The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread January 2012

[The Bread Guy]

The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread January 2012              

[size=12pt]News only - commentary elsewhere, please.
Thanks for helping this "news only" thread system work!

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 01, 2011

NATO death in noncombat incident in Afghanistan
  Article Link

The Associated Press

Date: Saturday Dec. 31, 2011 10:18 PM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO says one of its service members has died in an incident that did not involve combat.

The statement said the incident occurred on Saturday, but provided no further details.

The death, the 28th in December, brought to 544 the number of NATO troops who died in Afghanistan in 2011.

The yearly total is considerably lower than for 2010, when more than 700 troops died. The numbers of wounded have remained consistently high, dipping only slightly from last year's total of more than 5,000 service members.

Despite the drop in the numbers of deaths, 2011 is the second-deadliest for NATO troops in the 10-year war.
end

Afghan president welcomes U.S. remarks on Taliban
Article Link

The Associated Press

Date: Saturday Dec. 31, 2011 10:48 AM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday welcomed remarks from the Obama administration that the Taliban were not necessarily America's enemies.

Earlier this month, Vice-President Joe Biden said in an interview with Newsweek magazine that the Islamist militants did not represent a threat to U.S. interests unless they continued to shelter al Qaeda.

"Look, the Taliban per se is not our enemy. That's critical. There is not a single statement that the president has ever made in any of our policy assertions that the Taliban is our enemy because it threatens U.S. interests," Biden was quoted as saying by Newsweek.

The Obama administration and other governments are trying to establish a peace process with the Taliban to help end the 10-year war.

"I am very happy that the American government has announced that the Taliban are not their enemies," Karzai said in a speech to the Afghan Academy of Sciences. "We hope that this message will help the Afghans reach peace and stability."
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 2, 2011

Base spent much of 2011 preparing for '12 mission
Published Saturday December 31st, 2011
Article Link

Early next year, 450 personnel from The Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (2RCR) will be joined by another 100 from the Land Force Atlantic Area in deploying to Afghanistan.

The mission, part of the Canadian Forces contribution to the NATO training effort in that country, consists of up to 950 personnel in total.

Other soldiers will be brought in from across the country to bring battle group numbers above the 900 level. They will advise Afghan trainers and leaders.

Preparations for the mission have been a large part of life at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in 2011 - dominating conversation at work and at home.

The last time troops from Gagetown deployed in such numbers was in 2007. That mission was a particularly tough one: 18 soldiers from the battle group, including five from the battalion stationed at CFB Gagetown, were killed during the six-month tour.

During the height of Kandahar mission, more than 2,800 Canadian soldiers were in Afghanistan.

Col. Simon Hetherington, commander of 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (2CMBG) out of CFB Petawawa, Ont., the military parent of the 2RCR, said the biggest difference this time around is things have turned from combat to training, he said.

"This is a huge departure from what we have been doing traditionally in Afghanistan since we moved to Kandahar in 2005," Hetherington said in an interview.

"We've transitioned from our combat role in southern Afghanistan to the training piece in Kabul."

"It's going to be a personal challenge for many but also a professional one that, I think, many are looking forward to because it is different," he said.

Having recently visited 2RCR at CFB Gagetown, Hetherington said he sensed optimism within the troops - a feeling of adventure in embarking on the mission because it's so dissimilar.

"They are going into a new environment and a new job with a new type of Afghan people that they are going to be working with. Really, (there's) a grand gambit of differences between the two missions."

Lt.-Col. Alex Ruff, commander of 2RCR, said preparation for the 2012 deployment has taken up a huge chunk of 2011. The 2RCR troops will leave in February and March.

"The uniqueness of this mission, in that this is only the second rotation going out the door as part of Op Attention, makes it its own little challenge," he said. "But in the end, it is well within our capabilities. It's been a busy time frame."

Ruff said everything has come together the way he wanted it to.
More on link

Report on deadly Pakistan border skirmish highlights lack of trust, communication
Postmedia News  Dec 30, 2011
Article Link

By Lee Berthiaume

Canada’s contribution to Afghan-Pakistan peace is being questioned after a recent investigation found distrust and long-standing disputes were at the root of a cross-border airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

The joint U.S.-NATO study recommends a number of actions to be taken to prevent another such incident — actions Canada has been trying to undertake for four years, with mixed results.

The Durand Line, as the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is called, stretches across more than 2,500 kilometres of some of the most rugged, impassable terrain in the world. It has become a major flashpoint in the region as insurgents slip back and forth largely at will while coalition troops are unable to chase them.

On the night of Nov. 25, 100 Afghan and 14 American soldiers were patrolling near the border when they came under fire. It was only after they had called in several airstrikes that they realized the shooting was from Pakistani troops, 24 of whom had been killed.

The U.S. military and NATO each launched investigations, the latter led by Canadian Brig.-Gen. Mike Jorgensen. Their joint findings, released on Dec. 22, blamed the U.S. military officials for failing to notify Pakistan of the operation beforehand, and criticized Pakistani officials for refusing to provide locations of border posts and checkpoints.

The investigators made seven recommendations. Several related to U.S. and coalition forces ensuring they have proper information before operating near the border, and ironing out procedures for identifying Pakistani units. However, a number related to the need to build “mutual trust” along the border.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 3, 2012

Canadian special forces and families severed from social support
MURRAY BREWSTER OTTAWA— The Canadian Press Monday, Jan. 02, 2012
Article Link

Canada’s elite troops and their families have faced a “disjointed” level of social support from the military – and in some cases implemented their own programs to cope with the hardship and uncertainty of their lives.

The findings are contained in a survey conducted by the army’s special forces operations regiment, which includes the highly trained JTF-2 counter-terrorism unit.

The survey found some units were “doing their own thing” to provide outreach to families.

“With the stand up [Special Operations Forces] units it has become apparent that there is a requirement to provide support to not only the unit itself but to the families,” says a briefing note prepared for the regiment’s former commander, Major-General Mike Day.

The document, which provides a rare glimpse of the travails of the country’s most exclusive military formation, was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

The review was initiated by special forces, but the Director of Military Family Services, which manages and funds social program in the defence community, joined.

It quickly became apparent the ultra-secrecy that surrounds the regiment and its missions was paralyzing its soldiers and their families. Over the years, many were afraid to ask for social services – or seek help – for fear of inadvertently violating operational security.
More on link

Taliban back Western proposal to open Qatar office
Article Link
3 January 2012 Quentin Sommerville BBC News, Kabul

The Taliban say they have reached a preliminary agreement to set up a political office, possibly in Qatar, as part of Western plans to end the war.

A statement confirmed the move, which has been backed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Both the US and Germany have been pushing for such a representation in an effort to kick-start negotiations.

The office is seen by some as a key step towards ending the 10-year-long conflict in Afghanistan.

The move was welcomed by the Afghan High Peace Council, which is seeking a negotiated end to the war, as "a gesture of good faith".

