# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread October 2012



## The Bread Guy (30 Sep 2012)

*The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread October 2012 *               

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


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## GAP (3 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 3, 2012*


 Motorcycle bomber kills 14
by The Canadian Press Oct 1, 2012 
Article Link

A suicide bomber driving a motorcycle packed with explosives rammed his bike into a patrol of Afghan and international forces on Monday morning in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 14 people, including three NATO service members and their translator, officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast, which came a day after the U.S. death toll in the war in Afghanistan reached 2,000 troops and as relations between international forces and their Afghan partners have been pushed to the breaking point by a surge in insider attacks by Afghan allies.

The bomber struck a group of Afghan police and international troops shortly after they got out of their vehicles to walk through a market area in Khost city, the capital of Khost province, said provincial government spokesman Baryalai Wakman.

Six civilians and four police officers were killed in the blast, Wakman said. The police officers were part of a specialized quick-reaction force.
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Canada's defense minister talks about security in the Americas -- and Afghanistan.
INTERVIEW BY KEVIN BARON | OCTOBER 2, 2012
Article Link

Canada's defense minister, Peter MacKay, talked with The E-Ring last Friday following his Pentagon visit with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. MacKay said that Canada is playing a critical role in North American security by fighting terrorism in Afghanistan, providing high-level training to U.S. and Canadian partners, and urging European NATO members to do their fair share for collective security across the Atlantic.   

 MacKay said all of that and more will be under discussion at the fourth annual Halifax Security Forum in November, North America's highest-level defense gathering. Coming less than two weeks after the U.S. presidential election, MacKay said it will provide an opportunity to "reset" some security challenges. Here is an edited transcript of his discussion with Kevin Baron.

PETER MACKAY: Well, we always begin by delving into -- not doing too much navel gazing or reflecting on the Canada-U.S. defense relationship. But that's where it starts and finishes, and we're -- we closely monitor and cooperate with one another on so many of the vital defense relationships: operations, missions, training sets, and Afghanistan inevitably factors into that.

Our training mission, we've evolved from a combat mission into training missions. We're the second largest contributor, in fact, in that regard in Afghanistan. Secretary Panetta and his predecessor, Secretary [Robert] Gates, both were extremely magnanimous and quick to point out how much they valued Canada's contribution in that regard. 
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## GAP (4 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 4, 2012*

Up to 900 Western Canadian troops readying for final Afghan surge
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Article Link

EDMONTON  - Soldiers stationed in Edmonton will begin preparations this fall to travel overseas and bring Canada’s final mission in Afghanistan to a close.

Focused on training and mentoring the Afghan National Security Forces, soldiers from the Edmonton Garrison’s Third Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry will deploy to Kandahar in the spring of 2013.

The Canadian Forces has learned a lot from its role in the South Asian nation, said Brig.-Gen. Christian Juneau during an editorial board meeting at the Edmonton Sun Wednesday.

“We’re a much better army, in my mind, than we were 10 years ago, just by the fact that we were focused on such a specific environment,” said Juneau.

While only a “handful” of Western troops are stationed in Afghanistan currently, as many as 900 soldiers will deploy to aid the NATO-led training mission in early June.

“As we get closer to the end of our mission, the logistics become more robust as we start bringing stuff back home,” explained Juneau.

Soldiers will conduct basic and small-team training for Afghanistan’s military and police; providing them “the tools for executing their own nation’s security”, said Juneau.
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 Canadians in Kabul will face threat from Afghan trainees
  Article Link 
By Sheila Pratt, Edmonton Journal October 3, 2012

EDMONTON - Canadians soldiers will face the threat of “insider”attacks when training recruits for the Afghan National Army, similar to the attacks that killed dozens of America soldiers in the past year, says Brig.-Gen. Christian Juneau, head of the army in Western Canada.

But Juneau said those attacks are likely “a blip” rather than a growing trend and the Afghan army is improving “as more and more are trained.”

“The Taliban are pretty good at doing something spectacular, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect the trends,” Juneau told the Journal editorial board on Wednesday.

“Every now and then you have a flash that captures world attention, but these are blips.”
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 Latest Afghan attack: A troubling first?
Article Link
By Barbara Starr

A deadly assault on American forces in eastern Afghanistan over the weekend stokes fears of a disturbing new form of "insider attack" - an assault on coalition forces by an Afghan military unit rather than a lone attacker.

U.S. forces apparently took fire on Saturday from several Afghan troops shooting at them from several directions, according to a U.S. military official familiar with initial results of the investigation.

NATO and Afghan officials investigating the Wardak province assault are expected to make their findings public soon, maybe as early as Wednesday, the official said.

The official declined to be identified because the findings have not yet been made public.

The Wardak assault comes amid as concern reached crisis proportions over so-called "insider" or "green on blue" attacks. They are the names for strikes by Afghans soldiers or police - or militants wearing their uniforms - on U.S. and allied forces.

If the initial suspicions about Saturday's attack are borne out, it would be the first time U.S. troops have come under attack from an Afghan unit rather than lone attackers. 
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 Ex-Afghanistan envoy: The progress is extraordinary
Article Link
By Michael O’Hanlon, Special to CNN

Michael O’Hanlon is senior fellow at Brookings and author of The Wounded Giant: America’s Armed Forces in an Age of Austerity. The views expressed are his own.

A few weeks ago, Ryan Crocker visited Washington after completing his year-long tour as U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, as well as a storied 38-year career in the Foreign Service during which he also served as ambassador to Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon, and Pakistan. While Washington was caught up in everything from the Benghazi attacks to the presidential race to Congress’s brief visit to town before adjourning again to campaign, Crocker’s visit – and the subject of Afghanistan in particular – got relatively little notice.

