Coalition soldier killed in Afghanistan
17 Jul 2006 Source: ITN
http://www.channel4.com/news/content/news-storypage.jsp?id=596121
A coalition soldier has been killed and 11 others wounded in heavy fighting with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.
Foreign troops operating in Tarin Kot district of Uruzgan province came under heavy fire after attacking and destroying a truck which insurgents were loading with mortar equipment, the US led coalition said in a statement.
The nationality of the dead soldier and of those wounded have not yet been released.
Daily Violence Is Now Routine in Afghanistan
By Benjamin Sand Islamabad 17 July 2006 VOICE OF AMERICA
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-07-17-voa13.cfm
Coalition forces in southeastern Afghanistan killed four suspected al-Qaida extremists Sunday, and a day later a suicide bomb blast in Helmand province has destroyed a local government office and killed three people. Isolated but continuous acts of violence have become a striking part of daily life in Afghanistan.
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai says the suicide bombing gutted the local justice department office in Lashkar Gah, capital of the southern province of Helmand. "The explosion collapsed the building and caused the killing of three persons and wounded eight," said Stanezai. Witnesses say the dead and wounded had to be dug from beneath the building's rubble.
More on link
Twelve dead in Afghanistan; terrorist suspect seized (2nd Roundup)
Jul 17, 2006,
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1181813.php/Twelve_dead_in_Afghanistan_terrorist_suspect_seized__2nd_Roundup_
Kabul - At least 12 people died Monday in clashes in Afghanistan, including a high-ranking justice official, four Afghan and coalition soldiers and four suspected fighters with the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
A suspected local terrorist leader, Amir Gul Hassanyar, was also detained over the weekend in the northern province of Kunduz, where a large weapons cache was also seized.
The Taliban-led insurgency has been rigorously intensifying in the southern provinces, where NATO forces are due to take over the command of the southern region from US-led coalition forces by end of this month. On Sunday, more than three dozen people were killed, including 27 Taliban militants.
More on link
Maintaining order in Afghanistan
Analysis By Alastair Leithead, in Helmand BBC News 17 July 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5188092.stm
The fighting in southern Afghanistan has been fierce and unrelenting, with British soldiers not just repelling fire, but battling for their lives against a determined enemy.
Clashes have consistently raged for hours in the desert heat - the UK forces have used everything from air strikes and artillery shells to hand grenades.
Soldiers only use hand grenades when their enemy is just metres away.
More on link
2 justice officials killed in Afghanistan
By AMIR SHAH Associated Press Writer The Associated Press - July 17, 2006
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4051746.html
KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide attacker killed two top justice officials and a third employee in their southern provincial office on Monday, while coalition troops killed four al-Qaida suspects in the east, officials said.
A grenade was thrown into a wedding party in southeastern Khost province late Sunday, killing one man and wounding 16, while Taliban militants blew up an empty boys' high school in neighboring Paktika province, police said.
More on link
Taleban 'energised' by UK troops
Saturday, 8 July 2006 - BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5160256.stm
Six Britons have died in the Helmand province in the last month
The presence of British troops in Afghanistan has "energised" the Taleban, the defence secretary says.
Des Browne said the "scale and nature" of the opposition became clear when UK troops were first deployed to Helmand.
More on link
Heavy Fighting in Afghanistan; 100 Taliban Members killed
Written by The Media Line Staff Monday, July 17, 2006
http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=14406
As fighting continues between the American-led coalition in Afghanistan and the Islamist forces of the Taliban, reports indicate that Taliban has lost some 100 fighters since last Thursday.
During Monday's battles in the southern province of Helmand, 37 Taliban fighters were killed and 22 were wounded.
More on link
Taleban will be broken by year-end: Afghan minister
(Reuters) 17 July 2006 - Khaleej Times Online
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/July/subcontinent_July589.xml§ion=subcontinent
SINGAPORE - NATO and Afghan forces will be able to break the back of Taleban resistance in southern Afghanistan before the end of this year, the country’s defence minister said in an interview published on Monday.
