# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread August 2008



## GAP (1 Aug 2008)

*The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread August 2008  *               

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

*Articles found August 1, 2008*

Al-Qaeda Commander Says Bagram Escapee Killed in Air Strike  
By Ed Johnson Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) 
Article Link

 One of four al-Qaeda militants who escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan three years ago was killed in an air strike, the terrorist network said in a statement, according to a U.S.-based intelligence group. 

Abu Abdallah al-Shami and some of his ``mujahedeen companions were targeted in an American air raid,'' IntelCenter, based in Alexandria, Virginia, cited senior al-Qaeda leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid as saying. ``God had destined for him to become a martyr.'' The statement didn't provide further details of the strike. 

Abu Yahya al-Libi is the last militant who escaped from the jail near the Afghan capital, Kabul, in July 2005 to remain free, according to IntelCenter, which provides counterterrorism intelligence support to the U.S., British, Australian and Canadian armed forces. 

In 2006, Omar al-Farouq was killed by British forces in Iraq and Abu Nasir al-Qahtani was captured by coalition troops in Afghanistan, said IntelCenter, which monitors extremist Web sites. 

Al-Libi is al-Qaeda's highest profile member, releasing more video messages and written statements on the Internet than any other ``jihadi'' figure, it said. 
More on link

Helicopters to keep troops off dangerous roads in Afghanistan
Published Friday August 1st, 2008 
Article Link

The arrival early next year of six CH-47-D Chinook transport helicopters for use by Canadian troops in Afghanistan will ensure that the current and future needs of soldiers will be met, says the commander-designate of Joint Task Force Afghanistan.

Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance, who will assume control of the mission in February, said the helicopters, which will help keep Canadian troops off dangerous roads, should be in theatre at that time.

"The helicopters (will) provide, obviously, mobility," Vance said. "They provide a way to move our people more quickly to trouble spots."

Vance, the former commander of The Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (2RCR) at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, said the Chinooks will also improve surveillance by enhancing the ability of troops to better observe what is going on in their area of operation.

The federal government is spending $375 million to acquire six heavy-lift Chinooks from the U.S. Army. They are designed to transport artillery, troops, ammunition, fuel and supplies within military theatres of operation.

Until those choppers are in place, the Department of National Defence will lease up to eight Russian-built helicopters to ferry supplies around the battlefield in Afghanistan and lessen the chances of encountering roadside bombs. Improvised explosive devices have taken a toll on Canadian troops who have been forced to frequently travel dangerous roads.

Dean Black, a retired lieutenant-colonel and former commander of the 403 Tactical Helicopter Squadron at Gagetown, said the Chinooks can move a lot of troops, supplies and artillery pieces quickly.

"Helicopter travel can certainly make things a lot easier," said Black, now the executive director of the Air Force Association of Canada. "It's one of the few helicopters that's able to operate in that kind of a demanding environment from a density altitude perspective."

Black said the military once owned seven Chinooks. They were purchased in the early 1970s and sold in the mid-1990s.
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NATO says 4 soldiers killed in Afghanistan
The Associated PressPublished: August 1, 2008
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan: NATO says four soldiers and one civilian were killed in a roadside blast in eastern Afghanistan, bringing the death toll of the military alliance's troops to five for the day.

It was a bloody start to the month in what has already been a deadly year for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Four of the NATO soldiers and the civilian died in Kunar province Friday. The fifth death, reported earlier, also occurred Friday in Khost, another eastern province.

The alliance did not release the nationalities of the soldiers. However, most of the troops in the area are American.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (1 Aug 2008)

Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say
_NY Times_, August 1
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/world/asia/01pstan.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin



> American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan’s powerful spy service helped plan the deadly July 7 bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to United States government officials.
> 
> The conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack, the officials said, providing the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers are actively undermining American efforts to combat militants in the region.
> 
> The American officials also said there was new information showing that members of the Pakistani intelligence service were increasingly providing militants with details about the American campaign against them, in some cases allowing militants to avoid American missile strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas...



Pakistan denies ISI behind Indian embassy attack
AP, August 1
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/5919313.html



> Pakistan's government said Friday it needs to purge Taliban sympathizers from the country's main intelligence agency but angrily denied a report that the agency helped plan a bombing that killed at least 41 in Afghanistan.
> 
> The New York Times reported that American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence were involved in the July 7 attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul.
> 
> ...



India, Afghanistan behind unrest, says Pakistan
_The Hindu_, August 1
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/01/stories/2008080155461400.htm



> Pakistan has hit out at India and Afghanistan for the troubles in its north-western frontier tribal areas and pulled up Afghanistan for a bomb blast outside its consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat on Thursday; three people outside the consulate were injured.
> 
> A Foreign Ministry statement said, “Pakistan holds the government of Afghanistan responsible for the safety and security of its personnel in its embassy in Kabul and consulates in Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Mazar-i-Sharif.” Afghanistan’s Ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to “convey the grave concerns” of the Pakistan government.
> 
> ...



Karzai to visit India
Indo-Asian News Service, July 31
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?sectionName=&id=1ab857a1-026f-45c7-9ecc-3d3a441f2cb8&MatchID1=4736&TeamID1=8&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1194&MatchID2=4727&TeamID3=2&TeamID4=3&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1191&PrimaryID=4736&Headline=Karzai+to+visit+India&strParent=strParentID



> Afghan President Hamid Karzai will pay a state visit to India Aug 4 on his way home from a South Asian summit in Sri Lanka, it was announced in New Delhi on Thursday.
> 
> Accompanying the president during the daylong trip will be Foreign Affairs Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta and the National Security Advisor.
> 
> ...



Gates: US Not Ready to Send More Troops to Afghanistan
VOA, July 31
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-31-voa52.cfm



> U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says there is still no plan to send additional U.S. combat troops to Afghanistan, even though he has said he would like to do so "sooner rather than later." VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.
> 
> Two weeks ago, Secretary Gates said officials were "working very hard" to figure out which additional U.S. combat forces could be sent to Afghanistan to deal with increased violence during the current summer fighting season. At a news conference on Thursday, he said no such forces have yet been identified, but he did not rule out getting additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan before the fighting season ends.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (3 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 3, 2008*

Outside the wire, into a war
By: Joe Bryksa  Updated: August 3 at 07:33 AM CDT 
Article Link

Print Article E-mail Article ShareThisARGHDAB DISTRICT, Afghanistan -- With a large contingent from Winnipeg's Fort Garry Horse Reserve unit, I witnessed first-hand what it is like to go "outside the wire" into Arghdab District. It's a war zone. 

Slipping on my battle helmet and steel-plated body armour, I joined five Canadian soldiers in one of many military vehicles that were part of a heavily-armed guard protecting a convoy of supply trucks on their way to NATO forward operating bases.

Inside a Canadian RG-31 armoured vehicle, we left the comforts of the well-protected Kandahar Airfield compound and headed toward outlying areas past Kandahar City. Strapped in by a five-point harness, squished alongside some of our country's finest soldiers, I quickly learned how they cope with the dangers they face everyday in Afghanistan.

We were the lead vehicle in a long line of trucks and military vehicles as we rolled down the highway. When our driver saw vehicles coming towards us on the highway, he would drive straight at them, forcing them to pull over so our fleet could pass safely.

This is a survival technique, since suicide bombers here have been known to drive close to military vehicles and detonate explosives. More than cars and trucks are suspect, as there have been instances of explosives on motorcycles and bicycles.

And if that is not enough stress, there's also the threat of Taliban ambush attacks and the well-known improvised explosive devices. There are many culverts on the highways in Afghanistan and each one could carry a deadly load of explosives.
More on link

Wanted: thick-skinned, patient civil servants for Afghan posting
Graham Thomson, Canwest News Service Published: Saturday, August 02, 2008
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The latest Canadian casualty in Afghanistan isn't a soldier and wasn't wounded in an enemy attack. 

She is Canada's most senior civil servant in Kandahar who took a tumble while visiting a Canadian forward operating base and badly broke her ankle.

Now, Elissa Golberg, 35, hobbles her way on crutches into armoured vehicles and across military compounds, determined to complete her 11-month-long tour that's just about halfway done.

Her dogged persistence has become almost symbolic of Canada's little-known bureaucratic mission in Kandahar that is, according to Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson, "struggling" to attract civil servants to one of the most dangerous postings in the world.

"Where are we weak?" asked Emerson rhetorically on his whirlwind visit to Afghanistan in July. "I think one of the issues that we are struggling with, and I'm sure we'll overcome it, is ensuring that we can attract and excite enough Canadian public servants to come over here."

In one of the monumental aspects of the Canadian mission, civil servants are trying to build an Afghan bureaucracy - everything from the basics of a justice system to a municipal government to a functioning police force - as part of Canada's "exit strategy" to allow Afghans to run their own affairs.

While Emerson used his trip to announce an additional 200 troops for the military mission, the bureaucratic mission is quietly preparing for a surge of its own - doubling the number of Canadian civil servants in Kandahar City from 30 to 60 by Christmas.

Golberg says there are enough volunteers to fill this year's spots but the challenge is finding enough in the future willing to take on a 12-month deployment to a war zone that has not only claimed the lives of 88 Canadians soldiers but also one Canadian civil servant: diplomat Glyn Berry, who was killed by a suicide bomber in 2006.

As if the posting isn't tough enough, the preparation itself is an ordeal. 

"You want to make sure that they start to take language training, that they can speak Pashto when they come out and that takes time," says Golberg. "You want to make sure that they're getting a good enough basis on the Afghan file before they come out. You want to make sure they get their hostile environment training. There's all of these things that we've been learning over the course of the last two years that we're now trying to put into practice and we want to do that on a sustained basis. So, that's the challenge."

An unfailing optimism would also seem to be a prerequisite. 
More on link

Aid workers freed in Afghanistan   
Article Link

Two French aid workers kidnapped in central Afghanistan last month have been freed, their employers have said. 

French aid organisation Action Against Hunger said the two were apparently in good health, and would be flown home as soon as possible. 

In a statement on its website, the group thanked the French and Afghan authorities for their support. 

The pair, who have not been named, were seized at gunpoint on 18 July from their house in Daykundi province. 

The kidnappers tied up guards before breaking in and escaping with the aid workers in waiting vehicles. 

At the time, the governor of Daykundi, which is about 300km (190 miles) west of Kabul, said that the pair were kidnapped by "enemies of the Afghan government". 

Two French relief workers from another humanitarian group, Terre d'Enfance, were abducted last year and held for weeks before being set free. 
More on link

Taliban militants kidnap district chief in E Afghanistan   
 www.chinaview.cn  2008-08-02 14:21:27    
  Article Link

    KABUL, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Mohammed Ghias Haqmal, the district chief of Marawar district in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province, was kidnapped by Taliban militants on Friday night, Shafiq Hamdam who works for the international troops in east Afghanistan told Xinhua. 

    Meanwhile, the purported Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahaid claimed responsibly for that abduction. 

    Shafig Hamdam also said that an attack on a logistic convoy in east Afghanistan on Friday left one civilian dead and wounded three others including one Afghan soldier. 

    Kunar, the eastern frontier province of Afghanistan suffered several conflicts and violence on Friday while a roadside bomb struck a U.S.-led Coalition vehicle in Sauki district and left four foreign soldiers dead. 

    "The incident occurred in Sauki district Friday evening when a convoy of the Coalition forces passing the area. Aas a result, four soldiers and their Afghan colleague were killed," Hamdam told Xinhua. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (3 Aug 2008)

In Afghanistan even our successes are failures
Sunday Telegraph, August 3
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/08/03/do0306.xml



> The British Army is rightly proud of the new road that runs through Musa Qala's teeming bazaar. After all, they built it - or, more accurately, it was built by the Afghans and paid for with British taxpayers' money.
> 
> Having just spent three weeks embedded with British troops in Helmand, I can report that, by Afghan standards, the road is pretty impressive. It is relatively straight and flat and, I was assured, has transformed the lives of many among the local population.
> 
> ...



As the Fighting Swells in Afghanistan, So Does a Refugee Camp in Its Capital
_NY Times_, August 3, by Carlotta Gall
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/world/asia/03afghan.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin



> KABUL, Afghanistan — On a piece of barren land on the western edge of this capital, a refugee camp is steadily swelling as families displaced by the heavy bombardment in southern Afghanistan arrive in batches.
> 
> The growing numbers reaching Kabul are a sign of the deepening of the conflict between NATO and American forces and the Taliban in the south and of the feeling among the population that there will be no end soon. Families who fled the fighting around their homes in Helmand Province one or two years ago and sought temporary shelter around two southern provincial capitals, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar, said they had moved to Kabul because of growing insecurity across the south.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (4 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 4, 2008*

One dead as roadside bomb hits military convoy near Kabul
Another person wounded; victims thought to be American
Last Updated: Sunday, August 3, 2008 
Article Link

A roadside bomb struck a military vehicle Sunday on the outskirts the Afghan capital, killing one person and wounding another.

A U.S. military official confirmed the casualties but did not specify their nationalities.

However, a district police chief, Bariyalay Khan, said the vehicle was part of a convoy carrying Americans.

The blast happened on the eastern outskirts of Kabul on a road leading to a police training centre, he said.

Canadian troops in Afghanistan are concentrated in the province of Kandahar in the south.

Najib Rahman, another police official at the scene of the blast, said an American helicopter landed to pick up the wounded while another hovered overhead.

Militants regularly use roadside bombs to attack Afghan and foreign troops in the country, where forces of the former Taliban government are fighting the current regime and its NATO allies.
More on link

The delicate task of playing both sides in Pakistan
 SAEED SHAH  From Saturday's Globe and Mail August 2, 2008 at 9:19 AM EDT
Article Link

ISLAMABAD — For a covert spy agency, Pakistan's Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence has been attracting a lot of attention. It's been rebuked by the U.S. government for failing to curb terrorism, accused in The New York Times of involvement in an international bombing, and targeted by the government it's supposed to serve — first for increased oversight, and now for a purge of its more extremist elements.

After years of denials, Pakistan admitted yesterday for the first time what others have been saying: There are "probably" still agents of Inter-Services Intelligence who are sympathetic to the Taliban and "act on their own in ways that are not in convergence" with Pakistan's interests or policies, Pakistani government minister Sherry Rehman said. "We need to identify these people and weed them out."

Anyone who has tracked the history of the ISI knows this is not a revelation, but a half truth. It's not individuals in the ISI that are rogue and working with the Taliban, but the ISI itself. The ISI, and the Pakistani army it serves, don't want to see the United States, and the government of Hamid Karzai, win in Afghanistan because they believe it would fatally undermine Pakistan's own national security, analysts say. The army does not trust U.S. intentions in the region, and it does not trust the Karzai government, which is close to India, Pakistan's giant and hostile neighbour.

"Nobody in Pakistan wants to see America win," said Hameed Gul, a retired general who is the most infamous former director-general of the ISI. "That would spell danger to Pakistan in the long run. They, America, want to make us subservient to India."
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Afghan bar association means country closer to fair justice system: advocates
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — Political prisoners turned over to Afghan forces by Canadian troops may now have another ace in their pockets when it comes to fair treatment.

In fact, all 10,000 prisoners languishing in Afghan prisons, many of whom ended up there under dubious circumstances, are a step closer to a fairer justice system, advocates say, after the country established its first bar association last week.

Seldom taken seriously by judges, prosecutors, police and prison guards who, in many cases don't understand their role, defence lawyers have frequently been brushed off or tossed out of courtrooms.

A massive shortage of them also means the majority of accused persons don't even get legal representation despite the fact it is a basic right under Afghanistan's constitution that was adopted in January 2004.

Up until now, defence lawyers have had to register with Afghanistan's Ministry of Justice in order to practice.
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Keep Afghanistan expectations realistic, says departing ambassador
Graham Thomson ,  Canwest News Service Published: Sunday, August 03, 2008
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Calling Afghanistan the most underdeveloped country in which he has ever worked, Canada's ambassador here says Canadians "should be realistic" about how much progress can be achieved before Canada's combat mission in Kandahar province ends in 2011.

"What is hard for Canadians to understand, as it is for the public in the rest of the Western countries, is just how big the development task is here," said Arif Lalani, who is packing his bags to leave the country after a 15-month posting in Kabul. "This is an extremely underdeveloped country. It's the most underdeveloped country I have worked in. And it has had 30 years of war."

Lalani's comments in a telephone interview reflect a lowering of expectations by the federal government on what Canada can do to improve the situation in an impoverished country where insurgent-led violence has increased over the past year.
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New lawyers' group may help Afghan political prisoners
By TOBI COHEN, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Article Link

KABUL -- Political prisoners turned over to Afghan forces by Canadian troops may now have another ace in their pockets when it comes to fair treatment. 

In fact, all 10,000 prisoners languishing in Afghan prisons, many of whom ended up there under dubious circumstances, are a step closer to a fairer justice system, advocates say, after the country established its first bar association last week. 

Seldom taken seriously by judges, prosecutors, police and prison guards who, in many cases, don't understand their role, defence lawyers have frequently been brushed off or tossed out of court. 

A widespread shortage also means most accused persons don't even get legal representation despite the fact it is a basic right under Afghanistan's constitution. 

Up until now, defence lawyers have had to register with Afghanistan's ministry of justice in order to practise. 

Since many Afghans are mistrustful of their government, which they often view as corrupt, the creation of an independent professional oversight body was imperative, said Alex Wilks, a legal specialist with the International Bar Association, which has been helping to set up the bar for the last four years. 
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Labbé promotion a strange act for Hillier
By SCOTT TAYLOR On Target Mon. Aug 4 - 5:55 AM
Article Link

ON WEDNESDAY, July 2, I attended the change of command ceremony in Ottawa that marked the passing of the torch from Gen. Rick Hillier to Canada’s new chief of defence staff, Gen. Walter Natynczyk. As the dignitaries were piped down the red carpet to take their seats in the VIP bleachers, I spotted a familiar face. Strolling on his own, chest bulging with medals, was none other than Col. Serge Labbé.

Most in attendance took no notice of Labbé, and the majority of the crowd had no idea of this officer’s past. 

Having closely followed his career since he commanded the ill-fated mission to Somalia in 1992-93, I recognized the controversial colonel instantly. 

His present posting is that of commander of the strategic advisory team based in Kabul that was established to help build capability within President Hamid Karzai’s Afghan government.
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11 suspected Taliban insurgents killed in S Afghanistan   
 www.chinaview.cn  2008-08-04 21:23:55  
  Article Link

    KABUL, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan National Army (ANA) in three operations launched on Sunday in southern Afghanistan's Uruzgan province eliminated 11 suspected Taliban insurgents, said a statement of the Interior Ministry released here on Monday. 

    "The ANA launched the operations targeting the anti-government militants in three separate districts of Charchinu, Chura and TrinKot in Uruzgan province," the statement said, "clashes left 11 militants including three commanders dead and five police wounded." 

    One car, three motor bikes, three machine guns and two mines were also captured from the militants, it added. 

    In another incident, two persons were killed in Afghanistan's eastern Paktia province as a suicide bomber blew himself up Monday morning, provincial governor Mohammad Akram Khapalwak said. 

    "It took place inside a mosque in Urgon district when police identified a terrorist and he blew himself up killing two worshipers," Khapalwak told Xinhua
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Czechs plan to deploy more troops in Afghanistan  
The Associated Press Monday, August 4, 2008 
Article Link

PRAGUE, Czech Republic: The Czech Defense Ministry says it plans to increase the number of its troops in Afghanistan by about 200 next year.

Ministry spokesman Jan Pejsek says the number of Czech troops serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force could reach some 600 in 2009.

Pejsek said Monday the plan needs full government approval in September or October. Parliament also needs to approve the deployment.

The Czech parliament approved the deployment of up to 415 Czech servicemen in NATO's peacekeeping force in Afghanistan this year.

A separate unit of 100 elite troops should continue to serve next year in Afghanistan with the U.S.-led operation against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, Pejsek said.
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FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan
Mon Aug 4, 2008
Article Link

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan reported until 0800 GMT on Monday:

* denotes new or updated items

* HELMAND - Afghan and NATO forces killed 17 insurgents in a joint operation which finished on Sunday in southern Helmand province, the defence ministry said on Monday, adding two Afghan soldiers were wounded.

* PAKTIKA - An explosion at a mosque killed the Imam and another man on Monday in southeastern Paktika, a provincial official said. The cause of the blast was being investigated.

* MAIDAN WARDAK - Insurgents killed an army officer and wounded two more in an ambush in Maidan Wardak, west of Kabul, the defence ministry.

* GHAZNI - Taliban insurgents killed a district police chief and four other policemen and wounded seven in an attack in Zana Khan, Ghazni province on Sunday, a security officer in the province said. A group of men complained to the governor about what it said was the killing of five civilians and arrest of three others in a raid by foreign forces in another area of Ghazni overnight.

BAGHLAN - U.S.-led coalition forces killed several militants and detained one during an operation to target militants in the Tala Wa Barf district of the northern Baghlan province on Sunday, a U.S. military statement said.