That is regrettable. Crocker’s speech at the Carnegie Endowment on September 17, covered by CSPAN, and his public conversation with us at Brookings on September 18 were hugely informative and important. For those despondent about this war effort, they were moderately encouraging as well. There was, as usual, no naive optimism in Crocker’s remarks, no promise of an easy and quick win. Known affectionately if somewhat sardonically as “Mr. Sunshine,” a nickname first given him by President Bush, Crocker is famous for hard-hitting and extremely realistic assessments of the challenges facing America abroad. Those lucky enough to visit Iraq during the surge often remember a beaming Dave Petraeus standing beside a grim-faced Crocker, two very different personalities leading America’s greatest military turnaround since Inchon. So any hopeful words from Crocker merit particular attention.
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 Afghanistan fires troops over insider attacks
Article Link

Afghanistan has fired hundreds of troops as part of its investigation of insider attacks, the country announced Wednesday.

"Based on our investigations, hundreds of Afghan army soldiers have been detained and sacked from the army over the incident of insider attacks," said Gen. Zahir Azimi, a Defense Ministry spokesman.

The country launched investigations in coordination with international forces, he said. "This is a big concern for the Afghan president and the Afghan Defense Ministry."

U.S. Special Operations Forces have suspended the training of some police recruits while they double-check the background of the current police force, NATO's International Security Assistance Force announced Sunday.

The moves follow a growing number of attacks on NATO troops by people dressed as Afghan police or soldiers.

This year, 35 such attacks have killed 45 people, U.S. Army Maj. Adam Wojack, a spokesman for the ISAF, told CNN on Wednesday.
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## GAP (7 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 7, 2012*


A new commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan
Article Link
 Monday, October 1, 2012

While in Canada, the soldiers of the Task Force 4-12 are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, a graduation ceremony attended by training and predeployment 45enord.ca is also being conducted on the basis Valcartier on Friday night in Afghanistan, Coalition Forces are preparing to welcome a new commander soon.

 The General Joseph F. Marinesl Dunford Jr. Will replace soon indeed General John Allen, who led NATO forces in Afghanistan since mid-2011. Allen became him, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

General Dunford will become responsible for the war effort early next year when Canadian soldiers will remain in Afghanistan training mission and while the United States and other Coalition members seek to reduce their role in this conflict.

With the planned departure in January, General Allen has been at the head of NATO forces in Afghanistan for a year and a half, a relatively short time for this job. Dunford, meanwhile, has never served in Afghanistan.

General Allen, known generally taciturn, expressed his frustration about the deadly attacks initiated by soldiers and Afghan police killed 51 U.S. soldiers and coalition this year.

"It makes me crazy, to be honest with you," he said in an interview with "60 Minutes" on CBS to be broadcast Sunday, Sept. 30, referring to the issue of attacks 'initiated. "It sounds (this attack) all across the United States. You know, we are willing to sacrifice a lot for this country, but we are not ready to be killed for it. '
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 Panetta rejects Karzai criticism of Afghan war effort
By David Alexander | Reuters – Fri, Oct 5, 2012
Article Link

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - Progress in Afghanistan has cost thousands of military lives and it would be helpful if Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed gratitude for that sacrifice, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Friday, bluntly rejecting the Afghan leader's recent criticism of the war effort.

"We have made progress in Afghanistan because there are men and women in uniform who have been willing to fight and die for Afghanistan's sovereignty and their right to govern and secure themselves," Panetta told reporters aboard his plane to Latin America.

Panetta noted that 2,000 U.S. troops were among those who had been killed in the war, which has been spearheaded by the United States, NATO allies and the Afghanistan government.

"Those lives were lost fighting the right enemy, not the wrong enemy," Panetta said. "And I think it would be helpful if the president every once and awhile expressed his thanks for the sacrifices that have been made by those who have fought and died for Afghanistan, rather than criticizing them."
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  Key actors in Afghan peace process say it's a no-go
Article Link
While the US has pledged to work toward a negotiated settlement with insurgents, some insiders say the US is pulling back from that. 
By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / October 2, 2012 Kabul, Afghanistan

Despite a number of setbacks in Afghanistan, including a spate of insider killings, the United States has reaffirmed its commitment to working toward a negotiated peace settlement in Afghanistan.

State Department officials say they continue to push for Afghan-led talks and reconciliation, taking steps to pave the way for potential negotiations.

“And through all of this, we continue to be clear that we remain open to talks,” said a US State Department official who is not authorized to speak to the media. “At this point, it is up to the Taliban to fulfill its obligations.”

But many Afghans involved in the process say they’ve seen a marked reduction in the international community’s interest level in talks that have so far seen insubstantial progress.

“Maybe they’re thinking that their efforts are not going to have any positive effects, and they’re thinking that there can only be a change in the peace efforts after 2014,” says Maulavi Shahzada Shahid, a member of the High Peace Council who says he senses a pullback.
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  Afghanistan war, 11 years on: What more can and should the US military do?
Article Link
Though the work of US troops has become increasingly deadly in the Afghanistan war, many analysts warn that it has not been increasingly effective.
By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer / October 7, 2012 

It is officially the longest-running war in American history, and its end is in sight: President Obama has promised to pull all US combat troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

That date, however, is two years away, and in the meantime, some analysts wonder what more the US military can and should do in the country.

Incidents of “green on blue” insider attacks, by Afghan security forces against the US and NATO soldiers training them, now account for more than 20 percent of those killed in action.

Indeed, the pace of deaths for US troops has accelerated since the surge of 33,000 forces that Mr. Obama ordered into Afghanistan began in 2010.

In particular, it took nine years of fighting in Afghanistan before 1,000 US troops were killed. But the second 1,000 US troop deaths have come in the past two years. Last month in the Afghanistan war, America reached the grim 2,000-US-troops-killed-in-action milestone. On Saturday, two more US troops were killed by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan.

Though the work of US troops has become increasingly deadly, many analysts warn that it has not been increasingly effective.