But it still remains unclear if the insurgents, who claim to be winning the war, are prepared to engage in truly meaningful peace talks - and whether they could take place while international forces continue to kill Taliban fighters and commanders, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul.

Importance of address
In their statement, the insurgents said Afghanistan's "current problem" began with the US-led invasion of 2001 and "the two main sides which were involved in this are the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [Taliban] and on the other side is the United States and their foreign allies".

The establishment of an office is thought by some to be a critical step in reaching a political settlement to the 10-year long conflict. It would give the group an address where negotiators could meet. Establishing the authenticity of would-be negotiators from the Taliban has been a problem in the past.

It is the US and Germany that have been pushing for this. Earlier preconditions that the insurgents would have to lay down arms before any such representation appear to have been dropped. The push for a peace process, with a reluctant President Karzai falling in line, appears to be under way.

Some senior military commanders here say that the Bonn conference, where the international community gave a long-term commitment to Afghanistan, was a wake-up call for the insurgents. They face the prospect of growing old, as exiles, in the Pakistani city of Quetta, commented one senior Isaf commander.

But it is far from certain that the Taliban truly want to negotiate. They know foreign troops are leaving in 2014. And there will be reluctance from some within the group's leadership to sit down and talk with representatives from countries who are killing Taliban soldiers and commanders.

It said the Taliban movement "always tries to solve the issue or the problem with the opposite side through talks" and warned the Western coalition that they would "never force the Afghans to obey them by force".
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 4, 2012

Face to Face with Afghanistan’s Opium Brides
January 3, 2012
Article Link

From investigating the sexual abuse of young boys to embedding with a group of insurgents allied with Al Qaeda, veteran Afghan reporter Najibullah Quraishi takes FRONTLINE cameras where few Western journalists can go.

Today Quraishi spoke with The World‘s Marco Werman about his latest journey — airing on FRONTLINE tonight — deep into remote Afghan countryside to investigate a horrifying sex trade: young girls kidnapped or traded to smugglers to meet the debts of impoverished opium farmers whose crops have been destroyed by the government.

Quraishi met several girls who were taken from their families, an existing problem that he says has increased as a result of poppy eradication programs. The girls “are only nine, 10, 11 [or] 12 and used for manufacturing heroin, or immediately married to traffickers or sold in other countries, like Iran.”

The smugglers are “very powerful and stronger than the Taliban and the government,” Quraishi tells Werman.
More on link

Video: More Underreported Stories from Inside Afghanistan
January 3, 2012
Article Link

Treacherous territory, hostility to foreigners and high personal risk keep most Western journalists from working from the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan. But veteran Afghan journalist and FRONTLINE correspondent Najibullah Quraishi has repeatedly sought out underreported stories in these parts, often traversing dangerous terrain deep inside Taliban territory to expose them.  From an investigation of the sexual abuse of young boys to embedding with a group of insurgents allied with Al Qaeda, watch some his other recent reports for FRONTLINE:

The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan [2010]
It’s an ancient practice, secretly revived — young boys sold by families to “entertain” wealthy merchants and warlords. FRONTLINE and Quraishi go undercover to investigate this illicit sex trade.
Behind Taliban Lines [2010]
Revisit Quraishi’s extraordinary 10 days living and filming with an insurgent cell allied with Al Qaeda as it plans to sabotage a key U.S./NATO supply route.
More on link

Pakistani troops kill dangerous Taliban commander
By BILL ROGGIOJanuary 2, 2012
Article Link

The Pakistani military killed a dangerous Taliban commander who was responsible for the murders of scores of Pakistani soldiers, policemen, and civilians.

Qari Kamran, a senior Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan commander in the northwestern district of Nowshera, was killed along with 11 fighters yesterday during a military operation in the tribal agency of Khyber. The Taliban have been fighting the Pakistani military as well as the rival Islamist terror group Lashkar-e-Islam in Khyber.

Kamran was involved in some of the most deadly suicide attacks and ambushes in northwestern Pakistan over the past several years. The most devastating attack took place on May 13, 2011, when a suicide bomber detonated among a crowd of newly trained troops of Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps at a training center in Shabqadar in the neighboring district of Charsadda. The suicide attack was followed by a car bomb. More than 80 Pakistani troops and civilians were killed in the twin blasts.
More on link

Why Eradication Won’t Solve Afghanistan’s Poppy Problem
January 3, 2012,
Article Link

Afghanistan produces 90 percent of the world’s illicit opium, bringing billions of dollars a year into the country’s economy, fueling the global heroin trade, funding both the Taliban and government-linked warlords, and exacerbating government corruption. But international attempts to suppress opium production have often been ineffective and even counterproductive to “other objectives of peace, state-building and economic reconstruction.”

FRONTLINE talked to Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and a leading expert on drug interdiction efforts and counterinsurgency, to learn more about the widespread effects of opium production in Afghanistan and the outcome of efforts to curb it.

How did Afghanistan become the supplier of 90 percent of the world’s opium?
More on link

First ISAF soldier killed in 2012
Article Link

Kabul—An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier died in a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan, marking the first foreign troops’ casualty in 2012, the alliance said on Tuesday. The service member died following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack, the Taliban’s weapon of choice on Monday, the NATO-led troops said in a brief statement. In line with its policy, ISAF neither revealed the soldier’s nationality nor the exact location of the incident.

Mostly, US, British and Canadian soldiers are deployed to the volatile south—the heartland of the Taliban insurgency. It was the first international soldier killed in Afghanistan this year. 566 foreign soldiers, including 417 Americans and 45 Britons, were killed in the war-torn country in 2011.
end

Afghan Taliban strike peace deal
by The Canadian Press - Story: 69239
Jan 3, 2012
Article Link

The Afghan Taliban said Tuesday they have reached a preliminary deal with the Gulf state of Qatar to open a liaison office there, in what could be a step toward formal, substantive peace talks to end more than a decade of war.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid indicated the liaison office will conduct negotiations with the international community but not with the Afghan government — a condition that President Hamid Karzai has indicated he would reject. Mujahid did not say when it would open.

For the United States and its allies, the idea of a Taliban political office in the Qatari capital of Doha has become the central element in efforts to draw the insurgents into peace talks.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Cost of Canadian withdrawal from Afghanistan could climb due to blocked Pakistan border
Postmedia News  Jan 4, 2012
Article Link
By Jeff Davis

Hundreds of cargo containers of Canadian war supplies are stranded in volatile southern Afghanistan, thanks to an ongoing Pakistani blockade of routes exiting the landlocked country.

And with Pakistani officials preparing to impose steep tariffs on all NATO shipments transiting the country, the cost of Canada’s withdrawal from Afghanistan could increase by more than a half million dollars.

The Canadian Forces are trying to bring home thousands of tonnes of war equipment used during the nearly 10-year combat mission. Packed into some 446 sea containers, most of this cargo is currently stored at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.

