- Reaction score
- 4,282
- Points
- 1,260
Conflicting claims after heavy fighting in Sangin
Abdul Samad Rohani, Pahjwok Afghan News, 9 Feb 07
Article Link
Government and NATO forces have engaged in a heavy fighting with the Taliban in Sangin district of the southern Helmand province with both the sides making contradictory claims about casualties. Helmand police chief Nabi Jan Malakhel said around 10 Taliban fighters were killed in the clash that lasted for several hours on Thursday. He added the fighting erupted after a convoy of police and army forces together with the NATO troops confronted a group of the Taliban during their hunt for the fighters. The operation to hunt the militants has launched recently jointly by the Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Sangin. Malakhel said the government and NATO troops did not suffer any casualties in the clash. However, the Taliban said they killed several foreign soldiers were killed in the fierce fighting. Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who often speak for the Taliban, told Pajhwok Afghan News they destroyed three tanks of foreign troops by roadside bombs and killed eight soldiers of them. Regarding casualties in ranks of the fighters, Ahmadi said only two of their comrades were wounded. Local residents said they heard exchange of heavy fire on Thursday for long hours ....
NOTE: Following story only appears to have been confirmed by DEU defence officials, not CAN officials as of posting.
Canada to buy German tanks for Afghanistan duty
Agence France Presse, 10 Feb 07
Article Link
BERLIN - Berlin Saturday confirmed reports that Canada is to buy German Leopard tanks to equip its forces serving with the NATO multinational force in Afghanistan. The defence ministry said it was examining a request to that effect from Ottawa, confirming a report in the magazine Der Spiegel due to appear Monday which says that 80 A4 tanks could be bought from the German army reserve. ‘The ministry is in principle favourable to this request,’ a spokesman told AFP. Spiegel says the Canadians also want 20 Leopards of the latest A6M type which are mine-resistant, of which the German Bundeswehr regular army has 40. But as the German manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann cannot deliver them at once, Canada wants to lease them from the German army, according to the magazine ....
Canada wants German tanks for Afghanistan
Google translation, from netzeitung.de (DEU), 10 Feb 07
Article Link - Original article in German - Hauptmann Scharlachrot translation - far better than Google
Soon are German “leopard 2” - battle tanks in the theaters of war of Afghanistan to the front - however with Canadian crew. The Federal Government is ready to agree the Deal. Soon are German “leopard 2” - battle tanks in the theaters of war of Afghanistan to the front - however with Canadian crew. The Federal Government is ready to agree the Deal. Canada wants to use German “leopard 2” - battle tank for the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. A speaker of the Ministry of Defense confirmed a report of the news magazine “the mirror” on Saturday over an appropriate inquiry of the government from Ottawa. The tanks are to be used with Canadian crew. The Canadian armed forces use already the older version, the “Leo 1”. But for the fight against the Taliban the Canadians would have gladly the newest on the market. How the Ministry of Defense communicated, the Kandaier inquired whether Germany could make about 20 available “leopard” in the new version with a special protection against mines (A6M) ...
NATO chief sees Taliban finished by 2009
United Press International, 10 Feb 07
Article Link
The head of NATO, speaking in Germany, predicted a military victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan by 2009. Secretary-General Japp de Hoop Scheffer told a conference in Munich that breaking the Taliban would require a continued ground presence by NATO, although in two years Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government should become more self-sufficient, Sky News reported ....
NATO chief sees Afghan insurgency smashed by 2009
Mark John, Reuters, 10 Feb 07
Article Link
NATO expects to have smashed most of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan within the next two years but will need to keep troops there after 2009, the alliance's chief said on Saturday. "In 2009, we should see Afghanistan on the road to peace with the back of the resistance broken -- but with undoubtedly a NATO military presence on the ground," Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a security conference in Munich. "I hope in 2009 that we see an Afghanistan government that is better able to take the country into its own hands, which is what we hope for," he added. However the scale of the challenge facing the alliance was underlined as Afghan national security adviser Zalmai Rassoul told the same meeting his country was facing a resurgent Taliban and an influx of foreign fighters ....