Pentagon officials point to the 300,000-plus Afghan security forces that have been trained as a result of NATO efforts. But the attrition rates remain high, and these soldiers and police continue to struggle against the network of an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 insurgents – despite the fact that they outnumber them roughly 10 to 1.
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## GAP (8 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 8, 2012*

Getting out of Afghanistan
Richard Johnson | Oct 6, 2012 
Article Link

Leaving Afghanistan turned out to be almost as hard as getting in. I arrived three hours early for my flight out of Kabul back to Dubai, only to find that it had flown out two hours earlier than that. Sheesh. So I got an extra night at Kabul International – thanks to Major ‘Art’ Brown of the Canadian Air Force for taking me in on zero notice. I made another flight the next morning at 4.30 a.m. and ended up back in Kandahar, I was so sure I would never be here again. Last view out the window as I headed for Dubai was of the original 1960’s Kandahar Airport terminal building now surrounded by 4 km of ISAF base in all directions. Another hop got me to Dubai where I killed ten hours in the terminal. At some point during the transfer of luggage, Dubai customs held one of my bags because of explosives residue (I blame Special Forces Operator MCpl White for letting me wrap a cake of C4 explosive in detonating cord, while I was ‘helping’ with a late night ordnance disposal, and poor hand washing habits. One more flight to Zurich, one more flight to Newark in the U.S., one more flight into Toronto, and one taxi ride home – and I was standing at my front door with 50% of my luggage. Only 43 hours after I set out.

Inside I could hear my kids running around and laughing. It felt very good to be home.

……………………………………………

As the clock ticks toward the deadline to 2014 when the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition will depart for home, there is an anxiety for people in the villages and the cities of Afghanistan. It is an uncertain, wait-and-see.

But I think, for the Taliban, the announcement of an end date has directed their focus. For now the they are waiting patiently, doing what they can to prepare the ground for the moments after ISAF has gone; adopting tactics to sow dissent and distrust of the ruling government among the populace, while also nurturing an environment of distrust between Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and ISAF.

By the targeting of ISAF by IEDs they use the international force’s own casualty-averse, risk-averse stance against them. When an attack occurs movement is restricted and convoys don’t roll. Stopping them from working alongside and mentoring the ANSF they are supposedly trying to help.

Add to this, the rising tide of inside-the-wire attacks, and even the simplest training endeavors become a seeming potentially deadly mission, a real-life game of Russian Roulette. The ISAF response is to increase security further, distancing themselves from the people they are trying to help.

My time in Zabul Province gave me an example of how effective the Taliban tactics are; a Security Force Assistance Team (SFAT) 42 out of Camp Apache near Qalat City had been providing mentoring and support to the Afghan National Army’s 6th Kandak. The 6th Kandak’s mission was to wrest control from the Taliban of a key logistics route along the Arghandab Valley. A single road led from the city of Qalat into the Mizan Valley and then on down to the Arghandab River.

The mission was seemingly successful with the 6th Kandak rousting of the Taliban from the Mizan Valley with SFAT 42 doing nothing more than providing advice and air support when required. A perfect example of coordination while gradually ceding control to the Afghan Army.

But on the road into Mizan, three ISAF convoys detonated four IEDs, all less than 100 metres from an Afghan National Police (ANP) checkpoint. None of the ANA convoys struck an IED. And then two days later a so-called ‘green on blue’ attack in the Mizan Valley left four U.S. soldiers and an ANP dead. Five other ANP strangely went missing.

The SFAT team and its ISAF support units were pulled back to their home bases by their commanding officers, and any opportunity for gain in trust and learning through the SFAT program of mentoring was lost with the withdrawal.

“The enemy again knows exactly what to do to get what he wants. This means we won’t be able to complete the mission. It is like they have a crystal ball or something,” said SFAT 42 Commander U.S. Major Nathan Whitlock.

Tens of thousands of trustworthy ANSF working alongside ISAF personnel are now forced into the indignity of being treated as an enemy, kept at gun’s length. The Western forces this summer adopted what they call a “guardian angel” policy, in which one member of each ISAF force stands armed, locked and loaded, overseeing interactions between troops and their Afghan allies. Not exactly building blocks of trust and learning.

“I pat down every ANA who comes through the gate regardless of rank, regardless of whether they like it or not,” said U.S. Specialist Thomas Wood, on guard at the gate between Camp Apache and the adjoining, much larger Afghan National Army Camp Eagle.

So for minimal use of their precious resources and small risk to key personnel the Taliban gets maximum impact, maximum distrust while they wait for ISAF to leave.
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 Up close and personal in Afghanistan
Article Link
Assistant Commissioner Todd Shean, Federal and International Operations

 Recently, I embarked on a trip to Afghanistan – a place I’d never been and a country most people don’t get the chance to visit. So what was a small-town boy from Dieppe, New Brunswick doing travelling to Afghanistan?

I went to visit the Canadian police contingent, along with Deputy Commissioner Dale McGowan, Commanding Officer, “K” Division; Saskatoon Police Chief Clive Weighill, and North Bay Police Chief Paul Cook.

The trip, which took place September 7 to 15, was part of a routine mission visit led by the RCMP’s International Peace Operations Branch (IPOB) to enable us to understand and appreciate the work of Canadian police officers in mission and to lend them moral support. Accompanied by IPOB Inspector Alain Petit and Staff Sergeant Walter Boogaard, we visited different locations where Canadian police officers train and mentor members of the Afghan National Police (ANP). 
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Number of Afghans resettled in Canada double original estimate
Article Link
 The Canadian Press Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012 

OTTAWA -- A special program to offer a new life in Canada to people who acted as interpreters for Canadian soldiers and diplomats in Afghanistan -- sometimes at the risk of their lives -- has brought in nearly double the numbers expected.

Officials had planned for only 450 Afghans to eventually make the move when they began a special immigration program for interpreters and their families in 2009.

With Canada's combat mission ended and a year after the program stopped accepting applications, around 800 former interpreters and their families are now living across the country.

The original estimate was based on consultations with the military and Foreign Affairs Department about the number of interpreters or cultural advisers used by soldiers and diplomats in Kandahar, says Citizenship and Immigration.

It's unclear how many there actually were over the five years of fighting; the military has said it had more than 6,000 requests for their services.
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 Grim milestone: War in Afghanistan enters 12th year
Article Link
The Associated Press Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012

 KABUL, Afghanistan -- Nobody wants a repeat of the bloody ethnic fighting that followed the Soviet exit from Afghanistan in the 1990s - least of all 32-year-old Wahidullah who was crippled by a bullet that pierced his spine during the civil war.

