Articles found 3 February, 2007
Afghan town's residents fear clash is imminent
Updated Sat. Feb. 3 2007 8:10 PM ET Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan
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Hundreds of villagers fled a southern Afghan town overrun by Taliban militants, fearful of a NATO attack on the insurgent fighters who have hoisted their white flag over the town's ransacked government centre, residents said.
NATO's outgoing commander, Gen. David Richards, said "very surgical and deliberate'' force would be used if needed to solve the crisis in the town Musa Qala and Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said: "If there is a need for an operation, there will be one.''
Col. Tom Collins, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said Saturday that NATO was watching the situation but no forces were in Musa Qala. NATO troops pulled out of the town in October after the government and village elders signed a peace agreement.
"It is only a matter of time before (the) government re-establishes control,'' Collins said.
However, he said NATO had reports Taliban militants had reinforced their defensive positions.
Abdul Baqi, a villager who fled Musa Qala with five family members Saturday, said residents fear a bloody clash is imminent after the Taliban fighters swarmed the town Wednesday and Thursday, temporarily taking village elders hostage.
"I'm going to stay with my relatives and will return only if the situation gets better,'' Baqi said while sitting in his pickup truck in the nearby district Gereshk.
Resident Mohammad Wali said Taliban fighters hoisted a white flag over the damaged government compound and villager Lal Mohammad said hundreds of residents fled.
British troops fought intense battles with Taliban fighters in Musa Qala in the second half of last year. The clashes caused widespread damage to the surrounding town of about 10,000 inhabitants, most of whom were forced to flee.
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Kandahar cops learning street smarts: RCMP
Updated Sat. Feb. 3 2007 2:14 PM ET Canadian Press
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Afghan National Police are making progress towards standing on their own two feet, despite a recent series of ambushes and targeted assassinations of officers in Kandahar province, say RCMP trainers.
Over the last few weeks, more than a dozen police have been killed in at least three separate attacks in which Taliban militants have claimed responsibility.
The death toll might have been higher had not been for the training provided by Canadian police based at the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) base.
"We try as best we can to improve their survivability by teaching the in-service skills we do here,'' said Supt. Dave Fudge, whose unit has spent over a year mentoring local cops.
"I think we are progressing. The sentiment on the street is the security situation in Kandahar is improving. That's very positive.''
Fudge said he's seeing a more-disciplined force emerging, especially when it comes to handling roadside bomb attacks, but noted they still have a long way to go.
Canadian police officers have provided training in survival skills, tactics, policing, public safety skills and suspect search, among other things.
"They're being more disciplined at IED (improvised explosive device) sites regarding scene management and actual evidence gathering,'' he said.
This time last year, as Canadian troops were first deploying to this volatile region, the Taliban were on a killing spree, targeting lightly armed police checkpoints. In the course of 52 days last winter and spring a total of 41 officers were killed.
Fudge said it's too early to say whether the recent deaths of 13 officers, including two senior commanders in Kandahar and one in Panjwaii, constitute a trend similar to 2006 _ or simply a spasm of unfocused violence.
"It's certainly raised our eyebrows,'' he said in an interview. "It's a concern, but we have no indication right now that they're related.''
But the police commander in the Zhari district, a former Taliban stronghold, had no hesitation in calling the attacks a trend.
Col. Akarasool said he has been targeted in the past and fully expects to remain in the cross-hairs of militants.
"They don't want me to be safe (and) they try to kill me and other police commanders,'' he said through a translator.
"I have been bombed by Taliban. My hands were hurt. I was injured by Taliban, so I hope I catch Taliban. They are my enemy.''
Asked if he feared for his life, Akarasool said with a bravado laugh: "Almost.''
The day he was interviewed, the chief had just returned from sweeping the road between this tiny, arid village and nearby Sangiser. After receiving reports that insurgents had laced winding gravel lane with mines, Akarasool took a dozen of his 200 officers in three pickup trucks and went for a drive, but found no explosives.
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Looters still ransacking in Afghanistan
By RAF CASERTASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
February 3, 2007 · Last updated 12:49 a.m. PT
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BRUSSELS, Belgium -- More than five years after the fall of the Taliban regime, the plundering of Afghanistan's archaeological sites and museums not only continues but has evolved into a sophisticated trade that could be financing the country's warlords and insurgents, experts say.