PAKTIA - Taliban rebels killed three Afghan police officers and seized their vehicle in the eastern province of Paktia on Sunday, a provincial spokesman said on Monday. (Compiled by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by David Fox) 
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Burning poppy crops  not the solution to Afghanistan's poppy crisis: Emerson
Article Link

For once I must agree with Emerson. The U.S. likes to tear up or use herbicide to eradicate opium poppies claiming with some justification that sale of opium helps to finance the Taliban.
However, it also helps finance the Karzai government and the warlords that are part of the supposedly democratic government that we are supposed to be protecting.
Some even on the left have the idealistic view that we can help promote a good clean drug free Afghanistan. Right we can help the Yanks yank out all those horrible poppies. Well at least the Conservatives aren't idiotic enough to buy into that vision. This policy of course would be imposed upon the Afghans against their will. That seems not to matter somehow. It is all for their own good.
What such a policy will do will be to recruit more to the Taliban cause and probably even an understanding between the government and the insurgents that they will do everything possible to stop the process. By the way there is no poppy crisis in Afghanistan. The crisis is in the minds of foreigners. Opium poppies for Afghans are a huge cash cow. Destroying the poppy crops would bring a real crisis.
Note the not very subtle criticism of Karzai in this article and note that the U.S. is becoming impatient with him. The real problem with Karzai is that he is not a good enough puppet. He even complains of U.S. bombing that kills civilians. The U.S. is already grooming the next Afghan president Zalmay Khalilzad a faithful servant of the Bush administration.
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RAF helicopter rescue teams to be sent to Afghanistan
Rachel Williams The Guardian, Monday August 4 2008 
Article Link

One in five of the RAF's search and rescue helicopter crews are to be cut so they can be sent to help British troops in Afghanistan in an attempt to reduce the number of soldiers killed by roadside bombs.

A significant proportion of the 114 British personnel to die in the country were killed by mines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide bombs directed at servicemen and -women travelling by land. It is also hoped sending extra support to Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan, will relieve the strain on helicopter pilots working there. 

The move will see the number of crews available at Britain's six RAF search and rescue stations reduced from five to four, leading to fears that their ability to respond to an emergency anywhere in the UK within an hour will be threatened.

Search and rescue teams answer more than 1,000 call-outs a year to incidents varying from stranded hill walkers to floods such as those in Cornwall, in 2004. They work alongside four coastguard and two Royal Navy teams, meaning nowhere in Britain is more than an hour's flight away, or 90 minutes at night. 

An MoD spokesman said: "The RAF search and rescue teams are the most dedicated and professional in the world. They provide at least one committed standby helicopter at six bases throughout the UK able to respond within 15 minutes. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (4 Aug 2008)

Ragtag Taliban Show Tenacity in Afghanistan
_NY Times_, August 4, by Carlotta Gall
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/world/asia/04taliban.html?ref=todayspaper



> KABUL, Afghanistan — Six years after being driven from power, the Taliban are demonstrating a resilience and a ferocity that are raising alarm here, in Washington and in other NATO capitals, and engendering a fresh round of soul-searching over how a relatively ragtag insurgency has managed to keep the world’s most powerful armies at bay.
> 
> The mounting toll inflicted by the insurgents, including nine American soldiers killed in a single attack last month, has turned Afghanistan into a deadlier battlefield than Iraq and refocused the attention of America’s military commanders and its presidential contenders on the Afghan war.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (5 Aug 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND AUGUST 5

Manmohan, Karzai vow to keep up fight against terror
_Times of India_, August 5
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Unfazed_by_Kabul_terror_India_announces_fresh_aid_for_Afghanistan/rssarticleshow/3324848.cms



> NEW DELHI: Terrorism, as expected, took centrestage in the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Monday with both leaders not mincing words in denouncing the menace. Singh, in fact, described the recent bombing outside the Indian embassy in Kabul as an attack on the friendship between India and Afghanistan. While Singh said that the two countries would not allow terrorism to stand in their way, Karzai stated that Afghanistan would back India “resolutely” in fighting the menace of terrorism.
> 
> Almost as if to prove the point, Singh also announced a fresh aid of $450 million for Afghanistan saying that the money would be utilized for carrying out ongoing as well as forthcoming projects in the country. However, sources said most of the money was likely to be pumped into technology, education and culture and not infrastructure...
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (5 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 5, 2008*

Strict security, growing costs impede major military purchase
U.S. limiting exports to Canada over espionage fears, files show 
DANIEL LEBLANC From Tuesday's Globe and Mail August 5, 2008 at 3:48 AM EDT
Article Link

OTTAWA — Ottawa is facing an uphill battle to carry out a promised purchase of $17-billion in new military equipment because of stringent U.S. security rules and ballooning costs caused by a series of delays, newly released documents show.

According to Foreign Affairs briefing notes, the government is blaming U.S. security measures that limit the export of military technology to Canada, as American authorities fear some Canadian workers will engage in espionage.

In addition, documents from National Defence show the government will either have to pay an extra $300-million in "overrun cost" to purchase a fleet of 16 Chinook helicopters, or settle for less equipment.

The Harper government announced in 2006 that it was purchasing three new fleets of aircraft, three new ships and hundreds of new trucks for the Canadian Forces. However, only one new fleet of planes - the giant Boeing C-17s - is operational, while another fleet of Hercules C130J cargo planes is on order.
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The Marines from Twentynine Palms, assigned to train the Afghan National Police, have had their seven-month deployment extended by 30 days.
Article Link

The 1,250 Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Regiment, were expected to return home in early November. But Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, at the urging of senior military leaders, has extended their mission.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited with the 2/7 last month at its base in Helmand province, praising the Marines but noting that the training is hampered by rampant corruption among the Afghan police.

The extension of the 2/7 comes a month after a similar decision was made concerning the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune, N.C.

It's no secret that U.S. civilian and military leaders are frustrated with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for not providing more troops for the fight against the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.

"Some of our allies do not want to fight, or they impose caveats on where, when and how their forces may be used," Gates wrote recently in a widely distributed memo.

NATO countries, Gates noted, have two million troops -- not counting the U.S.

"Yet we struggle to sustain a deployment of less than 30,000 non-U.S. forces in Afghanistan," Gates wrote in the same memo, "and we are forced to scrounge for a handful of helicopters."

Along with extending the 2/7, Gates also approved sending additional 
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Missing Pakistani woman arrested in Afghanistan  
Article Link

New York (PTI): A Pakistani woman, who mysteriously disappeared from Karachi five years back, having alleged links with the Al Qaeda, has been arrested on charges of attempted murder and assault of US soldiers and FBI agents working in Afghanistan. 

36-year old Aafia Saddiqui, a neuroscientist trained in US, who was arrested here after being brought from Afghanistan last evening, will be produced before a court on Wednesday, South District of New York Attorney Michael J Garcia said. If convicted, she could get prison sentence of 20 years on each of the two charges. 

Saddiqui, who studied at the Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had disappeared from her house while visiting her parents at Karachi along with her three children, evoking allegations from her family members and human rights group that she was being illegally detained. 

American officials, on the other hand alleged that the woman aroused suspicion while she was loitering outside Ghazni Governor's compound in Afghanistan on July 17 this year. 
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Collateral damage
Afghan civilian casualties jeopardize Canada's reputation and role
By PETER WORTHINGTON
Article Link
  
Even though everyone knows accidental deaths happen in war (and peace), the deaths of children are especially gruesome. 

And so it is with the deaths of two children, ages four and two, killed when Canadian soldiers near Kandahar City fired on a vehicle that was speeding towards them, the driver ignoring gestures to pull over. 

From what is known, it's hard to fault the soldiers, who really had no choice, given the history of that part of Afghanistan. Every day life-and-death decisions have to be made against a Taliban enemy that doesn't hesitate to kill Afghan civilians, who are pawns in their holy war to regain power. 

Although Afghanistan is a country where killing is common, the deaths of these children will further undermine the already precarious Canadian mission. 

On the overall Afghanistan mission, the new reality appears to be that, more and more, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is adopting the role of commander-in-chief -- dabbling in decisions better left to the military on the ground. 

Micromanaging has always been a complaint about Harper. It was predictable and perhaps inevitable that he'd be unable to resist second-guessing on Afghanistan. 

When Gen. Rick Hillier was chief of defence staff, it often seemed he was at odds with the PM. 

Hillier was quick with opinions and assessments, which many in the media (mis)interpreted as Hillier dictating policy, which it wasn't. It was his view, based on knowledge and experienc
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## GAP (5 Aug 2008)

Tensions over drug trade bubble to the surface
Recent meeting at Canadian embassy with impatient U.S. envoy left Afghan politicians feeling bitter and insulted
GRAEME SMITH  August 5, 2008
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Long-simmering tensions between the Afghan government and its Western supporters over the opium trade have broken out into angry confrontations behind closed doors recently, including a stormy recent meeting at the Canadian embassy.

Accounts vary about exactly what happened when U.S. Ambassador William Wood sat down with his Canadian counterpart and a gathering of Kandahar's political leaders on July 12, but five sources who attended the session described it as a strong sign of rising U.S. impatience with the local government's stand on drugs.

Afghan politicians also expressed bitterness after the meeting, saying they felt insulted by the U.S. envoy and complaining that an argument over opium smuggling had, ironically, broken down a discussion about the kind of agricultural policy that might encourage farmers to grow legal crops instead of narcotics.

Afghanistan's flourishing opium trade has ranked among the most contentious issues between the Kabul government and its backers in recent years, but the disagreements have rarely surfaced in public. One of the strongest recent statements came from former U.S. counternarcotics official Thomas Schweich, who published an article in The New York Times Magazine accusing President Hamid Karzai of obstructing drug-control efforts and saying that senior government officials are corrupted by opium money. The Afghan President vehemently rejected the claims.
More on link


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## GAP (6 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 6, 2008*

Afghanistan diaries of a medic
Article Link

 Part 1: Getting to Kandahar — the hard way
Posted 8/1/2008 , Updated 8/1/2008 in Afghanistan diaries of a medic
By Dr. Ray Wiss Special to The Star Call me Murphy. Whatever could have gone wrong with this trip, did go wrong. My departing flight from Canada was [...] 

  Part 2: Getting used to the routine of war
Posted 8/1/2008 in Afghanistan diaries of a medic
By Dr. Ray Wiss Special to The Star Nov 17: Ramp ceremony A very bad day. By the time you read this, the deaths of Master Corporal Nicholas [...] 

Part 3: It’s sad that we can’t treat all Afghans
Posted 8/1/2008 in Afghanistan diaries of a medic
By Dr. Ray Wiss Special to The Star Dec. 1, 2007: A tragic dichotomy I have added up the cost of all the vehicles, the artillery and the [...] 

Part 4: Road trips no fun if you’re dodging IEDs
Posted 8/1/2008 in Afghanistan diaries of a medic
By Dr. Ray Wiss Special to The Star Dec. 18, 2007: on the road This was my last day at Forward Operating Base Lynx. Although it was initially planned [...] 

Part 5: Leaving the front, but feeling melancholy
Posted 8/1/2008 in Afghanistan diaries of a medic
By Dr. Ray Wiss Special to The Star Jan. 12, 2008: Last day at the FOB So that’s it. My orders just came through. The senior medic I [...] 

Part 6: Bringing modern medicine to war-torn Afghanistan
Posted 8/1/2008 in Afghanistan diaries of a medic
By Dr. Ray Wiss Special to The Star Jan. 30, 2008: Emergency department echo — Kandahar In one of the very first entries, I mentioned the physicians here [...] 

Part 7: On the way home
Posted 8/5/2008 in Afghanistan diaries of a medic
Feb 3, 2008: Leaving Kandahar Airfield With the schedule for Hercules aircraft leaving Kandahar Airfield being highly variable, I was quite pleased to find out that [...] 
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## GAP (7 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 7, 2008*

Canadians getting ready to fly Chinooks
Matthew Fisher, Canwest News Service   Published: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Article Link

FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- The first Canadians slated to fly helicopter combat missions in Afghanistan have been secretly training for duty since last March at an army base in Alabama.

"We are going to save a lot of lives and directly affect combat operations," said Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Gagnon of Hawkesbury, Ont. The officer, who leads a group of pilots and flight engineers training here, spoke for the first time this week about their pending deployment to Kandahar, where they are to fly six CH-47D Chinooks leased from the U.S. military. 

Sending Chinooks to Afghanistan meets one of the major recommendations made by the John Manley advisory panel on the Afghan mission and subsequently approved by Parliament.

An official announcement about the Chinook deployment, which is to cost $375-million, and of the dispatch of new unmanned reconnaissance drones to Afghanistan, which was also recommended by the panel, is to be made on Thursday at CFB St. Hubert, near Montreal, by Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

The Chinooks and the drones are part of a dramatic buildup that will at least double Canada's current combat capability in Kandahar by next spring.

Other elements to meet growing threats in Afghanistan's hotly contested southeastern province are expected to include armed Canadian Griffon escort helicopters, which according to sources in Ottawa could be flying in Afghanistan as soon as this fall, and a U.S. infantry battalion, which is expected to be placed under Canadian command by next spring at the latest. 
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Ottawa set to announce helicopter, UAV lease for Afghan mission
Article Link

OTTAWA — The Tory government is set to announce the lease of helicopters and unmanned survelliance planes for the Canadian military in Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Public Works Minister Christian Paradis will be in the Montreal area to outline the lease of up to eight Soviet-style Mi-8 helicopters to transport battlefield supplies in Kandahar.

It is an interim measure until the Defence Department completes the $375 million purchase of six American-made CH-47-D Chinook helicopters, which will be able to transport both troops and equipment.

Securing helicopter transport was a principal condition of the Manley commission report last winter and a key caveat of Parliament's extension of the combat mission until 2011.

The Conservative government was given until February 2009 to come up with the helicopters and a flight of unmanned surveillance planes.

The announcement will also include details of a contract, possibly worth $100 million, to lease a flight of uninhabited aerial vehicles - or UAVs - from MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. and Israeli Air Industries Ltd.
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Roadside bombs now less sophisticated, more vexing
By LOLITA C. BALDOR 
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Army official says roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan have gotten less sophisticated and as a result harder for troops to find or avoid.

And while the number of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, found and troops injured or killed have plummeted in Iraq, they spiked recently in Afghanistan. That trend reflects the escalating combat in Afghanistan.

The head of the military's counter-IED organization — Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz — says that in late spring, the number of IED incidents peaked at about 200 a month in Afghanistan.
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Bin Laden's driver guilty in first war on terror trial
 07 August 2008 By Mike Mela 
Article Link

OSAMA bin Laden's former driver has been convicted of supporting terrorism in the first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay.
A Pentagon-selected military jury deliberated for about eight hours over three days before returning the verdict yesterday.

Salim Hamdan held his head in his hands and wept when a navy captain on the jury read the decision. Hamdan, who is from Yemen, faces life behind bars.
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General Barry McCaffery's Report On Afghanistan - "2009 Will Be The Year of Decision
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Article Link

Gen Barry McCaffery (ret) is currently serving as adjunct Professor of International Relations at West Point. He has previously issued overviews of the war in Iraq at various critical junctures that proved to be highly accurate. He has now visited Afghanistan and issued a report on the situation in that country, including therein his assessment that the next year will be the most critical period of this war.
__________________________________________________________

This from Gen. McCaffery:

4. THE BOTTOM LINE: SIX ASSERTIONS.


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## MarkOttawa (7 Aug 2008)

French troops deployed to southern Afghanistan
AP, August 7
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080807.wfranceafghan0807/BNStory/Afghanistan/home



> Hundreds of French troops have been deployed to train and mentor Afghan security forces in a key southern province wracked by the Taliban-led insurgency, NATO said Thursday. Eight Taliban militants were also killed in the south, authorities said.
> 
> The troops travelled in 94 vehicles from Kandahar to Uruzgan province Wednesday in what was one of the largest ground military convoys in southern Afghanistan in years, the military alliance said in a statement.
> 
> ...



Call to extend Dutch Uruzgan mission
Radio Nederlands, July 29
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/netherlands/080729-dutch-uruzgan-mission



> The issue of Dutch deployment as part of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan is in the news once again. NATO's outgoing Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan, Maurits Jochems, expects the Afghan government and NATO members will ask the Netherlands to extend its mission in Afghanistan beyond 2010. He says the Afghan army will need more time before it can operate without foreign military assistance.
> 
> Speaking unofficially, Mr Jochems described the build-up of the Afghan army as a success story. He says it has increased in strength from 7,000 troops several years ago to more than 50,000 today. However, he does not expect it to be operating throughout the country before *2012, when there will be an estimated 122,000 Afghan troops available* [emphasis added]. Even then, he believes NATO air support will still be needed. While praising the bravery of ordinary Afghan soldiers, he did have some criticism of the army's organisation and leadership.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (7 Aug 2008)

Afghanistan: strategies and shifts
Conference of Defence Associations round-up, August 7
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1218129199

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (7 Aug 2008)

NATO aircraft crashes in E. Afghanistan  
 www.chinaview.cn  2008-08-07 18:18:22 
Article Link

    KABUL, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- An aircraft belonging to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) crashed Thursday in eastern Afghan province of Paktika, an ISAF statement released here said. 

    "The aircraft, a Shadow reconnaissance vehicle, was unarmed and the wreckage has been located," the statement said. 

    "It landed on open ground without making contact with people or property," it said, "The cause of the crash is under investigation." 

    Neither Taliban nor independent sources were available to make comment. 

    The eastern frontier Afghan provinces adjoining Pakistan have witnessed the surge of Taliban attacks on international and Afghan troops during past weeks when the anti-government militants continue to demonstrate their strength through suicide and roadside bombings. 
More on link


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## GAP (8 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 8, 2008*

MDA awarded Afghanistan spy plane contract
Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun Published: Friday, August 08, 2008
Article Link

Richmond-based MacDonald Detwiler and Associates was awarded a contract Thursday to provide unmanned surveillance aircraft for Canadian troops fighting in Afghanistan.

The contract, $95 million for two years with an option to extend it for a third year for an additional $35 million, was one of a number of contracts announced Thursday as part of Ottawa's commitment to strengthen Canadian forces.

The spy aircraft are designed to fly 10,000 metres above the areas where Canadian soldiers are operating, well out of the range of ground fire, and provide military intelligence to field commanders on the ground.

MDA's main role, besides providing the aircraft, is to operate them and provide the data they collect to the soldiers. The company is providing a complete package, including services, to the military, David Hargreaves, a vice-president within MDA's Information Systems group, said.

"The purpose is surveillance," Hargreaves said. "Whatever operation they happen to be doing, by having this aircraft above this operation, they can essentially monitor everything in the area. The data is in real time so the commanders at the front line will be able to see a much better view of the whole area around them."

Hargreaves said MDA is to provide a number of the sophisticated spy aircraft, operate and service them in Afghanistan by February 2009. The unmanned aerial vehicles, called UAVs, are being built by Israel Aerospace Industries through a partnership with MDA.
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Volatile Zhari district to see more development work along with soldiering
Article Link

ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan — Canada is boosting its development and diplomacy efforts in what is perhaps Kandahar province's most volatile district.

A new Joint District Co-ordination Centre in Zhari district will soon be staffed by a member of the Canadian-led Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

"We have people coming out here on a periodic basis but starting late August, early September, we'll have a political and development officer out here," said Elissa Golberg, Canada's top civilian official in the area.

Goldberg was at Thursday's official opening of the centre, which has been operating informally for about six months.

There are currently two Canadian civilian police officers mentoring Zhari's Afghan police chief at the centre, she said.

The centre also serves as a 911 call centre, not altogether unlike the emergency dispatch system familiar to Canadians. It gets as many as 15 calls a week from local citizens seeking to warn troops about suspected improvised explosive devices.

The centre has been primarily staffed by members of the Canadian army's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team which works with Afghan soldiers.

In fact, because of the lack of security in Zhari, much of the development work that has been going on there has been delivered by Canadian Forces Civilian-Military Co-operation teams, or CIMIC.

Few, if any, non-governmental organizations have been willing to work in the area.
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Seven policemen, 24 Taliban killed in Afghanistan  
7 Aug 2008, 2208 hrs IST,AGENCIES Article Link

KABUL: Seven Afghan policemen and 24 Taliban fighters were killed in a series of clashes in Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday. 

Seven police officers were killed when Taliban attacked their post in Safian village in Lashkargah, the capital of the southern Helmand province, on Wednesday night, Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said. 

The spokesman added that they suspected a policeman, who went missing after the attack, to have had connections with Taliban militants as the officers died without showing any signs of resistance. 

Ten Taliban fighters were killed on Wednesday in the Marja district of Helmand during an operation by Afghan security forces, backed by international troops. 

Afghan security forces also killed eight Taliban rebels and wounded seven in an operation in the Zherai district of the southern Kandahar province on Wednesday, the interior ministry said in a statement. 
More on link

Is the Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Becoming a Free-Fire Zone?
Richard Weitz  07 Aug 2008 World Politics Review Exclusive 
Article Link

In recent months, Pakistan's new leaders have been insisting that U.S. forces were not conducting covert operations against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants inside Pakistan and that their government would never allow such missions. They have insisted that Pakistani regular troops and paramilitary forces could adequately deal with the insurgents and any high-value terrorist targets.

According to a variety of sources, however, U.S. military forces, though not permanently based in Pakistan, continue to conduct military attacks from Afghanistan against al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan's loosely governed northwestern territories.