Yet as the Afghan war began its 12th year on Sunday, fears loom that the country will again fracture along ethnic lines once international combat forces leave by the end of 2014.

"It was a very bad situation," said Wahidullah, who was a teenager when he was wounded in the 1992-1996 civil war. "All these streets around here were full of bullet shells, burned tanks and vehicles," he added, squinting into a setting sun that cast a golden glow on the bombed-out Darulaman Palace still standing in west Kabul not far from where he was wounded.

"People could not find bread or water, but rockets were everywhere," said Wahidullah, who now hobbles around on red-handled crutches.

The dilapidated palace is a reminder of the horror of the civil war when rival factions - who had joined forces against Soviet fighters before they left in early 1989 - turned their guns on each other. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed.

Fed up with the bloodletting, the Afghan people longed for someone - anyone - who would restore peace and order. The Taliban did so.

But once in power, they imposed harsh Islamic laws that repressed women and they publicly executed, stoned and lashed people for alleged crimes and sexual misconduct. The Taliban also gave sanctuary to al-Qaida in the run-up to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. When the Taliban refused to give up the al-Qaida leaders who orchestrated 9/11, the U.S. invaded on Oct. 7, 2001.

Eleven years later, Afghanistan remains divided and ethnic tension still simmers.
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## GAP (11 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 11, 2012*


 Kandahar Journal: ‘What journalism was and should still be’
Article Link
Paul Russell | Oct 10, 2012

Re: Kandahar Journal, six-week series by Richard Johnson.
I want to thank Richard Johnson for the exceptional job he has done in Afghanistan. He has brought the human story to the fore and provided a degree of clarity to the highly complex geo-political issues through the eyes of the serving men and women in theatre. His ability to let your subjects tell the story rather than imposing your own agenda is a refreshing return to what journalism was and should still be.
It is very evident that he has gained the trust and confidence of the troops he accompanied, which is no small feat in itself. I have had the pleasure through my current position and work with the Canadian Forces Liaison Council to meet many of our members who have served and are currently serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere (my son is currently deployed but not in Afghanistan) and to hear their stories first hand. I can only assume it is Mr. Johnson’s skill and sensitivity as an artist that gives him the insight to capture the subjects in a time and place that conveys both the physical and emotional situation as a whole. The monochromatic nature of the sketches plus his amazing eye for detail portrays the juxtaposition of the human, technical and the stark environment in which they coexist.
A very big Bravo Zulu (well done) to Mr. Johnson. I hope there will be an opportunity to see a compilation of all your work in Afghanistan at some point.
Stephen C. Millen, Honorary Colonel, 442 Search and Rescue Squadron, Lazo, B.C.
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 Teen activist shot by Taliban moved to army hospital
Article Link

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN—A Pakistani schoolgirl fighting for her life after being shot by Taliban gunmen was transferred on Thursday from a hospital in a province that is a militant haven to a specialist hospital in the army garrison town of Rawalpindi.

‘You will not stop me from learning’

Malala Yousufzai, 14, was unconscious in critical condition after being shot in the head and neck as she left school on Tuesday, but doctors said she had moved her arms and legs slightly the night before.

Pakistani surgeons removed a bullet on Wednesday from Yousufzai who was shot by the Taliban for speaking out against the militants and promoting education for girls.

Her courage made her a national hero. The shooting has drawn condemnation from world leaders and many Pakistanis.

Yousufzai began standing up to the Pakistani Taliban when she was just 11, when the government had effectively ceded control of the Swat Valley where she lives to the militants.

Her father, Ziauddin Yousufzai, who runs a girls’ school, said his daughter had defied threats for years, believing the good work she was doing for her community was her best protection.

A Reuters correspondent watched as she was moved from an army hospital in the regional capital of Peshawar to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi to help her treatment.

“Pray for her,” her distraught uncle, Faiz Mohammad, said before the ambulance left the hospital.
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 The Afghanization of Pakistan
Published on Wednesday October 10, 2012 
Article Link

Who shoots a 14-year-old girl for going to school? Barbarians, of course. But who are they? How did they come about? Such questions are being conveniently glossed over in Pakistan as well as abroad.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attempted murder of Malala Yousafzai in the tribal badlands of northern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. She was targeted because she had become “a symbol of Western culture.”

The Taliban make it sound as though girls don’t go to school anywhere except in the West. They make this claim in a country that had a highly educated female prime minister long before Germany had a woman chancellor and Canada had Kim Campbell. But the Taliban are also the ones who assassinated Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, now the president, has joined the chorus of local and international condemnation against the attack on Malala. This does not hide the fact that his government has been incapable of defeating the Taliban.

But he is no more impotent than the American and other NATO forces have been in neighbouring Afghanistan where acid is thrown in the faces of women, girls’ noses are hacked off and girls’ schools remain closed in several areas. But Barack Obama, Stephen Harper and others no longer talk much about saving them, focused as they are on washing their hands of the decade-long Afghan mess.

The horror inflicted on Malala is part of the same story being played out in Afghanistan. 
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## GAP (13 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 13, 2012*


 Canada’s $1.5B Afghanistan aid effort ‘divorced from reality,’ according to damning, previously unreleased documents
Article Link
Tom Blackwell | Oct 12, 2012

Hampered by an increasingly hostile work environment and a bureaucratic culture that discouraged innovation, Canada’s aid blitz in Afghanistan seemed at times “divorced from reality” in the war-ravaged country, concludes a previously secret review of the $1.5-billion program.

It and other audits of the Canadian International Development Agency’s huge involvement in Kandahar and elsewhere in Afghanistan depict a well-meaning drive for results the government could boast about — a push that faced “intractable” security problems, political pressures and the “vaguely envisaged” challenge of building a new nation.

