday's Globe and Mail
May 26, 2007 at 12:43 AM EDT
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MA'SUM GHAR, Afghanistan, OTTAWA and TORONTO — Amid a major anti-Taliban offensive, Canada's death toll in Afghanistan rose to 55 Friday when a soldier patrolling with Afghan troops was killed by an improvised explosive device he stepped on west of Kandahar city.

The soldier was identified as Corporal Matthew McCully, 25, a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron based at Petawawa, outside Ottawa.

Part of Canada's Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team involved in training Afghan troops, Cpl. McCully was felled by an antitank mine that exploded shortly after the sweep for the Taliban began at dawn. A second Canadian soldier was injured in the blast, as was an Afghan interpreter.

"We lost a good kid today," Colonel Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Canada's task force in Afghanistan, told a news conference at Kandahar Air Field, his voice breaking. "We're thinking about him and our thoughts are going out to his family right now."

 Shortly before the fatal blast, an improvised explosive device crippled a Canadian tank. No one was injured. There were unconfirmed reports of the death of one Taliban fighter and the capture of three others.

Afghan troops carrying Kalashnikov rifles had led the coalition forces into battle. They drove in pickup trucks to the marshalling spot, about two kilometres from the Arghandab River, and then walked to the front line, pausing to pray by the side of the road.

Code-named Operation Hoover, the assault took place under cloudless skies with temperatures in the 40s and is the largest undertaken by Canadian troops in two months.
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Canadian soldiers, Afghan army launch major assault on Taliban
James McCarten, The Canadian Press Published: Friday, May 25, 2007
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MA'SUM GHAR, Afghanistan - A towering column of Leopard tanks and armoured vehicles rumbled into position in the volatile Zhari district of Afghanistan early Friday as Canadian soldiers prepared for their largest offensive against the Taliban in nearly two months.

     Operation Hoover began under cover of darkness, amid the thunder of Canada's mighty guns, as illumination rounds cast an eerie orange glow over the rocky barrens beneath a star-studded Afghan night.

     As the sun peeked over distant foothills, a squadron from the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) tank regiment barrelled past grape huts and mud-walled compounds before marshalling in a dusty tract of land near the edge of the Registan desert.

Behind them, Afghan National Army soldiers - trained and mentored by their Canadian counterparts - flashed confident grins and thumbs-up signs from the backs of their vulnerable pickup trucks as they prepared to lead the attack.

     Many jumped out and after a quick scan of the ground, dropped to their knees and lowered their heads in fervent prayer.

     Their initial caution appeared well-founded: within minutes of one convoy of vehicles pulling out, a loud explosion echoed off the mountains as a Canadian tank struck an improvised explosive device.

     No injuries were reported.
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Taliban commander, 2 al-Qaida suspects detained in Afghanistan  
2007-05-26 10:40:45 
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces detained a Taliban commander and two suspected al-Qaida militants in eastern Afghanistan, the coalition said Saturday.

The Taliban commander, detained in Nangarhar province by coalition forces and Afghan border police, headed a roadside bomb cell responsible for killing and injuring Afghans, the coalition said in a statement.

The suspect, Sayed Gulab, had «extensive connections» with other senior Taliban and al-Qaida leaders in Nangarhar and Pakistan, it said. He was detained on Thursday and was being held in a coalition facility.

«The detention of Sayed Gulab will lead to information on Taliban and al-Qaida leaders, including their operations within Nangarhar and neighboring provinces,» said Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman.

The two suspected al-Qaida militants were seized in a raid Saturday in Khost province that also discovered two fragmentation grenades and an anti-personnel mine, the coalition said.

«We are continuing to identify and destroy pockets of al-Qaida militants throughout the country,» Belcher said.

On Friday, a roadside bomb explosion killed a Canadian soldier during a joint Canadian-Afghan patrol in the Zhari district of Kandahar province, Navy Lt. John Nethercott said. The Canadian military identified him as Corp. Matthew J. McCully. Another Canadian soldier and an Afghan interpreter were injured.
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## GAP (26 May 2007)

Afghanistan will define this PM
By REX MURPHY  Saturday, May 26, 2007 – Page A23 
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Stephen Harper, effectively, began his term as Prime Minister with a surprise visit to Canadian troops in Afghanistan. That trip, more than a year ago, was widely regarded as politically courageous. He was, in pundit-and-panel jargon, taking ownership of the mission. Now near the wrap-up of an increasingly contentious sitting of Parliament he has gone to Afghanistan again. There have been many issues to confront the Prime Minister since he took office in February of last year. Afghanistan is the one, which by his own choice and actions, will define him.

The Afghanistan mission is for many Canadians perplexing, a difficult mix of the horrible and the ideal. The overriding goals of our presence in Afghanistan meet every humanitarian checklist. It is one of the world's poorest countries. It has been a playground for the clashes of the world's great powers since Kipling wrote his still marvellous Kim, and extolled the glories and romance of playing "the great game." It was the nursery of the Taliban and the nest of viperous al-Qaeda - the first being religious monomaniacs of a barbarous fundamentalism, the second a conspiratorial and murderous band whose toxic ambitions produced the great slaughter of 9/11, and the vicious aftershocks of Bali, Madrid and London.

To take a country out of the hands of outlaws, to rid it of a clerical autocracy, to give hope to its long-suffering citizens that they could taste a little of the liberties that we take for granted - these were admirable, undebatably worthy goals.

The difficult or perplexing part of this mission came with the understanding that none of its worthy goals could be achieved without a concomitant military commitment. If we wished to help Afghanistan and its citizens, Canadian soldiers would have to go to that country to fight and kill, to fight and be killed.

Our engagement in Afghanistan was never going to be a pure exercise in the largely mythical peacekeeping tradition, beautifully and totally shielded from the exercise of arms. It was never going to be, and never could be, some grand and bloodless deployment, with Canadian soldiers taking up the arts of carpentry and plumbing, road-building and restoration, and the Canadian government making generous allowances of aid and assistance until the battered country could stand on its own.