General Rahim Abdul Rahim Wardak told the Financial Times in Kabul Afghan intelligence had learned that the Taleban’s command and control structure was fragmenting due to heavy losses and many mid-ranking commanders were fleeing to safety in Pakistan.
“I think that in the next two or three months there will be some major changes,” Wardak said, predicting that by November Taleban militants would have lost steam
More on link
Afghanistan: Tactics and techniques
Tuesday, 11 July 2006 BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5147832.stm
International forces in Afghanistan are facing mounting security problems. The Taleban - ousted from Kabul in the 2001 US-led invasion - have regrouped over the last couple of years, and are now a resurgent force in the south and east of the country.
Although there are no reliable estimates of their current manpower, Taleban tactics are nothing new.
Their fighters follow exactly the same principles of low-level guerrilla warfare as the mujahideen fighters who inflicted heavy losses on the Soviet army which occupied Afghanistan from 1979-89.
More on link
4 al-Qaida suspects killed, 3 captured in southeastern Afghanistan Canadian Press
Published: Monday, July 17, 2006
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=6ee89163-66d8-459e-8842-92eaf5bf7166&k=48538
KABUL (AP) - Coalition forces killed four al-Qaida suspects and captured three others in southeastern Afghanistan on Monday, while a roadside bomb killed three Afghan soldiers in the south, officials said.
Suspected Taliban militants also blew up a boy's high school in the southeast early Monday, but there were no casualties, a provincial official said. Coalition soldiers raided a terrorist hideout near the village of Pelan Kheyl in Khost province, which borders Pakistan, hunting an al-Qaida operational leader, a U.S. military statement said.
Four suspected al-Qaida members were killed in the raid, but it was unclear whether the target was among them. Three other al-Qaida members were arrested and a weapons cache was destroyed, the statement said. The nationalities of the killed and detained suspects were unclear.
More on link
Bomber Kills 4 in Afghanistan; Coalition Forces Clash With Taliban
By REUTERS Published: July 17, 2006 New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/17/world/asia/17afghan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 16 (Reuters) — A suicide bomber struck outside a government building in Afghanistan on Sunday, killing three civilians and an Afghan soldier, as the American-led coalition pushed on with a big offensive in the volatile south
More on link
U.S. Reaches Deal With Kyrgyzstan for Continued Use of Air Base
By THOM SHANKER - Published: July 15, 2006 -
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/15/world/asia/15military.html
WASHINGTON, July 14 — The United States and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement on Friday to allow American and coalition military aircraft to continue using a Kyrgyz air base to support operations in Afghanistan, government officials said.
The Kyrgyz government had threatened to evict American and coalition airplanes — mostly refueling and transport craft — from the base, at Manas, if the United States did not sign an agreement to pay higher rent and service fees.
An official statement issued in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, announcing the resolution of the issue did not say how much the United States would pay for continued use of the base.
“The United States will compensate equitably the Kyrgyz government and Kyrgyz businesses for goods, services and other support of U.S. operations,” Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said on Friday.
He said the United States expected More on link
UK troops attacked in Afghanistan
16 July 2006, 23:02 GMT 00:02 UK BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5186000.stm
British troops took fire from Taleban fighters hiding in a hospital
British troops say they have come under fire from Taleban fighters hiding in a hospital in southern Afghanistan.
A military statement said forces in Helmand province defending a government compound were under sustained attack.
More on link
Extra UK troops arrive in Kabul
BBC News Thursday, 13 July 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5177608.stm
The first of 1,000 additional UK troops to be sent to the lawless Helmand province in Afghanistan have arrived in the country.
More than 3,000 British troops have been deployed to Afghanistan since May. The current deployment will boost numbers to 4,500.
They are there to combat the resurgent Taleban, the drug trade, and help reconstruction efforts.
It comes after six UK soldiers were killed in Helmand in the past month.
The 1,000 troops are primarily made up of infantry and engineers and are part of a strengthened Nato force.