On July 9, U.S. Gen. David D. McKiernan, the commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, said that American and Afghan forces deployed along the Afghan-Pakistani frontier had come under increasing mortar and rocket attacks from neighboring Pakistan. The general presumed this was because they thought their being on Pakistani territory gave them some kind of sanctuary. However, McKiernan argued they were mistaken because "we do return those fires."
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More troops may be sent to Afghanistan, hints Des Browne
More troops may be sent to Afghanistan to help fight the Taliban, the Defence Secretary has hinted. 
 By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent 08 Aug 2008
Article Link

Military chiefs have been in discussion to almost double troop numbers in Afghanistan, the Daily Telegraph understands. Senior military officers have held preliminary talks about troop strenght and believe increasing numbers up to approximately 14,000 from the current 8,200 may be necessary to defeat the Taliban. 

During a trip to the frontline in Helmand province yesterday Des Browne said he already agreed on three occasions to military requests for increases. Mr Browne, who is the first senior politician to visit the volatile front line in Sangin town where 10 British troops have been killed since June, said British forces were making progress in Afghanistan, but acknowledged it had come at a "high price". 

He said: "The force level that we have in Afghanistan is one that was placed there on advice to do the job that we want it to do. 

"And I have, twice or three times now, increased that force level. I am willing to do that if that's the military advice." 

He denied that the force in Iraq would be reduced in order to release numbers for Afghanistan. "We are not doing that to release additional troops to Afghanistan," he told BBC Radio 4. 
More on link

Soldiers wounded as Canada launches new facility in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Thursday, August 7, 2008 
Article Link

A firefight in southern Kandahar left six Canadian soldiers with minor injuries on Friday.

The battle between soldiers and insurgents erupted in Zhari district west of Kandahar city. Local fighters attacked the Canadian soldiers after the vehicle they were riding in struck an improvised explosive device, forcing the soldiers on to the road.

A helicopter transported the injured to a hospital at Kandahar Airfield, where the soldiers were treated for minor injuries and released.

The skirmish occurred the same day Canada launched a new Joint District Co-ordination Centre in Zhari district, a multi-purpose facility meant to connect coalition troops, Afghan security forces and local citizens.

The battle between Canadian troops and insurgents could be heard in the distance during the official opening for the centre, which has been operating for about six months. Two Canadian civilian police officers are already mentoring Zhari's Afghan police chief there, according to Canada's top civilian official in Kandahar, Elissa Golberg.

"We have people coming out here on a periodic basis but starting late August, early September, we'll have a political and development officer out here," Golberg said.

While members of the Canadian army will work onsite with Afghan soldiers, the facility also serves as a 911 call centre similar to those operating in Canada. An interpreter will relay messages called in by local residents to Canadian troops, who will then send Afghan or coalition forces to investigate.
More on link

Canadian troops help net drugs, weapons in operation in southern Afghanistan
Article Link

Zhari District, Afghanistan — Canadian military officials say troops have seized a large quantity of weapons, bomb-making materials and drugs during an ongoing operation in Maywand District, west of Kandahar City.

The joint operation, which involved Afghan forces as well as U.S. and British troops, is aimed at disrupting insurgent activity. Capt. Chris Quinlan says it was also an opportunity to bridge ties with local elders in an underserviced area of the province.

Maj. Fraser Auld adds the insurgents were taken by surprise by the sweep.

Officials say no insurgents were captured during the operation.
More on link

Coalition troops kill women, child
Article Link

US-led coalition troops "inadvertently" killed four women and a child in a gun battle in central Afghanistan that also left several militants dead, the force said today.

Troops were "threatened'' by militants during an operation yesterday in Ghazni province aimed at a Taliban militant alleged to be coordinating foreign rebels in Afghanistan, it said in a statement.

"As coalition forces approached a compound, they were threatened by several armed militants.

"The force responded with small-arms fire, killing the militants and inadvertently killing four women and a child located with them,'' it said.

Several alleged militants were killed and three detained, the coalition said.

"The coalition regrets the death of these non-combatants,'' spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Rumi Nielson-Green said in the statement.

"We are planning to conduct a full and thorough investigation.''

There has been a series of incidents in the past weeks in which civilians have been killed in international military action against Taliban and other insurgents trying to bring down the Western-backed government.
More on link


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## GAP (9 Aug 2008)

*Articles found July 9, 2008*

 Canadian Soldier Killed in Afghanistan
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, Aug 09, 2008 
Article Link

 A Canadian soldier died of his injuries following an engagement involving coalition forces, insurgents and security personnel from a civilian convoy in the Zharey District around 9 a.m. (Kandahar time) today. An investigation is being conducted to determine the details surrounding this incident and further information will be made public as it becomes available. 
The fallen soldier is Master Corporal Joshua Brian Roberts of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Manitoba. 
First aid was administered to MCpl Roberts immediately following the incident. He was evacuated by helicopter to Kandahar Air Field's Role 3 Multi-National Medical Facility, but sadly was pronounced dead upon arrival. 
All members of Task Force Kandahar are thinking of the family and friends of our fallen comrade during this time of sorrow. The dedication and sacrifice of soldiers like MCpl Roberts are helping to make a difference in the lives of countless Afghan citizens. 
We will continue with our mission as we remember the life of MCpl Roberts. We remain committed to improving security and stability in Kandahar Province and working together with local Afghans to achieve peace and prosperity for their country. 
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British commanders call for more troops to stave off Taliban victory
Michael Smith August 10, 2008
Article Link

Senior British commanders are to warn ministers that unless thousands more troops are sent to Afghanistan the Taliban will win back control of the country. 

They are recommending a rapid reduction in the 4,000 troops in Iraq so that more can go to Afghanistan. American and British commanders in Afghanistan want an Iraq-style surge “within months” to fend off a Taliban victory before next year’s presidential election there. 

One senior officer said the Taliban were now operating in areas where they had not been since the allied invasion in 2001. 

“Unless the West commits serious numbers of extra troops soon, we are looking at a Taliban victory,” another officer said. 
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US to integrate command of its forces in Afstan, assist major increase in Afghan Army size  
 Saturday, August 09, 2008
Article Link

Sectretary of Defense Gates is making some decisions. But no significant US troop increase until next year--so when will that American battalion be deployed to Kandahar? Will it still come from US forces in the east as was originally surmised?

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will endorse a $20 billion plan to substantially increase the size of Afghanistan’s army and will also restructure the military command of American and NATO forces in response to the growing Taliban threat, senior Pentagon and military officials said Thursday.

Taken together, the two decisions are an acknowledgment of shortcomings that continue to hinder NATO- and American-led operations in Afghanistan. With the war in Iraq still an obstacle to any immediate American troop increase in Afghanistan, the plan was described by officials as an attempt to increase allied and Afghan capabilities in advance of deploying the additional American brigades that Mr. Gates and his commanders agree are necessary.

The additional American troops are unlikely to be available until next year [emphasis added].

Under a plan initially proposed by the Afghan government and now endorsed by Mr. Gates, the Afghan National Army will nearly double in size over the next five years, to more than 120,000 active-duty troops.

Such a large increase would not be possible without American funds, which will pay for trainers and for equipment, food and housing for Afghan forces. But Pentagon officials said that Mr. Gates would seek contributions from allies to help
underwrite the $20 billion cost over five years.
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 Afghanistan's army takes shape
Today's military looks very different from the ragged force of three years ago
The Economist
Article Link

"There is zero trust in the government, but the Afghan National Army is our only hope. They behave well with the people and are stronger than the Taliban." That was the pithy assessment of one tribal elder trudging back towards Arghandab district near Kandahar, the day after the largest operation so far by the fledgling Afghan army. It had taken just 24 hours from the first appearance of Taliban fighters for over 1,000 Afghan troops to deploy and drive them out of Arghandab.

After a slow start the Afghan National Army (ANA) is at last emerging as a credible fighting force. In 2007 $7.4 billion went into training and equipping it and the police. Every week now, a "kandak" (a 650-man battalion) finishes training and takes to the field. The army will reach its initial target of 80,000 early next year. On Aug. 5 the first formal transfer of authority to Afghan forces took place, for the Kabul area.

The army looks very different from the ragged force of three years ago, when units sent to the south were losing 30 per cent of their men through desertion. Desertion rates in Helmand are now only seven per cent; about half of all soldiers re-enlist. They are better equipped, too, with body armour, M-16 assault rifles and the latest model of Humvee armoured vehicle.
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 Henderson conquers military training
'God almighty. Surely they don't expect us to descend from that on ropes?'
Gord Henderson, The Windsor Star Published: Friday, August 08, 2008
Article Link

CAMP PETAWAWA - Watching young men and women preparing to risk their lives in a battle zone shouldn't be half this much fun.

That guilty thought crossed my mind as I whooped like an adrenaline-crazed 10-year-old after leaping into thin air from a paratroop training tower and then rocketing, Superman style, across a football-sized field while dangling from a cable line.

For several dozen business and professional people (and a handful of media) flown in from cities across Ontario, including Windsor, the whirlwind "Executrek" to the sprawling army base in the rolling, pine-clad hills of the upper Ottawa Valley was a lark, a Walter Mitty adventure and a welcome escape from the confines of the office.
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Keeping in touch
Gloria Galloway, August 8, 2008 at 4:06 PM EDT Article Link

One of the best things that has happened to soldiers of any stripe post the Second World War  is the Internet.

My sleeping tent is directly across a gravel lane from what is known in these parts as Old Canada House (and yes there is a New Canada House on the other side of this sprawling air force base.)

Old Canada House, like its larger and less quaint successor, is a place where soldiers can gather any time of day, but most particularly in the pleasant warmth of the Afghanistan evening. They can watch movies together or sit around picnic tables drinking near beer.

But many of them, perhaps even a majority, sit alone with their laptops. 
The military has installed a WIFI zone that extends for about a hundred metres in and around the Canadian sleeping tents.

That means soldiers can connect at Old Canada House or even while sitting on the lawn chairs outside their canvas living quarters.

They read their Facebook pages and catch up on e-mails from loved ones. They can share pictures with folks back home. And they can chat in real time with their wives, husbands, kids and parents.

I wandered by Old Canada House tonight (after spraying some an air freshener, which I purchased at the American general store, on the moldy carpets in my own tent) and was mildly heartened that these Canadians who must spend six months away from their families have this means of keeping in touch.

It must make the separation just a little easier to bear. 
More on link


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## geo (10 Aug 2008)

Taliban’s ideology not selling well in tribal belt along border, says survey  

The Peninsula - World News 
Web posted at: 8/10/2008
Source: Internews 
ISLAMABAD 

A majority of the people in Pakistan’s turbulent seven tribal areas bordering Afghanistan support girls’ education and are against the ideas and actions of Taliban as well as of the military, shows a survey released here. 

Contrary to the general perception, the non-scientific survey by the Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) has found that 95 percent of the tribal people are for female education. 

It was non-scientific in the sense that tribal traditions limited the number of the respondents in the survey to a little over 1,000 in a population of over three million of Fata. 

A similar survey commissioned by the British High Commission in Pakistan in April had come to the same conclusions that the perception that the tribal society was falling to Taliban was an exaggeration. 

Ninety-two percent of the respondents believed that the Taliban leaders, including Maulana Fazlullah of Swat, did not represent true Islam. Only six percent thought that the Taliban were trying to enforce Sharia in the country. 

However, 94 percent of the tribesmen said the Taliban’s way was not the right way and the same percentage disapproved of the use of arms by them in their cause. While 86 percent considered the Taliban activities damaging to Pakistan, 11 percent believed they were no threat to the country’s interests. 

Similarly 86 percent of the respondents disapproved of the Taliban smashing up CD shops against 13 percent who supported the action. 

While releasing the survey Farrukh Saleem, Executive Director of the CRSS, told report era that the survey was conducted at a time when the appointment of Gen Petraeus as head of the US Central Command (Centcom) signaled a major shift in the US policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan. It symbolised that America’s focus was shifting from Iraq to Afghanistan. 

Seventy-four percent replied that there were no foreigners in the tribal areas at that time, while 21 percent said that there were indeed foreigners militants present in the area. 

In order to confirm the presence of foreign militants in South Waziristan, he said, the respondents were asked whether the foreigners present in the tribal areas paid good rents to local people for occupying their houses. 

Half of the respondents believed they were not paying good rents while 34 percent thought it was good rent. In North Waziristan, the opinion was equally divided -45 percent on rents being good or not good.



Pakistan troops withdraw from Taliban stronghold  

After days of heavy fighting, and with eight soldiers dead, the army stops the campaign in Bajaur. Fighting also erupts in nearby North-West Frontier Province. 

LA Times - World News 
By Zulfiqar Ali and Laura King, Special to The Times 
August 10, 2008 
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN

Pakistani security forces pulled out of a Taliban stronghold near the border with Afghanistan after three days of fierce fighting that left at least eight troops dead and dozens missing, local and military officials said Saturday. 

The confrontation came against a backdrop of renewed political turmoil in Pakistan. The government announced Thursday that it would seek to impeach President Pervez Musharraf, who first came to power in a military coup. Parliament is scheduled to convene Monday, but the impeachment process against Musharraf, a longtime U.S. ally, could take weeks. 

The fighting in the tribal region of Bajaur was the most serious combat of its kind in the area, with government forces using tanks, fighter jets and attack helicopters to try to subdue the militants. Local sources said the insurgents had captured at least two armored vehicles and large caches of ammunition. 

The confrontation took place outside Khar, the main regional town in the Bajaur region. Witnesses said the area was littered with bodies and burned vehicles. 

Pakistani authorities said they believed the militants had suffered heavy casualties, but did not provide an estimate. 

A spokesman for Pakistan's Taliban movement said that as many as 100 Pakistani paramilitary troops had been killed and about three dozen captured. Pakistani officials acknowledged that 55 troops were missing. 

The fighting erupted four days ago when security forces moved into the area. At one point, about 200 soldiers were surrounded by the militants and cut off from their supply lines. 

At the same time, insurgents in the Swat Valley, about 100 miles north of the capital, Islamabad, targeted security forces in an adjacent district. Swat lies outside the tribal areas, in North-West Frontier Province, but has seen on-and-off fighting for months, despite a truce in May between the government and a local militant commander. 

Insurgents stormed a police post late Friday in the Buner district, bordering Swat, and killed eight police officers. Dozens of militants reportedly took part in the attack, some approaching the police post disguised as women in all-enveloping burkas. 



UK denies money to wounded Afghans  

MoD condemned over its 'scandalous' failure to compensate innocent casualties of air strikes 

Guardian Unlimited - UK News 
Mark Townsend 
The Observer
Sunday August 10 2008

Defence officials are refusing to compensate the families of hundreds of Afghans killed, wounded or left homeless in fighting involving British troops. 

Despite pledges to reduce collateral damage in Afghanistan, the number of legal claims lodged by Afghan civilians against the British government has grown more than five-fold during the past 12 months to almost 1,300, suggesting a dramatic increase in the number of innocent victims. 

Yet of the 1,289 claims filed, just 397 have been settled, new government figures reveal. In addition, less than £150,000 in compensation has been paid to civilians injured or killed during fighting involving British soldiers in Helmand province. The UK government is currently spending almost £400,000 a day on military operations in the country. 

Last night, human rights groups condemned the stance of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on compensating innocent victims as 'scandalous', claiming the majority of alleged victims are being denied payments. 

The Observer has also learnt that Britain is refusing to support an international compensation scheme set up to help Afghan civilians caught up in the conflict. 

Sarah Holewinski, of the international monitoring group Human Rights Watch (HRW), said: 'The UK has no systematic way of compensating civilians when they're harmed. This means some Afghans get help while others don't. The calculus behind who gets paid and who doesn't is known only to the MoD and the commanders on the ground. 

'For all the money being put into military operations, it's scandalous they are not offering some of those affected even a modicum of support.' 

The death toll of Afghan civilians remains one of the most contentious aspects of the conflict. The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, on whose mandate 8,000 British troops are currently fighting the Taliban, has said that no civilian casualty is acceptable. Yet a new report compiled by a former senior Pentagon official will this week reveal a sharp upsurge in Afghan civilian casualties over the past two months. 

The HRW report reveals new casualty data based on military records, hospital admissions and on-the-ground testimonies. It says that civilian deaths from US- or Nato-led operations almost doubled during last year to at least 434, with another 200 killed in the crossfire during fighting between Taliban fighters and international forces. 

So far this year, at least 173 innocent Afghans have been killed in Nato and US operations. Of these, 119 died during US air strikes, a number involving British troops, and 54 from fighting on the ground. Civilian casualties for the whole of 2006 were 230. 

'We have huge concerns, especially over the number of casualties from air strikes,' said Marc Garlasco, a former air strike commander for the Pentagon who left after becoming disillusioned with the number of innocent victims in Afghanistan and who is the author of this week's HRW report. He said the casualty figures must be viewed as extremely conservative with the total representing the 'bare minimum'. 

The figures will be of deep concern to the MoD because British troops in Helmand routinely call in US air strikes when they come under fire. They will also pose fresh questions for Nato, under whose banner the British are fighting in southern Afghanistan. Last year, the international security body promised to review military tactics in the country following warnings from Afghan politicians that the number of civilian deaths risked provoking a major backlash. 

Contained in the report are internal US Air Force figures that reveal that 300 tons of bombs were dropped on Afghanistan during June and July alone - the same as the amount dropped on the country during the whole of 2006. 

The growing frequency of US air strikes coincides with a spate of recent reports detailing civilian casualties, including a US air strike in Nangarhar province last month that killed 47 guests attending a wedding party. 

Meanwhile, human rights groups have condemned support for Nato's humanitarian relief fund, created in 2006 to help civilians affected by the fighting. 

So far, just nine countries out of 26, including Estonia, Iceland and the US, have voluntarily contributed funds. 

In addition, The Observer has learnt that Britain is refusing to donate funds to a separate US humanitarian aid programme that provides long-term assistance for civilians caught up in the fighting. 'We've tried to get the UK to donate to this program; again, a no-go,' said Holewinski. 

According to the HRW report, 837 innocent Afghans have been killed by Nato- or US-led operations since 2006. Of these, 556 were killed by US air strikes, many during American counter-terrorism operations, which have a less rigid set of rules of engagement compared to Nato operations. 

However, analysts point to the difficulties in distinguishing civilians from combatants, the use of human shields by the Taliban and also the fact that the insurgency has killed more than twice as many civilians as the international forces have. 

An MoD spokesman said: 'The UK provides compensation to individuals for events in which UK troops are involved. The UK military carry out detailed planning and use precision weapons when targeting enemy strongholds. Sadly, even with all these measures, there is still a risk of civilian casualties: particularly given Taliban preference for basing themselves in public buildings.' 

Concern also surrounds the size of payments given by the British to Afghan civilian victims, with relatively modest payments calculated on the local cost of living. Last month, the MoD paid almost £3m to an Iraqi family for the death of a civilian in custody in Basra five years ago.


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## GAP (11 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 11, 2008*

Militants in Pakistan behead 2 accused spies
By HABIB KHAN 
Article Link

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants beheaded two men in a Pakistani tribal area near the border with Afghanistan, accusing them of spying for the U.S. and Pakistan, a witness said Monday.

The bodies of the two men were found early Monday about 12 miles north of Khar, the main town in the Bajur tribal area, said Fawad Khan, an area resident.

Khan said a note found near the bodies accused the men of spying.

Bajur is the focus of an ongoing paramilitary offensive that officials say has killed at least 100 militants and nine troops.

Militants in the tribal regions have routinely killed people they accuse of spying for the U.S. and Pakistan. The U.S. has urged Pakistan to crack down on insurgents in the tribal areas, which are considered havens for militants who stage attacks in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, in Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province, one man was killed and another was wounded by a bomb near the gate of a private clinic, said Khurshid Khan, a city police officer.

Khan said the men were suspected of planting the bomb when it went off Monday, but it was unclear why they may have been targeting the facility.
More on link

US coalition kills 25 militants, 8 Afghan hostages
By RAHIM FAIEZ – 2 hours ago 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A series of clashes and an airstrike in southern Afghanistan killed 25 militants and eight civilians held hostage by insurgents, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement Monday.

Militants ambushed the coalition and Afghan troops along a road in the southern province of Uruzgan on Sunday, triggering gunbattles during which militants moved into a compound and took 11 civilians hostage, the statement said.

"Coalition troops called in close-air support to engage the militants hiding in the structure. They did not have knowledge of noncombatants in the buildings at that time," the coalition statement said.

As a result, eight civilians were killed and three were wounded, the coalition said. The wounded civilians were taken to a coalition base for treatment.

U.S. 1st Lt. Nathan Perry, a coalition spokesman, said three civilian hostages survived the airstrike in Khas Uruzgan district, including an infant, a man in his 40s and a woman in her 20s.

Juma Gul Himat, the provincial police chief, said six civilians — one child and five men — were killed and three others were wounded in the strike. He could not immediately explain why the coalition said eight civilians were killed.
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Military probes soldier's death as colleagues say farewell
GLORIA GALLOWAY AND KATHERINE O'NEILL From Monday's Globe and Mail August 11, 2008 at 4:24 AM EDT
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN, and EDMONTON — The head of the military task force in Afghanistan says private security companies are essential to the international fight against the Taliban, even as the body of an infantryman who may have been killed by a mercenary guard is being flown back to Canada.

Master Corporal Josh Roberts, of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group based in Shilo, Man., and a man described by his commander as "a soldier's soldier," was fatally wounded during a firefight in the perilous Zhari district west of Kandahar city Saturday morning.

His fiancée, Lise Malenfant of Prince Albert, Sask., is eight months pregnant with a son they had decided to name Meyer.