High priority items — such as all armoured vehicles and ammunition — have already been flown out of Afghanistan on Canada’s giant CC-177 Globemaster transport aircraft.

Nevertheless, much of the army’s gear remains stuck in Afghanistan, Lt.-Col. John Nethercott told Postmedia News. He said the remaining items are “low priority in nature,” and include tools, tents, forklifts, barbed wire and engineering equipment.

The Department of National Defence has granted a contract to move the containers from Afghanistan to Pakistan to A.J. Maritime, a Montreal-based freight forwarding firm.

It is believed the remaining 446 containers were supposed to exit Afghanistan’s southeastern border post at Spin Boldak, then cross the deserts of Balochistan to the port of Karachi. Once at the port, the containers would be loaded onto ships for the sail home to Canada.

But Imran Ali, Pakistan’s deputy consul general in Toronto, told Postmedia News Wednesday that the Afghan-Pakistan border is shut tight for now.

“No containers are passing as of today,” he said. “There is a total sealing of the border.”

Ali said this problem began when United States forces bombed two Pakistani border posts in late November, leaving 24 soldiers dead and 13 wounded. After a day of frenzied meetings about the “unprovoked attack,” Pakistani officials announced they would take steps to disrupt NATO supply lines in and out of the Afghan theatre.

“The (Defence Committee of Cabinet) has decided to close with immediate effect the NATO/ISAF logistics supply lines,” said a Nov. 26 statement by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

Following the closure of the border, Pakistan began a comprehensive policy review of its relations with NATO. Ali said the national security committee of the Pakistani parliament is “in the final stages of drawing out a policy” that will be published within three to four days.

Ali said Pakistan is considering levying a tax on all NATO containers passing through the country, and that officials have discussed a US$1,500 charge per shipping container.

“Customs officials, along with foreign policy officials in Pakistan, are discussing the amount of levy to enforce,” Ali said.

Such a tariff, applied to 446 containers, would cost Canada some US$660,000.

With Iran to the west, China to the east and the volatile and landlocked Central Asian republics to the north, there are few safe exit routes from Afghanistan.

If Pakistan keeps the border closed for long, Nethercott said, Canada could start shopping around for alternative routes.

“Significant delays will potentially require re-evaluation of how the (Canadian Forces) will repatriate the remaining materiel back to Canada in an effective and cost-efficient manner,” he wrote in an email.

An undisclosed number of Canada’s low-priority containers completed the journey to Karachi before the border was closed. There have been reports of severe congestion at the port there, and that more than 3,600 military vehicles and 1,700 sea containers are stranded at dockside.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 05, 2011

15 Kidnapped Pakistani Soldiers Executed by the Taliban in a Retaliatory Gesture
Article Link
By SALMAN MASOOD and ISMAIL KHAN  January 5, 2012

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Taliban insurgents executed 15 security soldiers who had been recently kidnapped and dumped their bodies on a hilltop in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, in retaliation for the killing of a militant commander by government forces, government and military officials said.

The soldiers were kidnapped Dec. 23 after dozens of Taliban insurgents overran a fort in one of the restive tribal regions straddling the border with Afghanistan. Officials said they had tried but failed to secure the captives’ release.

The executions followed the death of a high-ranking Taliban commander on Sunday and came just days after local news media reported that several factions of the Taliban had vowed not to attack the Pakistani military.

The bullet-ridden bodies of the soldiers, members of the Frontier Constabulary, were spotted by local tribesmen on Thursday morning after they were dumped in Mir Ali, a subdistrict in the North Waziristan tribal region. The Frontier Constabulary, run by the Pakistani police authorities, has about 70,000 paramilitary soldiers who operate checkpoints in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province and provide security at foreign embassies and consulates in major cities across Pakistan.
More on link

Karzai Calls for Coalition to Cede Control of Afghan Prisoners
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG  January 5, 2012
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai abruptly demanded on Thursday that the American-led coalition hand over all Afghan prisoners in its custody and cede control of its main prison in Afghanistan within a month. He said that his government had evidence that Afghan law and prisoners’ human rights were being violated at the prison.

The demand stunned the coalition leaders, who were not consulted before the announcement, according to American and European officials in Kabul.

The coalition has longstanding plans to turn over the prison to Afghan authorities, along with control over all detainees, but the timing has remained uncertain because of delays in training Afghan guards to run the facility and because of concerns about widespread torture and other abuses in Afghan-run prisons.

In contrast, independent Afghan and Western human rights advocates have documented relatively humane conditions at the American prison since it opened in late 2009, replacing an older facility that was plagued by abuses. Even so, there have been persistent complaints about arbitrary detentions and a lack of due process at the new prison — problems that are pervasive in the Afghan prison system as well.

Mr. Karzai said in his statement on Thursday that a report by a commission of senior Afghan officials, all of them political appointees, found “many cases of violations of the Afghan Constitution and other applicable laws of the country, the relevant international conventions and human rights” at the American prison.

The statement gave no details. Mr. Karzai called for all Afghan prisoners to be transferred to the control of the Afghan authorities within a month, so that further breaches of “Afghan sovereignty can be avoided.”
More on link

Afghanistan Closes Firm Providing Security
By GRAHAM BOWLEY January 5, 2012
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government said Thursday that it was shutting down the operations of one of the largest foreign security companies operating in the country after detaining two of its contractors on suspicion of gun smuggling.

After months of growing tension between the government and foreign security contractors, the decision marks a sharp escalation into public action by the Afghan authorities.

President Hamid Karzai is in the midst of replacing foreign security contractors with Afghan guards.

The Interior Ministry said it was immediately withdrawing the company’s license, although the company, GardaWorld, a private Canadian security outfit, said it was in discussions with the government and hoped to be able to continue to operate.

The Interior Ministry said that the contractors, two Britons, who were detained on Tuesday after being found with an arsenal of unlicensed AK-47 assault rifles in their sport utility vehicle, were among the 341 Afghan guards and 35 foreign contractors employed by GardaWorld in Afghanistan.

At a news conference in Kabul, the authorities put on display the two Britons as well two Afghans who were detained — their driver and their interpreter. Seddiq Seddiqi, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said the rifles had been found wrapped in blankets inside a metal box in the trunk of the vehicle. The rifles, which the government said had their serial numbers scratched off, were also shown to reporters at the news conference.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 6, 2012

Kiss My Shrapnel
Posted: 1/5/12
Article Link

If actors learn to avoid children for their tendency to upstage their professional elders, soldiers -- and the photographers following them -- learn to avoid donkeys and chickens for a similar but much more dangerous tendency: to make noise when humans pass them by. On a sunny day in Afghanistan in 2010, while out with a squad of Canadian soldiers, the renowned photographer Anja Niedringhaus learned this particular lesson the hard way. Moving along a pathway sandwiched between 10-foot walls, the squad came upon a chicken, which one soldier kicked out of the way. In an instant Niedringhaus captured the moment: the sunshine and dust, the chicken tumbling feet over head, the soldier's leg locked straight with boot mid-air, his fellow squad-members grinning behind him. But the squawking chicken had alerted others and seconds later, a grenade was thrown over the wall, hitting the soldier on the helmet before falling to the ground and exploding, its shrapnel catching both the soldier and the photographer. Niedringhaus, injured in the rear hip area, was evacuated to a military hospital in Kandahar. A few days later, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning photographer flew to India for another assignment.