The reports drafted for CIDA by two outside consultants seem written to avoid offending federal officials, and do actually praise many of the agency’s achievements. But the diplomatic phrasing cannot hide fundamental concerns about Canada’s ambitious development program as it unfolded.

Nipa Banerjee, who headed the agency’s Afghanistan operation from 2003 to 2006, said some of the comments reflect what she knows about Canadian projects in Kandahar.

“All the projects have failed. None of them have been successful,” said Ms. Banerjee, now a professor in the University of Ottawa’s school of international development. “I think we went into Kandahar to increase our international profile … rather than thinking about the interests of the people of Kandahar. It was too much politicized and militarized and securitized, and as a result we ended up with failure.”
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 Two foreigners reported missing in Afghanistan, feared kidnapped
By Reuters  Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two foreigners, thought to be a Canadian and a U.S. citizen, were reported missing Saturday by a provincial reconstruction team in volatile Wardak, west of Kabul, and were feared to have been kidnapped, Afghan police said.

Rumors of the abduction of a man and a woman by either insurgents or criminal gangs have circulated for several days, but U.S. and Canadian diplomats said they were unaware of anyone reported missing.

"According to the Provincial Reconstruction Team report they had planned to travel from Kabul to Wardak," Wardak police spokesman Wali Mohammad told Reuters.

"The missing foreigners were in contact until they reached the Kampany area on Kabul's outskirts. After that they lost contact," Mohammad said. "We have information they may have been kidnapped."
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 DiManno: Crown’s portrait of Khairi clan unraveled by slain woman’s daughter
Published on Friday October 12, 2012 
Article Link

Maybe there’s an Afghan father somewhere on the planet who would forgive his unmarried daughter for staying out until two or three a.m.

Maybe there’s an Afghan father somewhere on the planet who would accept, however grudgingly, if his unmarried daughter slept overnight at the home of her fiancé nearly every weekend.

I’ve never met or heard of such a permissive individual, whether in Canada or Afghanistan. In that country, only girls banished from their own homes — for disgracing the family, say — are occasionally taken in by the prospective in-laws, though expulsion by her parents would reflect poorly on them in a society where the appearance of things is paramount.

But maybe this is that rare creature of remarkable tolerance, Peer Khairi, on trial in Toronto, charged with the brutal second-degree murder of his wife, the poor woman’s head nearly decapitated, so deep were the knife plunges inflicted.

The defendant’s oldest daughter, 29-year-old Giti Khairi, took the stand on Thursday as a prosecution witness, offering a cool and kindly appraisal of her dad, before abruptly dissolving into sobs so alarming that the trial was adjourned early.

She’s a married lady now — the wedding took place after her mother was slain March 18, 2008, after Peer Khairi was charged. Giti also, following the union, allegedly had some kind of religious epiphany, began praying fervently — “God worked in my heart’’ — and embraced some of the more conservative observances of Islam.
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  Afghanistan’s latest casualty is naiveté
Article Link
Jeffrey Simpson The Globe and Mail Saturday, Oct. 13 2012

Shoot the messenger. It’s one of the oldest reactions to criticism.

So it was this week in Afghanistan – the forgotten conflict, now in its 11th year. According to The New York Times, one of the few news organizations that still bothers to cover the war there, Afghanistan’s political leaders went bonkers over this month’s report by the International Crisis Group.

The ICG’s report, the latest in a long series from and about Afghanistan, says that the country is not ready for anything like fair elections in 2014, and that if systems are not put in place to ensure fairness, the already fragile and corrupt government structure could degenerate into “extensive unrest, fragmentation of the security services and perhaps even a much wider civil war.”

There’s little new in this sombre report, but Afghanistan’s politicians and media went into rhetorical overdrive to condemn it, accusing the ICG of doing Western spy work and trying to start a war among Afghans. (They might well do that themselves without any outside help, thank you.)
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  Prince Harry Has Come Under Fire From Taliban Multiple Times
October 12, 2012 10:12 AM
Article Link

Prince Harry has reportedly taken fire from the Taliban during his current tour in Afghanistan.

According to The Sun, the youngest son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana has had “multiple engagements” with the terror group while manning an Apache helicopter.

“He can be sat in a deckchair for hours then scrambled immediately,” a military source told The Sun. “When in the air his role is diverse. This is no game and Harry is on the frontline of a terrifying war.”

The British tabloid reports that the 28-year-old prince has been in the war-torn country for more than four weeks now.

“He’s in the thick of it and is one of the lads,” the source told The Sun. “He’s genuinely risking his life in a warzone because he loves the Army and his country.”

Harry previously served in Afghanistan in 2008.
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## GAP (18 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 18, 2012*

McKay defends troops in allied Afghan posts
  Article Link 
The Canadian Press October 17, 2012

For the second day in row, Defence Minister Peter MacKay fended off Opposition attacks Tuesday over Canadian troops serving in combat roles with allies in Afghanistan.

Fewer than half a dozen members of the military - most of them with the air force - are part of exchange programs with British, Australian and U.S. forces, all of which are still+ engaged in anti-Taliban operations in Kandahar.

New Democrat defence critic Jack Harris accused MacKay of misleading the House of Commons and the public, which expected no Canadians would be in harm's way after Canada withdrew from southern Afghanistan last year. Harris also said the exchange program violates the motion passed by the Commons in 2008, which ordered an end to Canadian combat operations by the end of 2011. MacKay denied the exchange program contravened the motion and says the participation is part of the country's broader policy of co-operating with allies.

"This is very much about Canada continuing its long-standing commitment to work with our allies in Afghanistan and around the world," he said.
end


 Afghanistan faces challenging future
  Article Link
Ambassador says economic progress has been made, but governance issues need work
 By jennifer campbell, The Ottawa Citizen October 17, 2012

Looking for al-Qaida in Afghanistan is like looking for Paris in the United Kingdom, Afghan Ambassador Barna Karimi recently told an audience at Carleton University.

“If we look at the map of the United Kingdom, we can see London but we cannot see Paris,” Karimi said. “Because Paris isn’t in the U.K., it’s in France. Looking for al-Qaida in Afghanistan, when we all know it’s somewhere else, is the same thing. I think it needs another approach.”