Top Karzai advisor warns of worsening security situation in Afghanistan
Islamic Republic News Agency (IRN), 10 Feb 07
Article Link
The national security advisor of Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned of a deteriorating security situation in his country amid mounting Taliban and foreign terrorist attacks. "The resurgence of Talibans and influx of foreign fighters is a great cause of concern. With a safe sanctuary across the border the Talibans are able to rearm, recruit, regroup and reorganise at will. "Almost 4,000 lives were lost last year, including Afghan, international, civilian and military," Rassoul Zalmai said at the high-profile Munich security conference. "Our enemies have successfully adopted the hideous tactics of suicide bombings, IEDs and assassination. Last year we witnessed a 6-fold increase in suicide attacks, a 3-fold increase in direct attacks against Afghan and Coalition forces, and a doubling of the number of IED attacks," he added. Zalmai said the security situation in the southern and eastern Afghanistan "remains a challenge" to the Afghan government ....
McCain criticises Nato on Afghan support
Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, 10 Feb 07
Article Link
John McCain, the US Republican senator, on Saturday told the FT he was “fairly close” to making a decision about whether he would enter the 2008 race for the White House. Mr McCain made his comments in Munich on the same day that Barack Obama, the Democratic senator, announced his candidacy for the 2008 presidential race in Illinois. The maverick Arizona politician was attending an influential Munich defence conference – attended by Russian president Vladimir Putin and a host of European defence ministers – where he criticised Nato allies for not contributing more military and financial support for the alliance’s mission in Afghanistan. “There will undoubtedly be an offensive this spring in Afghanistan,” said Mr McCain. “The only question is whether it will be Nato’s offensive or the Taliban’s. Nato members can help ensure that we keep the Taliban on their heels by at least matching the US troop increase of 3,000 and by reconsidering national caveats.”....
White House hopeful criticises Europe on Afghanistan
Kristin Roberts, Reuters (UK), 10 Feb 07
Article Link
Senator John McCain, a Republican contender for the White House in 2008, chastised Europe on Saturday for failing to supply the troops and money to win in Afghanistan and said NATO's future was at stake. In tough comments that singled out specific countries, McCain told NATO allies to move beyond the "false debate" over security and development priorities in Afghanistan -- a dispute that dominated a defence ministers' meeting earlier this week. Instead, Europe should follow Washington's lead and put more forces and resources into the war effort. "Military recommitment must begin with NATO countries providing an adequate number of troops for the fight," McCain told the Munich Security Conference of senior world politicians, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates. "... Yet the international community still falls far short in meeting its prior pledges and in committing the resources Afghanistan needs to avoid failure," he said in prepared remarks ....
A 16-point counternarcotics strategy for Afghanistan
Lalit K. Jha, Pahjwok AFghan News, 9 Feb 07
Article Link
Four influential US Congressmen have come up with a set of 16 recommendations to handle the increasing menace of narco-terrorism in Afghanistan. Submitted by these Congressmen to the Bush Administration in the form of a letter written to the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, the suggested counter-terrorism strategy for Afghanistan is modeled after the successful US campaign in Columbia. Prominent among the proposals are increased extradition of the kingpins; expanding the rewards program to facilitate the capture of Osama bin Laden and other major terrorists operating in the region; developing a consensus policy with US allies to address the linkage and the interdependence between drugs and terror in Afghanistan; and increasing the trade capacity for legitimate Afghan products -- for example, carpets, gem stones and other legitimate products. Interestingly such a policy initiative comes from four Congressmen, who are all Republicans the party of the President George W. Bush, who last month had nominated the US Ambassador to Columbia, William Wood, as his new envoy to Afghanistan. The four senior Republican Congressmen, who also happen to members of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, are -- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mike Pence, Elton Gallegly and Dana Rohrabacher. The 16-point recommendations should be considered for inclusion in the Presidents Afghan reconstruction initiative now under development, they said. The Presidents new strategy is vitally important, but the threat will not be alleviated solely by investing more resources. The strategy must also tackle the problem of drugs and terror simultaneously, Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement ....
