News of the Day for Thursday, July 4, 2013

Four teenage girls killed by an explosion while fetching water in a village near Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand. As TOLO explains, "Insurgents commonly use Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) on roads to target Afghan and NATO vehicles, but often civilians fall victim to them due to their indiscriminate placement in frequently traveled areas."

Also in Lashkar Gah, a female police inspector is assassinated  in a drive-by shooting. This round-up story also reports two schoolboys killed by a roadside bomb in Paktika province.

For some reason, president John McCain is in Afghanistan today.

Rob Crilly, writing for The Telegraph, is pessimistic about women's rights in Afghanistan, the occasion of the assassination of the police inspector in Lashkar Gah today inspiring his thoughts. Excerpt:

There are more girls in school than under the Taliban, more women in the security forces and more laws to protect their safety. Good. Just one problem. In recent weeks and months these gains are not so much looking “fragile and reversible” as disappearing backwards – and fast.

Today’s tragic events in Helmand are just one example. Lieutenant Islam Bibi had survived the anger of her family, who expected the mother-of-three to stay at home, as well as her brother’s death threats to become a police officer. Her rise through the police ranks was frequently cited as an example of how things have changed for women.
Today she died in a hail of bullets, cut down as she left her home.

Three aid workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council are Kidnapped in Herat. The abductees are Afghan nationals; no-one has yet claimed responsibility.

News of the Day for Wednesday, July 3, 2013

(Whisker is traveling in remote realms today so I'm filling in. -- C)

U.S. air strike kills at least 16 in Pakistan. The dead are "suspected" of being members of the Haqqani Network. The Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry condemns the strike as counterproductive.

Afghan army chief of staff Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi says Pakistan controls the Afghan Taliban and could end the war in weeks if it wanted to. (Ouch!)

Court reverses the conviction of three men who had tortured a female relative because she refused to become a prostitute:

As word spread in Kabul on Wednesday, Western officials said they were still gathering details but would probably have a response in the coming days. Afghan women’s rights activists reacted with alarm, and said they would press to have the three defendants retried.

“There’s smoke coming out of my hair. I am so angry,” said Manizha Naderi, the executive director of Women for Afghan Women. “This poor girl was in the basement for months. If she wasn’t rescued, she would be dead. She was starved and burned and had her fingernails pulled out. How is this not attempted murder?”

Human rights advocates in Afghanistan and abroad condemn Karzai's latest appointments  to the Human Rights Commission, as International donors meet with Afghan officials to assess progress on the so-called Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework regarding human rights, corruption and good governance. Donors reaffirm commitment of $16 billion but express "concerns."

Taliban kill 3 Indian guest workers in Kabul.

War News for Tuesday, July 02, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related injury in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, July 2nd.


US military blocks access to Guardian website for troops in Afghanistan

Pakistan expects Iranian pipeline by 2014

23 die in suicide bombings in Iraq

981 killed in 163 bomb blasts across Pakistan in first half


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan militants armed with explosives and firearms attacked a NATO compound just outside of Kabul early Tuesday, killing seven people and wounding several others, according to a high-ranking police official. The seven killed include four private security guards from Nepal, one Afghan guard and two Afghan truck drivers waiting to get inside the compound when the attack began. Kabul provincial Police Chief Mohammad Ayuob Salangi said the attack was carried out by four men, one of whom rammed an explosive-laden truck into the compound's gate. The others were wearing suicide vests, Deputy Chief of Police Dawoud Amin told USA TODAY. All four were killed in the explosion and subsequent gun battle.

#2: unidentified people kidnapped a government official in Quetta on Monday.  In another incident, armed men kidnapped a section officer of the Home Department from Sariab Road of Quetta.

#3: Two cops were killed when unknown gunmen open fire on a police check post in Pishtakhara area of Peshawar on Monday. As per details, armed attackers were riding on motorcycles when they opened fire on a police check post in Pishtakhara area. The two policemen were killed on the spot. A passerby was also injured in the firing.