Karimi was careful not to name Pakistan, the neighbouring country where he suggested al-Qaida resides, but said: “Everybody knows where they are, where they’re launching their activities. We’ve been saying this from 2003/2004, that the war on terror should go to the places where those terrorists are.”

Karimi’s talk, the first of the Ambassadors Speakers series put on by the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, was supposed to look at what will happen in Afghanistan beyond 2014 and to do that, Karimi looked at what has happened since 2001, when al-Qaida orchestrated the events of 9/11 and the world started paying attention to Afghanistan again.
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 Afghan government burns 24 tons of illegal drugs
Article Link

he Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan counternarcotics police poured gasoline on more than 24 tons of narcotics and other illegal substances, then set the pile ablaze on the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday, officials said.

Afghan authorities said the drugs, drug-making chemicals and alcohol were seized in and around the capital during the past nine months.

Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, deputy minister of counternarcotics at the Interior Ministry, said the destroyed drugs included 1,772 kilograms (3,900 pounds) of heroin; 2,764 kilograms (6,070 pounds) of opium; and 140 kilograms (308 pounds) of hashish. More than 12,100 liters (3,200 gallons) of alcohol as well as raisins used to make alcohol also were destroyed.

"It is a considerable amount of narcotics," Ahmadi told reporters at the site as a cloud of black smoke spiraled over the burning drugs. "Compared with (a similar burn from a comparable period) last year, it's a 35 to 45 percent increase."

He said 907 suspects had been arrested in connection with the seizure of the drugs and other materials.

The police put the illegal substances into a large pile, mixed in some logs, doused it with gas and then lighted the material as police stood by applauding.
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 Lucas Robinson: CIDA is hardly a wasted enterprise
Article Link
Special to National Post | Oct 17, 2012 

The National Post recently published two articles about Canada’s aid effort in Afghanistan, with both suggesting that tax dollars have been wasted in that enterprise. As someone who acted as a senior advisor with CIDA, serving with Canada’s Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar in 2008 and 2009, I believe it’s important to set the record straight.

In his Oct. 13 front-page article (“A ‘total’ waste; Previously unreleased review blasts Canada’s Afghan aid”), reporter Tom Blackwell cited “heavily redacted” consultant reports, and the views of one former CIDA staffer, to the effect that Canada’s development efforts were a complete failure, lacked innovation and were not in line with Afghan priorities.

In an accompanying article that appeared online, Jonathan Kay argued that Canada’s efforts in Afghanistan were hampered by ideological divides between the Department of Foreign Affairs and CIDA, and that aid cannot be done well in a conflict zone.

These articles leave readers with an inaccurate picture of Canada’s aid efforts. The truth is that the seeds Canada has planted in Kandahar are only just beginning to break through the ground.
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 Pakistan captured alleged mastermind behind shooting of schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai in 2009… and then let him go
Article Link
Reuters | Oct 18, 2012

The alleged organizer of the Taliban shooting of a Pakistani schoolgirl was captured during a 2009 military offensive against the hardline Islamist group but released after three months, two senior officials told Reuters.

They identified the man who planned the attack on 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai only as Attaullah, and said he was one of the two gunmen who shot her on a school bus this month in the Swat Valley, northwest of Islamabad.

Believed to be in his 30s, Attaullah is on the run and may have fled to neighbouring Afghanistan, they said. He organized the attack on the orders of one of the Taliban’s most feared commanders, Maulana Fazlullah, officials said.

Critics say Pakistan’s low conviction rate of militants, even high-profile ones who carried out major attacks, is one reason why extremism has spread in the South Asian nation.
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 Persecuted Hazaras flee Pakistan; some die trying
Article Link
By KATHY GANNON Associated Press

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) - As he knelt in prayer to mark one of Islam's holiest days, Ali Raza Qurban saw a childhood friend and dozens of others die in a suicide attack on their Shiite mosque. Sunni militants were again targeting minority ethnic Hazaras in this city of narrow streets and wide-open hatreds.

Qurban decided it was time to leave. He found an agent who would hook him up with a smuggler in Indonesia and, for $8,000, get him to Australia.

But he never made it to Australia. He disappeared on Dec. 17, 2011, aboard an overcrowded, rickety wooden boat that capsized within hours of leaving the Indonesian shore.

Four months had passed since the suicide bombing at the mosque in Quetta, where the violence has spawned a vibrant human smuggling business. The smugglers operate out of small, unidentified shops. Selling promises of a safe and better life in Australia, they largely capitalize on the fear and desperation of the Hazara, a largely Shiite community that is facing attacks not only here but in neighboring Afghanistan.

In Quetta, Shiite leaders say many of the attacks against Hazaras are carried out by the Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Janghvi, which they contend is backed by elements within Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI. Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry and a panel of three judges last month ordered authorities to investigate allegations that vehicles illegally imported by the ISI were used in suicide bombings targeting Shiites.
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## GAP (19 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 19, 2012*

 Afghan police school tries to fix struggling force
Article Link
By KATHY GANNON Associated Press

KABUL (AP) - At the gate to the National Police Academy, on the western edge of the Afghan capital, the guard's rifle bolts into firing position. "Stop!" he shouts.

It's 4 a.m., the street lights are not working and the guard's superiors had neglected to tell him that the red Toyota Corolla would be arriving. Time and again, suicide bombers have attacked Afghanistan's police and army outposts. So one of the first lessons taught at the academy is diligence.

The readiness of Afghanistan's security forces is central to U.S. and NATO plans to withdraw all forces from the country by the end of 2014, and the academy's new commander wants to help turn around a 146,000-strong national police force long riddled with corruption, incompetence and factional rivalries.

Such problems are not always acknowledged publicly. On Thursday, President Hamid Karzai said that his military and police are prepared to take full responsibility for security if the American-led international coalition decides to speed up the handover. And a statement released this week by the NATO-led force, ISAF, called the Afghan National Army the most respected institution in the country and said "the Afghan national police also rank highly."