The Taliban had been dethroned, not destroyed. Al-Qaeda had been battered not beaten. If we wished to do good things in Afghanistan we would have to do hard things as well. And we would have to do more hard things at first than good. If we wanted to help we had first to fight so that help was possible at all.

This is what is specious about the NDP position on the mission. In their talk of the mission not being "balanced." They agree with schools being built. And women and girls once again allowed an education. They agree with all that is easily stated, but with the immense qualification that it be painlessly achieved. They ignore or deny that active combat with the Taliban and its sinister parasite, al-Qaeda, is an inescapable precondition for any substantive humanitarian effort.

Afghanistan offers only two options. We can clear out altogether, or we can stay to fight and build. There is no middle point.

But Canadians' support for the mission is, for these very reasons, a very contingent affair. Our sense of ourselves elevates the idea of helping so forlorn a country to an appealing nobility. The knowledge, however, of what the mission will cost and has cost in the lives of our soldiers, the knowledge too that, in a conflict with a furtive and reckless enemy, innocent Afghans will inevitably be killed, necessarily darkens the very idea of our participation in a conflict half a planet away.

Mr. Harper, as noted, has now been twice to Afghanistan. It is evidently the one issue on which - as opposed to the environment, income trusts, and even accountability - he is determined neither to bend or switch. Which should be held to his credit. For however significant these other issues are, and whatever the pitch of the rhetoric that surrounds them, the Afghanistan mission is fundamentally more serious, politically and morally. Banning light bulbs or imposing a carbon tax is, thank God, not yet a matter of life and death.

But whether he has given a sustained articulation of our mission there, or whether indeed his increasingly partisan persona disables him from making the disinterested case our being in Afghanistan requires, are distressingly open questions. 

Without that case being made, and with maximum clarity, what support there is now for the mission will not be sustained, the costs will overwhelm the cause, and Canadians' difficulty with this issue will evolve to a desire of having done with it.

REX MURPHY

Commentator with The National and host of CBC Radio's Cross-Country Checkup
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## MarkOttawa (26 May 2007)

Britain calls for greater UN involvement in Afghanistan
_Guardian_, May 26
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2088600,00.html



> Britain wants the UN to take the lead role in a "strategic plan" for Afghanistan amid growing concern about the impact of Nato and US military operations and the failure to get aid to those who need it.
> 
> A call for the UN to coordinate the many largely ineffective development projects designed to improve life for Afghans was made by Des Browne, the defence secretary, in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Thursday. "There is a genuine hunger for leadership among the military, among aid communities, and among the NGOs," he said.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (26 May 2007)

Former NATO commander: Canadian progress in Afghanistan
May 26, 2007 By BILL GRAVELAND
Article Link 

"The mission there in Afghanistan has been long, hard and difficult," Harper told soldiers and supporters at a fundraiser for the Military Museums on Friday evening. 

"There is no doubt we are making real progress in Afghanistan, but we have more work to do before we are done." 

Cpl. Matthew McCully became the 55th Canadian soldier to die in the war-torn country Friday after stepping on a roadside bomb. 

Another death and another upcoming ramp ceremony is a sad, painful and familiar reminder for those soldiers who have served in Afghanistan and have stood solemnly as their comrades began their final journey home. 

"It's a costly business to provide hope and opportunity for a country while there's a counterinsurgency going on at the same time," said Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the former leader of NATO's southern command of RC South. 

"But compared to where it was at this time last year, it's off to a much slower start." 
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Unmanned spy plane a valuable battle tool
Provides troops with location of enemy combatants 
Sat May 26 2007 By Tom Blackwell
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KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- It is a little past 8 a.m. Friday, a Canadian soldier has just been killed 30 kilometres away, and Capt. Tom Lee is fretting. He has a tool that could save other Canadian troops now battling the Taliban, but the weather refuses to co-operate. Finally, the conditions are right, the engine on his unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) whines into full throttle and the craft springs off its catapult. 
One of Canada's little-known fleet of spy planes is airborne over the Afghanistan desert. 

"There are troops in contact," Lee briskly informs a visitor, using the military jargon for a firefight, "and I have to go." 

Within minutes, the French-made Sperwer airplane just launched from a fenced compound within this huge NATO base will be beaming back video of the terrain below, and of Taliban movements in the Zhari district where the troops are fighting. 

From a rocky start three years ago, such UAVs have become an almost indispensable part of the Canadian arsenal in Afghanistan, officers say. 

They offer intelligence on Taliban movements, targeting for artillery and air strikes and tips on the presence of civilians who should be avoided in those target areas.    
The insurgents seemed to have learned that when the UAVs are in the sky above, "bad things happen," said Lee. 

"As soon as you hear the aircraft overhead, you can count on artillery landing within a few minutes," he said. 

"Just our presence there sometimes keeps the bad guys away. Generally speaking, the bad guys hear us up there, they leave." 

About three metres long and powered by a snowmobile-like engine, the tactical UAVs are launched by a hydraulic catapult mounted on the back of a truck. 

A video camera hanging from the bottom of the fuselage collects the images, day or night. 

Inside the ground station, one soldier essentially flies the craft using a joy stick, a commander -- usually a helicopter pilot -- oversees all aspects of the flight, someone else manipulates the camera and a fourth analyzes the intelligence it gathers. 

It has a range of more than 80 kilometres, can stay aloft for up to four hours and reach altitudes of 16,000 feet, landing with a parachute and air bags. 

For artillery operators, the craft can scope out a target or tell gunners how close their shells got to the intended spot. Its most useful role, though, may be in assisting troops on ground operations. With its eye in the sky, it can see beyond the high walls that surround buildings in typical Afghan villages and over other obstacles, Lee notes. 

In one recent combat operation, "we were able to track the insurgent movements and warn the units where they were, what they were doing, allowing them to defend themselves better," he said. 

"I can't imagine a company not wanting to have that extra situational awareness." 