MCpl. Roberts was gunned down in the turret of his light armoured vehicle after his battle group engaged in an early-morning firefight with the Taliban in a farming area off a main road in the Zhari district. A civilian convoy that was escorted by the private security company passed along the road at about the same time.
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Taliban commander captured in Afghanistan
Sunday, 10 August 2008 11:15 
Article Link

Australian soldiers have captured a key Taliban commander in southern Afghanistan.

The Defence Department said that elite Australian troops in Uruzgan had last week taken in Mullah Bari Ghul.

They believe he is a central figure in extremist attacks in the region

Defence chiefs said Mullah Bari Ghul organised money, equipment and foreign fighters for extremist operations in Uruzgan and acted as shadow governor authorising attacks across the region.

Brigadier Brian Dawson said Mullah Bari Ghul was also ultimately responsible for the 13 July suicide bomber attack in the Deh Rawood bazaar that killed 21 Afghans and injured a further 12.

Brigadier Dawson said the capture of Bari Ghul, who was also involved in coordinating the actions of individual insurgency cells, would likely have an immediate impact on militant activity in the region.
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Afghanistan expects road link with China   
 www.chinaview.cn  2008-08-10 19:07:51   
  Article Link

    KABUL, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that Afghanistan is interested in building a road in Wakhanto connect with China. 

    Karzai said this after returning home from Beijing. 

    Karzai, who attended the inaugural ceremony of Olympic Games on Aug. 8 in Beijing, added that he exchanged views with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao during his visit and briefed him about the willingness of Afghans on constructing the road. 

    Wakhan corridor in the mountainous Pamir area connects Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan province to China's Xingjian Uygur Autonomous Region. 

    Linking Afghanistan with China through road in Wakhan would enhance trade and economic activities in the region, the President said. 
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Canadian medics in Zhari treat Afghans involved in roadside blast
Article Link

ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan — Three migrant grape pickers were killed and five injured when their vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device.

The incident happened early Sunday in the volatile Zhari district of Kandahar province, where Canadian troops are based.

The survivors made their way to a nearby Canadian forward operating base, where medics treated and stabilized them.

Two were taken to the Mirwais civilian hospital in Kandahar city while three others were treated at the base.

The men, in their 20s, suffered injuries including a broken jaw and head wounds. They later airlifted to a military hospital.

Canadian medics at the base find themselves treating Afghans involved in everything from bomb blasts to car accidents on a weekly basis. 
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Pakistani forces bomb houses near Afghan border
By HABIB KHAN – 
Article Link

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani forces bombed dozens of houses in a tribal region near the Afghan border Sunday, officials and witnesses said, in a military offensive that comes amid U.S. pressure for Pakistan to crack down on militants.

Days of clashes have reportedly killed at least 100 insurgents and nine paramilitary troops in the area, an insurgent stronghold considered a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.

Details have been scarce about the military offensive in Bajur.

Sardar Khan, a local police official, said two spells of aerial bombing destroyed about 40 houses in several villages. He said bombs also struck a school occupied by Taliban fighters in Loi Sam, a village that has been a key focus of the fighting.

Two area residents, Sher Zamin and Attaullah Khan, said army planes and helicopters dropped bombs and shells, apparently on suspected Taliban positions.

Meanwhile, an Associated Press reporter in Khar, the main town in Bajur, saw Taliban militants patrolling and staking out positions on roads with rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and, in some places, anti-aircraft guns.
More on link


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## GAP (11 Aug 2008)

Australian soldiers injured in Afghanistan
Article Link

Two Australian soldiers have been injured in Afghanistan after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in the Oruzgan Province.

The Defence Department says one of the officers was seriously injured.

It says the both are getting specialist medical care after problems with the first attempt at flying them out of the region.

The first helicopter was damaged on landing and a third soldier on board suffered slight injuries.

A second medical helicopter couldn't take off due to bad weather, but a third helicopter successfully took the men to a nearby medical centre.
More on link

Rape allegations force Afghan gov't crackdown
By HEIDI VOGT – 1 hour ago 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Ali Khan braved death threats and public scorn to out the powerful men he accuses of gang-raping his 12-year-old niece.

Now he says it is up to Afghanistan's president to prove he can prosecute her assailants and their warlord protectors in the country's north, where President Hamid Karzai's government holds little sway.

Rape — a crime long hidden in Afghanistan by victims fearing a life of scorn — is getting a public airing in this conservative Islamic country. In recent weeks, several outraged families have appeared on nightly news shows, demanding justice while sharing heartbreaking stories of sexual assaults on teenage daughters.

Government officials say at least five rapes have been reported in the past four months, though they and women's rights groups say any reported statistics likely fall far short of reality.

The Interior Ministry has announced a crackdown on sexual assault, one of the first times the government has acknowledged a problem long dealt with as privately as possible. On Sunday, President Hamid Karzai called for rapists to face "the country's most severe punishment."

After families appeared on TV, Karzai met with Khan and another man whose daughter was raped in Sari Pul. The president promised punishment as he "hugged my niece and said she was also his daughter and cried," Khan said.

But it could prove a formidable task for Karzai, whose government has little influence outside the capital. In northern provinces like Sari Pul, warlords command private armies and well-connected criminals regularly bribe their way out of prison.
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (11 Aug 2008)

Shared with the usual disclaimer - highlights are mine.....

*Death of Canadian soldier highlights chaotic security situation in southern Afghanistan*
Drew Brown , Stars and Stripes, 11 Aug 08
Article link

MAIWAND, Afghanistan —The shooting death of a Canadian soldier this weekend provides a grim example of how chaotic the security situation can often be in southern Afghanistan.

The soldier was mortally wounded Saturday morning in Kandahar province when Afghan private security guards opened fire indiscriminately after Taliban insurgents attacked a nearby group of Canadian troops, according to coalition military officers.

The shooting occurred in the Spin Beer district of Kandahar province, about 20 miles west of Kandahar city, said Maj. Corey Frederickson, part of a Canadian advisory team that trains and mentors the Afghan army in Maiwand district, about 45 miles west of Kandahar.

According to a statement issued late Saturday by the Canadian Defense Ministry, the soldier was transported by helicopter to Kandahar Airfield but died on the way.

The Canadian Defense Ministry identified the soldier as Master Cpl. Joshua Brian Roberts. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Manitoba.

The apparent friendly-fire incident underscores the confusing nature of the fragile security situation in southern Afghanistan, where Taliban guerrillas have become resurgent in the past two years.

An array of coalition forces are training Afghan army and police as a frontline defense against the Taliban, but they are spread thin. The situation is further complicated by a mishmash of poorly-disciplined, but heavily-armed private security guards that have official Afghan and coalition sanction, but which often operate with little oversight or control.

As with the situation in Iraq in recent years, the proliferation of private security guards illustrates just how few coalition troops and Afghan security forces are available to meet all of the myriad security demands in the country.

Private guards are often used to protect road construction crews and food and fuel convoys, but they are also targeted frequently by the Taliban, and in a country awash in guns and violence, the results of having private gunmen operating in the same areas as coalition and Afghan security forces can sometimes be tragic.

Details on how the shooting occurred are still unclear. But *according to coalition military officers, a convoy that included groups from two different security companies — Compass and USPI — was traveling the main highway west of Kandahar when they passed a group of Canadian soldiers engaged in a firefight with Taliban fighters in the Spin Beer district.

Apparently thinking they were under fire as well, the convoy of private security guards also opened fire.

"Their normal contact drill is that as soon as they get hit with something, then it’s 360, open up on anything that moves," Frederickson said. "We think that’s probably what happened."

After the shooting occurred, the private security convoy continued west on Route 1 from Spin Beer district until they were stopped by Afghan security forces and their Canadian and U.S. military advisers in Maiwand district, about 20 miles away.*

When questioned by Canadian and U.S. military officers, *several of the Afghan security guards freely admitted to opening fire on what they thought were Taliban fighters. But when informed that a Canadian soldier had been wounded, their stories began to change, and many never claimed to have fired at all. Some of the security guards blamed the Afghan army for the incident.*

After threatening to arrest the whole lot for lying, *in the end there was little that the Canadian and American officers could do, except take the names and mobile phone numbers of the Afghans in charge of the convoy and the names of the suspected shooters. Frederickson said that an investigation by Canadian military police would probably occur.

Twelve members of the Compass security convoy were also found to be wearing Afghan police uniforms, which Afghan police confiscated, along with three Soviet-made 82 mm recoilless rifles, said Maj. Kevin Reilly, team chief for a group of U.S. advisers that trains and mentors the Afghan police in Maiwand district.

Reilly said the uniforms and recoilless rifles were confiscated because it was illegal for Afghan private security guards to possess them.* The only weapons that Afghan private security guards are allowed to possess are machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles, he said.

Reilly said coalition forces frequently encounter the private security convoys on the roads of Afghanistan and that usually the encounters pass without incident.

"They wave and you wave, and you kind of pass each other in the wind," he said.

_Stars and Stripes reporter Michael Gisick contributed to this report._


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## GAP (12 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 12, 2008*

Insurgents attack outpost in Panjwaii killing 90th Canadian soldier
August 11, 2008 Tobi Cohen, THE CANADIAN PRESS The Canadian Press, 2008
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A burly "mountain of a man" nicknamed the Friendly Giant became the second Canadian combat death in three days when insurgents attacked a remote outpost in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province on Monday. 

Master Cpl. Erin Doyle was the 90th Canadian soldier to die since the Afghan mission began in 2002. 

Chief Warrant Officer Chris White, who knew Doyle for five years, described the 200 Ib man as a "barrel-chested kind of guy, the kind you'd "like to sit down and have a beer with." 

A second soldier was seriously injured in Monday's attack and taken to the multinational hospital at Kandahar Airfield for treatment. 

As many as 10 insurgents targeted the small base just before 6 a.m., taskforce commander Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson said. 

Canadian soldiers returned fire and called for artillery and air support, he said, adding several of them were killed, others were injured, however, none were detained. 
More on link

14 killed in attack on Pakistan military truck
RIAZ KHAN Associated Press August 12, 2008 at 5:07 AM EDT
Article Link

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN — A roadside bomb hit a Pakistan air force truck in a northwestern city Tuesday, killing as many as 14 people, including a 5-year-old girl, as the military pounded insurgent positions in a nearby tribal region.

The blast hit the vehicle on a bridge on the outskirts of Peshawar, provincial police Chief Malik Naveed Khan said. The truck was travelling between the city and the nearby air force base in Badaber.

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said al-Qaeda-linked militants were likely behind the attack. He said Pakistan had been taking action against Taliban militants, but did not say whether Tuesday's attack could be a response to recent military operations in the region.

“It is our firm resolve that we will root out terrorism from Pakistan, and all of our security agencies are working together to achieve this goal,” he told The Associated Press.

The powerful explosion tore a large hole in the bridge, reducing the Mazda truck to a smouldering wreck. The site was littered with debris, blood and also the mangled wreckage of a motorcycle.

A crowd of bystanders gathered at the scene as victims were ferried away in ambulances. Firefighters hosed down the blackened carcass of the truck, and air force investigators gathered evidence.

An AP Television News cameraman at the scene said he saw at least 12 dead bodies and about a dozen wounded people. He said the victims included civilians.

There were varying accounts of the toll.

Provincial government spokesman Mian Iftikhar Hussain said 14 people were killed in all, mostly air force personnel, and more than 12 people were wounded.

Police chief Khan said 11 military personnel had died, but air force officials said they had yet to confirm that information.
More on link

Two NATO soldiers, six militants killed in Afghanistan
Aug 12, 2008, 10:07 GMT  Article Link

Kabul - A Canadian and a Latvian soldier serving in NATO forces were killed in separate attacks in Afghanistan while the Afghan Defence Ministry said Tuesday that its soldiers killed six insurgents and arrested a Pakistani militant. 

A Canadian soldier was killed and another wounded Monday when militants attacks them with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms' fire while they were protecting their outpost in the Panjwayi district of the southern province of Kandahar, the Canadian defence ministry said in a statement. 

The latest death brought the number of Canadian forces killed in Afghanistan since their deployment there in 2002 to 90. 

A Latvian soldier was killed and three were wounded Monday in a roadside bombing in Maimana, the provincial capital of the northern province of Faryab, the military said in a statement. 

Afghan police said two Norwegian soldiers were wounded in the attack. 

The explosion was triggered by a remote-controlled device and wounded 13 Afghan civilians, police said. 
More on link

Community Partners Help Mothers and Babies in Afghanistan
Donation Helps UNICEF Deliver Essential Services to Khairkhana Hospital 
Last update: 11:17 a.m. EDT Aug. 11, 2008
Article Link

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Aug 11, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- UNICEF today thanked the North York General Hospital Foundation, The Canadian International Development Agency, Canada Company and the Toronto Garrison Officers Ball for their generous contribution to help women and children in Afghanistan. The funds raised will help expectant mothers and newborns get the health care they need at the Khairkhana Hospital in Kabul Province. 
"Women and children in Afghanistan are especially vulnerable right now, and there is an urgent need for more supplies and training in hospitals to ensure that expectant mothers can safely give birth to healthy babies," said Nigel Fisher, President & CEO, UNICEF Canada. "The funds raised at the Garrison Ball will go a long way in helping UNICEF deliver critical healthcare services to women in Khairkhana." 
This year's Ball, held at The Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto in February, raised $250,000 towards reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. "We are extremely pleased to be working with UNICEF on this important initiative," said Blake Goldring, Chair of Canada Company and Honorary Colonel of The Royal Regiment of Canada. "The partnership between civilians, CIDA and UNICEF is highly significant and demonstrates a uniquely Canadian approach to helping the Afghan people." 
Currently, Khairkhana Hospital, in Kabul Province, services approximately one million people. The quality of care in the hospital is poor and the facilities very basic. One of the most significant problems for the hospital is the need for obstetric and newborn care training for personnel and medical supplies for the maternity and pediatric wards. Funds raised at the Garrison Ball will be used by UNICEF to provide maternity and pediatric wards with new equipment and supplies. Funds will also be used to train doctors and nurses in emergency obstetric and newborn care. It is estimated that these improvements will reduce the number of deaths due to childbirth complications by 20 per cent in just one year. 
More on link


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## GAP (12 Aug 2008)

British soldier killed by Taliban suicide bomber in Afghanistan  
A Taliban suicide bomber has killed a British soldier travelling in a convoy in the Afghan capital of Kabul. 
 By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent Last Updated: 5:32PM BST 12 Aug 2008
Article Link

The soldier, who has not yet been named, was travelling in a fleet of Nato vehicles when his vehicle was deliberately rammed by the bomber driving a car, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.

He was taken to a military hospital with two other seriously wounded British soldiers but later died of his wounds following the attack at 4pm local time on Monday. The dead serviceman was from 16 Signal Regiment.

The British mission in Afghanistan has now suffered 28 fatalities this year compared to 42 for the whole of last year and 39 in 2006. The total British death toll now stands at 115.

The Nato convoy was travelling on the main road on Kabul's eastern outskirts when the device was detonated also killing three civilians and wounding 12 others.

"I turned my head and saw a big burst of fire next to my car," said Ahmed Shakeb, 22, who witnessed the attack. "I saw that the convoy was British." 

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahed, claimed responsibility for the blast, and said a man named Aminullah from the eastern Khost province blew himself up. The claim could not be independently verified. 

In a statement, the MoD said: "It is with deep regret that we must announce that a soldier from 16 Signal Regiment has died in a suicide attack.

"The three British soldiers were evacuated to a military hospital where one of them sadly died from his wounds. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family, friends and comrades."

It added that next of kin had been informed.
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DynCorp International wins more Afghanistan work
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 
Article Link

DynCorp International Inc., with hundreds of construction and training projects in Iraq and Afghanistan, has won another $40 million construction contract from the Army Corps of Engineers.

The contract is for continued work on new garrison facilities for the Afghan National Army in Jalalabad, and includes a clinic, fire station, barracks and underground facilities. The contract is an expansion of a Jalalabad project first awarded to DynCorp in 2007.

Earlier this month, the Falls Church-based contractor won a $317 million State Department contract to help train police in Afghanistan.

In addition to training and construction jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan, DynCorp also provides translation services to the Army.

DynCorp’s (NYSE: DCP) fiscal first quarter earnings rose 47 percent to $18 million. Quarterly revenue reached $717 million, up 31 percent from a year ago.
More on link


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## GAP (13 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 13, 2008*

Two Canadians killed in Afghan ambush
Aid agency pulls out after three workers, driver killed
Scott Deveau and Linda Nguyen, Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Article Link

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Two female Canadian aid workers were gunned down by insurgents in the Logar province of Afghanistan Wednesday in a brazen daylight attack that left another American colleague and their Afghan driver dead. The women were volunteers with the New York-based International Rescue Committee and have been identified as a Canadian, a Canadian-British dual citizen, and a Trinidadian-American dual citizen. 

Their Afghan driver had also been working with the international aid group. A second Afghan driver was wounded during the attack and is in hospital. 

The women were in Afghanistan working in volunteer programs that focused on children's education, according to agency spokeswoman Melissa Winkler. 

No identities have been released.

"At this moment, we're still in the process of contacting their families; we're not issuing any details about them just yet," Winkler said Wednesday from New York. 

A person claiming to be a Taliban spokesman took credit for the attack, saying it was done in retaliation for the on-going NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.  

"We don't value their aid projects and we don't think they are working for the progress of our country," said Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid in telephone interview. 

The Taliban ambush occurred at about 11:30 a.m. local time. Two vehicles carrying the workers were travelling on a 100-kilometre stretch of road between Gardiz and Kabul in a clearly marked vehicle when they came under fire, the aid organization said in a statement. 

"We are stunned and profoundly saddened by this tragic loss," said George Rupp, president of the IRC. "These extraordinary individuals were deeply committed to aiding the people of Afghanistan, especially the children who have seen so much strife.  Words are inadequate to express our sympathy for the families and loved ones of the victims and our devoted team of humanitarian aid workers in Afghanistan."
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Canadian troops get better care overseas: report
Updated Wed. Aug. 13 2008 9:11 AM CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Inconsistent care across the country means wounded Canadian soldiers returning from overseas may not be getting the most effective care, according to a senate report. 

The senate committee on national security and defence finds that care for soldiers on the ground at Kandahar Air Field and at transitional facilities such as the one in Landstuhl, Germany is exceptional. There is, however, a greater challenge with the long term care that is needed from the Canadian health care system once soldiers return home. 

"We think our troops are being well-served if they have the misfortune of being wounded in terms of evacuation and immediate medical care," Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, chair of the senate committee on national security and defence, told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday. However, he added, "we're unhappy with what happens when you come home, and that's a much larger problem." 

"It has to do with the uneven nature of medicare in Canada and how some provinces seem to excel at it and other provinces don't provide the same quality of it." 

Canadian Gulf War veteran Sean Bruyea told CTV's Canada AM the regional discrepancies are a longstanding problem, one that was compounded by the closure of the National Defence Medical Center, which set a national standard of care for soldiers. 
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Missiles Target Pakistani Militants Near Afghan Border  
By VOA News 13 August 2008  
Article Link

Pakistani security officials say a missile strike has killed at least nine people at a militant training camp near the border with Afghanistan.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, claim four missiles - launched from the Afghan side of the border - targeted the camp in Baghar, in South Waziristan on Tuesday.  They say foreign fighters were present at the time of the attack.

The U.S. military has launched similar attacks in the past but denies any involvement.  Spokesman Lieutenant Nathan Perry said Wednesday he had "no reports" of any incidents along the border.

Also today, gunmen shot and killed a militant leader in the northwestern Khyber tribal region.

Officials say the gunmen burst into the headquarters of a group called the "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" and opened fire, killing Haji Namdar.  
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Canadian troops help net drugs, weapons
Ongoing operation also yields bomb supplies
By TOBI COHEN, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Article Link 
  
ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan -- Coalition troops have seized a large quantity of weapons, bomb-making materials and drugs during an ongoing operation in Maywand district west of Kandahar City, Canadian military officials said yesterday. 

The joint operation, which has involved Afghan forces as well as U.S. and British troops, is aimed at disrupting insurgent activity in the area of Band-E-Timor. 

The area is considered a "logistical hub" that was feeding insurgent fighters, supplies and cash into both Helmand and Kandahar provinces. 

Military official said the latest operation is likely to have an effect on the Zhari and Panjwayi Districts, where much of the fighting between insurgents and Canadian troops is taking place. 

"We knew that if we could get in there for a prolonged period we would be able to cause disruption that would ripple through and assist in other areas," Maj. Fraser Auld said. "We know ... we took them by surprise ... Any insurgents in the area that did manage to get out had to do so in a hurry because they left exploitable material behind." 

He was referring to "a large find of IED components, homemade explosives - a large quantity of that was found and destroyed in place." 

IED is the acronym for improvised explosive device, which has proven to be deadly against coalition troops. 

While Canadian troops have not detained any suspected insurgents, it's not clear whether other coalition forces did. 
More on link


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## GAP (14 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 14, 2008*

Pakistani Woman Allegedly Carried List of NYC Terror Targets
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Article Link

NEW YORK —  An MIT-educated Pakistani woman charged with trying to kill U.S. agents and military officers in Afghanistan allegedly carried a list of New York City targets -- including the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and the subway system, NY1.com reported on Wednesday.

Aafia Siddiqui was stopped on July 17 outside a government building in central Afghanistan's Ghazni province, according to a criminal complaint. Police searched her handbag and discovered documents containing recipes for explosives and chemical weapons and describing "various landmarks in the United States, including New York City," according to the complaint.