But the National Police Academy's director, Mullah Dad Pazoish, presents a different viewpoint.
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 Blast in Afghanistan kills 19 en route to wedding
Article Link
Oct 19, 2012

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An explosion from a roadside bomb tore into a minibus carrying people to a wedding in northern Afghanistan on Friday, leaving 19 dead and 16 wounded, authorities said.

Spokesman Shir Jan Durani said the group was traveling to Dawlat Abad district, about 450 kilometers (270 miles) northwest of the capital, Kabul.

District police commander Bismullah Muslimyar said six children and seven women were among the dead in the blast, which occurred at 6 a.m. after a nighttime police patrol.

Muslimyar said the bride and groom were not on the bus at the time of the attack. The party was heading to the groom's home to meet and congratulate the newlyweds.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned the attack.

"Planting a mine on a road used by civilians and the killing of innocent people represents hostility toward humanity," he said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the U.N. Security Council expressed serious concern at the high number of civilian casualties in the war, especially among women and children.
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## GAP (21 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 21, 2012*


 Al Qaeda in Afghanistan is attempting a comeback
Article Link
Published October 21, 2012 Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan –  A diminished but resilient Al Qaeda, whose Sept. 11, 2001, attacks drew America into its longest war, is attempting a comeback in Afghanistan's mountainous east even as U.S. and allied forces wind down their combat mission and concede a small but steady toehold to the terrorist group.

That concerns U.S. commanders, who have intensified strikes against Al Qaeda cells in recent months. It also undercuts an Obama administration narrative portraying Al Qaeda as battered to the point of being a nonissue in Afghanistan as Western troops start leaving.

When he visited Afghanistan in May to mark the one-year anniversary of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, President Barack Obama said his administration had turned the tide of war. "The goal that I set -- to defeat Al Qaeda, and deny it a chance to rebuild -- is within reach," he said.

As things stand, however, an unquestionably weakened Al Qaeda appears to have preserved at least limited means of regenerating inside Afghanistan as U.S. influence in the country wanes. The last U.S. combat troops are scheduled to be gone by Dec. 31, 2014, with security matters turned over to the Afghan government.
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 Six Afghan police killed in insider attack
Article Link
Published October 20, 2012 Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan –  Afghan officials say an officer and a cook attacked their police colleagues in an assault coordinated with insurgent fighters that left six dead in the country's south.

The Helmand province government says in a statement that the assailants killed two officers inside the checkpoint in Gereshk district, while militants attacked from outside, killing four others before escaping by motorcycle with weapons and ammunition.

The statement says the officer was captured as he attempted to flee, while the cook is still at large.
end

 Taliban poison 2 US soldiers
by The Canadian Press - Oct 20, 2012
Article Link

An Afghan police officer and cook poisoned their colleagues at a checkpoint in an assault co-ordinated with insurgent fighters that left six dead in the country's south, officials said Saturday.

It was the latest in a string of attacks from inside the Afghan army and police that are threatening to undermine both the partnership with international troops, which have been the target of many attacks, and the morale of Afghan forces, who have suffered equally heavy casualties from such strikes.

The police officer and the cook worked with outside insurgents in the assault, which hit police manning a checkpoint in the Gereskh district of Helmand province, the governor's office said in a statement.

They poisoned two of the officers and then the militants attacked from outside, killing the remaining four officers, provincial spokesman Ahmad Zirak said. He did not say how the officers were poisoned. The police officer was captured as he fled, but the cook escaped and remains at large, Zirak added.
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Taliban destroy warehouse full of food supplies for main US base in Afghanistan
Heidi Vogt,Mirwais Khan, The Associated Press Oct 20, 2012 07:30:00 AM
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - An Afghan police officer and cook poisoned their colleagues at a checkpoint in an assault co-ordinated with insurgent fighters that left six dead in the country's south, officials said Saturday.

It was the latest in a string of attacks from inside the Afghan army and police that are threatening to undermine both the partnership with international troops — which have been the target of many attacks — and the morale of Afghan forces, who have suffered equally heavy casualties from such strikes.

The police officer and the cook worked with outside insurgents in the assault, which hit police manning a checkpoint in the Gereskh district of Helmand province, the governor's office said in a statement.

They poisoned two of the officers and then the militants attacked from outside, killing the remaining four officers, provincial spokesman Ahmad Zirak said. He did not say how the officers were poisoned. The police officer was captured as he fled, but the cook escaped and remains at large, Zirak added.

The insurgent gunmen escaped by motorcycle with weapons and ammunition, the governor's statement said.

A recent upsurge in the number of insider attacks on coalition troops by Afghan soldiers or police — or insurgents disguised in their uniforms — has further undermined public support for the war in the West. So far this year, at least 52 foreign troops — about half of them Americans — have been killed in insider attacks.
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Hope & education
October 20, 2012 - 3:57am By AARON BESWICK Truro Bureau
Article Link
Through decades of war, political turmoil and oppression, the desire to learn has survived it all, say Afghan teachers visiting St. F.X.’s Coady Institute in Antigonish 

 MALIHA HUSSAINI smiled as if consoling a despondent child.

“Of course, there’s hope. If there is no hope, there is no life.

Hope is a word thrown around casually in this country, where there’s plenty of it.

But on Wednesday, as undergrads with the easy smiles of those bearing great expectations moved through the golden leaves falling on St.

But on Wednesday, as undergrads with the easy smiles of those bearing great expectations moved through the golden leaves falling on St. Francis Xavier University’s Coady Institute, inside a classroom, four veteran Afghan teachers shared their experiences of hope and education.

In Nova Scotia with organizer Soriya Basir of the Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan for the organization’s annual symposium at Pictou Lodge, they will spend 18 days here doing workshops before returning to continue training the next generation of Afghan teachers.
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 Afghan woman beheaded for refusing to be a prostitute
Article Link
Published October 19, 2012 FoxNews.com

An Afghan woman was beheaded last week after she refused to be a prostitute despite her mother-in-law’s urging, the AFP reported.