More on link
Mortar attacks becoming routine for troops in Afghanistan
Some use humor to cope with life in combat zone
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes, Monday, July 17, 2006
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=38678
Leo Shane III / Stars & Stripes
Staff Sgt. James Hilton, left, and Sgt. 1st Class Leslie Zaricor, both of the Army’s 1st Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment, chat beside bunkers near their barracks the day after two mortar rounds struck Kandahar Airfield. Troops here say the attacks are becoming more annoying than frightening.
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — The first thing Sgt. Ken Moore did when he heard the two mortar rounds slam into camp was sprint for his unit’s bunker.
Once he got there, he wished he had remembered his PlayStation
More on link
Dr. Spanta wants good ties with Pakistan amid war on terror
Monday July 17, 2006 Pak Tribune
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=150037
KABUL: Afghan Foreign Minister Dr. Rangeen Dadfar Spanta has stressed the need of good ties with Pakistan in war on terror and joint stance and common language between the EU, America and other countries.
He expressed these views while talking in a press conference after his arrival from US here on Saturday.
He reported that he had discussed Afghanistan problems; terrorism and the elements involved in terrorism with US officials and EU leaders and that they had a complete harmony of views on these issues.
He underscored that the US officials back Karzai’s government because the actual problem of Afghanistan is the maintenance of corrupt-free government where the human rights especially women rights are valued and law is obeyed.
More on link
Cost of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to top $500 billion in 2007
Thursday June 29, 2006 Pak Tribune
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=148346
KABUL: The costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq wil pass the $500 billion mark next year, says a Congressional Research Service report, the National Journal’s CONGRESS DAILY has reported today.
The Congressional Research Service is a non-partisan arm of Congress. Excerpts from the registration restricted article follow:.
The overall cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other global anti-terror operations since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will top $500 billion next year, according to congressional estimates and expectations of future funding.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said in a report that through the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30, the government will have spent $437 billion on overseas military and foreign aid funding. That includes the latest supplemental spending bill signed into law this month, which provided $69 billion for the war effort.
More on link
Iranian manufactured tractors to capture Afghanistan's market
Kabul, July 16, IRNA Islamic Republic News Agency - Iran
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607166192193923.htm
Iran-Afghanistan-Tractors
A Iranian economic delegation arrived here Sunday in Kabul to conduct market survey for large-scale sales of Iranian manufactured tractors.
Representative from Iran's Tractor Manufacturing Company Darband Azar told reporters that the Iranian economic delegation is to meet officials from Afghan ministries of commerce, agriculture and finance to pave the way for export of Iranian made tractors to Afghanistan.
In the first phase of such contract, some 2,000 tractors are to be exported to Afghanistan on an installment basis, he said.
Most Afghan farmers use traditional equipment and tools which do not meet the demand of ever increasing population in the country.
More on link
AFGHANISTAN: Drought leaves thousands destitute
17-07-2006 - KALAT, (IRIN) - Muslim News
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=11381
Hundreds of families in southern Afghanistan have been displaced by a drought.
Abdul Ahad, 40, said it had forced him out of his village in the Seyourray district of the southern province of Zabul. He lost his cattle, wheat and grapes when his village well ran dry four months ago.
"Everything I planted there is now dead due to the harsh drought this year," Ahad, a father-of-six, said on Sunday from Kalat city, capital of Zabul province, where he and his destitute family had just arrived.
He said that he desperately needed help to feed his malnourished family and to find somewhere to live.
More on link
Pakistan: US set to notify on F-16 deal
29-06-2006 - Muslim News
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=11278
WASHINGTON, Dawn: The US administration plans to officially notify the Congress within 24 hours of its intention to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, according to official sources.
They told Dawn once the notification was issued, the Congress would have 30 days to reject the offer but if it failed to do so, the deal would be considered endorsed.
On March 25, 2005, the US announced a dramatic shift in its arms sale policy to South Asia by unveiling plans to sell F-16 aircraft to Pakistan.
Pakistan has been frustrated for years in its desire to buy new F-16s for its air force, which already has 32 aircraft of older models.
