Articles found Dec 26, 2013
U.S. military auctioning off millions of dollars worth of equipment as troops prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan
Rob Crilly, The Telegraph | December 23, 2013
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It is a January sale with a difference. The U.S. military is auctioning off millions of dollars of tankers, accommodation blocks, tents, generators and other “white goods” in Afghanistan ahead of next year’s deadline for the end of combat operations.
In a tender document published on Friday, buyers are invited to offer a percentage of the equipment’s original value by January 10 when sealed bids will be opened.
There is just one snag. According to the brochure, “all property listed therein is offered for sale ’as is’ and ’where is’”.
That means that successful bidders will have to collect their lots from some of the most dangerous terrain in the world – the forward operating bases used by U.S. troops as they battled the Taliban.
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Morale among Canadian troop trainers in Afghanistan was shaky: army survey
Canadian Press | November 24, 2013
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OTTAWA — An army survey has found Canadian troops suffered from shaky morale when they were deployed to train the Afghan military following the end of Canada’s combat mission in Kandahar.
Only one-third of the soldiers who took part in the end-of-tour study said they would be willing to deploy on similar operations in the future — a finding that senior commanders found troubling.
Equally disturbing for the military leadership was that only 58 per cent of those asked felt that their job, which mostly involved training Afghan national army trainers, was “significant or important.”
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US Embassy in Kabul attacked on Christmas Day
World News, Dec 25, 2013
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The U.S. Embassy in Kabul was hit by indirect fire before dawn on Christmas Day but no Americans were hurt, as attacks elsewhere in Afghanistan killed at least six people Wednesday, officials said.
Two rounds struck the sprawling embassy compound but it was not immediately clear which part of the complex, and a U.S. Embassy official said the incident was under investigation.
"At approximately 6:40 local time in Kabul, approximately two rounds of indirect fire impacted the U.S. Embassy compound," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. "All Americans are accounted for and no injuries were sustained."
Indirect fire can refer to either mortars or rockets.
The Taliban promptly claimed they fired four rockets at the American Embassy on Wednesday and said they inflicted heavy casualties. But the insurgents often exaggerate their claims.
Elsewhere, an Afghan official said a bicycle bomb was remotely detonated in front of a restaurant at a bazaar in Puli Alam, the capital of Logar province, 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of Kabul, killing six people and wounding 13.
Two of the killed were policemen and four were civilians, said Abdul Wali Tofan, the deputy police chief in Logar province. He said the attack also wounded 13 civilians, including several children.
Earlier in the day, a roadside bombing in eastern Kabul wounded three Afghan policemen. Kabul police chief, Mohammad Zahir, said one suspect was arrested over that attack.
Police later uncovered an unexploded bomb in the same area and successfully neutralized it, Zahri said.
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Task Force Guam donates boots to Afghan security guards
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CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan – Task Force Guam let its feet do the talking in its last act of goodwill before departing Afghanistan.
Members of 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment, Guam Army National Guard, donated more than 120 pairs of boots to an Afghan security organization that serves a significant purpose in Kabul, according to Patrick McCafferty, a retired Canadian military warrant officer who mentors close to 250 Afghanistan Public Protection Force employees. The Guam soldiers are slowly trickling out of Afghanistan as their Operation Enduring Freedom commitment rapidly ends, but made time for one final mission to the Afghan community.
McCafferty began Operation Walking Tall last year, a program meant to outfit APPF guards with sufficient footwear. Task Force Guam obliged this program with its donation, the largest amount McCafferty received since the program’s birth.
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Suspected US drone strike in Pakistan kills 3 militants
December 26, 2013 Associated Press
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ISLAMABAD – A suspected American drone fired two missiles at a home in a northwestern tribal region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, killing at least three foreign militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said Thursday.
The U.S. authorities often target Taliban, Al Qaeda and their Pakistani supporters in the country's tribal regions.
The latest strike took place just before midnight Wednesday in the village of Qutab Khel in North Waziristan and initial reports gathered from their agents in the field suggested the slain men were Arabs, the two intelligence officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
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Afghan woman’s nose and lips ‘cut off by her heroin addict husband because she refused to sell jewellery to fund his habit'
By Sophie Jane Evans, 24 December 2013
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An Afghan woman has had her nose and lips allegedly cut off by her husband after refusing to sell her jewellery to fund his heroin addiction.
The mother-of-four - known only as Setara - was reportedly beaten and mutilated by her partner at their home in Herat, Afghanistan.
He allegedly hit her on the head with a stone, before using a knife to slice off her nose and lips.
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Two Taliban rockets land in U.S. embassy compound in Kabul as insurgents step up pressure ahead of elections
By Daily Mail Reporter, 25 December 2013
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Two Taliban rockets landed inside the U.S. embassy compound in Kabul early on Christmas Day.
No one was injured but the attack underlines Afghanistan's continuing security problems as many foreigners in the capital held festive celebrations.
Taliban militants, who have been fighting the U.S.-backed government since being ousted from power in 2001, claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks, which included at least one other strike in the city.
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