The woman was identified as Mah Gul, 20, who reportedly lived in Herat province in western Afghanistan.  This was not the first time the mother-in-law tried to force her into prostitution, authorities said, according to the AFP report.

Four people were arrested in connection to the killing, the AFP reported. One suspect, Najibullah, reportedly said at 2 a.m. the mother-in-law alerted him that Gul was a prostitute and "with the help of her mother-in-law killed her with a knife."
More unrelated stuff on link 

Untold battles of Afghanistan
Article Link
By Sarah Ferguson, The Tribune Friday, October 19, 2012

WELLAND - From the battlefield to the pages of his new book, Murray Brewster has written about his 15-month experience in Afghanistan over the span of five years.

When he comes to Welland Public Library this month, people will have the opportunity to hear about his experiences as a journalist reporting on the sidelines of war.

Brewster, originally from Welland, is an Ottawa-based correspondent for the Canadian Press and the agency’s defence writer.

His book The Savage War: The Untold Battles of Afghanistan, which tells his story, has found him a place on the finalist list for this year’s Ottawa Book Awards in the non-fiction category.

“It’s humbling,” Brewster said about his nomination and the awards ceremony which will be held on Thursday, Oct. 25.

Brewster never expected his first novel would be so well-recognized — the main purpose of his writing was to give “a peek behind the curtain.”
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## GAP (22 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 22, 2012*

 Canadian Troops Return Home From Afghanistan
Article Link
October 21, 2012

The first group of Canadian Forces personnel to take part in Operation ATTENTION (Roto-1) have returned home to Fredericton, New Brunswick, and Trenton, Ontario, after an eight-month mission in Afghanistan, according to a news release issued today by the CF.

As it points out, the CF deployed more than 900 military trainers and support personnel to Afghanistan to take part in Operation ATTENTION, the Canadian component of the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan.

The release did not have details on how many personnel returned home today.

Since February 2012, the CF personnel, primarily from the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, in Gagetown, New Brunswick, were involved in training and preparing the Afghan National Security Forces in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif, according to the release.
end
 
 “Insider Killings” Reach Into Afghanistan’s Intelligence Service
Article Link
October 21, 2012

The “insider killings” in Afghanistan continue but one item that didn’t seem to get much attention caught my eye. Last week an officer with the Central Intelligence Agency was killed in Kandahar province in a suicide bombing.

The attack, which was carried out in a remote area of the province, occurred when a guard working for the Afghan intelligence service – the NDS -detonated a suicide vest as a delegation of American coalition members and Afghan intelligence officials arrived at the intelligence office in the Maruf District, the NY Times reported. It was surprising that the NDS – which has a reputation of being very thorough in vetting its personnel – was able to be infiltrated.

More from that NY Times report:

The blast killed Ghulam Rasool, the deputy intelligence director for Kandahar Province, two of his bodyguards, another Afghan intelligence official, and some Americans, including the C.I.A. officer.

An official with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said that the Americans did not appear to have been the principal targets but were “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” A spokeswoman for the C.I.A. declined to comment.

Insider attacks have been a persistent problem for the international forces and are responsible for about 15 percent of all the deaths of coalition troops this year. There are no public statistics on insider attacks that involve the Afghan intelligence force, the National Directorate of Security, which the C.I.A. has trained and financed.

But this is the first instance this year in which an insider attack by an Afghan intelligence employee is known to have resulted in a death of a member of the NATO-led coalition.
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## GAP (25 Oct 2012)

*Articles found Oct 25, 2012*

 U.S. Eager To Step Aside; Are Afghan Forces Ready?
Article Link
by Tom Bowman October 24, 2012

America's exit strategy in Afghanistan is to have Afghan forces take the lead in fighting for their country. But too often these days, the job still falls to U.S. troops.

A senior officer in Afghanistan tells NPR that Americans continue to coddle Afghan forces and that this must stop. Tough love is in, the officer says. He says the Afghan forces are far more capable than the U.S. estimates and have simply grown accustomed to the U.S. doing everything for them.

That pretty much sums up the situation in southern Afghanistan earlier this year.

Americans Out Front

In May, just outside the city of Kandahar, Sgt. Matthew McMurray and his platoon joined Afghan troops on a patrol through a village.
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 Disarming Afghan IEDs: Big Job, Too Few Trained
Article Link
by Sean Carberry

Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, remain one of the biggest killers in Afghanistan. As NATO forces prepare to withdraw from the country, Afghans are learning the special skills needed to find and disarm these deadly weapons.

The training area near the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif is a large expanse of dirt and gravel, dotted with a few beat-up old taxis and scattered bunkers.

"The scenario has been set up where a car has been delivered to a target, an EOD team has been requested, the operator has set up a safe working area," explains Chris Snaith, a contractor and the chief instructor of the explosive ordnance disposal, or EOD, training program here.

Students today are taking their final exams, and they're running through real-world exercises — with live weapons and live explosives. One student, wearing a protective suit that looks straight out of the film The Hurt Locker, is ready to disarm a bomb in the car. The assistant turns and yells, "Infajah! Infajah!" — Explosion! Explosion! A dull boom sounds.
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Canadian Firm Discovers Afghanistan Oil Field
Article Link
 RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan October 24, 2012

KABUL — A spokesman for Afghanistan's Mining Ministry, Jawad Omer, has told RFE/RL that the Canadian company Terraseis has located a large oil field in the northwestern part of the country.

"This area is situated between the Khan Charbagh and Aqeena border districts, where technical research has been conducted," Omer said.

The site is in Faryab Province, near the border with Turkmenistan. Omer said more exploration would be done to get an accurate assessment of the size of the oil field.

The news comes as the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) started commercial production at an oil field in the neighboring Sar-e Pol Province on October 21.
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 Afghan teachers learn about Canadian classrooms
CBC News Oct 24, 2012 Video
Article Link



A group of educators from Afghanistan visited a school in Halifax Tuesday, hoping to get a taste of how Canadian classrooms work.

It's an exchange of ideas that could change teaching methods in Afghanistan.

The CBC's Jack Julian has the story.
end


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