The US Congress cancelled a sale of about two dozen F-16s to Pakistan in 1,990 because of differences over Islamabad’s nuclear programme.
But Washington began to reconsider Islamabad’s request for the fighter jets after the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attack when Pakistan became a key ally in the US-led war against terrorism.
More on link
Afghanistan must never become Britain’s Vietnam
Monday 17th July, 2006 - Arabic News
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=100032
LONDON: The two excellent articles by Brian Brady highlight the total failure of the government and the Ministry of Defence to appreciate the real needs of the army in Afghanistan to conduct the campaign against the Taliban (’Cabinet rift as more troops set to fight Taliban’, ’Fighting a losing battle’, July 9).
Yet again senior generals in the MoD have weakly agreed to reduce the number of infantry battalions in the army when the one crucial element so desperately needed in Afghanistan is to have infantry soldiers on the ground. The Army Board must be bitterly regretting cutting four badly needed battalions from the army establishment.
Neither the government nor the generals seem prepared to take any account of the history of warfare in Afghanistan. Britain suffered terrible defeats at the hands of local tribesmen in the past and the recent experiences of Russian forces should surely have given the generals a clear signal that this was going to be a deployment that was going to be taxing in the extreme.
More on link
Coalition Didn't Kill Afghan Non-combatants
American Forces Press Service - Jul. 17, 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060716_5662.html
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2006 – Assessments from Helmand Province, Afghanistan, do not conclude that non-combatants were killed as a result of operations against extremists on July 12, according to coalition officials.
Extremists likely fabricated reports of civilian deaths as a propaganda ploy to discredit coalition forces and the government of Afghanistan, officials said today.
"We take great care to prevent and minimize any damage to property or injury to law-abiding citizens," said Col. Tom Collins, a coalition spokesman for Combined Forces Command Afghanistan. "We will continue in our operations to defeat those who attempt to impose their will upon the local population through intimidation and fear.
"We also call on the citizens of Helmand to cooperate with the coalition to defeat extremists who offer nothing for the betterment of the people," Collins continued. "Until such time as a sufficiently safe and secure environment is established in Helmand province, development prospects will remain limited and the population's quality of life will remain low."
More on link
Coalition Forces Kill Terrorists, Strike Taliban Commander
American Forces Press Service - Jul. 17, 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060717_5672.html
WASHINGTON, July 17, 2006 – Coalition forces in Afghanistan had a long string of successes against terrorists during the last two days, military officials reported. They killed four suspected terrorists today, attacked the safe house of a known Taliban commander last night, thwarted a terrorist attack from a hospital yesterday, and confiscated a large weapons cache yesterday.
Coalition forces killed four suspected al Qaeda terrorists, detained three suspected al Qaeda terrorists and destroyed a weapons cache during an early morning raid today in Kwost province near the village of Pelan Kheyl. The operation was to capture or kill an al Qaeda operational leader who is a significant threat to Afghan and coalition forces in the Khowst province, officials said.
Elsewhere, Afghan and coalition forces attacked the safe house of a known Taliban commander in the Sangin district of Helmand province last night. A variety of intelligence assets identified the extremist's location before the compound was attacked with joint fire and the building destroyed, officials said. The commander's name will be withheld for security reasons until his death is confirmed, officials said.
More on link
Taliban Extremist Kills Five; 22 Wounded in Suicide Blast
American Forces Press Service July 17, 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060717_5671.html
WASHINGTON, July 17, 2006 – A suicide bomb attack in the Gardez district Afghanistan's of Paktia province killed five people and wounded up to 22 others, mostly innocent civilians, yesterday, military officials reported.
An extremist armed with a suicide vest detonated his explosives as an Afghan National Army patrol approached. One Afghan soldier and four Afghan civilians were killed in the blast. Two Afghan soldiers and up to 20 more innocent Afghan civilians were wounded by the explosion and transported to a local hospital for treatment. Several vehicles and structures also were damaged.
A coalition quick reaction force and explosive ordnance disposal team responded to the scene to help investigate and secure the site.