The Canadians have also deployed three-person teams with "mini-UAVs" -- spy planes about the size of big model aircraft, powered by electric motors and launched from almost anywhere with a bungee cord. 

-- CanWest News Service 
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## GAP (27 May 2007)

*Articles found May 27, 2007*


Taliban releases 3 Afghan aid workers
Last Updated: Sunday, May 27, 2007 | 8:22 AM ET The Associated Press 
Article Link

Three Afghan aid workers who were kidnapped with two French colleagues nearly two months ago were released by the Taliban on Sunday, relatives and a spokesman for the militant group said.

The three men from the France-based group Terre d'Enfance — Mohammad Hashim and brothers Ghulam Rasul and Ghulam Azrat — were abducted on April 3 along with the two French citizens, Celine Cordelier and Eric Damfreville, in the southwestern Afghan province of Nimroz.

The Taliban released Cordelier on April 28 and Damfreville on May 11.

"The three Afghans who were detained with the two French aid workers have been released today in Nimroz province at the request of tribal leaders," purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said Sunday.

Emotional family reunion

A brother of Rasul and Azrat, Abdul Wahab, said relatives and neighbours had gathered to greet the three hostages when they returned home.
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Canadian soldiers bid farewell to slain comrade
Last Updated: Saturday, May 26, 2007 | 8:49 PM ET CBC News 
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About 500 soldiers lined the tarmac of Kandahar airfield on Saturday to bid farewell to a slain comrade, the 55th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan since 2002.

As bagpipes played, comrades of Cpl. Matthew McCully carried his flag-draped coffin to a waiting Hercules transport plane for the journey back to Canada.

Dignitaries attending the ramp ceremony were Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, and Arif Lalani, Canada's new ambassador to Afghanistan. Members of the Afghan army also were in attendance.


Cpl. Matthew McCully was part of the Canadian mentoring team that supports the Afghan army. (DND)
McCully, who was born in Orangeville, Ont., was killed Friday when he stepped on a landmine in the Zhari district of southern Afghanistan. An Afghan interpreter was slightly wounded in the blast.

"He was a very caring guy who just loved life," his father, Ron McCully, told CBC Newsworld from his home in Prince George, B.C., on Saturday. "His passion was the army. He lived it. He believed in what he was doing."
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Notes from an Afghan field trip
May 26, 2007  
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Not-so-secret top secret Camp Mirage, May 21

On the way to Afghanistan with the prime minister this week, everything was supposed to be top secret. We weren’t allowed to tell anyone where we were going.

After a stop in Germany, we flew to a staging base called Camp Mirage, where the secrecy seemed heightened even more. Even after leaving the base, we were told we should never describe where we’d been, other than saying it was "somewhere in southwest Asia," because neighbouring countries might not like the existence of such a base.

When we’d arrived at Camp Mirage, our BlackBerrys and cellphones were taken from us, and we were told the internet service was closed for what they called a comms lockdown (communications lockdown), presumably in case any of us had ideas of telling tales.

Top secret, except for one thing — ask any soldier there and you’d learn the place is easily located on Google Earth. There’s even a Wikipedia entry about it, complete with exact latitude and longitude.

So much for state secrets.

Attention Lonely Planet editors En route to Kabul, May 22

Canadian Press reporter Alex Panetta, who’d made this trip before, had a tip for flying into Kabul on a Hercules aircraft: "Keep the helmet on; you’ll sleep better, trust me. And use earplugs, or your ears will ring for days afterward."

He was right on both counts. It's also very, very important to go to the bathroom before you take off.

Listen up, kids Kabul, May 22

The first public event for Harper in Afghanistan was to tour a Canadian-funded school for orphans and street children in Kabul. The students range in age from maybe eight or 10 years old to mid-teens.

On the wall of the playground area was a big display case showing objects not to play with, if found lying about: 14 examples of hand grenades and landmines.

And what, exactly, is an Alfredsson? Kabul, May 22

At the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Harper and President Hamid Karzai made statements and took questions from reporters, but before leaving the podium, Harper made a presentation to Karzai, having noted the 49-year-old president had just fathered a baby boy.
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Taliban launches new countrywide operation in Afghanistan (2nd Lead)
May 27, 2007, 11:11 GMT 
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Kabul - The Taliban said on Sunday they had launched a new countrywide operation against Afghan and international forces as the group released three abducted Afghan air workers. 


The operation, which is dubbed 'Kamin' or 'Ambush,' began on Sunday 'based on the decision by the Taliban jehadi high council,' Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousif Ahmadi said in a statement posted on their website. 

'During the operation, we will use all types of weapons and attacks,' Ahmadi said, adding that the operation would include face- to-face fighting and guerrilla attacks. 

The announcement comes amid a sharp surge in violence by Taliban militants in recent weeks after a short reduction of militancy during the winter. 

Nearly 1,800 people, mostly insurgents, have been killed this year. 

Meanwhile, the Taliban claimed Sunday to have released three Afghan aid workers, who had been kidnapped along with two French nationals nearly two months ago, without any ransom or prisoner exchange. 

Taliban militants kidnapped the three Afghans along with two French aid workers with Terre d'Enfance, an agency helping children, in Nimroz province, on April 2 and demanded the French government withdraw its approximately 1,000 troops conducting peacekeeping operations under NATO command. 
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Blast hits foreign forces in Afghanistan: witnesses
Sun May 27, 2007 8:57AM EDT
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ASADABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of foreign troops in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province on Sunday and some soldiers were wounded, witnesses said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the explosion in the Manogai district of Kunar and said three foreign soldiers died in the blast, a spokesman for the militants said.

Officials with NATO's International Security Assistance Force and the U.S.-led coalition battling the Taliban said they knew nothing about an attack in Kunar. NATO and the U.S. coalition have nearly 50,000 troops in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks in recent weeks following the traditional winter lull in fighting.

Ousted from government by U.S. forces in 2001, the Taliban says it has trained hundreds of suicide bombers to carry out attacks.