Nato to toughen Afghan tactics
Daniel Dombey & Stephen Fidler, Financial Times, 7 Feb 07
Article Link
Nato’s army chiefs have drawn up a plan for Afghanistan that would boost forces in the south, deploy two battalions on the border with Pakistan and give greater focus to combat with the Taliban. The tough approach for the border and the south is spelt out in a formal statement of requirements for the mission, submitted by General John Craddock, the new military commander. Nato defence ministers will discuss the plan, which would use forces recently made available by the US and the UK, at a meeting starting tomorrow in Seville. The ministers will also look at whether Nato’s rapid response force could be used to help provide more troops for Afghanistan. France is reluctant to reopen this debate since it maintains that the force should be used for crisis missions rather than continuing operations ....
Doubt over Afghan commitment of Gulf & European countries
Pak Tribune, 11 Feb 07
Article Link
Lawmakers of a key Congressional panel have questioned the commitment of major US allies in the Gulf and Europe towards bringing peace in Afghanistan. Apparently disillusioned over the alleged lackluster role of these countries in Afghanistan, members of the powerful House Committee on Foreign Affairs have urged the Bush Administration that it is right time to rethink their relationship with these European nations and Gulf countries. If the nations of Europe and the Gulf are unwilling to do their share to protect international security, then perhaps we should rethink the nature of our alliances with them, said Tom Lantos, chairman of the Committee, which plays a key role in shaping US foreign policy ....
Nato fails to agree on Afghan troops
Daniel Dombey & Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, 8 Feb 07
Article Link
Nato ministers clashed over Afghanistan on Thursday when continental European governments refused to follow the US and the UK and send troops to battle the Taliban. The alliance’s defence ministers gathered in southern Spain for a meeting Nato officials had earlier hoped would signal more troops for the fight against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. But, after months of pressure from Washington and London, Germany, France, Italy and Spain are refusing to send combat troops to the south and east, the centre of battle against the Taliban. “I do not think it is right to talk about more and more military means,” said Franz-Josef Jung, German defence minister. “When the Russians were in Afghanistan they had 100,000 and didn’t win . . . We are liberators, not occupiers.” Since August, Nato has taken responsibility for the whole of the country, including the conflict zones with the Taliban, and has expanded its force from 8,500 to 35,000 troops. But most of the extra soldiers have come from the US and Britain, which respectively have 14,000 and 5,200 troops in the Nato force, almost all based in the south and east ....
Abdul Samad Rohani, Pahjwok Afghan News, 9 Feb 07
Article Link
Government and NATO forces have engaged in a heavy fighting with the Taliban in Sangin district of the southern Helmand province with both the sides making contradictory claims about casualties. Helmand police chief Nabi Jan Malakhel said around 10 Taliban fighters were killed in the clash that lasted for several hours on Thursday. He added the fighting erupted after a convoy of police and army forces together with the NATO troops confronted a group of the Taliban during their hunt for the fighters. The operation to hunt the militants has launched recently jointly by the Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Sangin. Malakhel said the government and NATO troops did not suffer any casualties in the clash. However, the Taliban said they killed several foreign soldiers were killed in the fierce fighting. Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who often speak for the Taliban, told Pajhwok Afghan News they destroyed three tanks of foreign troops by roadside bombs and killed eight soldiers of them. Regarding casualties in ranks of the fighters, Ahmadi said only two of their comrades were wounded. Local residents said they heard exchange of heavy fire on Thursday for long hours ....
NOTE: Following story only appears to have been confirmed by DEU defence officials, not CAN officials as of posting.
Canada to buy German tanks for Afghanistan duty
Agence France Presse, 10 Feb 07
Article Link
BERLIN - Berlin Saturday confirmed reports that Canada is to buy German Leopard tanks to equip its forces serving with the NATO multinational force in Afghanistan. The defence ministry said it was examining a request to that effect from Ottawa, confirming a report in the magazine Der Spiegel due to appear Monday which says that 80 A4 tanks could be bought from the German army reserve. ‘The ministry is in principle favourable to this request,’ a spokesman told AFP. Spiegel says the Canadians also want 20 Leopards of the latest A6M type which are mine-resistant, of which the German Bundeswehr regular army has 40. But as the German manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann cannot deliver them at once, Canada wants to lease them from the German army, according to the magazine ....