More on link
More on link
17 Jul 2006 Source: ITN
http://www.channel4.com/news/content/news-storypage.jsp?id=596121
A coalition soldier has been killed and 11 others wounded in heavy fighting with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.
Foreign troops operating in Tarin Kot district of Uruzgan province came under heavy fire after attacking and destroying a truck which insurgents were loading with mortar equipment, the US led coalition said in a statement.
The nationality of the dead soldier and of those wounded have not yet been released.
Daily Violence Is Now Routine in Afghanistan
By Benjamin Sand Islamabad 17 July 2006 VOICE OF AMERICA
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-07-17-voa13.cfm
Coalition forces in southeastern Afghanistan killed four suspected al-Qaida extremists Sunday, and a day later a suicide bomb blast in Helmand province has destroyed a local government office and killed three people. Isolated but continuous acts of violence have become a striking part of daily life in Afghanistan.
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai says the suicide bombing gutted the local justice department office in Lashkar Gah, capital of the southern province of Helmand. "The explosion collapsed the building and caused the killing of three persons and wounded eight," said Stanezai. Witnesses say the dead and wounded had to be dug from beneath the building's rubble.
More on link
Twelve dead in Afghanistan; terrorist suspect seized (2nd Roundup)
Jul 17, 2006,
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1181813.php/Twelve_dead_in_Afghanistan_terrorist_suspect_seized__2nd_Roundup_
Kabul - At least 12 people died Monday in clashes in Afghanistan, including a high-ranking justice official, four Afghan and coalition soldiers and four suspected fighters with the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
A suspected local terrorist leader, Amir Gul Hassanyar, was also detained over the weekend in the northern province of Kunduz, where a large weapons cache was also seized.
The Taliban-led insurgency has been rigorously intensifying in the southern provinces, where NATO forces are due to take over the command of the southern region from US-led coalition forces by end of this month. On Sunday, more than three dozen people were killed, including 27 Taliban militants.
More on link
Maintaining order in Afghanistan
Analysis By Alastair Leithead, in Helmand BBC News 17 July 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5188092.stm
The fighting in southern Afghanistan has been fierce and unrelenting, with British soldiers not just repelling fire, but battling for their lives against a determined enemy.
Clashes have consistently raged for hours in the desert heat - the UK forces have used everything from air strikes and artillery shells to hand grenades.
Soldiers only use hand grenades when their enemy is just metres away.
More on link
2 justice officials killed in Afghanistan
By AMIR SHAH Associated Press Writer The Associated Press - July 17, 2006
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4051746.html
KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide attacker killed two top justice officials and a third employee in their southern provincial office on Monday, while coalition troops killed four al-Qaida suspects in the east, officials said.
A grenade was thrown into a wedding party in southeastern Khost province late Sunday, killing one man and wounding 16, while Taliban militants blew up an empty boys' high school in neighboring Paktika province, police said.
More on link
Taleban 'energised' by UK troops
Saturday, 8 July 2006 - BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5160256.stm
Six Britons have died in the Helmand province in the last month
The presence of British troops in Afghanistan has "energised" the Taleban, the defence secretary says.
Des Browne said the "scale and nature" of the opposition became clear when UK troops were first deployed to Helmand.
More on link
Heavy Fighting in Afghanistan; 100 Taliban Members killed
Written by The Media Line Staff Monday, July 17, 2006
http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=14406
As fighting continues between the American-led coalition in Afghanistan and the Islamist forces of the Taliban, reports indicate that Taliban has lost some 100 fighters since last Thursday.
During Monday's battles in the southern province of Helmand, 37 Taliban fighters were killed and 22 were wounded.
More on link
Taleban will be broken by year-end: Afghan minister
(Reuters) 17 July 2006 - Khaleej Times Online
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/July/subcontinent_July589.xml§ion=subcontinent
SINGAPORE - NATO and Afghan forces will be able to break the back of Taleban resistance in southern Afghanistan before the end of this year, the country’s defence minister said in an interview published on Monday.