Siddiqui, 36, once identified as a possible Al Qaeda associate, was extradited to New York last week to face charges she tried to kill U.S. agents and military officers during an Afghanistan interrogation, federal prosecutors said. During the confrontation she was shot in the torso.
More on link

Pakistan bomb hits military truck; at least 14 dead
August 13, 2008 
Article Link

The attack just outside Peshawar is blamed on Islamic militants, and a Taliban spokesman threatens more attacks.
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- At least 14 people were killed Tuesday in the roadside bombing of a Pakistani military truck, an attack authorities blamed on Islamic militants.

The powerful blast occurred just outside Peshawar, the nearest large city to a tribal area along the border with Afghanistan that has been raked by fighting for nearly a week.
More on link

135,000 flee Pakistan clashes: officials
Article Link

Around 135,000 residents have fled a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan to escape clashes between troops and Taliban militants that have left scores dead, officials said.

The officials said that up to half of the population of some villages in the troubled Bajaur tribal district had moved, although militants were stopping people from leaving some areas.

"We have around 135,000 people who have left their homes there," the additional chief secretary for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Habibullah Khan said.

"We have directed officials in adjoining districts to provide shelter, food and health care to the migrating families. We are setting up more camps to help these people just like refugees," he said.

Witnesses said that thousands of families had arrived in Shabqadar, a small town adjoining the tribal belt. Local residents and welfare groups were raising funds and cooking food for them, they said.
More on link

Afghan blast kills three soldiers   
  Article Link

The casualty rates in Afghanistan for foreign forces is rising 
Three US-led coalition soldiers have been killed by an explosion while on foot patrol in southern Afghanistan, the US military has said. 

The coalition has not released the identities or nationalities of the dead and has not said where exactly the blast took place. 

Most coalition troops are American but Britain, Canada, Holland, France and Denmark all have forces in the south. 

Southern Afghanistan is the centre of the Taleban-led insurgency. 

Correspondents say more than 3,200 people have died in violence countrywide so far this year - of whom 161 have been foreign troops. 

On Wednesday, a Canadian soldier became the the 90th soldier to die since Canada's mission there began in 2002. 
More on link

West trying to get Musharraf to resign before impeachment
 SAEED SHAH From Thursday's Globe and Mail August 14, 2008 at 4:46 AM EDT
Article Link

ISLAMABAD — Western diplomats are trying to arrange an exit from office for Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, a staunch anti-terrorism ally, before he suffers the disgrace of impeachment, according to Pakistani officials.

There are strong rumours that Mr. Musharraf will soon bow to pressure to quit. He has suffered a collapse in support, as three of Pakistan's four provincial parliaments have now passed resolutions, with overwhelming backing, declaring him unfit for office. The fourth province is expected to follow shortly.

The provincial votes were symbolic but, early next week, the formal prosecution will begin with an impeachment motion in parliament. It is clear that the governing coalition now has the two-thirds majority needed to impeach Mr. Musharraf. Government insiders said that if he wants to quit, he must do so before parliament starts the impeachment proceedings, leaving him only a few days.

U.S. and British diplomats have sought to persuade the coalition government that impeachment would further undermine the security and political situation in crisis-racked Pakistan and they should instead offer him a "graceful exit" with immunity from prosecution, Pakistani officials said.

"We're being told that it's not going to bring more stability to have a long trial. And that it is in the interests of stability for him to exit," a senior coalition politician said.
More on link


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## GAP (14 Aug 2008)

Afghanistan blast kills 3 soldiers in U.S.-led coalition
Last Updated: Thursday, August 14, 2008 | 11:04 
Article Link

An explosion killed three members of the U.S.-led coalition on foot patrol in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the coalition said.

The coalition did not release the soldiers' nationalities or the location of the attack, but a military official at Kandahar Airfield told CBC News there were no Canadians among the casualties.

The countries with the most troops in southern Afghanistan are Britain, Canada, the United States and the Netherlands. France and Denmark also have forces in the south.

So far this year, 15 Canadian soldiers, 93 U.S. soldiers and 29 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.American forces make up the vast majority of the coalition. The 40-nation NATO-led force operates under a separate command. Canada has about 2,500 soldiers as part of the NATO-led force, most of them based in the southern province of Kandahar.

A record number of U.S. and NATO troops are in Afghanistan — about 65,000 — exposing more soldiers than ever to increasingly lethal Taliban bombings and ambushes. The number of foreign troops in the country was estimated at 36,000 in early 2007.

The last three months have been the deadliest for international troops in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Ninety Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002. Fighting and roadside bombings this year have killed 15 Canadian soldiers, 93 U.S. soldiers and 29 British soldiers.

Most of the 23 aid workers killed in Afghanistan in the first eight months of 2008 were Afghans, although the deadly ambush on Wednesday of three Western women working for the International Rescue Commission in August was the worst single attack on foreigners in several years.
More on link


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## greentoblue (19 Aug 2008)

Taliban Ambush Kills 10 French Soldiers/US Base Repels Attack of Suicide Bombers: "insurgents mounted their most serious attacks in six years of fighting, one a complex attack with multiple suicide bombers on an American military base on Monday night, and another by some 100 insurgents on French forces in a district east of the capital, killing 10 French soldiers and wounding 21 others, military officials said Tuesday."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/world/asia/20afghan.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

RIP to the Fallen.


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## greentoblue (19 Aug 2008)

British Troops Kill Afghan Civilians: "British troops accidentally killed four civilians and wounded three others with rockets during an operation against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, Nato and British officials said last night."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/british-troops-kill-afghan-civilians-900795.html


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## MarkOttawa (21 Aug 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND AUGUST 21

Six dead in fresh Afghan attack 
BBC, August 21
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7573827.stm



> Six Nato soldiers have been killed in new violence in Afghanistan, days after a deadly Taleban attack on French troops in the country, officials say.
> 
> Three of the dead are Canadians, bringing to 93 the number of Canadian soldiers killed there since it sent troops to the war-torn country in 2002.
> 
> ...



Afghanistan: August tension (latest Conference of Defence Associations media round-up--also some material on Georgia/Russia).
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1219345334

Note this statistical profile of the CF:
http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/75-001-XIE/2008107/pdf/10657-en.pdf

Pentagon Plans to Send More Than 12,000 Additional Troops to Afghanistan
The U.S. commander there, in an exclusive interview, calls for a further buildup to counter the Taliban
_US News & World Report_, August 19
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/iraq/2008/08/19/pentagon-plans-to-send-more-than-12000-additional-troops-to-afghanistan.html



> The Pentagon will be sending 12,000 to 15,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, possibly as soon as the end of this year, with planning underway for a further force buildup in 2009.
> 
> A request by Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, for three U.S. brigades with support staff has been approved. "Now that means we just need to figure out a way to get them there," adds a senior defense official.
> 
> ...



AFGHANISTAN: Marines ready to go if ordered.
_LA Times blog_, August 20
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/08/when-the-pentag.html



> When the Pentagon rushed 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan in the spring, the orders were clear: the mission would be for seven months, no longer, and the Marines would not be replaced once their deployment was finished.
> 
> But with the Taliban, possibly in alliance with Al Qaeda, resurging, plans have changed. First, the stay of the Marines from Twentynine Palms, Calif., and Camp Lejeune, N.C., was extended for 30 days, pushing their arrival back home to late November.
> 
> ...



US general warns of security gap when Marines leave Afghanistan [But note interview was last week.]
AFP, August 21
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080820/pl_afp/afghanistaniraqusmilitarymarines



> Security gains made in southern Afghanistan could suffer if US Marines are pulled out later this year without replacements, the head of the Marine Corps has warned.
> 
> General James Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, said the US Marines will be unable to provide more forces until there is a significant draw down of their numbers in Iraq.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## CougarKing (21 Aug 2008)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26326466



> *Taliban bombs kill 59 at Pakistan arms site *
> Suicide attackers target workers as post-Musharraf political turmoil grows
> The Associated Press
> updated 8:27 a.m. PT, Thurs., Aug. 21, 2008
> ...


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## MarkOttawa (22 Aug 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND AUGUST 22

Army chief: We cannot beat the Taliban without reinforcements
Troop numbers in Afghanistan must increase to contain the surge in violence, says the commander of British forces in Helmand.
_The Independent_, August 22



> Troop numbers in Afghanistan must increase to contain the surge in violence, says the commander of British forces in Helmand.
> 
> In an interview with The Independent ahead of Gordon Brown's visit to the province yesterday, Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith said: "We are probably still on a growth trajectory before we get to the stage when the UK presence can begin to thin out." The commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade estimated it would be up to five years before Britain could consider dropping troop numbers.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (22 Aug 2008)

Italian Defense Ministry Assessing UAV Strategy
_Aviation Week & Space Technology_, August 18 (text subsriber only)
http://www.aviationnow.com/search/AvnowSearchResult.do?reference=xml/awst_xml/2008/08/18/AW_08_18_2008_p40-73998.xml&query=italy+uavs



> Italy plans to procure a small batch of Predator B medium-altitude endurance UAVs, but is struggling to define how to meet its longer-term unmanned reconnaissance needs...
> 
> ...a battle is playing out within the defense ministry that mirrors what has transpired in the Pentagon: an argument between those wanting to gradually build UAV expertise against those wanting to use the systems as soon as possible to meet urgent warfighting demands. The military’s joint operational command wants the new UAVs to be deployed to Afghanistan quickly, with Italian air force officials preferring a slower approach, keeping the Predator Bs at home and continuing to use the Predator As for operational missions, according to defense ministry insiders.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (23 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 23 , 2008*

 Combat engineer the riskiest job in military, say experts
Tiffany Crawford ,  Canwest News Service Published: Friday, August 22, 2008
Article Link

OTTAWA - Within Canada's military there is a tight-knit and uniquely qualified group whose motto is Ubique, which means "everywhere." 

Stretched thin over many different areas - doing anything from dismantling explosives in war zones to building bridges and schools - this group of combat engineers is so essential that losing even one of its number leaves a gaping rift, say military experts.

And three were killed this week in Afghanistan: Sgt. Shawn Eades, Cpl. Dustin Roy Robert Joseph Wasden and Sapper Stephan John Stock, were part of a combat engineer reconnaissance team doing work on a route that was to be used for a future operation.

All three were with Edmonton's 12 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment and were killed Wednesday when their convoy hit a roadside bomb outside Kandahar City.

"The combat engineer reconnaissance team is an exceptionally well-trained group so any losses are significant ones," said Wesley Wark, a professor of military history at the University of Toronto.

"They are the trained soldiers who you don't want to lose," he said.

The unofficial motto for the Edmonton engineers is "first in, last out."

For more than 100 years, the traditional role of the Canadian combat engineer has also carried the highest risk. It's a job that often involves the soldiers getting down on their hands and knees, looking for mines, booby traps and bombs to destroy. 

Experts say they are critical in Afghanistan, where their main goal is to ensure the movement of troops and aid workers. Their task is to establish law, order and aid in a nation struggling to break free of drug lords and violence.

Their path is a dangerous one, strewn with roadside bombs planted by the Taliban.

"Our engineers are some of the most important soldiers in our task force because they are the guys that go out and disarm that stuff and shut it down," said Lee Windsor, deputy director for the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick.

But the toll is high. The deaths of Eades, Wasden and Stock, who were honoured at a ramp ceremony in Kandahar on Friday, brought the number of Canadian soldiers killed while serving in Afghanistan to 93. Of those, 44 were killed by improved explosive devices. And five of the 93 were combat engineers.

In a statement Friday, Wasden's family said he loved being a soldier, but "he loved being an engineer even more." 
More on link

 New navy supply ships too costly, government says
Ottawa cancels plans to replace aging vessels, buy 12 coast guard patrol ships 
Last Updated: Saturday, August 23, 2008 | 12:24 AM ET The Canadian Press 
Article Link

The Conservative government has quietly scuttled the navy's $2.9-billion project to replace its aging supply ships, saying bids from the shipbuilding industry were "significantly" higher than the money set aside for the program.

It has also cancelled a tender call for the purchase of 12 mid-shore patrol ships for the coast guard.

The decisions were announced in a statement issued Friday night by Public Works Minister Christian Paradis.

"These vessels are a key priority of the government of Canada," Paradis said in the release.

"However, the government must ensure that Canadian taxpayers receive the best value for their money."

Both National Defence and the Fisheries and Oceans Department are considering "the next steps," Paradis added.

The decision to halt the Joint Support Ship project is a major blow to a navy that is already struggling to keep its existing 1960s vintage replenishment ships — HMCS Preserver and Protecteur — in the water.
More on link

 Canadian soldiers need all clear to fight for a chance at winning
Nigel Hannaford, Calgary Herald Published: Saturday, August 23, 2008
Article Link

It is a voice from the dead, telling Canadians how easy it is for the Taliban to make the weapons with which they kill Canadian soldiers.

Priddis freelance documentary filmmaker Garth Pritchard chokes up. On the screen is footage he took four years ago of Sgt. Shawn Eades, then a master-corporal, today one of the fallen on Afghanistan's high and dusty plain.

Eades is standing in the middle of an Afghan bomb factory. In a very matter-of-fact way, he describes contraptions.

"This is a detonator. They took a Bic pen, melted the end, some powder, a few wires. Join the contacts. Saw blades. They make a pressure plate for a mine from this."

He lifts a rag covering a cart like a table cloth. It's the kind of cart Afghan peasants use to take produce to market. Installed beneath is a crude rocket launcher, barely more than a piece of four-inch dryer exhaust pipe.

It's the kind of weapon the Taliban use when they want to attack a Canadian patrol in an Afghan market, and don't care how many of their compatriots they blow up in the process. Or sometimes, they just fill a car with explosive -- like the February day when 30 innocent Afghan shoppers were killed in an attack on a Canadian patrol.

"I lost a friend," Pritchard says of Eades. "He was the best, a true professional."
More on link

 Cheers greet Calgary colonel
Sarah McGinnis, Calgary Herald Published: Saturday, August 23, 2008
Article Link

Hours after soldiers in Edmonton gathered to mourn the loss of another three comrades, Col. James Gludo's plane touched down to a tearful reunion after 13 months in Afghanistan.

Behind the joyful hugs of family and his military colleagues at the Calgary airport was an understanding of the conflicting emotions produced by Canada's role overseas.

"We just lost three guys, so this is bitter sweet," Gludo said. "I'm home, but they're not going to be able to make it themselves."

Edmonton-based combat engineers Sgt. Shawn Eades, Cpl. Dustin Wasden and Sapper Stephan Stock were killed Wednesday when their convoy hit a roadside bomb outside Kandahar City. Ninety-three Canadian soldiers have been killed serving in Afghanistan.

The ceremony that marked Gludo's return Friday was markedly different from 380 days earlier when he quietly boarded a plane for Afghanistan with only his wife Cathy and son Kyle to wave goodbye.

Weekly e-mails and too-short calls on a crackling satellite phone were previously his family's only lifeline to their soldier.
More on link

Rockets, guile and the lessons of history: the Taleban besiege Kabul
 August 23, 2008
Article Link

The lorry drivers who bring the Pepsi and petrol for Nato troops in Kabul have their own way of calculating the Taleban's progress towards the Afghan capital: they simply count the lorries destroyed on the main roads. 

By that measure, and many others, this looks increasingly like a city under siege as the Taleban start to disrupt supply routes, mimicking tactics used against the British in 1841 and the Soviets two decades ago. 

Abdul Hamid, 35, was ferrying Nato supplies from the Pakistani border last month when Taleban fighters appeared on the rocks above and aimed their rocket-launchers at him, 40miles (65km) east of Kabul. “They just missed me but hit the two trucks behind,” he said. “This road used to be safe, but in the last month they've been attacking more and more.” 

The road from Kabul to Kandahar is even more treacherous, according to other drivers. “If the Afghan Army isn't there, a fly cannot pass,” said Bashir, a lorry owner, pointing to the scorched shells of three vehicles he retrieved from a Taleban raid on the Kandahar road last week. Of 60 lorries, 13 were destroyed, he said. “Why can't the Americans stop this?” 
More on link

 NATO forces in Afghanistan fire rockets at militants inside Pakistan
South Asia News Aug 22, 2008, 14:52 GMT  Article Link

Kabul - NATO forces coordinating with the Pakistan military fired artillery at militants who were preparing to attack a NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) base in eastern Afghanistan, ISAF said on Friday. 

Pakistani military confirmed to NATO forces that the militants were preparing to fire rockets at a military base in Paktika province, which is close to the porous border, ISAF said in a statement. 

ISAF forces 'gained positive identification of the insurgents' and fired 'multiple artillery rounds' into Pakistan on Thursday night, it said. 

'Pakistan military officials called for two batteries of fire and informed ISAF forces that they would engage any insurgents attempting to flee,' the statement said. 

Pakistan military personnel confirmed that the insurgents were heavily armed, the statement said, adding, 'Pakistani officers relayed that all rounds were on target, with no civilian casualties.' 

Afghan officials have repeatedly accused the Pakistani government of not doing enough to clamp down on militants, whom they claim have safe havens in tribal areas of Pakistan. 
More on link

 Pakistani PM says no talks with militants who kill poor
Article Link

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistani Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani Saturday said his government would not negotiate with militants but would tackle the poverty and unemployment at the root of the unrest which has claimed hundreds of lives.

Pakistan is experiencing a renewed wave of suicide attacks in response to its ongoing military operations against Taliban militants active in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

"We will not negotiate with those who are attacking you, who are attacking the poor people," Gilani told reporters at a hospital in the nearby town of Wah after visiting the victims of a twin suicide attack.

The Taliban suicide bombing at Pakistan's biggest weapons factory on Thursday, the deadliest ever attack on a Pakistani military site, killed at least 64 people and wounded 70 others.

"They attack the poor labourers. They want to snatch their livelihoods. We strongly condemn such attacks against poor people," Gilani said and added that such attacks gave the country a bad name.

He said the government would leave the door to negotiations open for those tribes who separate themselves from the militants and would also talk to those rebels who surrender their weapons.

"Our tribesmen are patriotic people and we will negotiate with those tribes who isolate themselves from the militants," the premier said.

He said that the government was addressing the root cause of militancy and suicide attacks, identifying poverty, unemployment and lack of basic healthcare and education facilities as the main reasons behind the unrest.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (25 Aug 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND AUGUST 25

French general sees overconfidence in Afghan deaths
Reuters, August 25
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080825.wafghanfrance0825/BNStory/Afghanistan/home



> Overconfidence was probably a factor in the incident that led to the deaths of 10 French soldiers in an ambush in Afghanistan, the French commander in the region was quoted as saying on Monday.
> 
> “In the past two weeks we had largely secured the zone but you have to be frank, we were guilty of overconfidence,” General Michel Stollsteiner told the daily newspaper Le Parisien.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (25 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 25, 2008*

FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan
Sat Aug 23, 2008 8:25pm IST  
Article Link

Aug 23 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1425 GMT on Saturday:

*denotes new or updated item

HERAT - Hundreds of people demonstrated in Shindand district of western Herat province on Saturday, after U.S.-led coalition forces carried out an air strike in the district on Friday.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the strike his government says killed 76 civilians. The U.S. military says only armed Taliban militants were killed in Friday's attack.

Investigations into the incident have been launched by the Afghan government and the U.S. military.

KANDAHAR - A roadside bomb killed 10 civilians in Shah Wali Kot district of southern Kandahar province, provincial police chief Matiullah said.

*BADGHIS - A bomb attached to a motorbike in the western province of Badghis exploded on Saturday, killing three civilians and wounding six more, the provincial governor Mohammad Ashraf Naseri said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

KHOST - A roadside bomb killed three civilians in Tani district of eastern Khost province, district police chief Guldad said.

LOGAR - Taliban insurgents attacked two police vehicles in Logar province, southeast of Kabul, taking four police hostage, the provincial police chief said. (Compiled by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Mary Gabriel) 
More on link

Canadian military claims victory in major Afghan offensive
Scott Deveau, Canwest News Service Published: Sunday, August 24
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Coalition forces and the Afghan National Army say they have struck a "major blow" against insurgents operating in Afghanistan's volatile Zhari district, west of Kandahar City.

In what is being hailed as the biggest show of force this year in the Taliban stronghold, Canadian and Afghan forces pushed through the central part of Zhari, battling with insurgents and confiscating weapons caches and a "significant amount" of materials used for building improvised explosive devices.

The three-day campaign, code-named Op Timis Preem, kicked off Thursday morning with a pre-emptive early-morning air strike on a known insurgent command-and-control centre in western Pashmul. 
More on link

Fighting the Taliban: What it's really like  
Last week, yet more members of Western forces were killed in Afghanistan. In a new book, Sunday Telegraph defence correspondent Sean Rayment, a former Army officer, describes the horrors of war faced by British soldiers. 
 Last Updated: 11:01AM BST 24 Aug 2008
Article Link

The whispered words "Moving in five minutes" ripple along the column of soldiers standing in the dust of the Helmand desert. Tense faces are illuminated beneath a moonlit sky. After hours of waiting, we are setting off to hunt down the Taliban in the Green Zone, a lush green strip that borders the Helmand river and the most dangerous part of Afghanistan. 

The soldiers call it Bandit Country, and for good reason. This is where the Taliban hold sway. 