Canada wants German tanks for Afghanistan
Google translation, from netzeitung.de (DEU), 10 Feb 07
Article Link - Original article in German - Hauptmann Scharlachrot translation - far better than Google
Soon are German “leopard 2” - battle tanks in the theaters of war of Afghanistan to the front - however with Canadian crew. The Federal Government is ready to agree the Deal. Soon are German “leopard 2” - battle tanks in the theaters of war of Afghanistan to the front - however with Canadian crew. The Federal Government is ready to agree the Deal. Canada wants to use German “leopard 2” - battle tank for the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. A speaker of the Ministry of Defense confirmed a report of the news magazine “the mirror” on Saturday over an appropriate inquiry of the government from Ottawa. The tanks are to be used with Canadian crew. The Canadian armed forces use already the older version, the “Leo 1”. But for the fight against the Taliban the Canadians would have gladly the newest on the market. How the Ministry of Defense communicated, the Kandaier inquired whether Germany could make about 20 available “leopard” in the new version with a special protection against mines (A6M) ...
NATO chief sees Taliban finished by 2009
United Press International, 10 Feb 07
Article Link
The head of NATO, speaking in Germany, predicted a military victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan by 2009. Secretary-General Japp de Hoop Scheffer told a conference in Munich that breaking the Taliban would require a continued ground presence by NATO, although in two years Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government should become more self-sufficient, Sky News reported ....
NATO chief sees Afghan insurgency smashed by 2009
Mark John, Reuters, 10 Feb 07
Article Link
NATO expects to have smashed most of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan within the next two years but will need to keep troops there after 2009, the alliance's chief said on Saturday. "In 2009, we should see Afghanistan on the road to peace with the back of the resistance broken -- but with undoubtedly a NATO military presence on the ground," Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a security conference in Munich. "I hope in 2009 that we see an Afghanistan government that is better able to take the country into its own hands, which is what we hope for," he added. However the scale of the challenge facing the alliance was underlined as Afghan national security adviser Zalmai Rassoul told the same meeting his country was facing a resurgent Taliban and an influx of foreign fighters ....
Top Karzai advisor warns of worsening security situation in Afghanistan
Islamic Republic News Agency (IRN), 10 Feb 07
Article Link
The national security advisor of Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned of a deteriorating security situation in his country amid mounting Taliban and foreign terrorist attacks. "The resurgence of Talibans and influx of foreign fighters is a great cause of concern. With a safe sanctuary across the border the Talibans are able to rearm, recruit, regroup and reorganise at will. "Almost 4,000 lives were lost last year, including Afghan, international, civilian and military," Rassoul Zalmai said at the high-profile Munich security conference. "Our enemies have successfully adopted the hideous tactics of suicide bombings, IEDs and assassination. Last year we witnessed a 6-fold increase in suicide attacks, a 3-fold increase in direct attacks against Afghan and Coalition forces, and a doubling of the number of IED attacks," he added. Zalmai said the security situation in the southern and eastern Afghanistan "remains a challenge" to the Afghan government ....
McCain criticises Nato on Afghan support
Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, 10 Feb 07
Article Link
John McCain, the US Republican senator, on Saturday told the FT he was “fairly close” to making a decision about whether he would enter the 2008 race for the White House. Mr McCain made his comments in Munich on the same day that Barack Obama, the Democratic senator, announced his candidacy for the 2008 presidential race in Illinois. The maverick Arizona politician was attending an influential Munich defence conference – attended by Russian president Vladimir Putin and a host of European defence ministers – where he criticised Nato allies for not contributing more military and financial support for the alliance’s mission in Afghanistan. “There will undoubtedly be an offensive this spring in Afghanistan,” said Mr McCain. “The only question is whether it will be Nato’s offensive or the Taliban’s. Nato members can help ensure that we keep the Taliban on their heels by at least matching the US troop increase of 3,000 and by reconsidering national caveats.”....
White House hopeful criticises Europe on Afghanistan
Kristin Roberts, Reuters (UK), 10 Feb 07
Article Link
Senator John McCain, a Republican contender for the White House in 2008, chastised Europe on Saturday for failing to supply the troops and money to win in Afghanistan and said NATO's future was at stake. In tough comments that singled out specific countries, McCain told NATO allies to move beyond the "false debate" over security and development priorities in Afghanistan -- a dispute that dominated a defence ministers' meeting earlier this week. Instead, Europe should follow Washington's lead and put more forces and resources into the war effort. "Military recommitment must begin with NATO countries providing an adequate number of troops for the fight," McCain told the Munich Security Conference of senior world politicians, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates. "... Yet the international community still falls far short in meeting its prior pledges and in committing the resources Afghanistan needs to avoid failure," he said in prepared remarks ....