General Rahim Abdul Rahim Wardak told the Financial Times in Kabul Afghan intelligence had learned that the Taleban’s command and control structure was fragmenting due to heavy losses and many mid-ranking commanders were fleeing to safety in Pakistan.
“I think that in the next two or three months there will be some major changes,” Wardak said, predicting that by November Taleban militants would have lost steam
More on link
Afghanistan: Tactics and techniques
Tuesday, 11 July 2006 BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5147832.stm
International forces in Afghanistan are facing mounting security problems. The Taleban - ousted from Kabul in the 2001 US-led invasion - have regrouped over the last couple of years, and are now a resurgent force in the south and east of the country.
Although there are no reliable estimates of their current manpower, Taleban tactics are nothing new.
Their fighters follow exactly the same principles of low-level guerrilla warfare as the mujahideen fighters who inflicted heavy losses on the Soviet army which occupied Afghanistan from 1979-89.
More on link
4 al-Qaida suspects killed, 3 captured in southeastern Afghanistan Canadian Press
Published: Monday, July 17, 2006
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=6ee89163-66d8-459e-8842-92eaf5bf7166&k=48538
KABUL (AP) - Coalition forces killed four al-Qaida suspects and captured three others in southeastern Afghanistan on Monday, while a roadside bomb killed three Afghan soldiers in the south, officials said.
Suspected Taliban militants also blew up a boy's high school in the southeast early Monday, but there were no casualties, a provincial official said. Coalition soldiers raided a terrorist hideout near the village of Pelan Kheyl in Khost province, which borders Pakistan, hunting an al-Qaida operational leader, a U.S. military statement said.
Four suspected al-Qaida members were killed in the raid, but it was unclear whether the target was among them. Three other al-Qaida members were arrested and a weapons cache was destroyed, the statement said. The nationalities of the killed and detained suspects were unclear.
More on link
Bomber Kills 4 in Afghanistan; Coalition Forces Clash With Taliban
By REUTERS Published: July 17, 2006 New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/17/world/asia/17afghan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 16 (Reuters) — A suicide bomber struck outside a government building in Afghanistan on Sunday, killing three civilians and an Afghan soldier, as the American-led coalition pushed on with a big offensive in the volatile south
More on link
U.S. Reaches Deal With Kyrgyzstan for Continued Use of Air Base
By THOM SHANKER - Published: July 15, 2006 -
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/15/world/asia/15military.html
WASHINGTON, July 14 — The United States and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement on Friday to allow American and coalition military aircraft to continue using a Kyrgyz air base to support operations in Afghanistan, government officials said.
The Kyrgyz government had threatened to evict American and coalition airplanes — mostly refueling and transport craft — from the base, at Manas, if the United States did not sign an agreement to pay higher rent and service fees.
An official statement issued in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, announcing the resolution of the issue did not say how much the United States would pay for continued use of the base.
“The United States will compensate equitably the Kyrgyz government and Kyrgyz businesses for goods, services and other support of U.S. operations,” Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said on Friday.
He said the United States expected More on link
UK troops attacked in Afghanistan
16 July 2006, 23:02 GMT 00:02 UK BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5186000.stm
British troops took fire from Taleban fighters hiding in a hospital
British troops say they have come under fire from Taleban fighters hiding in a hospital in southern Afghanistan.
A military statement said forces in Helmand province defending a government compound were under sustained attack.
More on link
Extra UK troops arrive in Kabul
BBC News Thursday, 13 July 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5177608.stm
The first of 1,000 additional UK troops to be sent to the lawless Helmand province in Afghanistan have arrived in the country.
More than 3,000 British troops have been deployed to Afghanistan since May. The current deployment will boost numbers to 4,500.
They are there to combat the resurgent Taleban, the drug trade, and help reconstruction efforts.
It comes after six UK soldiers were killed in Helmand in the past month.
The 1,000 troops are primarily made up of infantry and engineers and are part of a strengthened Nato force.