A British soldier was killed early on Saturday during a mission to clear a Taliban compound on the outskirts of Garmsir in Helmand province.
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## GAP (28 May 2007)

*Articles found May 28, 2007*


Friends learn to cope as 'perfectionist' dies in Afghanistan
MURRAY CAMPBELL May 28, 2007
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KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- At age 22, Daryl Janssen is coming to terms with the fact that he and his buddies have a dangerous job and that sometimes bad things happen.

On Friday morning, just after dawn, Corporal Janssen was on patrol as part of Operation Hoover, the massive assault on Taliban positions by 1,000 troops from Canada and other countries.

As a signaler, he heard the radio chatter about who might have been involved in a massive explosion that shook the ground about 8 a.m. 

Even when he was pulled aside and told that the blast had killed a fellow signaler, Corporal Matthew McCully, he couldn't accept it.
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Vendetta creates a village of widows
Canada is helping women left to cope after a long-standing tribal score is settled with Kalashnikovs 
MURRAY CAMPBELL From Friday's Globe and Mail May 25, 2007 at 5:16 AM EDT
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DARGAIAN NORZAI, AFGHANISTAN — About the only thing that everyone can agree on is that four brothers came with Kalashnikov rifles, killed the men in the village and created 12 widows.

The story is slightly fuzzy but the attacks started four or five months ago and stopped two months ago. They were likely in reprisal for some slight from 50 years ago and the people living in this remote area, on the edge of the vast Registan desert about 120 kilometres south of Kandahar city, seemed to accept the inevitability of what happened.

The brothers, who are from a different tribe, were simply acting in accordance with the custom among Afghanistan's Pashtun ethnic majority that requires revenge - no matter how long it takes. They gave no indication of why they had chosen to act now.

"They probably felt it was the right time to do it, that's all," said a translator familiar with the custom.
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Taliban ambush in Afghanistan leaves two dozen dead
Canadian Press  Monday, May 28, 2007
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KABUL- Taliban militants ambushed U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces escorting supply trucks in southern Afghanistan, sparking a 10-hour battle the coalition said killed an estimated two dozen militants, though villagers said Monday seven civilians also died. 

In the north, a suicide bomber targeted foreigners in a four-wheel drive vehicle Monday, killing two Afghan civilians and wounding two others, officials said. 

The southern violence began Sunday when an Afghan police and coalition convoy hit two roadside bombs and was ambushed by Taliban fighters while escorting 24 supply trucks in Helmand province, a coalition statement said Monday. The blast killed one Afghan truck driver and wounded three coalition soldiers, it said. 

Militants then launched rocket-propelled grenades and opened up with small-arms fire and the ensuing 10-hour clash and air strikes killed "an estimated two dozen enemy fighters," the coalition statement said. 

The coalition said "one enemy fighting position" was destroyed and "no Afghan civilian injuries were reported." 

But Abdul Qudus, a villager from Helmand's Gereshk district, said by phone that air strikes hit a civilian area. 

"They came and bombarded the houses of innocent people. Three houses were destroyed." 

"Seven people - including women and children - were killed and between 10 and 15 were wounded," Qudus said. 

"Villagers are still searching for five missing people." 
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## GAP (29 May 2007)

*Articles found May 29, 2007*

British soldier killed in Afghanistan 
 29 May 2007 
Article Link

A British solider has been killed in the Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

The MoD said that the soldier, who is from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglican Regiment, died as a result of "enemy action".

The soldier's family have been informed, the MoD confirmed, and they have requested a 24-hour period of grace before his name is released.

The latest death comes just days after Guardsman Daniel Probyn from 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards died in Afghanistan on Saturday.

Guardsman Probyn died in an explosion during an offensive operation to clear a Taliban stronghold on the outskirts of the town of Garmsir in southern Helmand.
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Bad blood spreads to Afghanistan's north
By M K Bhadrakumar May 30, 2007   Page 1 of 2
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The warriors of northern Afghanistan, whom former US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad thought he had astutely mothballed and consigned to the dustbin of history, are reappearing in the Amu Darya region that borders Uzbekistan. 

Of course, it was naive to have fancied that fighters like Rashid Dostum would simply walk into the sunset. Afghans are notorious for hunkering down. They may have begun to sense that they can soon hope to reclaim their native dwellings. 

Their unfailing instincts honed through hardy life must have told them it would only be a matter of time before the edifice that the US created in post-Taliban Afghanistan would begin to crack. They knew it was an edifice built on quicksand, and that its facade apart, it was inherently fragile. They cannot be missing the point that in the meantime, competitive great-power politics has reappeared in the Hindu Kush. 

Dostum was one of the founding members of the United Front set up in February in opposition to President Hamid Karzai's US-backed government. Last month, he volunteered to go and fight the Taliban, openly mocking the ineptitude of the Kabul setup and its foreign backers. 
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Pardoned in Afghanistan, N.C. man chooses to stay in prison
The Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan
Article Link

A North Carolina man imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private jail for terror suspects has a new passport. His dog has been vaccinated for overseas travel. But two months after being freed by presidential decree, Jack Keith Idema remains in his Afghan cell.

The reasons why, like most of Idema's dramatic personal story, are murky and complicated. They include a visa dispute and a compensation claim by one of his victims.

They also involve documents that Idema says would finally prove his claim that he was a hired mercenary hunting al-Qaida suspects on a mission sanctioned by U.S. counterterrorism officials _ a claim that American authorities have denied.

Idema's Afghan lawyer and prison officials say Idema could be only days from leaving the country. But Idema, a former Green Beret from Fayetteville, N.C., has appeared in no hurry to leave a prison cell that by local standards is top of the line.

His self-described prison "suite," has its own kitchen, a private bathroom, couches, rugs, TV, Internet access and a small staff. He is also friendly with prison guards aligned with the Northern Alliance, the coalition of anti-Taliban militias that helped the U.S. drive the hardline militia from power in late 2001.