A 16-point counternarcotics strategy for Afghanistan
Lalit K. Jha, Pahjwok AFghan News, 9 Feb 07
Article Link
Four influential US Congressmen have come up with a set of 16 recommendations to handle the increasing menace of narco-terrorism in Afghanistan. Submitted by these Congressmen to the Bush Administration in the form of a letter written to the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, the suggested counter-terrorism strategy for Afghanistan is modeled after the successful US campaign in Columbia. Prominent among the proposals are increased extradition of the kingpins; expanding the rewards program to facilitate the capture of Osama bin Laden and other major terrorists operating in the region; developing a consensus policy with US allies to address the linkage and the interdependence between drugs and terror in Afghanistan; and increasing the trade capacity for legitimate Afghan products -- for example, carpets, gem stones and other legitimate products. Interestingly such a policy initiative comes from four Congressmen, who are all Republicans the party of the President George W. Bush, who last month had nominated the US Ambassador to Columbia, William Wood, as his new envoy to Afghanistan. The four senior Republican Congressmen, who also happen to members of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, are -- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mike Pence, Elton Gallegly and Dana Rohrabacher. The 16-point recommendations should be considered for inclusion in the Presidents Afghan reconstruction initiative now under development, they said. The Presidents new strategy is vitally important, but the threat will not be alleviated solely by investing more resources. The strategy must also tackle the problem of drugs and terror simultaneously, Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement ....
Nato to toughen Afghan tactics
Daniel Dombey & Stephen Fidler, Financial Times, 7 Feb 07
Article Link
Nato’s army chiefs have drawn up a plan for Afghanistan that would boost forces in the south, deploy two battalions on the border with Pakistan and give greater focus to combat with the Taliban. The tough approach for the border and the south is spelt out in a formal statement of requirements for the mission, submitted by General John Craddock, the new military commander. Nato defence ministers will discuss the plan, which would use forces recently made available by the US and the UK, at a meeting starting tomorrow in Seville. The ministers will also look at whether Nato’s rapid response force could be used to help provide more troops for Afghanistan. France is reluctant to reopen this debate since it maintains that the force should be used for crisis missions rather than continuing operations ....
Doubt over Afghan commitment of Gulf & European countries
Pak Tribune, 11 Feb 07
Article Link
Lawmakers of a key Congressional panel have questioned the commitment of major US allies in the Gulf and Europe towards bringing peace in Afghanistan. Apparently disillusioned over the alleged lackluster role of these countries in Afghanistan, members of the powerful House Committee on Foreign Affairs have urged the Bush Administration that it is right time to rethink their relationship with these European nations and Gulf countries. If the nations of Europe and the Gulf are unwilling to do their share to protect international security, then perhaps we should rethink the nature of our alliances with them, said Tom Lantos, chairman of the Committee, which plays a key role in shaping US foreign policy ....
Nato fails to agree on Afghan troops
Daniel Dombey & Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, 8 Feb 07
Article Link
Nato ministers clashed over Afghanistan on Thursday when continental European governments refused to follow the US and the UK and send troops to battle the Taliban. The alliance’s defence ministers gathered in southern Spain for a meeting Nato officials had earlier hoped would signal more troops for the fight against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. But, after months of pressure from Washington and London, Germany, France, Italy and Spain are refusing to send combat troops to the south and east, the centre of battle against the Taliban. “I do not think it is right to talk about more and more military means,” said Franz-Josef Jung, German defence minister. “When the Russians were in Afghanistan they had 100,000 and didn’t win . . . We are liberators, not occupiers.” Since August, Nato has taken responsibility for the whole of the country, including the conflict zones with the Taliban, and has expanded its force from 8,500 to 35,000 troops. But most of the extra soldiers have come from the US and Britain, which respectively have 14,000 and 5,200 troops in the Nato force, almost all based in the south and east ....