More on link
Mortar attacks becoming routine for troops in Afghanistan
Some use humor to cope with life in combat zone
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes, Monday, July 17, 2006
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=38678
Leo Shane III / Stars & Stripes
Staff Sgt. James Hilton, left, and Sgt. 1st Class Leslie Zaricor, both of the Army’s 1st Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment, chat beside bunkers near their barracks the day after two mortar rounds struck Kandahar Airfield. Troops here say the attacks are becoming more annoying than frightening.
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — The first thing Sgt. Ken Moore did when he heard the two mortar rounds slam into camp was sprint for his unit’s bunker.
Once he got there, he wished he had remembered his PlayStation
More on link
Dr. Spanta wants good ties with Pakistan amid war on terror
Monday July 17, 2006 Pak Tribune
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=150037
KABUL: Afghan Foreign Minister Dr. Rangeen Dadfar Spanta has stressed the need of good ties with Pakistan in war on terror and joint stance and common language between the EU, America and other countries.
He expressed these views while talking in a press conference after his arrival from US here on Saturday.
He reported that he had discussed Afghanistan problems; terrorism and the elements involved in terrorism with US officials and EU leaders and that they had a complete harmony of views on these issues.
He underscored that the US officials back Karzai’s government because the actual problem of Afghanistan is the maintenance of corrupt-free government where the human rights especially women rights are valued and law is obeyed.
More on link
Cost of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to top $500 billion in 2007
Thursday June 29, 2006 Pak Tribune
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=148346
KABUL: The costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq wil pass the $500 billion mark next year, says a Congressional Research Service report, the National Journal’s CONGRESS DAILY has reported today.
The Congressional Research Service is a non-partisan arm of Congress. Excerpts from the registration restricted article follow:.
The overall cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other global anti-terror operations since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will top $500 billion next year, according to congressional estimates and expectations of future funding.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said in a report that through the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30, the government will have spent $437 billion on overseas military and foreign aid funding. That includes the latest supplemental spending bill signed into law this month, which provided $69 billion for the war effort.
More on link
Iranian manufactured tractors to capture Afghanistan's market
Kabul, July 16, IRNA Islamic Republic News Agency - Iran
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607166192193923.htm
Iran-Afghanistan-Tractors
A Iranian economic delegation arrived here Sunday in Kabul to conduct market survey for large-scale sales of Iranian manufactured tractors.
Representative from Iran's Tractor Manufacturing Company Darband Azar told reporters that the Iranian economic delegation is to meet officials from Afghan ministries of commerce, agriculture and finance to pave the way for export of Iranian made tractors to Afghanistan.
In the first phase of such contract, some 2,000 tractors are to be exported to Afghanistan on an installment basis, he said.
Most Afghan farmers use traditional equipment and tools which do not meet the demand of ever increasing population in the country.
More on link
AFGHANISTAN: Drought leaves thousands destitute
17-07-2006 - KALAT, (IRIN) - Muslim News
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=11381
Hundreds of families in southern Afghanistan have been displaced by a drought.
Abdul Ahad, 40, said it had forced him out of his village in the Seyourray district of the southern province of Zabul. He lost his cattle, wheat and grapes when his village well ran dry four months ago.
"Everything I planted there is now dead due to the harsh drought this year," Ahad, a father-of-six, said on Sunday from Kalat city, capital of Zabul province, where he and his destitute family had just arrived.
He said that he desperately needed help to feed his malnourished family and to find somewhere to live.
More on link
Pakistan: US set to notify on F-16 deal
29-06-2006 - Muslim News
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=11278
WASHINGTON, Dawn: The US administration plans to officially notify the Congress within 24 hours of its intention to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, according to official sources.
They told Dawn once the notification was issued, the Congress would have 30 days to reject the offer but if it failed to do so, the deal would be considered endorsed.
On March 25, 2005, the US announced a dramatic shift in its arms sale policy to South Asia by unveiling plans to sell F-16 aircraft to Pakistan.
Pakistan has been frustrated for years in its desire to buy new F-16s for its air force, which already has 32 aircraft of older models.