The International Council of Museums, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of the world's natural and cultural heritage, on Friday published a "red list" of Afghan antiquities at risk, urging collectors, dealers and museums to be vigilant when they come across objects that might have been stolen.
The list includes pottery and statuettes from the 3rd millennium B.C., golden reliquaries from the 1st century and Islamic panels from the 13th century.
"Ancient sites and monuments, ranging from the Old Stone Age to the 20th Century, are being attacked and systematically looted," the Paris-based organization of museums said in a statement.
Some of the artifacts have turned up in fancy auction houses and antique shops in London, Tokyo and New York, the group said.
"Afghanistan is now at serious risk from organized destruction and plundering," said ICOM Secretary General John Zvereff.
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Islamabad warned against nursing hegemonic ambitious towards Afghanistan
London, Feb 3 (ANI)
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Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta has warned Pakistan against 'nursing hegemonic ambitious towards Afghanistan', and advised it to stop "using terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy".
Some circles in Pakistan in their self-interest were out to destabilize Afghanistan "because they subscribe to a hegemonic policy against us which is a continuation from the days of Taliban," the Dawn quoted him as saying.
Spanta, who here on his first visit to the UK, asked Pakistan to reduce and control what he termed as cross-border terrorism and to stop financing terrorist cells which (according to him) were being used to train the terrorists.
He said that Afghanistan had been discussing with Pakistan about this matter to remove all the misunderstandings and misperceptions. "We want to be friend of Pakistan, we are ready to open all our roads. Today our bilateral trade has reached over a billion dollars whereas during the Taliban days it was only 23 million dollars," he added.
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Afghan peace in tatters as Taliban seize district
GRAEME SMITH From Saturday's Globe and Mail
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban fighters smashed government buildings, frightened away villagers and declared a new round of hostilities with foreign troops on Friday as the only peace deal in southern Afghanistan crumbled.
In a district touted by some military officials and Afghan leaders as a model for pacifying the volatile region, insurgents on tractors hauled down walls in a cluster of buildings that housed the police headquarters and district administration of Musa Qala, where a fragile agreement with the Taliban had endured for three months.
“Now the Taliban control Musa Qala, and the people are afraid,” said Rahmatullah, one of several local residents who described the scene by telephone. “All the shops are empty, the houses are empty.”
British troops agreed to leave the Helmand province district in October, on condition the Taliban withdraw and allow tribal elders to rule. Residents say the insurgents never left, however, and the elders' authority seemed shaky in recent weeks.
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Reserves may not last through Afghan mission
BILL GRAVELAND Canadian Press
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CALGARY — A continued reliance on army reserve units to fill a growing need for fresh troops in Afghanistan could create a shortfall if Canada's mission is extended through 2009, the Senate committee on national security and defence was told Thursday.
Colonel Art Wriedt, commander of the 41 Canadian Bridge Group, said as many as 220 soldiers are already in line to be rotated into Afghanistan in the first part of 2008, but 2009 “is going to be very problematic.”
He said that makes recruiting new reservists key.
There is no formal program for that, and the job has been primarily left to individual units. But since going to Afghanistan is voluntary for reservists, a continuation of the war could result in a dwindling supply of those willing to go.
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The Taliban
Graeme Smith ventures into the infamously lawless Pakistani province of Baluchistan to meet foot soldiers of the Taliban
GRAEME SMITH From Monday's Globe and Mail
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QUETTA, PAKISTAN — The two men sat cross-legged on a carpet in a room filled with birdsong and sunshine.
Their hands were soft, their words polite, but their story served as a chilling warning for Canadian soldiers trying to bring peace to Afghanistan's troubled south.
In a rare meeting marked by unusually straight talk, the men described how they manipulate Afghan tribes, turn local officials against their own government and channel the frustrations of ordinary people to drive foreigners away from their ancient lands.
They spoke from personal experience. The two, relaxing at a private home in a secret location in the infamously lawless Pakistani province of Baluchistan, are foot soldiers in the Taliban insurgency.
During the first visit to Baluchistan by a Canadian news media organization since Canada sent troops to nearby Kandahar at the beginning of the year, the midlevel insurgents outlined their ideas about how the Taliban aims to defeat the foreign troops.