"He is allowed to keep a dog, weapons and a cook. Why? Because the anti-Taliban factions of the Afghan government have never, not once, considered him a prisoner, but a temporary guest," Idema's U.S. lawyer, John E. Tiffany, said in a recent court filing.

Idema is one of three U.S. citizens arrested in July 2004 and imprisoned at Policharki prison for abducting several Afghans and holding them in a makeshift jail in Kabul. Brent Bennet, another former soldier, was released last September, as was freelance journalist Edward Caraballo, who was filming their activities, in April 2006.

Idema's detention is just the latest episode in a personal history that includes three years in U.S jail for fraud in the 1980s. He claims to have fought with Northern Alliance forces against the Taliban and was featured in a book about the Afghan war called "Task Force Dagger: The Hunt for bin Laden."

Some of the Afghans Idema imprisoned in 2004 claimed they were beaten and their heads held under water. However, Idema says he never mistreated prisoners and the prosecution offered scant evidence at his sometimes chaotic Kabul trial, where he initially was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
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24 militants killed in Afghanistan clash
By ALISA TANG Associated Press Writer Article Launched: 05/28/2007 02:42:07 AM PDT
Article Link

A four-wheel drive vehicle, which was targeted by a suicide bomber, is seen on the... (AP Photo)«12»KABUL, Afghanistan- Taliban militants ambushed U.S.-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, sparking a 10-hour battle and airstrikes that killed an estimated two dozen militants, the coalition said Monday. Villagers said seven civilians were among the dead. 
Meanwhile, the U.N. human rights chief in Afghanistan, said there were between 320 and 380 civilian deaths in military operations and militant violence in the first four months of the year. He said the issue of civilian deaths by coalition troops is complex and "difficult to disentangle." 

"In some cases, people are said to be Taliban by one side and claimed to be civilians by the other," Richard Bennett said. "Many Afghans have weapons in their homes, and they may protect their homes. They might not be Taliban. On the other hand, they might be Taliban or other insurgents." 

The number of bombs dropped in Afghanistan also has far surpassed the number in Iraq in recent years. Some suggest the reason is there are too few U.S. ground troops in Afghanistan and the target areas are far removed from international media scrutiny. 

Air Force Lt. Gen. Gary North, chief of the Central Command's air component, said Monday that the reason is because the Afghan enemy is more easily identified than the insurgents in Iraq, and often comes in larger groups. 
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Taliban says it is targeting foreigners; hostages released
Article Link

Kandahar, Afghanistan | The Taliban on Sunday released three Afghan aid workers who had been kidnapped nearly two months ago, as the militant group announced a new operation targeting foreign and government forces.

The three aid workers from the French group Terre d'Enfance - Mohammad Hashim and brothers Ghulam Rasul and Ghulam Azrat - were abducted April 3 along with two French colleagues in the southwestern province of Nimroz.

In France, officials refused to say if a ransom had been paid.

"I didn't say that, or the contrary," Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said. "The big compensation is our happiness to have recovered the Afghans."

After taking the Terre d'Enfance group captive, the Taliban demanded the withdrawal of all remaining French troops from Afghanistan. France pulled 200 French special forces out of Afghanistan late last year and still has about 1,000 troops stationed in the country
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## GAP (30 May 2007)

*Articles found May 30, 2007*

Frontline goes online
Canada's soldiers are more plugged in to the world than ever: surfing the Internet, logging on Facebook and instant messaging. But being connected isn't always as good as it seems 
MURRAY CAMPBELL  From Tuesday's Globe and Mail May 29, 2007 
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Rob MacGregor is a soldier who knows what to do with the business end of a rifle. He is also a digital soldier who knows his way around with a computer mouse.

Master Corporal MacGregor has just returned from what passes for the front in the war in Afghanistan. The India Company of his 2nd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment had been in the thick of the hunt for Taliban as part of Operation Hoover.

The soldiers hiked for kilometres in the dead of night and had been involved in several gun battles throughout the long day. Near the end of the operation, MCpl. MacGregor had fallen from a roof and broken his ankle.

And less than 48 hours later, there he was in the cool of a trailer on the Kandahar Air Field checking out pictures of his sister's new baby on Facebook. It was a welcome bit of home.
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Special forces deploy in Afghanistan
May 30, 2007 - 1:14PM
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Australia's special forces task group is now fully deployed inside Afghanistan and intent on making life uncomfortable for Taliban insurgents, defence head Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston says.

But Air Chief Marshal Houston declined to give a Senate estimates committee hearing many details of their planned activities.

He said the insurgents had proved adept at use of the internet.

"We have announced the deployment of the special operations task group but I won't be saying too much about the way they conduct their operations because as we have seen, the Taliban have a great capacity for gaining information," he said.

"If we say something over here in Australia, they exploit the electronic media, particularly the internet to find out what we are saying.

"For reasons of operational security I don't want to say any more than our special operations people will be doing operations that will make the Taliban extremely uncomfortable."

Australia currently has some 500 troops engaged in reconstruction work in Oruzgan province of south-central Afghanistan.

With the special forces deployment, plus the deployment of a RAAF air traffic control unit and two extra army Chinook helicopters next year, Australian force numbers in Afghanistan will exceed 1,000 by early 2008.

Air Chief Marshal Houston said the special forces troops now in Afghanistan had been involved in multiple missions since September 11, 2001.

Most recently members of the Special Air Service Regiment and Commando Battalion operated in Afghanistan for a year to last September.

Under current plans, the special force task group will stay in Afghanistan for two years with personnel rotating every four months or so.

Air Chief Marshal Houston said Australian troops had been performing vital community reconstruction work around the Oruzgan province capital Tarin Khowt.

"It really wins the hearts and minds of the people we support," he said.
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6 Alleged Taliban Killed In Afghanistan
No Civilians, Coalition Troops Wounded In Brief Battle
POSTED: 1:33 am EDT May 30, 2007
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Coalition forces on Wednesday killed six suspected insurgents during a skirmish in eastern Afghanistan.