The US Congress cancelled a sale of about two dozen F-16s to Pakistan in 1,990 because of differences over Islamabad’s nuclear programme.
But Washington began to reconsider Islamabad’s request for the fighter jets after the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attack when Pakistan became a key ally in the US-led war against terrorism.
More on link
Afghanistan must never become Britain’s Vietnam
Monday 17th July, 2006 - Arabic News
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=100032
LONDON: The two excellent articles by Brian Brady highlight the total failure of the government and the Ministry of Defence to appreciate the real needs of the army in Afghanistan to conduct the campaign against the Taliban (’Cabinet rift as more troops set to fight Taliban’, ’Fighting a losing battle’, July 9).
Yet again senior generals in the MoD have weakly agreed to reduce the number of infantry battalions in the army when the one crucial element so desperately needed in Afghanistan is to have infantry soldiers on the ground. The Army Board must be bitterly regretting cutting four badly needed battalions from the army establishment.
Neither the government nor the generals seem prepared to take any account of the history of warfare in Afghanistan. Britain suffered terrible defeats at the hands of local tribesmen in the past and the recent experiences of Russian forces should surely have given the generals a clear signal that this was going to be a deployment that was going to be taxing in the extreme.
More on link
Coalition Didn't Kill Afghan Non-combatants
American Forces Press Service - Jul. 17, 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060716_5662.html
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2006 – Assessments from Helmand Province, Afghanistan, do not conclude that non-combatants were killed as a result of operations against extremists on July 12, according to coalition officials.
Extremists likely fabricated reports of civilian deaths as a propaganda ploy to discredit coalition forces and the government of Afghanistan, officials said today.
"We take great care to prevent and minimize any damage to property or injury to law-abiding citizens," said Col. Tom Collins, a coalition spokesman for Combined Forces Command Afghanistan. "We will continue in our operations to defeat those who attempt to impose their will upon the local population through intimidation and fear.
"We also call on the citizens of Helmand to cooperate with the coalition to defeat extremists who offer nothing for the betterment of the people," Collins continued. "Until such time as a sufficiently safe and secure environment is established in Helmand province, development prospects will remain limited and the population's quality of life will remain low."
More on link
Coalition Forces Kill Terrorists, Strike Taliban Commander
American Forces Press Service - Jul. 17, 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060717_5672.html
WASHINGTON, July 17, 2006 – Coalition forces in Afghanistan had a long string of successes against terrorists during the last two days, military officials reported. They killed four suspected terrorists today, attacked the safe house of a known Taliban commander last night, thwarted a terrorist attack from a hospital yesterday, and confiscated a large weapons cache yesterday.
Coalition forces killed four suspected al Qaeda terrorists, detained three suspected al Qaeda terrorists and destroyed a weapons cache during an early morning raid today in Kwost province near the village of Pelan Kheyl. The operation was to capture or kill an al Qaeda operational leader who is a significant threat to Afghan and coalition forces in the Khowst province, officials said.
Elsewhere, Afghan and coalition forces attacked the safe house of a known Taliban commander in the Sangin district of Helmand province last night. A variety of intelligence assets identified the extremist's location before the compound was attacked with joint fire and the building destroyed, officials said. The commander's name will be withheld for security reasons until his death is confirmed, officials said.
More on link
Taliban Extremist Kills Five; 22 Wounded in Suicide Blast
American Forces Press Service July 17, 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060717_5671.html
WASHINGTON, July 17, 2006 – A suicide bomb attack in the Gardez district Afghanistan's of Paktia province killed five people and wounded up to 22 others, mostly innocent civilians, yesterday, military officials reported.
An extremist armed with a suicide vest detonated his explosives as an Afghan National Army patrol approached. One Afghan soldier and four Afghan civilians were killed in the blast. Two Afghan soldiers and up to 20 more innocent Afghan civilians were wounded by the explosion and transported to a local hospital for treatment. Several vehicles and structures also were damaged.
A coalition quick reaction force and explosive ordnance disposal team responded to the scene to help investigate and secure the site.
More on link
More on link