It is one in the morning and, despite a cool breeze, I'm sweating beneath my helmet and body armour. There's a delay but we are not told why. The 120 soldiers who are about to march out on the operation check and re-check their weapons and equipment for a final time. Rifle, bayonet, ammunition, hand grenades, tourniquet, morphine, field dressing, water, rations, spare socks – almost everything the modern British soldier needs for fighting in Helmand. The other thing is luck. 

Another message floats along the column of soldiers: "Prepare to move." I look down the line and see young faces illuminated by the glow of cigarettes being sucked for the final time. Others are hauling their impossibly heavy packs on to their backs. There is a flurry of activity and then, without ceremony, we move silently beyond the walls of Patrol Base Inkerman. After 20 minutes we stop in a small hamlet and a soldier crawls towards me and whispers: "If we get ambushed and you find yourself in the killing zone, stick with me." I ask him what he means by "the killing zone". "It's the area of ground in an ambush where you have the greatest chance of being killed. If you're in it, you're in the s**t." He then smiles and says: "And if I'm dead, you're probably f****d." 
More on link

Our troops can't abandon cry for freedom in Afghanistan
The Province Published: Sunday, August 24, 2008
Article Link

Letter writer James Charles accomplishes nothing with his comments about pulling our troops out of Afghanistan because it is a hopeless cause.

Our troops are fighting as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Put the emphasis on "freedom." All the terrorists involved in the 9/11 cowardly attack were trained in Afghanistan. These camps no longer exist and, since 9/11, we have had no further attacks.

Was Afghanistan not once home to Osama Bin Laden? He hides somewhere, like a rat.

Our troops are in Afghanistan because the Afghan people want them there. Children can now go to school and women can even serve in the police force.

The local Afghan economy has more than doubled and the country now has an army trained by our soldiers.

If the Taliban fought like our soldiers, this war would be over. Instead they use cowardly tactics.

My son, Pte. Terry John Street, came home from Afghanistan in a metal coffin draped with the Canadian flag.

He served the country he loved so much and he believed in his mission.

Freedom does come with a huge price, and I have earned the right to post these comments.

Stand behind your troops and enjoy your freedom.
More on link

NATO-chartered helicopter crashes in Afghanistan
Sun Aug 24, 2008 4:08pm IST
Article Link

KABUL (Reuters) - A NATO-chartered helicopter crashed on Sunday in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar near the border with Pakistan, causing one death, a spokesman for the alliance said.

The civilian helicopter crashed soon after taking off from a military base in an area of the rugged province, the spokesman said, ruling out any hostile action.

He had no details about the type of the helicopter, number of people on board or identity of the casualties. 

NATO in a statement said the helicopter was an Mi-8 supply helicopter, contracted by the alliance's International Security Assistance Forces.

It was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff from an ISAF base, the statement said, but did not say what caused the problem.

"One person on board the aircraft died and three were wounded during the incident," it added without elaborating on the nationality of the casualties.
More on link

Pakistan rejects truce offer by militants in tribal area: official
Article Link

KHAR (AFP) — Pakistan on Sunday rejected a ceasefire offered by Taliban militants in a troubled tribal region near the Afghan border as troops killed seven rebel fighters, officials said.

The militants in the Bajaur region offered a unilateral ceasefire as a two-week-old military operation left some 500 people dead.

"We have directed our militants to stop attacks against the government and security forces in Bajaur from today," Maulvi Omar, spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Taliban Movement), told AFP.

The decision has been taken following talks with tribal elders, he said in a telephone call from unknown location.

"The jirga (elders' council) insisted that Taliban should stop fighting in the interest of the people of Bajaur."

The jirga has "assured" that troops will also suspend shelling and bombing raids in the area, he said.
More on link

6 Canadian soldiers, 2 journalists injured in Afghan roadside attack
Last Updated: Sunday, August 24, 2008 
Article Link

A roadside bomb hit an armoured vehicle in Afghanistan on Sunday, injuring six Canadian soldiers and two journalists, the military said.

One soldier was seriously injured in the attack in the Panjwaii district, west of Kandahar city, which occurred at about 11:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, the military said.

Five other soldiers and the two journalists suffered minor injuries. They were treated and released.

The seriously wounded soldier was flown by helicopter to the military hospital at Kandahar Airfield, where he remains in serious condition, the military said.

The Canadian Forces said it does not name soldiers who are wounded. The journalists are Tobi Cohen of the Canadian Press and Scott Deveau of the National Post. Both are in good condition and have returned to work, the military said.

The armoured vehicle was part of a combat logistics patrol, which are regular convoys used to move supplies and troops from various bases in Kandahar province, the military said.
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (26 Aug 2008)

*Taliban Propaganda Watch (RC South)
26 Aug 08*

The following material comes directly from web pages carrying statements attributed to the Taliban or Taliban spokespersons.  Sharing the material here neither confirms nor endorses any of the content - this is shared for information only.


"1 tank of  Canadian destroyed near Kandahar city"


> Today morning 26-08-2008 at approximately 9:10 am local time , Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,  with remote controlled landmine blew up a military tank of Canadian occupation army when it was travelling in Panjwali area of Kandahar city. In the  explosion the tank was completely destroyed and 6 occupation terrorists were killed. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"In explosion 6 Canadian  Killed in Kandahar"


> Tuesday  morning 26-08-2008, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with remote controlled landmines blew up a patroling unit of  of Canadian army in Damna Kjkar area of Shahwalikot district of Kandahar province. In explosin 6 soldiers terrorists were killed and a number wounded.. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"9 Canadian soldiers killed, 5 oil tankers of invaders destroyed in Kandahar"


> Monday morning 25-08-2008, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, ambushed a supplying convoy of American occupation army and its puppet police who were providing security for the convoy which was travelling on Kandahar Herat highway  Ashegho area of Zhari district of Kandahar province. In the attack 5 oil tankers of American occupation  and 2 military vehicles of  puppet army  were destroyed in which 17 puppet soldiers were killed and their arms were mujahideen booty.
> 
> Also in Lako khil area of same district in  ambush 9 Canadian soldiers were killed.Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"4 military vehicles of puppet army destroyed in Kandahar"


> Yesterday afternoon 25-08-2008, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, ambushed a supplying convoy of American occupation army and its puppet police who were providing security for the convoy which was travelling on Kandahar Herat highway  Hozi Madat area of Zhari district of Kandahar province. In the attack 4 military vehicles of  puppet army  were destroyed in which 19 puppet soldiers were killed and their arms were mujahideen booty.Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"1 vehicle of  puppet police  blew up in Helmand"


> Today 24-08-2008 at approximately 11am local,Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with remote controlled landmine blew up a vehicle of puppet police on Lashkagah Kandahar road in Wazer Manda area  of Nahri Saraj district of Helmand province. The landmine completely destroyed the vehicle and  13 puppet terrorists in it were killed or wounded. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"1 tank of British occupation blew up in Helmand"


> Tuesday 26-08-2008,approximitly 7:30am local Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with remote controlled landmine blew up a tank of British occupation army when it was traveling  in Merza Crasin area of Nadali district of Helmand province. In the explosion the tank was completely destroyed and 4 the invader terrorists in it were killed or wounded. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"2 tanks of American invaders destroyed in Zabul"


> Monday morning 25-08-2008,Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with remote controlled landmines blew up 2tanks of American occupation army convoys when they were traveling  in Segan area of Mizana district of Zabul province. In the explosion the tanks were completely destroyed and all the invader terrorists in it were killed. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf


----------



## GAP (26 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 25, 2008*

Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan
(08-25 23:43)
Article Link

A Danish soldier serving with the NATO-led forces in Afghanistan was killed on Monday when his tank drove over an improvised explosive device, the Danish military said.

The soldier was seriously injured in the blast and was evacuated by helicopter to a field hospital at Camp Bastion in southwestern Afghanistan where he died, the statement said.

The death brings to 16 the number of Danish troops killed in Afghanistan since it deployed soldiers there for NATO's International Security Assistance Force in 2001 - one of the highest per-capita death tolls among coalition forces.

Denmark currently has some 700 troops in the country, most of whom are stationed in the southwestern Helmand province under British command.
More on link

SMALL GAINS IN AFGHANISTAN
Canadian Forces in Afghanistan juggle their combat, peacekeeping, humanitarian aid roles
Scott Deveau ,  Canwest News Service Published: Monday, August 25, 2008
Article Link

NAMARDZI, Afghanistan - On a blazing hot summer day in the Zhari district of Kandahar last week, three tribal elders from the little village of Namardzi collected under the shade of a tree to conduct a shura - or town meeting - with Canadian Forces mentors and their Afghan counterparts.

Most of the other locals had already fled the village the day before after an air strike levelled a compound where insurgents were holed up in a gunfight with Afghan National Army forces. 

The strike, which broke up a wedding ceremony in a nearby compound, marked the beginning of a three-day campaign through the heart of the Taliban stronghold west of Kandahar City. 

The Canadian Forces' operational mentor liaison team, or OMLT (pronounced omelette around here), was tasked with the usual training of their Afghan counterparts during the mission. It also was there to help support them in guarding the western flank of the Zhari district while the battle group mowed through the centre of it, confiscating weapon caches, improvised explosive materials, and other Taliban communication equipment along the way.

But none of this mattered to the elders in Namardzi that day. They have seen enough conflict in the past three decades in Afghanistan to be bothered by a few bombs.

They were concerned about their animals and their crops - and they wanted to know when their families could come back to the village.

But before the shura could even begin, insurgents began lobbing mortars at the village, forcing the troops to rush to the nearest post where they engaged in an hour-long firefight. By the time they returned, the elders were gone. 

The Canadian Forces often refer to the conflict in Afghanistan as a "three-block war," where soldiers juggle their combat role with peacekeeping and administrating humanitarian aid.
More on link

Two Afghan-bound NATO vehicles torched in Pakistan: police
Article Link

KARACHI (AFP) — Suspected militants in the Pakistani port city of Karachi torched two armoured vehicles destined for NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, police said Monday.

The vehicles were parked outside the Karachi port when unidentified assailants set them on fire, destroying one and damaging the other, senior police officer Iqbal Mehmood told AFP.

The consignment was to be transported to southern Afghanistan via the Chaman border in Pakistan's Baluchistan province.

But a truck drivers' strike in Karachi had held up delivery of the vehicles, which were loaded on a trailer, for the past three days.

"A group of unknown people set the vehicles on fire near the Karachi Port, which totally burnt one vehicle while another was damaged," Mehmood said. "We are investigating whether any extremist group is behind it."

Authorities stepped up security of Afghanistan-bound NATO consignments after the incident, he said.
More on link

Taliban outlawed in wake of suicide bombings
By Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad Published: August 26 2008 03:00
Article Link

Pakistan yesterday banned the Taliban movement in a symbolic gesture that evoked a mix of support and criticism.

The ban followed last Thursday's twin suicide attacks at an arms factory in Wah, 30km north of Islamabad, which killed 67 people and injured more than 100.

Local media reports quoted a representative of the Taliban later claiming responsibility for the attacks, which he said were in retaliation for military action in the tribal region along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

"This [Taliban] organisation is a terrorist organisation and created mayhem against public life," said Rehman Malik, adviser to the prime minister and the de facto interior minister, while announcing the ban.

Some observers criticised the move. "What is the meaning of this ban?" asked Irfan Siddiqui, a prominent newspaper columnist. "As far as I can tell, it is just meaningless. How do you ban something which doesn't exist legally? The Taliban movement have never been formally registered so how do you ban them?"
More on link

Japanese aid worker seized in Afghanistan
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Gunmen Tuesday seized a Japanese aid worker and his driver in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.

The pair, working for an organization building schools in the area, were pulled rom their car in Nangarhar province, said Hazarat Ali, a lawmaker who represents the area. 

Security forces have been deployed to the area to track down the gunmen, but locals have already surrounded a mountain where they think the abductors are holed up, provincial police chief Ghafour Khan said.

Kazuya Ito, 31, works for the Japan-based aid group, Peshawar-Kai. The group runs hospitals and clinics in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, according to its Web site. 
More on link

Canada to finance Kandahar training centre
GLORIA GALLOWAY Globe and Mail Update August 26, 2008 at 10:18 AM EDT
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Defence Minister Peter MacKay spent two days this week speaking to Afghan and Canadian officials in Kandahar where he announced that Canada will pay for the establishment of a military training centre in Afghan capital of Kabul.

Mr. MacKay, who arrived Monday with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, said the new Staff and Language Training Centre, which will cost $16-million, will be used to upgrade the skills of junior officers in the Afghan National Army.

The Afghan security forces need to be enhanced so they can “walk on their own, defend their own sovereignty and borders, have the ability to repel the threats of the Taliban that continue to plague this country, (and) have the ability to work interoperably with NATO forces, which again will figure prominently in the training,” Mr. MacKay told reporters during a brief press conference at the Kandahar Air Field.

“All of this leads to the ability for Afghanistan to establish that necessary security so we can get on with the important humanitarian and reconstruction work that will lead to a more prosperous and safe country.”
More on link

Canada following the rules, MacKay tells Afghans
Minister's statement comes after deadly coalition strike
Scott Deveau ,  Canwest News Service Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Article Link

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Defence Minister Peter MacKay assured the Afghan government Tuesday that Canadian troops are following the rules of engagement in Afghanistan as concern mounts over the number of civilian deaths in that country after a U.S.-led coalition air strike killed at least 90 Afghans - mostly women and children - last week.

"I can assure you we take all precautions and all rules of engagement are followed," MacKay said during a two-day whirlwind visit to Afghanistan, along with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

"We have tremendous confidence and faith in our leadership here in Afghanistan," he added.
More on link

Helmand bucks Afghanistan trend with rise in opium production, says UN
Opium survey finds production down by 19% across country, but cultivation in Helmand has tripled since 2002
Samira Shackle guardian.co.uk, Tuesday August 26 2008 17:41 BST 
Article Link

Opium production in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, where British troops are engaged in an intense struggle against insurgents, has reached record-breaking levels, a United Nations report found today.

Helmand bucked the the national trend, which showed land under opium production down by 19%, and revealed an increase of 1% on a year ago. The region, where Gordon Brown visited British troops last week, now accounts for two-thirds of all opium poppies in Afghanistan. 

Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said that "if Helmand were a country, it would once again be the world's biggest producer of illicit drugs". Opium cultivation in the province has more than tripled since 2002, and large swaths of land have been reclaimed for the sole purpose of growing poppies.

The Afghanistan Opium Survey 2008 found the number of opium-free provinces rose from 13 to 18. The UN attributed this to good local governance, and drought, which affected poppy growth in the north.

"The opium flood waters in Afghanistan have started to recede. This year, the historic high-water mark of 193,000 hectares of opium cultivated in 2007 has dropped by 19% to 157,000 hectares," said Costa.
More on link

 In the army you become accustomed to the fact that there are varying degrees of suck  
Article Link

'All of the sudden the Earth opened up and spat us out' 

Posted: August 25, 2008, 1:30 AM by Ronald Nurwisah, Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — My mother always says I live my life with a noose around my neck and a horseshoe up my ass, but I've never felt both being tugged so hard in different directions as I did Sunday.

I was travelling back to Kandahar Air Field in a supply convoy in the Panjwaii district with eight others, including Canadian Press reporter Tobi Cohen, who was celebrating her 30th birthday, when our vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device.

There were six other vehicles in our convoy, but it was our armoured personnel vehicle, which is typically used to transport troops, that was targeted by the Taliban in this strike.

We were coming back from a major operation in the Zhari district of Kandahar, where the Canadian and Afghan forces led a three-day campaign into the centre of the Taliban stronghold, fighting insurgents and confiscating large weapons caches, IED materials, and Taliban communications equipment along the way. 

During the mission I was embedded with the Canadian mentor program for the Afghan National Army — or the OMLT (pronounced omlet), as it's known here, which is short for operational mentor liaison team.

The head of the mentoring program, Maj. Bob Ritchie gave me a bit of advice during the three days I spent embedded with the Canadian Forces and their Afghan counterparts in the field. 

"When you're in the army," he said, "you become accustomed to the fact that there are varying degrees of suck. When you think something can't get any worse, you can always find something that sucks more, and you probably will."

After spending three days without a shower, eating only rations, using a plastic bag as a toilet, and living in a mud hut with six other guys and their stinky feet, I thought I'd hit rock bottom and was looking forward to my bed at the base and my desk to write at.
More on link

DynCorp awarded $18.1 million contract for latest construction project in Afghanistan
August 26, 2008: 01:28 PM EST
Article Link

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Government contractor DynCorp International Inc. said Tuesday it has been awarded an $18.1 million contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a construction project in Afghanistan.

The company will build facilities for the Afghanistan National Civil Order Police in the country's Helmand province, including offices, living and operational facilities, motor pool guard towers and a perimeter wall for 305 police personnel with the Patrol Unit Brigade Headquarters and Patrol Battalion.

The construction project, to be completed within 360 days, is the latest in a series managed by DynCorp in Afghanistan.
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (27 Aug 2008)

*Taliban Propaganda Watch (RC South)
27 Aug 08*

The following material comes directly from web pages carrying statements attributed to the Taliban or Taliban spokespersons.  Posting of this material neither confirms nor endorses any of its content - it is shared for information only.


"1 tank of  Canadian destroyed near Kandahar city"


> Today morning 26-08-2008 at approximately 9:10 am local time , Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,  with remote controlled landmine blew up a military tank of Canadian occupation army when it was travelling in Panjwali area of Kandahar city. In the  explosion the tank was completely destroyed and 6 occupation terrorists were killed. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf





"2 vehicles of  puppet police destroyed in Helmand"


> Today 24-08-2008 at approximately 11am local,Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with remote controlled landmine blew up a vehicle of puppet police on Lashkagah Kandahar road in Wazer Manda area  of Nahri Saraj district of Helmand province. The landmine completely destroyed the vehicle and  13 puppet terrorists in it were killed or wounded. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf





"Why did I take arms against the United States? - Former Northern Alliance Commander"


> .... The more I thought the more I was convinced that these people do not desire power or money. They are not terrorists I thought. They are not a threat to peace of the world. Spilling blood is not their aim. Their aims are noble and higher. They are true to their words and firm in their characters. When I compared myself with them I realized that I was totally opposite to them.....(more on link)





"These are pictures of the Islaamic youth in Afghanistan .... these Mujaahideen are from Uzbekistan"


> ....Here, you are witnessing the future of Islaam’s glory and pride.  These children have understood the aayah better than we adults have .... (photos available on link)


----------



## GAP (27 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August. 27, 2008*

‘NATO transit to Afghanistan can be barred’
Article Link

LONDON/MOSCOW: The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) should not be able to use Russian routes to transit supplies and equipment to Afghanistan because Russia has suspended military co-operation with the Western alliance, said Moscow’s Ambassador to Kabul Zamir Kabulov in an interview published on Tuesday. 

Speaking to The Times from the Afghan capital, Kabulov said increased tensions between Russia and the West over Moscow’s recent assault on Georgia could lead Moscow to review other such agreements. 

Meanwhile, Russia’s NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin said Moscow did not plan to suspend NATO’s use of Russian land routes to transit non-military supplies and equipment to the alliance’s troops in Afghanistan. “We do not plan to halt overland transport to Afghanistan,” Rogozin told journalists in Moscow, but listed numerous areas of co-operation with NATO that would be frozen. afp
More on link

Russia: agreements with NATO over Afghanistan not affected by Georgia crisis
50 minutes ago
Article Link

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Moscow and the West may be at loggerheads over Georgia, but it's business as usual when it comes to using Russian territory to supply NATO troops in Afghanistan.

That was the word at a news conference Wednesday from Russia's top military envoy to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

Col. Andrey Zhukov says the Kremlin's decision to freeze military co-operation does not extend to an agreement that allows the transport of non-lethal supplies overland through Russia to the NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

The alliance is not yet making use of last April's agreement - signed by former Russian president Vladimir Putin - because it has yet to strike similar transit deals with the Central Asian countries between Russia and the Afghan border.

Zhukov also told reporters that a 2006 deal under which NATO countries lease transport planes from private companies in Russia and Ukraine is also unaffected.

NATO has used that deal to fill shortfalls in large cargo planes that have hampered the Afghan mission.

"We do not have any intention of getting involved in the commercial activities of this private company," Zhukov said.
More on link

Weather cuts Afghanistan opium production: UN
Updated August 27,
Article Link

The United Nations says opium production in Afghanistan has dropped for the first time since 2001.

However, the UN warns that may have more to do with the weather than international efforts to cut the drug crop.

Afghanistan broke all records and produced 93 per cent of the world's opium in 2007.

This year, 157,000 hectares grew the opium poppy, down 36,000 on the previous year.

While growing is signicantly down, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says production is down by only 6 per cent - with 7,700 tonnes produced this year
More on link

Japanese Aid Worker Is Found Dead in Afghanistan, AFP Reports  
By Taku KatoAug. 27 (Bloomberg) 
Article Link

 A Japanese aid worker who was kidnapped yesterday in eastern Afghanistan was found dead, Agence France-Presse reported. 

Kazuya Ito, 31, was found with several bullet wounds, AFP said, citing Kuz Kunar district governor Malim Mashouq. 

Ito was kidnapped while he was heading out to make an inspection of an irrigation project built by his employer, Peshawar-kai, an aid group, the report said. 
More on link

Curfew imposed in NW Pakistan after militant attack
Wed 27 Aug 2008, 5:18 GMT  By Hafiz Wazir
Article Link

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities imposed a curfew in the main town of a violence-plagued region near Afghanistan on Wednesday after militants attacked a military post, as violence hit several other points across the country.