With no permission from their superiors to talk with journalists, and fearing the Afghan intelligence agents widely believed to be hunting Taliban in the tribal areas, the two insurgents gave fake names: Mullah Azizullah, 34, and Mullah Manan, 37.
"There is a big difference between Canada and the United States," Mr. Azizullah said, tapping his fingertips together in a pensive gesture.
"If we attack the Canadians, they call for aircraft and bomb everything in the area. The U.S. only tried to kill the Taliban. The Canadians try to kill everybody."
Wearing pinstripe vests, gold watches and neatly trimmed beards, the two men looked different from front-line Taliban fighters encountered near the battlefields of Kandahar.
Like many of their comrades, they were born in the rebellious district of Panjwai -- they boasted about having returned three times to the lush farmland in recent months to lead attacks against the Canadians and their allies. But while many Taliban fighters are simple farmers, rough men with dirt under their fingernails, Mr. Azizullah's nails were trimmed and neatly painted with henna. He spoke a little English, too, and said he had worked as a senior official in the old Taliban regime
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Bomber kills Pakistani soldiers
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Two Pakistani soldiers have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack in the north-west of the country, police say.
The bomber rammed a military convoy on a road near Tank, about 50km (30 miles) west of the city of Dera Ismail Khan, near the Afghan border.
The convoy was reported to have been heading for the restive tribal area of South Waziristan.
North and South Waziristan are believed to be strongholds of pro-Taleban and al-Qaeda militants.
Six soldiers were wounded in the attack, police said.
A Reuters journalist at the scene said the bomber's car had been totally destroyed by the force of the blast.
No-one has admitted carrying out the attack.
Controversial peace deals have been reached with pro-Taleban militants in the area, but last week the air force bombed a suspected militant camp in South Waziristan, which is thought to have killed about 20 people.
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Taliban overrun town as peace deal fails
Declan Walsh in Islamabad Saturday February 3, 2007 The Guardian
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· Locals flee after militants disarm new police force
· Offensive happens two days before Nato handover
British strategy in Afghanistan suffered a blow when the Taliban overran a town in northern Helmand where a controversial peace deal had been signed.
Hundreds of insurgents stormed into Musa Qala on Thursday night, disarming the local police, burning government buildings and threatening elders, officials and residents said.
The Taliban offensive appeared to catch troops off guard just two days before Britain hands control of Nato forces in Afghanistan to an American, General Dan McNeill. "The Taliban entered the town last night. The current situation is unclear," said Mark Laity, a Nato spokesman in Kabul.
British commanders always insisted that the Musa Qala deal, which was brokered between the provincial governor and local elders last September, was risky. After a summer of fighting that claimed several British fatalities, British forces and the Taliban agreed to withdraw from the town centre. In return, elders said they would guarantee security through a locally recruited tribal police force.
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2 million Afghan citizens registered amid final extension
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ISLAMABAD: A total of 2 million Afghans have been registered in Pakistan in the largest-ever such exercise by a host government.
Revising the registration's cut-off date today, the government has announced a final extension of the deadline to mid-February.
The 2 million people registered since October 2006 account for over 80 percent of the target population of 2.4 million Afghans in Pakistan. Nearly 65 percent of those registered are in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), 20 percent in Balochistan, 10 percent in Punjab/Islamabad, 5 percent in Sindh and the rest in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (AJK).
In terms of numbers per province, almost all eligible Afghans in Punjab/ Islamabad have been registered, more than 90 percent of those in Sindh, some 85 percent of those in NWFP, over 60 percent in Balochistan and more than half the eligible Afghan population in AJK.
The registration exercise has ended in Sindh, AJK and most of Punjab. It is expected to be completed in Attock, Chakwal, Islamabad, urban Quetta and Peshawar and other parts of NWFP by mid-February. The deadlines vary in each location based on the eligible population remaining to be registered.
Only Afghans who were counted in the Pakistan government census of February/March 2005 are eligible for registration. Those registered receive Proof of Registration (POR) cards that recognize them as Afghan citizens temporarily living in Pakistan. Valid for three years, the card does not confer additional rights or status on the bearer.
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NATO considering bolstering Afghan border police: Canadian commander
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KANDAHAR: NATO allies are examining ways to shore up and expand the Afghan border police to combat the influx of Taliban insurgents from Pakistan, says a senior Canadian officer.