A statement says U.S. and Afghan troops were conducting a raid on a suspected Taliban compound near Jalalabad Wednesday when they came under fire. According to the coalition, no civilians or coalition troops were wounded in the brief battle.

Afghan and international forces have conducted several raids in the eastern border provinces recently in an effort to head off militant attacks.
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Afghanistan: police fire on protesters in northern province
Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Tue, 05/29/2007 - 18:12. 
Article Link

At least 13 people were killed and more than 32 wounded in Shiberghan, capital of Afghanistan's northern Jowzjan province, when police opened fire to break up a protest against governor Juma Khan Hamdard on May 28. Provincial spokesmen said protesters hurled stones and police fired to stop them from raiding government offices. Provincial authorities also said the casualties were caused by the protesters, who were armed supporters of supporters of northern warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum.
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U.S., Britain asked Japan to send GSDF chopper unit to Afghanistan  
Monday May 28, 2007 (0549 PST)
Article Link

Washington: The United States and Britain called on Japan to send a military helicopter unit to Afghanistan to help the two countries maintain security there, Japanese and U.S. diplomatic sources told Kyodo new agency. 
The request is apparently for a Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter unit centered on large CH-47 choppers. The aircraft would transport U.S. and British troops and provide supplies for them. 

A senior Japanese Defense Ministry official replied that it is difficult to comply with the request, the sources said. 

The request from the U.S. and Britain apparently signals a desire for Japan to increase its participation in their military operations in Afghanistan amid continued security concerns in the area. 

It also means the prolonged U.S. military commitment in Afghanistan and Iraq is becoming a serious burden on the U.S. military. 
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Karzai urges students to shun ethnic prejudices  
Monday May 28, 2007 (0549 PST)
Article Link

 KABUL: President Hamid Karzai urged upon students to set aside their ethnic, linguistic and political rivalries and focus on studies to help their country out of the existing crisis. 
The president was addressing over two thousand students and teachers from five universities at the Loya Jirga Hall here the other day. Lamenting the backwardness of the country's education system, he said a huge sum of $1,600 had so far been spent in term of salaries to foreign experts and specialists for capacity building of different departments and staffers. 

Karzai said weaknesses in the education system were one of the prime reasons behind the problems faced by the country over the previous three decades. "Afghanistan will perpetually face these problems until we develop and promote our own capacities," said the president while referring to the massive expenditures on capacity building of government servants through foreign experts and specialists. 
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Two important militant figures arrested in Kabul  
Tuesday May 29, 2007 (0153 PST)
Article Link


KABUL: The Afghan National Police (ANP), with the help of the US-led Coalition, has detained two important militant figures in Khost and Nangarhar provinces. 
An al-Qaeda cell commander named Mujahid was netted in the Bak district of Khost just after midnight on May 25, the Combined Task Force-82 said in a statement released from the Bagram Airbase the other day. 

The removal of Mujahid will help bring peace and stability to the Afghan civilians in Khost, said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force- 82 spokesperson. Intelligence gained from this al-Qaeda cell leader will surely lead us to other al-Qaeda members. 

The enemies of Afghanistan may run but cannot hide from Afghan and Coalition forces, the spokesperson said, adding credible information led ANP and Coalition forces to the village of Pelekhel where they detained the commander. 
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Afghans pessimistic about NATO, struggle to feed families: study  
Tuesday May 29, 2007 (2341 PST)
Article Link

OTTAWA: Half of 17,000 men surveyed in April in southern Afghanistan "chillingly" said they believe the Taliban will triumph against NATO forces, a think tank said in a report. 
Eighty percent of respondents also said they are preoccupied with trying to feed their families in the war-torn nation, according to the poll by The Senlis Council, an international think-tank. 

The Taliban's "very clever propaganda" tells young Afghan men that NATO does not care about them, and is only concerned about waging their own war, said Norine MacDonald, founder and lead field researcher for the group. 

Afghans are "worse off (now) than under Taliban" rule, she said at the opening of the council's Canadian office in Ottawa. 

"The Afghan people, five years after the international community has come to Afghanistan, despite our best intentions, are suffering," she told reporters. 
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Congress approves increase in visas for Iraqi and Afghan translators  
Sunday May 27, 2007 (0211 PST)
Article Link

Washington: Congress has agreed to a tenfold increase in special immigrant visas for Iraqi and Afghan translators and interpreters, whose work with U.S. military personnel and diplomatic officials makes them targets for terrorist violence. 
The legislation approved by voice vote in the Senate late Thursday would authorize the issuance of 500 such visas a year over the next two years to translators. The government now issues 50 visas a year to translators who have worked a year for the U.S. military. 

There's currently a nine-year backlog in acting on those eligible for U.S. admission. 

"America has a fundamental obligation to help those brave Iraqis who put their lives on the line by working for our government," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who sponsored the bill with Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., The House passed the measure earlier in the week. 

But Kennedy and others also stressed that far more needs to be done to meet the needs of the millions of Iraqis who have been displaced by four years of fighting in the country. 
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Islamabad Says U.S. Needs Pakistan For Fight In Afghanistan
Article Link

Pakistan's foreign minister says the need for cooperation on Afghanistan is likely to ensure that Pakistan remains an ally of the United States.

Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri told the Reuters news agency in an interview that Pakistan's government believes that important leaders in Washington understand that Pakistan has a "fundamental" role to play in the future of Afghanistan. 

Kasuri confirmed that he is scheduled to meet with his Afghan counterpart, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, on May 30 in the German city of Potsdam for talks organized by Germany's government.

"When I meet my Afghan colleague, what I will point out to him is that if we start attacking each other publicly, it will be counterproductive," Kasuri said. "And that's the good thing that came out of [an earlier] Ankara meeting. The rhetoric has gone down. Both countries understand the difficulties. The international community understands the difficulties."