"You have to get back on the horse," she says with a knowing smile, adding that she was jealous of the injured soldier who was able to return to his unit after a couple of days. Getting to know a unit is important and helpful, and the Canadian Regiment would leave Afghanistan before she could return to them. Niedringhaus was also missed: She later received a t-shirt from the squad reading "Kiss My Shrapnel."
More on link

China wins $700 million Afghan oil and gas deal. Why didn't the US bid?
China’s National Petroleum Corporation became the first foreign company today to tap into Afghanistan’s oil and gas reserves. Officials estimate that the deal could be worth more than $700 million.
Article Link
By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / December 28, 2011

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
In a deal finalized on Wednesday, China’s National Petroleum Corporation became the first foreign company to tap into Afghanistan’s oil and gas reserves. Chinese officials have estimated that the deal could be worth at least $700 million, but some say China could earn up to 10 times that.

China has not participated in the war effort, but it has managed to gain the biggest stake in Afghan minerals. In 2007, China inked a $3 billion deal securing access to copper mines in Mes Aynak, south of Kabul.

The latest Sino-Afghan agreement strengthens the Asian nation’s foothold here and could benefit the economic development of Afghanistan. With few viable industries in Afghanistan, Western forces here looking for a way to restore economic independence and stability have long touted the country’s mineral resources.

The United States and other Western nations that have borne the brunt of the cost of the Afghan war have been conspicuously absent from the bidding process on Afghanistan’s mineral deposits, leaving it to mostly to regional powers.

India is the only other nation to make a significant agreement to access Afghan minerals. In November, it won a bid granting Indian firms access to 1.8 billion metric tons of iron-ore, one of the largest untapped deposits in Asia.
More on link

 

[The Bread Guy]

Articles found January 05, 2011

(....)

Afghanistan Closes Firm Providing Security
By GRAHAM BOWLEY January 5, 2012
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government said Thursday that it was shutting down the operations of one of the largest foreign security companies operating in the country after detaining two of its contractors on suspicion of gun smuggling.

After months of growing tension between the government and foreign security contractors, the decision marks a sharp escalation into public action by the Afghan authorities.

President Hamid Karzai is in the midst of replacing foreign security contractors with Afghan guards.

The Interior Ministry said it was immediately withdrawing the company’s license, although the company, GardaWorld, a private Canadian security outfit, said it was in discussions with the government and hoped to be able to continue to operate.

The Interior Ministry said that the contractors, two Britons, who were detained on Tuesday after being found with an arsenal of unlicensed AK-47 assault rifles in their sport utility vehicle, were among the 341 Afghan guards and 35 foreign contractors employed by GardaWorld in Afghanistan.

At a news conference in Kabul, the authorities put on display the two Britons as well two Afghans who were detained — their driver and their interpreter. Seddiq Seddiqi, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said the rifles had been found wrapped in blankets inside a metal box in the trunk of the vehicle. The rifles, which the government said had their serial numbers scratched off, were also shown to reporters at the news conference.
More on link

More on this:

The arrest of four workers hired by a Montreal security firm in Afghanistan will expand President Hamid Karzai's "monopoly over violence," says a security expert. While Afghan politicians accuse foreign firms of flouting local laws and undermining security, observers in Canada suggest Karzai has an ulterior motive for his crackdown - power and influence. The men arrested Tuesday worked for GardaWorld, which provides bodyguard services in hotspots such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Haiti. Afghan authorities paraded the men out for reporters in Kabul and displayed an array of weapons. They say Julian Steele, James Davis and two Afghan colleagues were caught at a checkpoint with 30 AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition. Government spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told the news conference that most of the guns had serial numbers removed. Sediqqi says GardaWorld's operations in Afghanistan will be dissolved - part of a plan by Karzai to shut down all foreign security firms in the war-torn country by March. Royal Military College political science professor Christian Leuprecht says Karzai will soon have total control over the lucrative security market. "In these places, the people with the guns, the people with the money and the people with the power are all the same," said Leuprecht, who specializes in security and defence studies. "This essentially is a means of consolidating the use of force and the monopoly over violence in the hands of a few people at the top." ....

QMI/Sun Media, 6 Jan 12

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 08, 2012

Lull in Strikes by U.S. Drones Aids Militants
Article Link
By ERIC SCHMITT  January 7, 2012

WASHINGTON — A nearly two-month lull in American drone strikes in Pakistan has helped embolden Al Qaeda and several Pakistani militant factions to regroup, increase attacks against Pakistani security forces and threaten intensified strikes against allied forces in Afghanistan, American and Pakistani officials say.
More on link

8 NATO Service Members Killed in Afghan Attacks
By GRAHAM BOWLEY and SHARIFULLAH SAHAK  January 6, 2012
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO said eight of its service members died in three attacks in southern Afghanistan, and an Afghan official on Friday identified four of the dead as American soldiers.

The attacks on Thursday and Friday struck at the heart of Afghanistan’s turbulent south. They come just as the American-led NATO command is gradually handing over security responsibility to the Afghan government after a decade of war. And the Taliban this week said they were ready to open a political office in Qatar, apparently a signal that they may be ready for formal peace talks.

Southern Afghanistan was the focus of the Obama administration’s troop “surge” in 2010, and American forces have made significant gains against the Taliban in many districts that had been thick with insurgents.
More on link

 

[The Bread Guy]

Afghan government: cease-fire before Taliban talks
By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press
Article link

Taliban insurgents must agree to a cease-fire before formal peace negotiations can begin in Qatar, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday

Presidential spokesman Emal Faizi insisted that the government will never give up territory to the insurgents.

Faizi laid out the government's terms days after the Taliban's announcement it would open a political office in Doha, Qatar, a key precursor to peace talks and the insurgents' first public move toward a political settlement to the 10-year-long war.

"When the talks start, there should be a cease-fire and the violence against the Afghan people must stop," Faizi said Monday on Tolo television news.

He dismissed as "baseless" speculation in Afghan media that the government might hand over predominantly Pashtun southern provinces to the Taliban in exchange for an end to the fighting.

"The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan will never accept such suggestion from any side," he said

Faizi also said it is too soon to send a delegation to Qatar to discuss future talks.