The alliance has been under political pressure to beef up military border patrols and use high-tech surveillance to interdict the flow of illegal munitions and suicide bombers.
But Col. Mike Kampman says the long-term solution lies in building up border guards in much the same way the Afghan National Police and the Afghan army are being reconstituted.
"This is a big border area and a lot of people don't fully appreciate how easy it is to cross," said Kampman, who is chief of staff to Brig.-Gen. Ton van Loon, the commander of coalition forces in southern Afghanistan.
"It's going to take a lot work and a lot of effort to build up a robust network of surveillance and presence on this side of the border."
A consensus seems to be building among NATO partners for each country take over responsibility for the improvement of the border police in their individual provinces.
For example, Canada could take a lead role in Kandahar province, while the British handle volatile Helmand province, said Kampman in an interview with The Canadian Press.
If available, experts in border security and specialized trainers from each host country could be brought in and combined with military mentors, he said.
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NATO to step up efforts to control Afghan border
Saturday February 03, 2007 (0510 PST)
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LONDON: NATO forces are getting ready to step up efforts to take control of the Afghan side of the country's border with Pakistan, the alliance's military chief said in an interview published in the Financial Times on Friday.
'NATO needs to work with Pakistan for a reduction if not elimination of the unlawful and illegal movement across the border,' General John Craddock, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, was quoted as saying by the business daily.
In an interview conducted on a flight back to Europe after a visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Craddock was also asked if NATO was planning any military action to temper the flow of insurgents across the border.
'ISAF is developing plans for that very effect,' he responded, referring to the International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led grouping made up of about 33,000 troops from 37 nations.
During his visit to Pakistan, Craddock met with Pakistani military commanders in Islamabad, describing the discussions as 'frank, candid and promising.'
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U.S. hands major weapons supplies to Afghan army
Saturday February 03, 2007 (0510 PST)
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KABUL: The Unites States handed over thousands of weapons and hundreds of vehicles to Afghanistan's fledgling national army, as part of its strategy to boost local security forces in the fight against the Taliban.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai attended the handover of 800 High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles and other trucks, and 12,000 heavy and light arms in Kabul.
"This is the first time that we have received such major help for strengthening our army," Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said after the ceremony.
Karzai described the package as "part of the tip of the iceberg" of the long-term U.S. commitment to Afghanistan.
The U.S. government is asking Congress for an extra $10.6 billion for Afghanistan -- $8.6 billion of that for helping the army and police -- over two years.
Ahead of what U.S. and Afghan commanders warn will be a bloody spring offensive by the Taliban within months, Washington also doubled its ground combat troops by extending the tour of duty for some of its troops here by four months.
The moves come as the United States prepares to take over the 33,000-strong NATO-led force here from the British on Sunday and after the bloodiest year since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.
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Runway at Helmand airport being reconstructed
Saturday February 03, 2007 (0510 PST)
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KABUL: Work on reconstruction of runway at the Helmand airport was launched the other day.
Reconstruction of the landing strip will be completed at the cost of $70,000 provided by the British-led provincial reconstruction team (PRT).
Helmand airport was constructed 40 years ago, but it was bitterly damaged during jihad or holy war against the Soviet forces and the years of internecine.
Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, provincial Governor Asadullah Wafa said the airport would be opened for civilian flights once the airstrip was constructed. He said the government-owned Ariana Airlines would resume flights between Kabul and Helmand.
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Militants torch school in Afghanistan
Friday February 02, 2007 (0057 PST)
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LOGAR: Insurgents burned down a primary school in southeastern Afghanistan, police said the other day, in the second such attack this year targeting the country's struggling education system.
The primary school was set ablaze overnight in the Kharwar district of Logar province, the Afghan interior ministry, which controls the police, said in a statement.
"The ministry condemns this unforgivable action of foreign mercenaries," it said, without referring to any particular country or group.
Similar attacks in the past have always been blamed on the remnants of the Taliban regime. The Afghan government says the militants are supported by circles in neighbouring Pakistan.
The fundamentalist Taliban have waged a bloody insurgency since they were toppled from power by a US-led offensive in late 2001. The violence claimed over 4,000 lives in 2006, the worst year since the invasion.
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