#4: One policeman and three militants were killed Tuesday morning as Taliban launched an attack on Afghan Local Police (ALP) checkpoints in northern province of Kunduz, an official said. "Taliban militants numbered eight or 10 raided ALP checkposts in Pul-e-Ahmad Khan area of Dashti Archi district Tuesday morning. The gunbattle claimed the lives of one cop and three militants," district administrative chief Sheikh Saddrodin told Xinhua. The remaining militants fled as the ALP forces repelled the attack in the province 250 km north of national capital Kabul, he noted.

#5: In a separate development, three civilians were killed as a vehicle touched off an IED in western Farah province, 695 km west of Kabul, Monday evening, a provincial police spokesman Fawad Haskari said Tuesday.

#6: At least five Afghan civilians were killed in two separate incidents in western Farah province of Afghanistan late Monday evening. A spokesman for provincial security commandment, Ahmad Fawad Askari confirming the report said at least three Afghan civilians were killed on Monday night after their vehicle struck with a roadside bomb in Pusht-e-Koh district. In the meantime two other civilians were killed in unknown gunmen attack in Pusht-e-Koh district on Monday evening, provincial security commandment spokesman Ahmad Fawak Askari said.

War News for Monday, July 01, 2013

Nearly 300 Afghan police killed in month

Blasts Kill Dozens in Pakistan During British Leader’s Visit


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan security forces shot dead a would-be suicide bomber in central Kabul on Monday outside an intelligence agency office and close to the EU mission, officials said. The attacker, who was wearing military uniform, was killed as he approached the National Directorate of Security (NDS) office early in the morning.

#2: A car bomb exploded as a convoy of paramilitary troops passed through the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar on Sunday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, police said. Most of the dead and wounded were civilians. The blast struck one vehicle in the convoy of paramilitary Frontier Corps troops, but the other passed by safely, said police official Shafiullah Khan.

#3: a regional police commander and three of his men were killed when their vehicle was hit with a roadside bomb in the country's north. Baghlan provincial police spokesman Jaweed Basharat said district commander Habinul Rahman was killed when the bomb exploded next to his vehicle while on patrol at about 11 a.m.
#4: In the western province of Badghis, 12 Taliban militants were killed in two days of fighting at three border security posts, provincial governor's spokesman Mirwas Mirzakwal said. Three policemen were wounded, but none were killed, he said.

#5: Unknown gunmen attacked a police check post situated on Ring Road and killed two policemen. DSP Banaras Circle told Geo News that the gunmen attacked the police check post near Abbas Terminal on Ring Road where the policemen were performing their duty. Three gunmen riding two motorcycles attacked the police check post and escaped after the attack.

#6: One person was killed and three sustained injuries as a vehicle hit the planted landmine by some unknown persons on Monday here, FP News Desk reported. Official sources said that a vehicle hit landmine planted beside the road in the bordering area Malikhel, which resulted in the death of one person and three injured. The injured were shifted to the nearby hospital.

#7: Twenty-two militants have been killed during military operations in different Afghan provinces within the last 24 hours, said the country's Interior Ministry on Monday morning. "Afghan National Police (ANP) with the cooperation of army, intelligence service and coalition forces conducted several cleanup operations in Nangarhar, Sari Pul, Jowzjan, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Logar, Paktiya, Farah, Helmand and Nimroz provinces over the last 24 hours. As a result 22 armed Taliban were killed and nine other Taliban were detained," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.

#8: In northern Kunduz province, a suicide attacker was killed when his explosive jacket went off prematurely earlier Monday morning. The killed militants were riding a motorcycle along a road in Dasht-e-Archi district in the province 250 km north of Kabul and no civilian was harmed in the bombing, the district administrative chief Sheikh Sadruddin told Xinhua. The target of the attacker remained unknown.

