KABUL, Afghanistan - Bomb strikes killed two NATO soldiers - a Briton and a Norwegian - while a rocket attack at the major international military base in southern Afghanistan wounded eight other international troops, officials said yesterday....
The violence came three days before a London conference on Afghanistan that is expected to focus on a government plan to reintegrate Taliban militants willing to lay down their arms.
The top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, said the Taliban could be part of a peace agreement if an influx of 37,000 foreign troops succeeds in bringing stability to the country. “As a soldier, my personal feeling is that there’s been enough fighting, and that what we need to do, all of us, is to do the fighting necessary to shape conditions where people can get on with their lives,’’ he said in an interview published yesterday in the Financial Times. “I think any Afghans can play a role if they focus on the future, and not the past.’’
Ten-hut! ABOUT FACE! Harch!
Officials have said the program would allow individuals to lay down their arms while top Taliban leaders are urged to negotiate peace. The Taliban leadership has rejected talks as long as foreign forces remain in Afghanistan....
--more--""Bomber hits US base in Kabul; 14 hurt in attack ahead of UK talks on Afghan policy" by Rahim Faiez, Associated Press | January 27, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide car bomber struck a barrier outside a US base in the city yesterday, wounding six Afghans and eight American soldiers hours after gunmen killed four policemen in southern Afghanistan.
The car bombing was the latest attack to hit Kabul, occurring a little more than a week after a team of Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers staged an assault that paralyzed the city and left 12 people dead.
Related: Afghanistan: Camps, Crops, and Combat
The violence has underscored fears that militants would stage attacks ahead of a key international conference on Afghanistan to be held tomorrow in London.
So give generously, please.
The bomber detonated a minivan packed with explosives near Camp Phoenix, an American base inside Kabul, wounding at least six Afghan civilians, said Jamil Jumbish, the head of Afghanistan’s criminal investigation unit. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was targeting an international military convoy, according to a text message to the Associated Press from a phone number commonly used by the militant group.
Pffft! Can't track or trace 'em like they do us?
NATO forces confirmed a car bomb struck outside the main gate of Camp Phoenix, saying it was aimed at a civilian convoy that was entering the controlled checkpoint. Eight American service members suffered minor injuries, according to a statement. Four Afghan policemen were killed overnight at a checkpoint near the Information and Cultural Affairs Ministry’s directorate in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province....
Taliban militants frequently target Afghan security forces and officials to undermine the US-backed government, but authorities said it was not yet clear who killed the policemen. Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the officers apparently had visitors and an investigation was underway into whether the attack was political or personal.
In eastern Kunar Province, a NATO air strike killed several suspected insurgents who were maneuvering into fighting position in an area previously used to stage attacks on international forces, the coalition said in a statement. A spokeswoman, Major Virginia McCabe, said five to 10 militants were killed.
Yeah, BURY the AIR STRIKE in the middle of the piece!
President Hamid Karzai said yesterday that the London conference offers a major opportunity for his government to present its plans for reconciliation in an effort to drain the insurgency of support. Karzai spoke yesterday in Turkey after a meeting of nations that seek to help Afghanistan emerge from instability with aid, trade, training, and political support. Delegates included Foreign Secretary David Miliband of Britain; Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi of China; and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said yesterday that her country plans to increase its troop contingent in Afghanistan by up to 850 and focus more strongly on training local security forces. Germany has nearly 4,300 soldiers in northern Afghanistan. They serve under a parliamentary mandate that sets the maximum number at 4,500; Merkel did not specify what the new limit might be.
We want OUT and the wars are ESCALATED!!!
In Kabul, meanwhile, security officials gave the first detailed account of how a small group of militants infiltrated the capital in the Jan. 18 attack on government buildings and a major shopping center, which left five civilians and Afghan security forces dead, along with the seven assailants. Intelligence officials played a videotape for reporters from a man who is accused of sheltering the seven attackers.
Oh, WHOOP-DEE-DO!!!!
The alleged ringleader, who was arrested a day after the attack, said operatives from the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani militant network ordered him to the capital from his home in eastern Nangarhar Province. “I received a phone call telling me to come to Kabul,’’ said Kamaluddin, who like many Afghans goes by one name....
Pfffft!
"NATO-Afghan strike kills 11 militants" by Kim Gamel, Associated Press | January 28, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan - A joint NATO-Afghan assault in northern Afghanistan killed 11 suspected Taliban militants yesterday, including two senior commanders, police said.
The operation, which involved attack aircraft and ground forces, targeted a Taliban compound west of the capital of Baghlan Province, according to General Kabir Andarabi, provincial police chief. NATO did not comment on the report, saying it could not discuss ongoing operations.
Andarabi said no civilian casualties were reported. He said a police source confirmed that 11 militants were killed in the operation near Pul-e-Khumri. The attack occurred on the eve of an international conference on Afghanistan to be held in London that is expected to focus on a government reconciliation plan aimed at persuading some Taliban militants to switch sides.
In a related development, five former Taliban officials were removed from a UN sanctions list earlier this week....
See: U.N. Says Taliban Not Terrorists
Yeah, turns out they are just the people that happen to live there.--more--"
Then they toss in a Slow Saturday Special, too:
"US worker, 2 service members killed in Afghanistan, NATO says" by Kim Gamel, Associated Press | January 30, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan - Two US service members and a US employee were killed yesterday in eastern Afghanistan, pushing the American death toll this month to 29.
NATO announced the deaths in a brief statement that did not say whether the three were killed by hostile fire or an accident. It said the case was under investigation and no further information was available at this time....
Also yesterday, Afghan troops backed by British soldiers and NATO helicopter gun ships repelled an attack by Taliban fighters armed with machine guns and suicide vests in the heart of a major city in southern Afghanistan, witnesses and officials said. Six militants were killed and six government forces wounded in the assault on Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand Province.
The assault occurred nearly two weeks after a similar attack in the Afghan capital of Kabul, part of a Taliban campaign to undermine public confidence in the government’s ability to provide security. The violence occurred a day after President Hamid Karzai reached out to the Taliban, announcing he would convene a peace conference to discuss proposals and would reach out to foot soldiers....
The outgoing UN envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide of Norway, reportedly met with members of the Taliban leadership this month to discuss the possibility of peace talks with the government.
Translation: the U.N. is getting ready to leave.
“He wanted to test for himself and get his own conclusion about the mind-set of some of the Taliban members as he is leaving the job he is in, but also in preparation for the London conference,’’ Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said of Eide’s meetings. “He is not going to be part of our efforts going forward.’’
So much for PEACE TALKS!!!