Militant violence has increased in nuclear-armed Pakistan over recent weeks while ruling coalition parties have been distracted by infighting and the resignation last week of staunch U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf as president.

Political and security problems have undermined investor confidence and sent financial markets sliding as authorities struggle to control rising inflation and widening twin deficits.

Militants in the South Waziristan region attacked a military post east of the region's main town of Wana on Tuesday night. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The government responded by imposing a curfew.
More on link

Afghanistan: Kandahar school receives year's worth of supplies
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan - ISAF soldiers and members of Kandahar city's Skills Generation gave a year's worth of school supplies to both students and their teachers at the Afghan National Army camp's Sayd Pacha School August 26. 

The school supplies were purchased with donated money from the soldiers' families in Canada. The project started after a few Canadian soldiers, responsible for training and mentoring the ANA at Camp Hero, began working with Sayd Pacha School's principal, Mohammad Issa, and regularly visited the school to spend time with the students. 

"It was a great opportunity for people at home to feel like they are doing something tangible to support what their loved ones are doing here," said Major Jim Short, chaplain for Task Force Kandahar's Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team. "Apart from the things that make us very different, we all want the opportunity for our children to be educated." 

To ensure the school supplies are evenly distributed throughout the school year, Canadian soldiers handed over the project to the Afghan organization Skills Generation. Skills Generation's mandate is to help Kandahar schools receive adequate school supplies and textbooks for teachers and students by working closely with the Ministry of Education to improve Kandahar province's school system. 
More on link


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## dapaterson (27 Aug 2008)

New York Times  26 Aug 08


> Taliban Gain New Foothold in Afghan City After Attack
> 
> KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The Taliban bomber calmly parked a white fuel tanker near the prison gates of this city one evening in June, then jumped down from the cab and let out a laugh. Prison guards fired on the bomber as he ran off, but they missed, instead killing the son of a local shopkeeper, Muhammad Daoud, who watched the scene unfold from across the street.Seconds later, the Taliban fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the tanker, setting off an explosion that killed the prison guards, destroyed nearby buildings, and opened a breach in the prison walls as wide as a highway. Nearly 900 prisoners escaped, 350 of them members of the Taliban, in one of the worst security lapses in Afghanistan in the six years since the United States intervention here.
> 
> ...



Full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/world/asia/27kandahar.html?hp=&pagewanted=all


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## Colin Parkinson (27 Aug 2008)

*Poppy cultivation decreased by 19% with more than half of the country gaining poppy free status (Press Release)*

  
The Joint Ministry of Counter Narcotics and UNODC Annual Opium Survey Report indicate a 19% reduction in cultivation level this year (153,000 ha), compared to last year’s 193,000 ha. Meanwhile, poppy free provinces have been increased from 13 to 18 provinces. 

“This is a remarkable achievement, which is achieved as a result of extensive efforts by the Government supported by international community.” said General Khodaidad, Minister of Counter Narcotics of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at a joint press conference with Antonio Maria Costa Executive Director of the UNODC.

He further added that it shows that where there is good governance, rule of law and security, the government's National Drugs Control Strategy is working. The gains we have made are threatened by high food prices and severe drought affecting 26 provinces. 

So, the government, supported by the international community, must act swiftly to help those experiencing hardship and sustain this achievement over the coming years. General Khodaidad praised the role of Ulema, community elders; local administration and parliament members during the pre-planting campaign, without their strong support the Government would not have been able to achieve success in reduction of poppy cultivation year. 

He added that this year the pre-planting campaign and other measures will be continued in all affected provinces in an attempt to maintain the poppy free status and further reduce poppy cultivation in the coming years. 

In the current year of 2008 more than 77 police officer lost their valuable life’s including on Ground verification surveyor and more than 100 more police officers were injured in combating Counter Narcotics Efforts. , the Minister of counter Narcotics praised their services and said that there sacrifice who bring honor and prestige to our country which is removing the drug problem for Afghanistan will always be remembered. 

http://www.mcn.gov.af/press_release3.html


*Afghan bombing drives allies apart * 

By Alastair Leithead 
BBC News, Kabul  


It was the early hours of Friday morning when US and Afghan troops moved in to Azizabad, a village in western Afghanistan close to the Iranian border. 

Their target was described as a "key Taleban leader" and after receiving intelligence reports of his whereabouts, the troops attacked. 

What happened next in the Shindand district of Herat province has driven a wedge between President Hamid Karzai and American forces, between the United Nations and Nato, and has threatened to change the way international troops do business in Afghanistan. 

There are two interpretations of what happened that night and as yet no indisputable evidence either way. 

The US military called it a "successful operation" and up until 24 hours later still "remained confident" no civilians had been killed. 

Troops under Operation Enduring Freedom, the counter-terrorist arm of US activities in Afghanistan, working outside of Nato's command and remit, were satisfied those killed had been insurgents - one of them an important target. 

But the other interpretation is that up to 90 civilians died - more than half of them children - *after false intelligence was deliberately given by a rival tribe and a funeral wake was bombed killing many innocent people. * 
Anti-American feeling 

That view is shared by President Karzai and his cabinet, the Afghan defence and interior ministries, tribal elders, members of parliament, Herat's police chief, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and now the United Nations. 


"*We found convincing evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses and others, that some 90 civilians were killed, including 60 children," said a statement from the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan. * "This is a matter of grave concern to the United Nations," Kai Eide's statement went on, describing how the name, age and gender of the victims had been collected and "the destruction from aerial bombardment was clearly evident". 

It is a strongly worded and scathing report aimed at US forces and based on interviews with local people. 

*Shindand is a fiercely tribal area and there have been claims by local people of a large number of civilian casualties in the past which have turned out to be exaggerated. * But there have been a number of separate delegations sent to investigate and their findings all match up. 

Every night for the past week the state-run national television station has been running stories showing strong anti-American feeling among Afghan people. 

Hearts and minds 

The US are "investigating", but privately they are sticking to their story, labelling reports of civilian casualties as "Taleban propaganda". 

There has been no official comment on when the inquiry results will be released, but an investigation into a wedding party bombed by mistake in the eastern Nangahar province by US forces in July has still not been made public. 


A fierce row is now going with the Afghan government and within the international community. 
The lack of a body count or clear evidence one way or the other has created a stand-off which is destabilising the West's relationship with the Afghan government. 

Killing innocent people by accident in a counter-insurgency campaign is not only tragic, but is hugely detrimental to the objective - to win, not lose, hearts and minds. 

President Karzai knows how seriously the issue of civilian casualties is taken among Afghan people, and is keen to distance himself from such incidents, which he knows will affect his popularity ahead of next year's election. 

After a cabinet meeting the government announced it would hold serious talks to renegotiate the terms of the international presence in the country. 

"The presence of the international community in Afghanistan should be re-regulated based on bilateral agreements," a statement said, adding that limits should be placed on military forces and "air strikes on civilian targets, unilateral searches of homes and illegal detentions must be stopped immediately". 

What exactly happened at the Shindand operation is dominating the debate between the Afghan government and the international community, but at the same time insurgents are killing aid workers and innocent people every day - and it is not possible to hold them accountable for their actions. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7584464.stm


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## MarkOttawa (27 Aug 2008)

Defense minister: France eyes bigger Afghan role
AP, April 27
http://www.aol.co.nz/news/story/Army-chief-says-France-eyes-bigger-Afghan-role/904811/index.html



> France is considering whether to send more special forces, aircraft or firepower for NATO's fight against the Taliban and their al-Qaida allies in Afghanistan, the French defense minister said Tuesday.
> 
> Herve Morin told lawmakers the special forces could be sent to gather intelligence but not to fight, adding that any decision would ultimately rest with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (28 Aug 2008)

*Taliban Propaganda Watch (RC South)
272339EDT Aug 08*

The following material comes from web pages and forums carrying statements attributed to the Taliban or Taliban spokespersons.  Posting of this material neither confirms nor endorses any of its content - it is shared for information only.

"Continuing battle severe Kajaki, Helmend " (Google Translation) - Original Arabic


> Continuing battle severe Kjki
> 
> Continental / Yusuf Ahmadi
> 
> ...



.pdf attached (Google English) if link doesn't work


----------



## GAP (28 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 28, 2008*

U.S. troops, contractors indicted in Afghan bribery scheme
Article Link

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two U.S. troops and a group of contractors have been indicted on charges they were part of a bribery scheme involving the awarding of military contracts in Afghanistan, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Maj. Christopher P. West, an Illinois National Guardsman and head of operations at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, was arrested Monday on charges of bribery and conspiracy.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Patrick W. Boyd, a resident of Rockledge, Florida, and a contracting officer at Bagram, was arrested Tuesday on the same charges.

Contractors Assad John Ramin, Tahir Ramin, Noor Alam and Abdul Qudoos Bahkshi were also charged in the indictment.

Those indicted face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for bribery, and up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for conspiracy.
More on link

Kandahar reality update  
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Article Link

Further to the posts here and here, from our general in-theatre in a Canadian Press story:

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Recent military operations have taken a major bite out of the insurgency's ability to plant deadly roadside bombs on the outskirts of Kandahar city but long-term security will require more time and manpower, a Canadian commander said Wednesday.

In a speech aimed at showing Afghan civilians that Canadian and Afghan forces have had success beating back the insurgents, Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson admitted Taliban activities have been "disrupted" but not "eliminated" by the operations in the Maywand and Zhari districts.

"There is combat every day in this province and that isn't going to end any time soon," said Thompson, the top commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.

"We are going to stay in the fight and we have to stay active in order to prevail and not lose the initiative to the insurgents."

Noting just one third of the countryside is secure enough for development and reconstruction to take place, Thompson said efforts are underway to boost both the number of coalition troops operating in Kandahar as well as the number of Afghan police and army personnel.
More on link

Top Marine wants to shift troops from Iraq to Afghanistan
By Peter Spiegel and Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers August 28, 2008 
Article Link

Gen. James Conway says the insurgent threat in Iraq's Anbar province has decreased and the forces could better serve in violent regions of Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON -- Marines in western Iraq's Anbar province no longer face a serious threat from insurgents and would be better used in increasingly violent regions of southern Afghanistan, the top Marine Corps officer said Wednesday.

Gen. James T. Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, said that gains made by two Marine units sent to Afghanistan's volatile southern provinces this year could be lost if the troops are not replaced in November, and suggested that a drawdown in Iraq would allow him to send fresh units to the region

"Everyone seems to agree that additional forces are the ideal course of action for preventing a Taliban comeback, but just where they're going to come from is still up for discussion," Conway said at a Pentagon news conference. "It's no secret that the Marine Corps would be proud to be part of that undertaking."

There are 25,000 Marines in once-restive Anbar province, but despite Conway's assessment, any withdrawal is expected to be minimal. Military officials said they were likely to request a reduction of about 1,500 Marines. That is the number needed to replace one of the departing Marine units in Afghanistan, the Twentynine Palms-based 2nd Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment, which is in southern Farah province. 

Still, Conway's comments were the most direct yet by a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in favor of a drawdown in Iraq. He joins a chorus of military leaders in Washington -- including Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the Joint Chiefs' chairman -- who believe withdrawals should resume next month. Mullen said last month that he expected to recommend additional reductions.
More on link

Bomb kills US coalition member in Afghanistan
5 hours ago
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The U.S.-led coalition says a roadside bomb has killed one of its members in southern Afghanistan.

A coalition statement says the the soldier was killed during a patrol on Wednesday. The victim's nationality and the exact location of the blast have not been released.

Separately, the coalition says its troops killed a militant and detained two others during a raid in the eastern Paktika province.

It says the militant was killed by small-arms fire as the troops searched compounds on Wednesday.
More on link

Ottawa defends contract with U.S. intelligence firm
OMAR EL AKKAD August 28, 2008
Article Link

OTTAWA -- Ottawa is defending its decision to award a contract to a U.S. intelligence firm to train Canadian soldiers on the nature of the Afghanistan insurgency.

The government announced this week that it will hire the Terrorism Research Center to train Canadian soldiers. The training will focus on understanding insurgent groups such as the Taliban.

The Virginia-based company is part of Total Intelligence Solutions, LLC. That operation, which employs several former employees of U.S. agencies such as the CIA, counts among its highest-ranking officers a number of influential architects of Washington's Iraq war. TIS chairman Cofer Black spent nearly 30 years with the CIA, and was central to the direction of Washington's "war on terror" strategy.

The Terrorism Research Center has done extensive business with branches of the U.S. military. But TIS itself is also a subsidiary. It is owned by the Prince Group, the same holding company that owns Blackwater Worldwide.
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (28 Aug 2008)

Don't expect miracles in Afghanistan: Canadian envoy
CTV, August 27
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080827/afghanistan_security_080827/20080827?hub=CanadaAM



> Don't expect any miracles by the time Canada's military commitment to Afghanistan ends in 2011, says the outgoing Canadian ambassador to the country.
> 
> Arif Lalani, who has held the position for 15 months, said the mission is a difficult one and great challenges lie ahead.
> 
> ...



U.S.-Pakistani Brainstorming on Border Violence
_NY Times_, August 28
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/washington/28policy.html?ref=world



> The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff secretly convened a highly unusual meeting of senior American and Pakistani commanders on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday to discuss how to combat the escalating violence along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
> 
> While officials from the two allies offered few details on Wednesday about what was decided or even discussed at the meeting — including any new strategies, tactics, weapons or troop deployments — the star-studded list of participants and the extreme secrecy surrounding the talks underscored how gravely both nations regard the growing militant threat...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (28 Aug 2008)

*Taliban Propaganda Watch (RC South)
282105EDT Aug 08*

*NOTE:  The following material is from web pages and forums carrying statements attributed to the Taliban or Taliban spokespersons.  Posting of this material neither confirms nor endorses any of its content - it is shared for information only.  When material translated into English is not available, Google Translate is used to translate the original (indicated by "GoogEng") - this is only a machine translation, NOT an official one.*


"33 puppet soldiers killed in different attak in Kandahar" (GoogleEng)  - Original in Arabic


> Continental / Yusuf Ahmadi
> According to details provided: Mujahid Islamic Emirate dawn this morning 2008-08-27)) at 07:15 am kind of car Rnger of the army's Directorate Bnjuaei in the market by an explosive device, resulting in the destruction of the car completely killing 9 soldiers.  At 10:15 this morning attacked the Mujahideen near any of the Directorate of the Directorate of buttons on a convoy of funding to the enemy in the region of the radio buttons Directorate of the mandate itself on the road to Kandahar, Herat highway, during the attack were burned four trucks loaded with Mujahidoun container.  Who carried out the attack in an ambush in addition to the loss mentioned above have been targeted Mujahidoun Bar PJ three cars of the Army customer, which killed thirteen soldiers and a number of others severely wounded.  According to the news of another independent, killing eleven soldiers in Afghanistan this afternoon 2008-08-27)) at the Directorate Meond region Kach Juppin on the road to Kandahar, Herat, while they were on foot patrol in the area.  After the accident closed down the area by the enemy and they transfer a dress of their dead by cars. (Google English)




"Americans killed 36 and wounded more than thirty people, including women and children, in Helmend" (GoogleEng) - Arabic version


> Americans killed 36 unarmed result of folks severe air strikes in Helmand
> Continental / Yusuf Ahmadi
> According to details the Americans yesterday afternoon 2008-08-26)) at 4:10 pm sharp aerial bombardment Hdidali village Debra cypress castle in the state of Jin Directorate of Helmand. Resulting in the extermination of six families in full, cited 25 people including women and children, and wounded more than thirty people.  News adds the rest of the bodies of some of the martyrs under the rubble until this morning because of the raids, but some people have not found their bodies are missing.  In a similar vein, the Americans last night 2008-08-27)) at 01:15 am sharp aerial bombardment in the Directorate of neighbouring similar to this in any Directorate Kjki resulted in the death of 11 civilians were killed and fifteen others wounded severely.  It is interesting that this is not the first time that Americans satisfactory revenge against defenceless people, where they have a week ago in the village of Zer Directorate Handnd mandate Herat - according to the media free - have killed more than 100 unarmed innocent people and injured a similar number, the Department has supported the figures Kabul client as well.




"Destroying a british tank, killing seven soldiers in Helmend" (GoogleEng) - Arabic version


> 33 Mottagl military in Kandahar by strong explosions
> Destroying a tank of troops near the English charge of the Directorate Jermser
> Continental / Yusuf Ahmadi
> Mujahid Alamarhalaslamih dawn this morning at 6:10 am sharp tank Forces English charge when the convoy of troops on their way towards the centre Jermser in an area north of Tal located five kilometers east of the Directorate.  Tank destroyed in the blast completely killing seven soldiers passengers therein.  After the explosion closed the road between statehood and the Directorate in the face of traffic, and they were killed by helicopters.




"Killing five officers of intelligence in Kandahar city" - Arabic version


> Killing five elements of intelligence in Kandahar city
> Continental / Yusuf Ahmadi
> At 10:25 last night from 2008-08-26)) killed five of Enasralastkbarat (national security) when their car suffered from type Rnger Mujahideen attacked the Islamic Emirate in front of a mosque Koubaa Alkhmamsh side of the city of Kandahar.  In the attack, which was implemented through the attack resulted in the destruction of the enemy vehicle full addition to the loss mentioned above.  These five were senior officials of the Intelligence Department has earned their reward after a long period of comment by the Mujahideen.  It is noteworthy that before the duration of the investigation Mdergsm Mujahideen were killed in this administration at the heart of the city of Kandahar at the intersection of martyrs in the sudden attack.


----------



## GAP (29 Aug 2008)

*Articles found August 29, 2008*

Pentagon brass meet with Pakistanis on carrier
By PAULINE JELINEK
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AP) — With violence worsening in Afghanistan and Pakistan, top U.S. military officers secretly met commanders from Islamabad on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean to talk about what else could be done.

The meeting Tuesday came after several weeks of Pakistani offensives against militants in the country's volatile northwest — an effort American officials welcomed but said Thursday has come nowhere near to stemming growing problems near the Afghan border.

The meeting aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln was the latest of several between Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and General Ashfaq Kayani, chief of staff of the Pakistani army.

U.S. defense officials said that this time Mullen also brought Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, who will soon leave to become the senior commander in the Middle East; Adm. Eric T. Olson, head of the Special Operations Command; Gen. David McKiernan, NATO's commander in Afghanistan; Lt. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, acting commander of American forces in the Middle East; and Rear Adm. Michael LeFever, American military liaison in Pakistan.

A U.S. official familiar with the discussion said Tuesday's meeting was "more collaborative," compared to a similar meeting a month ago when Mullen took a "more firm tone" in warning Kayani that Islamabad was not doing enough to counter militants waging cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.
More on link

Iraq militants moving to Pak
29 Aug 2008 
Article Link

WASHINGTON: A top US military officer has said that the al-Qaida militants in Iraq are moving to safe haven in tribal areas of Pakistan, posing threat not only to coalition forces in Afghanistan but to Islamabad. 

In a press meeting, the commandant of the marine corps Gen James Conway said the coalition forces will not be able to solve the problems in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan and it was essentially up to the government in Islamabad to come to the terms with what is happening on their sovereign soil. 

"We do see more foreign fighters now, though, I think, coming to Pakistan and operating in Afghanistan than we're seeing in Iraq... no intelligence agency would say this, but it may be that there's been a refocus. I think the al-Qaida knows that they have blown a movement in Iraq through a number of missteps over time..." Gen Conway said. 
More on link

About 165 troops from CFB Gagetown, N.B., off to Afghanistan   
The Canadian Press — Gagetown, N.B.
Article Link

More than 150 soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Gagetown are slowly making their way to Afghanistan for six-months of combat duty.
The exodus of troops will continue until the first week of October, base public affairs officer Lt. (Navy) Brian Owens said Thursday.
In total, 165 troops, comprised of 100 members of the Second Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment, along with 38 from 4 Air Defence Regiment and 24 from 4 Engineer Support Regiment are making the journey.
There will be joined by a small number from other base units.
The departures are occurring with little or no publicity.
“Those events are closed,” Owens said. “The chain of command has basically told us that’s for the families and families alone and we are not doing any media exposure on this days as they go out the door.” 
More on link

Afghan base is "world's busiest trauma hospital"
Fri Aug 29, 2008 By Luke Baker
Article Link

CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan (Reuters) - From the outside it's a prefabricated building in the midst of the desert, an unremarkable one storey white block. Inside it may be the busiest trauma hospital in the world.

In the past week more than 100 casualties have been shuttled in to the British-run Camp Bastion hospital in southern Afghanistan, more than half with major trauma from explosions and requiring surgery, according to medics.

The wounded, and sometimes dead, have included British, American and Danish soldiers, members of the Afghan army and police, and civilians caught up in the crossfire as the battle against the Taliban has intensified across Helmand province.

"It's the busiest trauma hospital in the world," said a member of Britain's airborne medical response team, pausing barely long enough to catch his breath after delivering another two casualties from a hovering Chinook helicopter.

"At least this week it has been. Busier than anywhere in Iraq. Busier than Johannesburg," he said, referring to the city in South Africa with a notoriously high crime rate and one of the busiest hospitals in the world. "It's non-stop."