#9: A heavy explosion rocked northern Parwan province of Afghanistan on Monday. According to reports the explosion has taken place near the provincial governor’s compound after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in Charikar city. In the meantime Provincial governor spokesman Abdul Manan Kohistani said an explosion took place around 10:30am local time after an explosives packed in an oil tanker went off. Mr. Kohistani further added that at least three civilians were critically injured following the incident. He said the explosion took place near the provincial higher studies directorate.
 US/DoD: Sgt. Justin R. Rogers

News of the day for Sunday, June 30, 2013

NATO air strike said to kill 4 insurgents in Kandahar province. The story is written unclearly, but it appears they had ambushed a security convoy.

Afghan national police kill the Taliban "district governor" in Nimroz, and one of his aides, according to a statement.

Three civilians killed, 2 injured in roadside bombing in Zabul.

British PM David Cameron is in Pakistan promoting Afghan peace efforts. Pakistani PM Sharif says he supports the peace effort.

Cameron was previously in Afghanistan, where he heard Hamid Karzai accuse of Pakistan of wanting to see Afghanistan divided into "fiefdoms." Excerpt:

Speaking at a joint press conference with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, President Karzai said that, "We have heard rumors and we have seen efforts by some countries...For six months, there have been efforts underway to bring fiefdoms to Afghanistan." The Afghan President claimed that these efforts were being spearheaded by the Taliban, as well as foreign elements on the group's behalf assisting in "handing over one or two places to the Taliban."

"We have reports of Pakistan making such efforts. I don't know what Pakistan's benefit is in following an agenda of week governance in Afghanistan," added Karzai.

Afghan defense ministry claims to have killed 50 Taliban in Nangarhar. As usual, one is not sure what to make of these announcements, in which Afghan forces never seem to suffer any casualties whatever, nor do civilians.


 

War News for Saturday, June 29, 2013

US wasting millions on Afghan aircraft

British troops won't leave Afghanistan until the end of the decade reveals senior commander as Cameron visits the frontline


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan authorities say a suicide car bomber has attacked a NATO convoy, killing two Afghan civilians. The Farah provincial governor's spokesman Abdul Rahman Zhawandi said Saturday a man and woman on a motorcycle riding near the convoy were killed when the attacker struck Friday evening. Five civilians were wounded. Coalition forces spokesman Capt. Luca Carniel says no NATO forces were hurt in the attack, but did provide medical assistance to the wounded civilians.

#2: Elsewhere, in central Oruzgan province, police spokesman Fareed Ayal said 20 Taliban fighters and one police officer were killed in an operation late Friday.
#3: At least one person was killed and four more were injured in a rocket attack on a house located in Chief Minister Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah’s hometown, Khairpur, early on Saturday morning, Geo News reported. The police said the assailants fired a rocket at a house in Kot Daiji near Shanbani village, which killed a local landholder, Abdul Sattar Shanbani, and left four other occupants wounded.

#4: Seven Pakistani Taliban killed in by Afghan Security Forces in Nuristan province yesterday. The Taliban killed   in the Kamdish district along Durand Line when a group of them attacked on a police security post in the area. A police official in the eastern province of Nuristan said BNA; seven Pakistani nationals were killed in Kamdish district. According to him, Taliban aiming to capture Afghan security posts cross the Durand line but repulsed by Afghan forces. Security officials of Nuristan confirmed that two Afghan troops were wounded in the clash.

 
 

War News for Friday, June 28, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related injury in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, June 28th.


UK forces begin transfer of Afghan detainees


Reported security incidents
#1: At least three people including a woman were killed and ten others injured after unidentified men opened indiscriminate fire on shops in Kharadar, the old city area of Karachi on Friday. According to police, unidentified men riding on six motorcycles opened fires on shops near Mehran Bakery in Kharadar area, killing three people and injuring 10 others. A car and several shops also came under attack.
#2: Five Afghan civilians were killed as a roadside bomb struck a car in the eastern Laghman province on Thursday, a local official said. "A mine planted by militants struck a car in Omarzai area in the outskirt of provincial capital Mehterlam at around 03:00 p.m. local time today (Thursday), leaving five civilians dead and injured another," spokesman for provincial administration SarhadiZawak told Xinhua.