Afghan High Peace Council member Mohammad Ismail Qasimyar said earlier Monday that the panel has asked the government to send a delegation to Doha "as soon as possible," but Faizi said the government has no immediate plans for such a trip ....
More on link


US out to secure ceasefire with Taliban
Maqbool Malik, The Nation (Pakistan), January 09, 2012
Article link

The United States has geared up its efforts to engage Afghan Taliban, led by Mullah Omar, to secure a ceasefire with various resistance groups to bring the conflict to end, diplomatic sources told TheNation on Sunday.

The sources privy to these developments said that the Obama Administration was giving deep thoughts to proposals seeking pulling out troops ahead of 2014, the timeline set out last year by the US President.

The sources were of the view that Obama’s Afghan war was adversely impacting his plans seeking second term in the US elections starting from November this year, Obama Administration was seriously considering plans to pull out US troops much ahead of the 2014 timeline.

“The US is making desperate efforts to establish lines of communications with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan of Afghanistan-led by Mullah Omer,” the sources said, adding that was the purpose to establish a Taliban office in Doha, capital of Qatar. The sources said that the proposed office to be manned by some old Taliban including former Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil would be funded by the US and its key NATO allies Turkey and Germany, to serve as a mere postal address to reach out to Mullah Omer.

“It is just a fishing plan hatched by three countries and supported reluctantly by Afghan President Hamid Karzai,” the sources said believing the move was doomed to non-starter ....
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 9, 2012

Afghan recruits proudly graduate from gruelling course
  Article Link
BY CPL. JENNIFER SCOTT, EDMONTON JOURNAL JANUARY 8, 2012

Since the last time I wrote, another Basic Warrior Training (BWT) course has been completed at the Afghan National Army's Regional Military Training Centre - North near Mazar-e-Sharif, and another has started. To me it seems like Afghan National Army BWT courses go by very quickly, but I am sure the recruits would disagree. Basic Warrior Training is tough, but the faces of graduates show their satisfaction at the end of the training.

It is interesting to watch ANA recruits arrive at the training centre. Some arrive with sandals and no winter clothes despite the snow on the ground and the wind that makes your hair stand on end. The recruits are able to handle the elements better after ANA staff is-sue them appropriate clothing and personal equipment. Usually, our team of training advisers will stand for a moment and gaze across at the faces of the people staring right back at us. As I said in a previous article, some ANA recruits have never seen a Caucasian before, so they are curious about our appearance.

Some of the recruits look very young and others look very old, and they all have their own reasons for joining the ANA. For the eight weeks of training they will be family to each other and begin to forge the intricate bonds that make an army strong.
Article Link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 11, 2012

Pakistan bombing kills dozens in insurgent-heavy region
Reuters  Jan 10, 2012
Article Link
By Jibran Ahmad

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A bomb killed at least 29 people and wounded 37 on Tuesday when it exploded near a fuel station in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber region, one of the restive tribal areas where insurgents are battling government forces, regional officials said.

“It was a huge blast and caused damage to a number of vehicles at [a] bus terminal,” said Khyber tribesman Khan Zaman from the Jamrud bazaar, around 25 km west of the city of Peshawar.

Government officials in the area said 29 people were killed and 37 wounded, at least 20 of whom are in critical condition.
More on link

Exiled former Pakistani president Musharraf to return, run for office despite dangers
Reuters  Jan 9, 2012
Article Link
By Faisal Aziz

KARACHI — Exiled former president Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday he would return to Pakistan later this month to lead his recently formed party in campaigning for a parliamentary election, despite the possibility of his arrest and concern over his security.

“There are efforts to scare me, but these people don’t know that I’m not among the afraid,” Musharraf told a rally of about 8,000 supporters in the commercial centre Karachi via video link from Dubai.

The former general said he would return between January 27 and 30 and dismissed concern about his security. “I have fought wars. I am not scared of danger.”
More on link

Pakistan army warns PM Gilani over criticisms
Article Link
11 January 2012

Pakistan's military has publicly rebuked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over an escalating row.

The army warned of "serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences" after the PM criticised military leaders in a media interview.

Meanwhile, Mr Gilani has sacked his defence secretary, who is seen as having close ties to the military.

Tensions have been rising in recent months between Pakistan's civilian government and military leaders.

The latest row is a serious source of instability in Pakistan, where the military has ruled for more than half the country's history after seizing power in a series of coups.

'Unconstitutional'

On Monday Mr Gilani was quoted telling China's People's Daily Online that Pakistan's army chief and head of intelligence acted unconstitutionally by making submissions to a Supreme Court inquiry which has been rocking the government.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 12, 2012


Daily Brief: Pakistani PM sacks Defense Minister
By Jennifer Rowland  Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Article Link

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani relieved Lt. Gen. Naeem Khalid Lodhi of his duties as Defense Secretary on Wednesday, following Lodhi's statement to the Supreme Court last month in its investigation of the "Memogate" scandal that the Ministry of Defense has no control over the Army or the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) (ET, AP, Dawn, Reuters). The Pakistani military's Directorate of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on its website that Prime Minister Gilani's recent statements to a Chinese newspaper that the country's military leaders had violated the constitution are false and could have "very serious ramifications" (ET, Dawn). And on Tuesday, the lawyer for the former Pakistani ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani challenged the Supreme Court's legal authority to form a commission to investigate "Memogate" (AFP, Dawn).

Four suspected militants were killed Wednesday on the outskirts of Miran Shah in the first U.S. drone strike in Pakistan since the November 26 NATO airstrikes that hit a border check point, killing 24 Pakistani troops (AP, AFP, Reuters, Tel, NYT). Pakistani security forces killed a further 11 suspected militants in the tribal agency of Orakzai on Wednesday (Dawn). The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the United States gave a $36,607 grant in 2009 to Pakistan's Sunni Ittehad Council, which recently organized a rally in celebration of Mumtaz Qadri, who assassinated the opinionated liberal politician Salman Taseer last year (AP). A U.S. diplomat insisted that it was a one-time grant intended to support the group's organization of anti-Taliban rallies, and that no further funds will be given.

Pakistan's civilian leadership scrambled Tuesday to formulate a response to the Supreme Court's threat to dismiss Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani if he refuses to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari, and eventually decided to call an early session of parliament on January 12 (ET, Dawn). The leaders hope to find a solution to the political turmoil through inclusive negotiations, as Prime Minister Gilani has so far refused to fulfill the court's demands. A spokesman for the ISPR on Wednesday denied reports in a British tabloid, The Sun, that Pakistani authorities plan to demolish the compound in which Osama bin Laden was found and killed by the United States (ET).
More on link

Canada opposes Afghan demand for control of prison
Article Link
BY JEFF DAVIS, POSTMEDIA NEWS JANUARY 11, 2012

OTTAWA — Canada has chastised the Afghan government for attempting to take control of an important prison outside Kabul, a move many say puts the safety of Canadian-captured security detainees in serious jeopardy.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded last week that American forces relinquish control of the Detention Facility in Parwan, located near the Bagram Air Base, within a month. The detention facility, which holds some 3,000 Afghan security detainees, was scheduled for turnover to Afghan authorities in 2014.