The Taliban have indeed stepped up attacks in recent weeks, mounting ambushes and planting deadly roadside bombs across the province, one of the most volatile in Afghanistan.

The upsurge was expected -- in past years the Taliban have taken advantage of the dry summer months and the end of the opium poppy growing season to step up their activities. But this year's rise in violence has surprised even medics.
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (29 Aug 2008)

NATO hands Kabul security to Afghan forces
Reuters, August 28
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKISL11326220080828



> Afghan forces took over responsibility for the security of the capital, Kabul, on Thursday, in what is largely viewed as a symbolic move.
> 
> Although there are no plans for foreign forces to pull out of the city any time soon, the move is also meant to reflect the growing strength of the Afghan army and police force.
> 
> ...



Pentagon Reports U.S. Airstrike Killed 5 Afghan Civilians, Not 90
_Washington Post_, August 29
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/28/AR2008082802203.html?wpisrc=newsletter



> A U.S. military review of an airstrike last week in western Afghanistan maintains that only five civilians were killed, Pentagon officials said yesterday, a finding that starkly contradicts reports by the United Nations and Afghan officials that the civilian death toll from the bombing was at least 90.
> 
> The completed review corroborates an initial assessment by the military of the operation Friday by U.S. and Afghan forces in a village in Herat province. The review determined that 25 militants, including a Taliban commander, and five civilians had been killed, the officials said.
> 
> "We did not kill up to 90 civilians as has been alleged," one U.S. military official said. The review "comports with our operational understanding" of the events, said the official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record...



Void in U.S. strategy for Afghanistan
As officials consider sending more troops to Afghanistan, some worry about the lack of a larger plan.
_Christian Science Monitor_, August 29
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0829/p01s01-usfp.html



> Senior defense officials are debating how many troops they can send to Afghanistan and how soon they can do it to improve the deteriorating security situation there.
> 
> But even as political pressure mounts to do more to stop the violence in that region, there is increasing fear in the Pentagon that sending in more forces is just a stopgap measure that masks the absence of a broader, viable strategy.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (30 Aug 2008)

*Taliban Propaganda Watch (RC South)
300015EDT Aug 08*
.pdf version attached at bottom of message

*NOTE:  The following material is from web pages and forums carrying statements attributed to the Taliban or Taliban spokespersons.  Posting of this material neither confirms nor endorses any of its content - it is shared for information only.  When material translated into English is not available, Google Translate is used to translate the original (indicated by "GoogEng") - this is only a machine translation, NOT an official one.*


"6 Canadian invadiers soldiers Killed in Kandahar"


> Friday morning   29-08-2008, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with remote controlled landmines blew up a patrolling unit of Canadian invadirs army in Makoan area of Zhari district of Kandahar province. In explosion 6 soldiers terrorists were killed and a number wounded.. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"2 tanks of Canadian invaders destroyed in Kandahar"


> Friday night 29-08-2008,Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with remote controlled landmines blew up 2tanks of Candain occupation army convoys when they were traveling  in Kaztora area of Mewand district of Kandahar province. In the explosion the tanks were completely destroyed and 9 the invader terrorists in it were killed. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"6 military vehicles of puppet army destroyed  in Kandahar"


> Friday morning 29-08-2008 at approximately 10:15 am local, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, ambushed a convoy of puppet army   which was travelling on Uruzgan Kandahar highway in Sri Gari area of Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province. In the attack 6 military vehicles of  puppet army were destroyed in which 30 puppet soldiers were killed and a number wounded. Reported by Zabihullah Mujahid




"American invaders  martyrs 22 civilians in Helmand"


> Friday night 29-08-2008, 22 people including women and children were martyred in an cowardly bombardment and attacks of American invaders on houses of civilians in Zamendawar area of Kajaki district of Helmand province. The invader forces  directed the local residents houses  and   martyring 22 innocent civilians including women and  children.  Also in same district four days before British invaders martyred 11 women and children. Reported by Zabihullah Mujahid




"5 American terrorists killed 7 wounded in Helmand"


> Friday noon 29-08-08 at 10:20 am local time, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, ambushed a foot patrolling units of American occupation  army and their puppets in Mula Nawab area of Bakwa district of Farah province.  In the the attack 5 British terrorists were killed and 7 were wounded. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"4 checkpoints of puppet army captured in Helmand"


> Friday afternoon 29-08-2008 at approximately 3:15 pm local, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with heavy and light weapons attacked puppet police checkpoints in Baba Jai area of Lashkargah city capital of Helmand province. In attack the checkpoints were demolished 9 puppet police were killed others fled and their arms were Mujahid booty.  Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"1checkpoint of puppet army demolished   in Helmand"


> Friday night 29-08-2008 at approximately 10:15 pm local, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with heavy and light weapons attacked puppet police checkpoints in Kamparak area of Grishk district of Helmand province. In attack the checkpoint was demolished 6 puppetr police were killed.   Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"1 checkpoint of puppet police demolished in Nemroz"


> Friday noon 29-08-2008 at approximately 11:20 am local, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with heavy and light weapons attacked puppet police checkpoints in Poshti Hasn area of Khashrod district of Nemroz province.  In attack the checkpoint was demolished but the casualties of enemy was not reported.   Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"Martyrdom not Suicide - An Islamic Perspective"


> Before presenting the Islamic evidences that such operations are Islamically legitimate, we need to emphasise that it is wrong to call such operations a “suicide”. Killing one’s self aggressively or casting one’s self into destruction, all of which are forbidden in the Qur’an....killing one’s self this way is “suicide” as it is Islamically pointless, meaningless and intentionally suicidal.  On the other hand, the one who contributes his life to the cause of Allah, Islam and Muslims his doing is sacrificial; he gives his life away for Islam and Muslims, which is the highest sacrifice.... (more on link)




"Footage of Saudi Army In (Uruzgan)"


> A brother from a forum posted this. The video is in Dutch.  Skip to 00:36 seconds and watch from there for a few minutes.  You see the Saudi Forces in Afghanistan, deceitfully handing out candy’s and Qur’aan’s to the Afghan people.  How can they hand out copies of the Qur’aan .... (video, more on link)




"More Then 20,000 Coward American Troops Suffer Stress"


> At least one in six coward american soldiers in Afghanistan and at least one in eight in Iraq are taking daily doses of prescription antidepressants, sleeping pills or painkillers to help them cope with the stresses of combat, according to figures contained in a US Army mental health advisory team report seen by The Herald.  The findings mean that more thaen 20,000 coward american troops are on medication such as Prozac or diamorphine while working in the front line or on equally dangerous convoy escort or driving duties in conflicts where Mujahideen regularly target the supply chain .... (more on link)


----------



## George Wallace (30 Aug 2008)

30 August 2008

Pakistan car bomb kills eight; lawyers start anti-government protests
28/08/2008 11:48:55 AM  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


*Suspected militants bombed a bus in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, reportedly killing eight people, as protesting lawyers blocked roads across the country in an effort to press the government to reinstate judges purged by former president Pervez Musharraf.*

CBC News 
The car bomb exploded in the middle of a long, concrete bridge near the city of Bannu, leaving a large crater.

The bus, which was travelling across the bridge at the time, smashed through a railing on the side of the bridge and tumbled about nine metres into a mostly dry riverbed below.

The bus was en route to a prison to pick up several inmates, said local police chief Jalil Khan.

Seven policemen and an education department official who had hitched a ride were killed, he said.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, police said militants were the likely culprits.

Hours earlier, security forces drove off a Taliban attack on a fort and pounded another band of militants holed up in a health centre, officials said Wednesday as fighting spread to new areas in the tribal belt along the Afghan border.

As many as 49 insurgents were reported killed in separate attacks.

More than 200 people have been killed in a cycle of bombings and clashes since longtime U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf quit as president on Aug. 18 to avoid impeachment by the coalition government that triumphed in February's elections

His resignation, nine years after he seized power in a military coup, has caused widespread political and social turmoil.

A week after his departure, the country's second-biggest party, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, pulled out of the coalition over its failure to restore judges purged by Musharraf last year.

Meanwhile, lawyers who agitated for more than a year in favour of the judges and against Musharraf led new protests against the government Thursday.

Several thousand demonstrators blocked roads in a string of major cities.

They also chanted slogans against Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower and the favorite to replace Musharraf when lawmakers select a new president on Sept. 6.

Protesters destroyed posters of Zardari in Islamabad, and held similar demonstrations in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Quetta and Peshawar, reported Reuters news agency.

However, their numbers were smaller than in the past and Sharif's supporters largely stayed away.

The turmoil has left the main ruling party, once led by slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and now succeeded by Zardari, in a position to dominate the government.

U.S. officials have been pressing for more action against insurgent strongholds in Pakistan's wild border region, but Pakistan's military insists it is doing what it can to contain militants and prevent them from moving against NATO and Afghan troops on the other side of the border.

There are also 2,500 Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan, mostly in the southern Kandahar province.

Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other top American commanders Tuesday to discuss security strategy "in an open and cordial manner," a military statement said.

The gathering was scheduled, it said, but gave no further details.

The New York Times reported that the meeting took place on a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean and focused on co-ordinating counter-insurgency efforts along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

Pakistani officials have sought peace agreements in the border region in hopes of curbing Islamic extremists who have been blamed for a wave of suicide attacks across the country in the past year.

The Pakistani Taliban, meanwhile, are becoming increasingly bold, claiming responsibility for a wave of suicide bombings and gun attacks.

The main ruling party, the Zardari-led Pakistan People's Party, has been hardening its stance on Islamic extremists.

With files from the Associated Press


----------



## MarkOttawa (30 Aug 2008)

U.S. beefing up presence in southern Afghanistan 
_Stars and Stripes_ (Mideast edition), *August 9*
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63871&archive=true



> OSMAN KHEYL, Afghanistan — American commanders are reinforcing NATO-led troops in southern Afghanistan, sending an additional U.S. Army battalion to Kandahar province to help combat an increasingly violent and lethal insurgency here.
> 
> *Forward elements of the 1st Infantry Division’s 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment have been operating* [emphasis added] in Maywand district, about 45 miles west of Kandahar city. The unit will deploy to the area "late this summer," said a battalion officer.
> 
> ...



American battalion to help Canadian forces in Afghanistan
_Calgary Herald_, August 30
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=2e2b8b97-6c70-439e-baab-fd34ad668795



> The United States has deployed a much-needed battalion of 800 troops to assist Canadian and Afghan Forces in Kandahar and to try to tame the province's Wild West.
> 
> While the battalion has been active in Kandahar since early July, it has only just begun its operations in the past few weeks in the Maywand district, which borders on Helmand province to the west, and will serve as its new home.
> 
> ...



American soldiers join Canadian forces in Kandahar province
_Globe and Mail_, August 30
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080830.wtroops30/BNStory/Afghanistan/home


> ...
> The 2nd of the 2nd Infantry Battallion, based at Fort Hood, Tex., otherwise known as the Ramrods, “has been officially placed *under my operation control* [emphasis added],” Brig.-Gen. Thompson told a morning news conference at the Kandahar Air Field...
> 
> A report released earlier this year by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley recommended that more troops be sent to help out the Canadian forces in Kandahar. But Brig.-Gen Thompson said fulfilling the recommendations of the Manley report will be something that is decided in Ottawa, not in Kandahar...
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (30 Aug 2008)

*Taliban Propaganda Watch (RC South)
301600EDT Aug 08*
.pdf version attached at bottom of message

*NOTE:  The following material is from web pages and forums carrying statements attributed to the Taliban or Taliban spokespersons.  Posting of this material neither confirms nor endorses any of its content - it is shared for information only.  When material translated into English is not available, Google Translate is used to translate the original (indicated by "GoogEng") - this is only a machine translation, NOT an official one.*


"2 military vehicles of puppet army destroyed in Kandahar"


> Saturday noon 30-08-2008 at approximately 1:15pm local , Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, ambushed a convoy of American occupation army and its puppet army who were providing security for the convoy  which was travelling on Kandahar Herat highway in Mera Khor area of Mewand district of Kandahar province. In the attack 2 military vehicles of  puppet army  were destroyed in which 7 puppet soldiers were killed  2 wounded and their arms were mujahideen booty.   Also today morning at 10:18 am local Mujahideen blew up a vehicle of puppet army on remote controlled landmine in Boldak ada area of Kandahar city in which 4 puppet soldiers were killed and 5 wounded.  Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"6 British invaders soldiers Killed in Helmand"


> Saturday morning   30-08-2008 at approximately 9:10am local , Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with 2 remote controlled landmines blew up a patrolling unit of British invaders army in Shaker area of Sangin district of Helmand province. In explosions 8 soldiers terrorists were killed and 5 wounded.. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"8  puppet police killed in Helmand"


> Friday midnight 29-08-2008 at approximately 12:15 am local, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, ambushed a convoy of puppet army   which was patrolling  in Saed Tajdar Agha  area of Grishk district of Helmand province.  In the attack a military vehicle of  puppet army was destroyed in which 8 puppet soldiers were killed and a number wounded.  Reported by Qari Muhammad yousuf


----------



## The Bread Guy (30 Aug 2008)

*Hundreds gather in Medicine Hat to bid farewell to soldier killed in Afghanistan *
Canadian Press, 30 Aug 08
Article link

Hundreds gathered in Medicine Hat, Alta. to bid farewell to a Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan.  Sapper Stephan Stock, 25, was killed along with three others on August 20th.  He and his family moved to Medicine Hat in 2001.  Friends and family remember Stock as a funny, warm-hearted person who would give the shirt of his back to help someone in need.  The three men, all with 12 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment based in Edmonton, were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their armoured vehicle ....



_*(NOTE:  Daikundi is locacted in Regional Command-South)*_
*Afghanistan: Time running out to avert winter of hunger warns Oxfam*
OXFAM UK news blog, 29 Aug 08
Posting link

....An Oxfam assessment in one of the worst affected provinces, Daikundi, shows that people may be facing the worst conditions in over 20 years – and similar conditions can be found in other provinces. As it is almost impossible to deliver aid to rural areas during the harsh Afghan winter, concerted action is needed now to avert the crisis..... 

*Oxfam Says Five Million Afghans Need Food Aid*
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 30 Aug 08
Article link

The charity Oxfam says 5 million people in Afghanistan face serious food shortages this coming winter.  The British-based group said there are several reasons for this including drought, high food prices, and spreading insecurity.  Oxfam international policy director Mat Waldman told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that the "international community should act as swiftly as possible to provide assistance and aid to people who are affected by this crisis." ....



*US, UN, and Afghanistan Launch Joint Investigation into US Air Strike*
Voice of America News, 30 Aug 08
Article link

The U.S.-led coalition, Afghan government and the United Nations have agreed to jointly investigate last week's U.S. air strike that witnesses say killed some 90 civilians in western Afghanistan.  Spokesman for the NATO-led force Brigadier General Richard Blanchette Saturday announced the joint probe to clear up discrepancies in casualty figures ....

*US to back Afghan air raid probe*
BBC online, 31 Aug 08
Article link

The US has agreed to take part in a joint investigation into reports that a recent air raid in western Afghanistan killed more than 91 civilians.  US officials insist most of those killed by the strike, in the western region of Herat, were militants and that only five civilians died.  The prove will be conducted jointly with the UN and the Afghan government ....



*AFGHANISTAN INQUIRY FINDINGS PUBLICLY RELEASED*
Australian Defence Force statement, 29 Aug 08
Statement link - Enquiry report into alleged mistreatment of prisoners (.pdf)

.... The Inquiry Officer found that medical evidence and witness statements did not support an Afghan soldier’s claims that Australian soldiers mistreated detainees who were transported to a Forward Operating Base on 29 April 2008. The Inquiry Officer found that the allegations were most likely the result of cultural misunderstanding ....

*ADF Satisfied With Aero-Medical Evacuation In Afghanistan*
Australian Defence Force statement, 29 Aug 08
Statement link - Inquiry Report into 27 Apr 08 Death of AUS Soldier (.pdf)

The Australian Defence Force is satisfied that the International Security Assistance Force Aero-Medical Evacuation (AME) support arrangements provided for our personnel in Afghanistan are appropriate.  To ensure that ADF personnel are provided with the best available medical support is a key consideration when planning all ADF activities.



*German military proposes new Afghan rail link*
Reuters, 30 Aug 08
Article link

The German military is considering building a railway line in northern Afghanistan to ease transport of NATO supplies to the country and boost economic activity in the area, a German news magazine reported on Saturday.  Apart from a short stretch from Uzbekistan, Afghanistan has almost no functioning railways, with less than 25 km (15 miles) of track in the entire country. A number of railways leading towards Afghanistan stop short of the border.  The proposed 67 km (42 mile) stretch would link the northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif with the Uzbek town of Termez, where the German air force has a base, Der Spiegel magazine reported.  Germany currently has an agreement with Moscow permitting it to transport supplies via rail through Russia to Afghanistan. The new link would greatly ease supplies to Germany's biggest Afghan base at Mazar-I-Sharif ....



*Afghan child mortality linked to uneducated mothers*
Tan Ee Lyn, Reuters, 30 Aug 08
Article link - Study summary - Draft study (.pdf)

High child mortality rates in conservative Afghanistan are linked not just to war but to mothers being uneducated and having little or no say when their children need medical help, a study has found.  Child mortality rates in Afghanistan are among the highest in the world, and one out of every five Afghan children (or 191 out of every 1,000 live births) will not survive beyond age five ....



*Taliban ambushes threaten Nato's vital logistics route into Afghanistan*
Taliban fighters are trying to strangle Nato's mission in Afghanistan by stepping up attacks on convoys in the Khyber Pass, the perilous mountain trail that carries most supplies into the country.
Nick Meo, The Telegraph (UK), 31 Aug 08
Article link

Using age-old guerrilla tactics, they hijack or destroy the ponderous lorries creeping up the narrow road and sell the contents in local bazaars to finance new raids.  A prominent, independent tribesman from the Khyber region, who cannot be named for his own safety, told The Sunday Telegraph that the Pakistani army was close to losing control of the pass.  "You see vehicles destroyed by rockets on the side of the road," he said. "The wreckage isn't there for long, the army soon removes it to make it look as if they are still in control of the road. But they are on the verge of losing it." ....



*The Afghan War after Musharraf*
David Eshel, Defence Update, 30 Aug 08
Article link

Now that Pervez Musharraf has resigned as the president of Pakistan, America’s global war on terror has gotten a bit more difficult. Musharraf was unpopular in his own country, but he was perceived here as a strong ally of the United States in its fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. But was he a dependable ally, or did he play both ends against the middle? After all, it was the Pakistani military intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, which played a major role in the creation of the Taliban and was a key supporter of al-Qaeda since its inception in the late 1980’s....


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## MarkOttawa (31 Aug 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND AUGUST 31

Joint Inquiry Sought Into U.S.-Led Strike In Afghan Town
_Washington Post_, August 31
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/30/AR2008083001989.html



> HERAT, Afghanistan, Aug. 30 -- NATO's top commander in Afghanistan on Saturday called for a joint investigation into a U.S.-led airstrike that U.N. and Afghan officials say killed as many as 90 civilians recently. Meanwhile, an Afghan military official involved in the attack said misinformation led U.S. forces to hit the wrong target.
> 
> Gen. David D. McKiernan's appeal for a coordinated inquiry came four days after U.N. officials in Afghanistan said their investigators had found "convincing evidence" that at least 60 children and 30 adults were killed in the Aug. 21 airstrike in the western province of Herat. U.S. military officials maintain that five civilians were killed.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (31 Aug 2008)

*Taliban Propaganda Watch (RC South)
312055EDT Aug 08*
.pdf version attached at bottom of message

*NOTE:  The following material is from web pages and forums carrying statements attributed to the Taliban or Taliban spokespersons.  Posting of this material neither confirms nor endorses any of its content - it is shared for information only.  When material translated into English is not available, Google Translate is used to translate the original (indicated by "GoogEng") - this is only a machine translation, NOT an official one.*


"Al-Somood:: The Conquest of the Kandahar Prison And its effect on the military situation in Afghanistan" (Taliban account of Sarposa prison break) - .pdf version attached @ bottom of post


> The massive Taliban jailbreak has always been a question of the US military; just how did they do it? It was an operation that was so complex and great that it appeared to be something out of a Hollywood action film.  Here is a translation from the Taliban’s Monthly Al-Somood Magazine done by Dar al-Murabiteen; we have done some slight editing for ease of reading .... (more on link)




"A vehicle of  puppet police  blew up in Kandahar"


> Sunday morning 31-08-2008 at approximately 10:10 am local, Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with remote controlled landmine blew up 1 vehicle of puppet police on Herat Kandahar highway in Bazaar of Mewand district of Kandahar province. The landmine completely destroyed the vehicle and  6 puppet terrorists in it were killed.  Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"1 tanks of American invaders destroyed in Zabul"


> Sunday noon 31-08-2008 at approximately 01:15pm local time , Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, ambushed a  convoy  of American occupation in Mughalzo area of near the Qalat city of Zabul province.  In attack 1 tank of invaders  army was completely destroyed and 6 invaders in its were killed. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf




"British invaders  martyrs 70 civilians in Helmand"


> Saturday night 30-08-2008, 70 people including women and children were martyred 30 wounded in an cowardly bombardment and attacks of British invaders on houses of civilians in Sarwan Kala area of Sangin district of Helmand province. The invader forces  directed the local residents houses  and   martyring 70 innocent civilians including women and children. Reported by Qari Muhammad Yousuf


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