Pakistan and Afghanistan are both allies of the United States in the war against terrorism. But Afghan and Pakistani government troops have clashed repeatedly along their disputed frontier this month.
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## MarkOttawa (30 May 2007)

NATO General Tells of Taliban Setbacks
_Washington Post_, May 30
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/29/AR2007052901938.html



> A top NATO alliance general said yesterday that Afghanistan's Taliban militia has lost its ability to control large swaths of territory, even if the hard-line Islamic movement remains strong in "small pockets" of the country.
> 
> Dutch Maj. Gen. Ton van Loon, who this month ended his tour as commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan's volatile south, said Taliban fighters had been driven out of the regions where they had sought to gain a foothold, including Kandahar city and parts of Helmand province.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (31 May 2007)

*Articles found May 31, 2007*

Seven dead in NATO helicopter crash in Afghanistan
Wed May 30, 2007 6:46PM 
Article Link

By Jim Loney

KABUL (Reuters) - Seven NATO soldiers died when their Chinook helicopter crashed on Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, the site of some of the heaviest recent fighting between Western forces and the Taliban.

Troops responding to the scene of the crash were ambushed and called for an air strike to eliminate the threat, NATO officials said.

NATO would not say immediately if the big, twin-rotor military helicopter was directly involved in a battle with Taliban guerrillas or whether it was shot down. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

"Clearly there were enemy fighters in the area," said Major John Thomas, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Kabul. "It's not impossible for small arms fire to bring down a helicopter."

The helicopter went down in the southern province of Helmand, Afghanistan's main opium poppy-growing region, where Western forces have clashed repeatedly with Taliban militants in recent months following a winter lull in fighting.

"The entire crew of five died in the incident. There were also two military passengers who died," ISAF said in a statement. "One Afghan civilian was injured by small arms fire after the crash."

ISAF does not release the nationalities of soldiers killed or wounded in Afghanistan.

Chinook crashes in Afghanistan have killed at least 55 U.S. soldiers in the last two years
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Defeating Afghanistan's drug fix  
By Nick Grono and Joanna Nathan, Thu May 31, 4:00 AM ET
Article Link

Brussels and Kabul, afghanistan - It's spring in        Afghanistan, and poppy farmers are smiling. Heavy rains this winter portend a bumper opium harvest. Afghanistan already produces nine times the total opium output of the rest of the world combined, and while last year's crop was the largest the country has ever produced, this year's crop is likely to be even bigger. 

The exploding drug trade is both a symptom and a source of instability and corruption. It is not just a case of evil drug traffickers taking advantage of a good but ineffective government to facilitate terrorism and insurgency – as frequently portrayed. The traffickers and their agents are all too often corrupt government officials themselves, who forge alliances of convenience with insurgent groups, including the Taliban, to protect their businesses and distribution routes.

There are no quick solutions to tackling this growing plague. But that doesn't mean policymakers can't make progress in undercutting the drug trade. The challenge will be to keep them focused on smart courses of action that yield long-term results – and away from superficially "easy" policies that end up backfiring.

In fact, when it comes to controlling drug production in Afghanistan, it is much easier to say what won't work than what will. For example, large-scale forced eradication (for example, by aerial spraying of crops, as advocated by some US policymakers), will not work. It might cause a temporary dip in production – but it will also force prices higher, thereby increasing incentives to produce more the following year. Indeed, it will probably benefit the drug traffickers who have a stockpile to sell at inflated prices, while farmers whose livelihoods are destroyed could be driven into the arms of insurgent groups.

Another superficially attractive solution that has been getting increasing attention is that of legalizing, or "licensing," the production of opium for medicinal purposes.

But this option would solve a problem that does not exist and fail to address several that do.
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Kasuri blames int’l community for chaos in Afghanistan  
Staff Report 
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri has said that the international community’s abandonment of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Soviet forces created the conditions that led to the rise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda and the consequent chaos in Afghanistan.

According to a Foreign Office statement, Kasuri told the G-8 Foreign Ministers’ Conference at Potsdam, Germany, that the existing situation in Afghanistan reflected how the country’s abandonment by the international community in 1989 had negative regional and global repercussions.

Kasuri said the situation in Afghanistan was complex and the world should evolve a collective approach and strategy. He said Pakistan welcomed the G-8 initiative to address the problems and challenges faced by Afghanistan and Pakistan. “The G-8 initiative represents international commitment to the long-term sustainable development of Afghanistan through building of physical and institutional infrastructure, strengthening of civil society, and capacity building. We are willing to work together with G-8 countries for the purpose,” he said.

Kasuri said extremism and terrorism were the common problems facing the world and they could be tackled through a holistic approach. He said the efforts to create peace and security in Afghanistan should go hand in hand with reconstruction and revival of the country’s economy.

Kasuri said Pakistan had more than 90,000 troops on the border with Afghanistan. He said that over 700 soldiers had lost their lives and thousands had been injured on this front. “We have contributed in different ways to alleviating the suffering of our Afghan brethren, including the provision of shelter to over four million Afghan refugees,” he said.
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Canadian support for feeding the hungry in Afghanistan
Kabul, 30 May 2007 
Article Link

With reference to recent questions regarding food assistance to Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, WFP states the following: 

Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, is also among the most challenging for WFP operations anywhere across the globe. The effects of two decades of war and civil unrest have been compounded by recurring natural disasters, including severe droughts, floods and harsh winters. 

Access and movement has been fiercely restricted by growing insecurity, particularly in the south and east of the country. Despite the obstacles, WFP remains operational in almost all parts of the country, through its five area offices and four sub-offices. 

Its current operation aims to provide 520,000 metric tons of food to 6.6 million Afghans between January 2006 and December 2008 at an overall cost of nearly US$385 million. 