"Canada demarched the Afghan government on this issue," a spokesman for Foreign Minister John Baird told Postmedia News.

"Our diplomats have expressed in the strongest terms Canada's disappointment with the government of Afghanistan's handling of this matter," Joseph Lavoie said. "We also underscored that transitioning full security responsibility to Afghan control is an important process that must be carefully managed, with effective co-ordination among (International Security Assistance Force) partners."
More on link


Secretary’s Ouster in Pakistan Adds to Tension With Army
By SALMAN MASOOD Published: January 11, 2012
Article Link

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani fired his defense secretary, a retired general and confidant of Pakistan’s army chief, on Wednesday as the civilian government appeared headed for a collision with the country’s powerful military leadership

Mr. Gilani accused the dismissed secretary of defense, Naeem Khalid Lodhi, a former general and corps commander, of “gross misconduct and illegal action” and of “creating misunderstanding between the state institutions.” He replaced Mr. Lodhi with a civilian aide, Nargis Sethi.

Military officials warned on Wednesday evening that the army would be likely to refuse to work with Ms. Sethi, signaling the possibility of a serious rupture between the army and the civilian government. “The army will not react violently, but it will not cooperate with the new secretary of defense,” said a military officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the situation.
More on link

Pakistan's Zardari 'flies to Dubai for wedding'
Article Link
2 January 2012

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has left for Dubai on a private visit, reports say.

His departure comes amid a deepening political crisis with the military.

Mr Zardari had heart treatment in Dubai last month. Officials say he is returning for a wedding and will be back in Pakistan on Friday.

Recent tensions between the government and the armed forces have raised fears for the stability of the country, which has a history of military coups.

On Wednesday the military publicly rebuked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, warning of "serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences" after he criticised military leaders in a media interview.

Mr Gilani sacked his defence secretary, who is seen as having close ties to the military, in a move likely to heighten frictions with military leaders.

But in a move seen by analysts as a sign of easing tensions, Mr Gilani called a meeting of the cabinet's defence committee for Saturday.
More on link

Pentagon chief 'deplores' US Marines 'urination' video
Article Link
12 January 2012

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta says a video which appears to show US Marines urinating on the corpses of Afghans is "utterly deplorable".

Those who had taken part in the incident would be held accountable "to the fullest extent", he said.

The video, which was posted online, purports to show four US Marines standing over the bodies of several Taliban fighters, at least one of whom is covered in blood.

The origin of the video is not known.

Mr Panetta has ordered the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, to investigate the incident.

In a statement, Mr Panetta said he had seen the footage.

"I find the behaviour depicted in it utterly deplorable. This conduct is entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military."
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 15, 2012

Pakistan bomb kills more than a dozen
CBC News Jan 15, 2012
Article Link

More than a dozen people have been killed and some 20 injured after a bomb attack on a religious procession in the Pakistani city of Khanpur.

Reports say between 13 and 18 people died in the central city as hundreds of Shia gathered to mark the 40th day of mourning of the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussain, a highly revered figure from the 7th century.

District Police Chief Sohail Chatta said the blast went off just as a procession of people headed out of a mosque. No one has claimed responsibility yet for the explosion.

In the past, the Taliban or Sunni extremist groups have claimed responsibility for such attacks. Thousands of Pakistani troops and civilians have been killed in the past five years as militant Islamic groups seek to de-stabilize the government.
More on link

Afghanistan's poor face difficult decisions amid winter cold
Seasonal hardship is nothing new for Afghans, but a combination of factors is making this winter harder to bear as the number of displaced soars in Kabul.
Article Link

By Laura King, Los Angeles Times January 9, 2012
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan—

In the gray light of each cold dawn, the parents of 10-month-old Shoaib hold their own breath as they listen for the rasp of his, waiting to see whether their coughing, feverish little boy has survived another night.

Winter's chill has settled over the Afghan capital, and with it, privation is sharpening, especially among the city's poor. Nighttime temperatures regularly fall into the teens, or even lower. The season's first snow is on the ground, the open sewage ditches are crusted over with ice, and in shantytowns such as the one where Shoaib's family lives, survival turns on a series of cruelly simple calculations.

"If I buy food, I can't afford to buy firewood. And if I buy firewood, I can't buy food," said Shoaib's father, Faida Mohammed, a 40-year-old laborer who lives with his family of 12 in a two-room lean-to alongside one of Kabul's busier traffic circles. "If we eat lunch, we won't have dinner. If we eat dinner, there's nothing for breakfast in the morning. All the time, you have to choose."
More on link

Afghanistan's future
With a stalemate in the war, the surest road to peace and stability is through talks with the Taliban.
Article Link
January 13, 2012

It takes a lot for the grinding conflict in Afghanistan to make bigger headlines than the Republican presidential contest, but recent news about that country has made even the Romney-Gingrich slugfest pale in importance. First, and most dramatically, a new National Intelligence Estimate suggests that little progress has been made over the last year in improving security or boosting the country's government or military capabilities. Just as disheartening was the release of a video that appears to show four U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of slain Taliban fighters. Finally, word has emerged of a recent diplomatic shift that could lead to the renewal of peace talks with the Taliban.

The first two of these stories show why the third is so vital.

Most U.S. and international forces are slated to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. They will leave behind either a central government that's strong enough to sustain itself, or a weak and insular cabal beset on all sides by Islamist militants, leading to the high probability of a collapse that would negate the gains from 13 years of effort, billions of dollars in expenditures and more than 1,800 American lives. The best way to prevent the latter outcome is to negotiate a peaceful settlement with the Taliban.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 16, 2012

Pakistan PM Gilani faces Supreme Court contempt order
Article Link
16 January 2012

Pakistan's Supreme Court has issued a contempt order against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, raising the prospect of his prosecution.

The court has been considering what to do about the government's refusal to reopen corruption cases against the president and other political figures.

Mr Gilani has been ordered to appear in person at the court on 19 January.

It comes on a day of several crucial challenges for the government amid ongoing tensions with the army.

A key vote of confidence in Pakistan's political leadership is scheduled to be held later in parliament.

And another court hearing into a controversial anonymous memo which asked for US help to avert an army coup in Pakistan, in the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011, has also resumed.
More on link

US drone aims at Taliban leader
by The Canadian Press Jan 15, 2012
Article Link

Intercepted militant radio communications indicate the leader of the Pakistani Taliban may have been killed in a recent U.S. drone strike, Pakistani intelligence officials said Sunday. A Taliban official denied that.

The report coincided with sectarian violence, a bomb blast in eastern Pakistan that killed 14 people in a Shiite religious procession.

The claim that the Pakistani Taliban chief was killed came from officials who said they intercepted a number of Taliban radio conversations.

In about a half a dozen intercepts, the militants discussed whether their chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed on Jan. 12 in the North Waziristan tribal area.

Some militants confirmed Mehsud was dead, and one criticized others for talking about the issue over the radio.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Asimullah Mehsud denied the group's leader was killed and said he was not in the area where the drone strike occurred.

In early 2010, both Pakistani and American officials said they believed a missile strike had killed Hakimullah Mehsud along the border of North and South Waziristan. They were proved wrong when videos appeared showing him still alive.

The Pakistani Taliban is linked to attacks against U.S. targets. They trained the Pakistani-American who tried to detonate a car bomb in New York City's Times Square in 2010 and is tied to a suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agents at an Afghan base in 2009.

There was no claim of responsibility for Sunday's bombing that killed 14 people during a Shiite observance in Punjab province in the east, the latest of a series of sectarian attacks in volatile Pakistan.
More on link

Marksmanship OK ... technique needs some work
  Article Link
Computer simulation aids precise shooting
BY DAVE COOPER, EDMONTON JOURNAL JANUARY 15, 2012

simulator, at the Jefferson Armoury small arms training room on Saturday.

If this were real, I'd be dead, overwhelmed by enemy troops who seemed to come out of nowhere through a blinding snowstorm.

When I headed to the Loyal Edmonton Regiment's armoury on Saturday to take part in a media computer-simulation shooting competition, I assumed it would be a serious version of Call of Duty. Wrong.

The Fire Arms Training System is used by Canada's military to learn the basics, practise team exercises and "drop the bad habits" before soldiers go out and fire the real thing - C7 automatic rifles, heavy machine guns or anti-armour weapons.

The range rifles are C7s that have been modified with carbon dioxide propulsion and an array of sensors to tell the computer exactly what people are doing wrong.

Mistakes include incorrect trigger-squeeze pressure and using the wrong barrel angle and target tracking.

An invisible laser beam emitted by the gun marks the "hits."

"This system is very efficient and speeds up training, because we only have the reserve soldiers with us for 37-1/2 days per year," said Lt.-Col. Chris Chodan, the Loyal Eddies' commander.

On the range, the C7 is unforgiving. You only get as many shots as a real gun, then you have to change the magazine and cock it while the enemy can fire at you.

At higher levels, troops use maps with terrain duplicated on the range display screen, and can call in supporting artillery fire to hit precise points.

But today we stick with firing rifles.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 17, 2012

Canadian troops ambushed by Taliban fighters on Patrol w/ firefight (Kandahar,Afghanistan)
Article Link
Clip of a Canadian foot patrol being ambushed in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province. (3rd Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment, Oscar Company, 8PL.Salavat), Panjwaii District, Kandahar province.

These guys worked this very well. Bravo team held position and laid down suppressive fire while Alpha ran around to flank the enemy.

My respects too our Canadian brothers.
More on link

Fisher: Canada loses a key friend in Afghanistan
  Article Link
BY MATTHEW FISHER, POSTMEDIA NEWS JANUARY 16, 2012

One of Canada's best Afghan friends was assassinated in Kandahar last Thursday.

Haji Fazluddin Agha, the governor of Panjwaii District, was killed when his car was struck by a vehicle driven by a suicide bomber on a road funded and paved with Canadian help and protection. Two of Agha's sons, two policemen and a civilian, also died in the blast.

A charismatic bear of a man with a booming voice and a lush black beard, Agha was a deeply pious Muslim. He detested Islamist zealots and was a fierce opponent of the Taliban and al-Qaida. The former mujahedeen had come home to Panjwaii early last year at the behest of President Hamid Karzai who valued his political acumen and his ability to convince some hardcore Taliban fighters to lay down their arms.

Agha "was considered an ally of Canada and will be remembered for his tireless work to bring peace and prosperity to his district and the entire country," Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement after the governor's death.
More on link

Pakistan Court Orders Prime Minister to Testify
Article Link
By DECLAN WALSH  January 16, 2012

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s highest court escalated its clash with the government on Monday by initiating contempt-of-court proceedings against Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani for failing to pursue corruption charges against his boss, President Asif Ali Zardari

The Supreme Court was clearly infuriated after the government’s lawyer said that the government had given no instructions on how to respond to the court’s demands.

Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk ordered Mr. Gilani to appear on Thursday to explain why he should not be charged with contempt, a count that could open the door to his dismissal from office.

“We are left with no option,” Justice Mulk told a courtroom packed with lawyers, journalists and politicians.

Hours later, Prime Minister Gilani promised to obey the judicial order. “I will personally appear before the courts,” he told Parliament during a late-evening debate. “They called me on the 19th, and I am going to show up. Can there be any greater respect than this?”
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 19, 2012

Afghan air force learns to fly — and fix aircraft
January 18, 2012
Article Link

Twenty years ago, Afghan Air Force pilot Maj. Abdul Aziz was streaking across the sky in the Soviet Union’s deadliest fighter-bomber.

Now 45, his new task is less dramatic or flamboyant, yet perhaps even more important: Help build and train a new skilled air force that can keep the planes and helicopters in the air after Western mentors go home.

The challenge of forging a modern, technically proficient air force in a country at war is an immense but essential element in the West’s exit strategy. The target date for having an Afghan Air Force able to operate fully independently, with about 8,000 trained personnel and 145 aircraft, is 2016.
More on link

Afghan girl arrives in Canada to attend school
Published On Wed Jan 18 2012
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN—Kneeling in rocky dirt at her father's graveside, Roya Shams whispered her farewells through the cloth mesh of her burqa's veil.

Just 17, a petite schoolgirl with a voice as soft as a puff of desert breeze, she dared to enter a poor Taliban stronghold to pray for the hero who taught her she was any man's equal.

Roya was packed and ready to fly to Canada to continue her high school education in safety at Ottawa's Ashbury College.

It is one of the country's leading private schools, which prides itself on a progressive and caring learning environment.
More on link

Government-wide Afghan Task Force mandate runs out in April
Top bureaucrat to become CIDA brass; dwindling task force working on last report to Parliament.
By Carl Meyer  January, 19, 2012
Article Link

The government-wide task force overseeing Canada's mission in Afghanistan is still working on a final report to Parliament until at least April, even as it loses another leader to the top floors of Canada's aid agency.

Greta Bossenmaier, currently the deputy minister of the Privy Council Office's Afghanistan Task Force, is moving across the Ottawa River to become the senior executive vice president at the Canadian International Development Agency, the government announced Jan. 12.

The PCO has not yet said who will replace Ms. Bossenmaier.

The task force's former assistant deputy minister, Sara Hradecky, left to become Canada's ambassador to Mexico in October and was never replaced. Nor was former task force director general Steve Hallihan, who is now Canada's high commissioner to Jamaica.

But even though these senior positions are empty, the task force is still alive and kicking—at least until April.

"The mandate of the Task Force...extends to the end of the 2011-12 fiscal year," wrote PCO director of corporate and media affairs Raymond Rivet in an email.