Resourcing is a constant concern; under the current funding situation, WFP will run out of food in September and requires an additional US$27 million to keep operations going until the end of the year. Canada has been one of WFP's most reliable, consistent and generous donors. With respect to operations in the south of the country: 
More on link

US Air Force Conducts Leaflet Drop Over Afghanistan  
Thursday May 31, 2007 (0015 PST)
Article Link

 KABUL: The US Air Force tells ANN the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron conducted a leaflet drop over Afghanistan last week in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. 
The squadron -- based out of Dyess Air Force Base, TX -- dropped 80,000 leaflets on an area known to be inhabited by the Taliban in an effort to send specific messages, according to the Air Force. 

"We dropped 6-by-4 inch leaflets," said Capt. Keith Englin, a 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130 Hercules pilot and mission commander for the flight. "In this case, it was over enemy territory." 

For crew members, this latest assignment was a change of pace. Their usual job is dropping supplies to troops on the ground. 

"(The leaflet drops) are different from what we normally do, because we're not talking to anyone on the ground," Captain Englin said. "Instead of hitting a specific spot like we normally do (with a standard airdrop), we're trying to hit a one kilometer radius." 

The leaflets read, "The ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) are ridding Helmand of the foreign Taliban" on one side and "The Taliban are commanded by foreigners who seek to destroy Afghanistan. There is no honor in fighting alongside the enemies of Afghanistan" on the other. 
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Special forces deploy in Afghanistan  
Thursday May 31, 2007 (0015 PST)
Article Link

 CANBERRA: Australia's special forces task group is now fully deployed inside Afghanistan and intent on making life uncomfortable for Taliban insurgents, defence head Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston says. 
But Air Chief Marshal Houston declined to give a Senate estimates committee hearing many details of their planned activities. 

He said the insurgents had proved adept at use of the internet. 

"We have announced the deployment of the special operations task group but I won't be saying too much about the way they conduct their operations because as we have seen, the Taliban have a great capacity for gaining information," he said. 

"If we say something over here in Australia, they exploit the electronic media, particularly the internet to find out what we are saying. 
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Al-Qaida escapee from U.S. detention in Afghanistan lashes out at U.S. Saudi allies
By Associated Press Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - Updated: 07:01 AM EST
Article Link

CAIRO, Egypt - An al-Qaida militant who escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan turned up in an online video posted Wednesday, assailing the Saudi royal family for its alliance with the United States. 

    The 45-minute video of Abu Yahia al-Libi, who broke out of the Bagram Air Base prison north of Kabul in 2005, was monitored by the IntelCenter, a U.S. government contractor that watches for al-Qaida messaging. 

    According to its transcript, al-Libi, whose nom de guerre means "the Libyan" in Arabic, gives a lengthy diatribe, accusing Saudi royals of seeking the White House’s "praise" and "gratitude."
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G8 foreign ministers meet with counterparts from Pakistan, Afghanistan
David Rising, Canadian Press Published: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 
Article Link

 Germany - The foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan are to meet with their Group of Eight counterparts Wednesday amid concern the acrimony between the two Asian neighbours is helping the Taliban inflict mounting losses on NATO troops and Afghan civilians. 

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country holds the G8 presidency, helped broker the meeting with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta and his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Kasuri, during a trip to both countries this month. 

Other officials on hand included U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 

Before their afternoon meeting with the Afghan and Pakistani officials, the G8 foreign ministers travelled from Berlin to the venue in nearby Potsdam aboard a high-speed train. 

Rice had no comment on arrival at the station, where snipers wearing black balaclavas guarded the entrances and helicopters hovered overhead. 

Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said, "inevitably there will be discussion about Afghanistan and about burden sharing," and about "how we continue with the whole-of-government approach that has to focus on reconstruction and development," particularly in the country's south. 

Some 2,500 Canadian troops are serving in the south, the country's most violent area. Some other contributors to NATO forces, such as Germany and France, restrict use of their forces to the relatively peaceful north
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Primping and preening become an Afghan passion
 TheStar.com May 31, 2007 Rosie DiManno CITY COLUMNIST
Article Link

Beauty parlours are suddenly all the rage in Kabul but few are permitted to behold feminine beauty

KABUL–Underneath the veil is the painted face.

Exotically and dramatically bedaubed: Slashes of liner that curl out to the temple, a palette of shadow colours on the eyelid, kohl smudged inside upper and lower lid, lips glossed to a high sheen and vividly outlined.

Afghan women love their makeup, and arguably none more so than those who never expose their faces to the world beyond their homes and female compounds.

Even those who continue to wear the burqa decorate hands and feet – appendages unhidden by the sacklike covering – with ornate henna stencils that creep provocatively up the ankle, up the wrist.

Old crones who beg for money on the streets, extending upturned palms through car windows, reveal dirty nails laminated with colour, red and pink and orange
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MILNEWS.ca - Kajaki Dam Complex
Approximate location of Kajaki Dam Project, on Helmand River
Map Link

NOTE: This data is provided for information purposes only, and cannot be guaranteed for navigation, survey or other precision purposes. You should, where possible, verify the information before acting on it.

Created by: milnewstbay

Created: May 31, 2007 07:48 AM
Last modified: May 31, 2007 07:48 AM
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## MarkOttawa (31 May 2007)

This is not the way to fight terrorism
_Toronto Star_, May 31, by Thomas Walkom
http://www.thestar.com/article/219817



> In this country, the debate over Afghanistan has focused narrowly on the role of Canadian troops. Should they stay or come home? If they do stay, should they continue offensive counterinsurgency combat operations against the Taliban or play a more traditional "peacekeeping" role providing protection for aid-givers?
> 
> In fact, the real questions posed by Afghanistan are far more fundamental. They have to do with the war on terror itself and the way it is prosecuted. Specifically, they have to do with whether terror can be defeated by war. There is growing evidence it cannot...
> 
> ...



Voters need coherent story line
_Toronto Star_, May 31, by James Travers
http://www.thestar.com/article/219816



> At his most gung-ho, Peter MacKay makes Afghanistan sound like a future Club Med. Along with the Prime Minister, the foreign affairs minister measures progress there in numbers of schools opened, kilometres of roads paved and refugees returning home.
> 
> When they aren't lying, statistics are compelling.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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