The coterie of Afghanistan-focused bureaucrats must still finish a final report to Parliament on Canada's engagement in Afghanistan from 2008 to 2011, he noted.

"It provides a final look," he wrote, "at the status of Canada's benchmarks and targets that were announced by the government of Canada in 2008. The report will be tabled in due course."
More on link

Pakistan Taliban admit killing reporter MK Atif
Article Link
18 January 2012

The Taliban in Pakistan have said they killed a journalist while he was praying in a mosque near the city of Peshawar on Tuesday.

Mukarram Khan Atif - who worked for the Voice of America broadcasting service - was shot in the head by attackers on a motorcycle who fled from the scene.

His death has been condemned by his employers and by campaigning groups.

The Reporters Without Borders campaign group say Pakistan was the deadliest country for journalists in 2011.

Last year, 10 journalists were killed there as a result of their work, the group says.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 20, 2012

Allies see day of heavy loss in Afghanistan
CNN Wire Staff  January 20, 2012
Article Link

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Allied forces have suffered a day of heavy losses in Afghanistan in a helicopter crash that killed 6 U.S. Marines and an attack that killed four French service members and raised the prospect of France withdrawing its troops early.

The Marines died after their CH 53 helicopter crashed in Helmand province, a U.S. military official said. The NATO-led force reported no enemy activity in the area, but the Taliban claimed credit for bringing down the copter.

Separately, an Afghan soldier killed four French service members and injured 15 others, one critically, in eastern Afghanistan, French officials said. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was suspending French training operations and combat help as a result.

"The French army is not in Afghanistan to be shot at by Afghan soldiers," he said.
NATO helicopter crash kills six

France could bring its troops back early from Afghanistan if the necessary security is not restored, Sarkozy said. France has 3,935 troops in Afghanistan, according to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

Sarkozy will send French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet to Afghanistan, he said.

"It was during a training session inside the base that a shooter killed four of our soldiers. This is unacceptable and demands a full investigation," Longuet said.

A French official told CNN the French troops were unarmed as they were inside their base, conducting normal training operations with their Afghan partners.
More on link

Four French soldiers die in Afghanistan shooting
Article Link
20 January 2012

Four French soldiers have been killed in northern Afghanistan after a serviceman from the Afghan National Army opened fire, officials say.

Another 16 French soldiers were injured, some seriously, in the incident in Kapisa province.

An official told the BBC that an Afghan non-commissioned officer got into a "verbal clash" and opened fire.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said France was suspending its training programmes in Afghanistan following the attack.

He was sending his defence minister, Gerard Longuet, to the country "immediately," he said.
'Murdered'

Mr Sarkozy said that the question of an early French withdrawal from Afghanistan would arise if security conditions were not re-established.

It was "unacceptable" for French troops to be fired on by their allies, he said.

Mr Longuet said that the French soldiers shot dead were unarmed and were "literally murdered".
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found January 23, 2012

Can Afghanistan be saved?
REVIEWED BY PAULA NEWBERG Globe and Mail Friday, Jan. 20, 2012
Article Link

Afghanistan is a gift to writers. Stunning and tragic, at once victim of violence and instigator of terror, hotly debated and often ignored, Afghanistan is the place everyone chronicles and no one seems fully to understand. Come from the Shadows is a collection of sympathetic anecdotes, and an argument for continued Western engagement in a place, journalist Terry Glavin suggests, where “madness, politics and war are often parts of the same conversation.”
More on link

Military policies deliver defeat
Article Link
BY PETER WORTHINGTON ,QMI AGENCY SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2012

TORONTO - Regardless of one’s outlook, it’s pretty hard to see anything emerging from Afghanistan or the Middle East that doesn’t represent defeat for America’s foreign and military policy.

Afghanistan today is mindful of Vietnam when the U.S. decided to quit the war and sacrifice the south to the north. It tried to camouflage defeat by declaring “peace with honour.”

Afghanistan hasn’t reached that stage ... yet. But Iraq, now that U.S. combat troops have mostly gone, seems to be disintegrating into sectarian warfare.

One of the signs of unease — if not panic — about Afghanistan, is the hullabaloo over videotapes (taken a year ago) of U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban, killed in fighting.

No question that urinating on enemy dead is offensive, and shouldn’t be tolerated. What it reveals is weakness in command — of platoon officers and NCOs. But it is not a war crime. The bodies are dead. War crimes or torture involve the living.

One can remember the fuss when Canadian snipers in Afghanistan were accused of mocking and amputating the fingers of Taliban they killed — sort of keepsake trophies. This accusation went nowhere, but was a reminder that snipers have their own foibles.
More on link

Roadside bomb injures 5 Afghan police
Article Link

At least five Afghan policemen have been injured in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost, officials say.

The blast took place on Monday morning when a police vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Mando Zayi district near the Khost city.

Official said that the injured policemen were transferred to a hospital in the city for treatment.

Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that the five policemen were killed during the attack.
More on link

Faint glimmers on Afghan horizon
Article Link
By Haroon Siddiqui Editorial Page

It’s a heartwarming story — that of Roya Shams, the 17-year-old Afghan girl, who has come to Canada on a student visa with the help of the Star’s veteran foreign correspondent Paul Watson and our editor-in-chief Michael Cooke. After her studies here, she hopes to return home to be a politician. Especially admirable is her courage, standing up to the Taliban who do not want girls going to school and who killed her father, a police officer, last year.

The story illustrates the nature of the antediluvian Taliban.

It is also a stark reminder that they are holding significant pockets of the Afghan population hostage — right under NATO’s nose.

Propaganda aside, the Afghan mission, into its 11th year and destined to go for at least two more, has been an unmitigated disaster — for the U.S., for Canada, for other allies and, especially, the Afghan people.
More on link

Afghan schoolgirl Roya faced down police in Kandahar airport
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN—We were two foreign men travelling with an Afghan schoolgirl, trying to ignore the death stares from other passengers in Kandahar airport, when two policemen swaggered up and sat down.

Star editor Michael Cooke and I were close to completing a sometimes perilous mission to get Roya Shams, 17, out of Afghanistan and to Canada so she could continue her education free from war and oppression.

For five months, a small but growing community of people who shared Roya’s dream has joined the Star’s effort to get Roya to Ottawa, where she will attend Ashbury College, a prestigious private school, with students from more than 30 countries.

The Afghan police at Kandahar airport had other ideas.

To fulfill the wish of her father, a former district police chief killed by the Taliban during a July raid in Kandahar city, Roya is working to become a politician, to wage a peaceful struggle for basic rights and democracy.

The cops wanted to block her escape to freedom this week, but she handled them with such poise that Roya looked like a political veteran in a country where threats and violence come with the job.

I recognized one of the policemen from a previous visit when my flight out of Kandahar had been cancelled and I couldn’t call for a ride back to the guesthouse because my cell phone wasn’t working.
More on link