Saturday, October 9, 2010
Afghanistan After Ten Years of AmeriKan Occupation
KABUL, Afghanistan— The Afghan war enters its 10th year today, and this is no ordinary anniversary.
It is a deflating and difficult thing to any caring person on this planet.
With extra American troops now in place, this is the critical juncture to determine if President Obama’s revised war strategy will work and reverse Taliban momentum.
That's about the 832nd critical juncture over the last 10 years, sigh.
Key players are hedging their bets, uncertain whether the Obama administration is prepared to stay for the long haul, move quickly to exit an increasingly unpopular conflict, or something in between.
We ain't leaving; we never do.
Fearing that his Western allies may yet abandon him, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has started to prepare his nation for a withdrawal of international forces by shoring up relations with neighboring Pakistan and reaching out to insurgents interested in reconciliation.
Pakistan, America’s nominal ally, says it is fighting insurgents. But it still tolerates Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban militants hiding out on its soil — out of reach of US-led NATO ground forces.
Yeah, if we are going to invade and occupy Pakistan we need all those bases next door.
Public support for the war is slipping in the United States and Western Europe.
There IS NO MORE PUBLIC SUPPORT for ANY of THIS!!!
Already, the Netherlands has pulled out its troops, the first NATO country to do so. The Canadians leave next.
Just like Iraq!
Patience is fraying here as well. Afghans are tired of the violence and increasingly resentful of foreign forces. Many wonder why their quality of life has not markedly improved when their nation has been awash in billions of dollars of foreign aid....
It has actually GONE DOWN consider the LITTERING of the place with depleted uranium (among other things).
All this is very different from the near universal international support the Bush administration enjoyed when it launched attacks on Oct. 7, 2001....
I would just like to state once again for the record that I WAS one of the 7% OPPOSED to even that military action -- and not because of 9/11 truth. I believed the government and newspapers back then; I opposed the action on NONVIOLENT GROUNDS and PRINCIPLES.
My attitude and position was HOW WAS MORE VIOLENCE going to HELP? Those people in New York, etc, were ALREADY DEAD! How was MORE DEAD PEOPLE going to HELP?
As we have seen after 10 years, it NEVER DOES! No matter what you believe about 9/11 or anything else, it is a truism: VIOLENCE only BEGETS MORE VIOLENCE!
And when you LEARN ABOUT the TRUE FORCES behind 9/11 it only makes much more disgusting.
Looking back at the first years of the war, the effort was underfunded from the start.
Oh, is that how they are rewriting it now? SIGH!
When the Bush administration’s attention shifted to Iraq in 2003, the Taliban began to regroup. After several years of relative calm and safety, the situation in Afghanistan began to deteriorate around 2006. The Taliban have steadily gained strength since then. And bin Laden remains alive.
What was that?
See: No Longer Digging Up Dead Men
You know, if the PROPAGANDA PAPER will LIE ABOUT THAT it is LYING about EVERYTHING!
Obama ramped up the war this year, sending tens of thousands more troops.
Not the change we wanted, sir. That is why your poll numbers are in the Al Qaeda.
Casualties are running at their highest levels since 2001, when the Taliban were overthrown without a single American combat death....
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in June that the United States and its NATO partners have to show progress before the end of this year or face a decline in public support for the war.
You can't face a decline in something you don't have, Bob.
And progress in less than two months? HA!
I'm sure the pooh-pooh papers will claim such things; however, we no longer buy the BS!
There is plenty of frustration at the White House and in the Congress. In August, when Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, visited Kabul, he bluntly stated that if the Karzai government did not clean up corruption, it was going to be hard “to look American families in the eye and say, ‘Hey, that’s something worth dying for.’ ’’
Related: Karzai Kicks Out U.S. Contractors
Also see: Slow Saturday Special: Kerry Convinces Karzai to Keep Contractors
Tired of cover stories and mixed messages yet? !
On the battlefield, General David Petraeus, NATO’s top commander, is banking on his plan to protect heavily populated areas, rout the Taliban from their strongholds, and rush in better governance and development aid to win the Afghans’ loyalty away from the Taliban.
I'm offended by the word choice as well as the actual policy.
Time to be heading in the OTHER DIRECTION!
In February, NATO launched an offensive in Helmand Province, the largest military operation in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. Nearly eight months after US forces mounted a high-profile assault that ended Taliban control of the rural town of Marjah, Marines there are still clearing it.
Yeah, we were told they took it after three weeks and then, well....
Marines Lose Marjah
They never had it to lose.
There are signs governance is improving, though troops still face daily gun battles and an entrenched insurgency shows no signs of easing soon.
Well, when the U.S. government is also funded them.... sigh!!!!
Afghan and international forces now are boosting security in neighboring Kandahar Province....
That is what they call aggression when we do it.
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So how we doing these days, Amurkns?
KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents attacked a NATO and Afghan Army outpost in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, and at least 25 of the militants were killed in the resulting skirmish, officials said yesterday.
Troops at the combat outpost in the Spera district of Khost Province returned fire with mortars late Tuesday, killing 25 to 30 insurgents, NATO said in a statement. Initial reports found there were no civilian casualties.
General Raz Mohmmad Horya Khil, a senior commander of the Afghan National Army in the province, said 29 insurgents were killed. There were no casualties among NATO or Afghan troops, he said.
Horya Khil said the attack, coming from the Pakistan side of the border, was directed at the Mir Safar joint-NATO and Afghan Army camp and lasted for more than two hours. Helicopters were called in for support.
Bodies were being recovered....
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"3 NATO fighters slain in 2 bombings
KABUL — More than 30 insurgents died in a clash with coalition troops in eastern Afghanistan, the military alliance said yesterday. NATO also said it captured an insurgent commander linked to attacks on Afghan officials and violence during last weekend’s parliamentary elections, and killed another (AP)."
ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan — American and Afghan troops have begun the active combat phase of a military operation designed to drive the Taliban out of districts around the insurgent stronghold of Kandahar City, military officials said yesterday.
Code-named “Operation Dragon Strike,’’ the push is focusing on clearing the Taliban from three districts to the west and south of the city, said Brigadier General Josef Blotz, a NATO spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul. “We expect hard fighting.’’
They always come up with such cool names for these things.
The aim, he said, would be “destroying Taliban fighting positions so they will not have anywhere to hide.’’
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A military offensive was originally expected to begin in June. That offensive was downgraded to more of a joint civil-military effort after the military encountered problems in trying to pacify the much smaller city of Marja....
Winning over Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, is considered crucial to President Obama’s efforts to shift the balance of power in Afghanistan after the militants staged a comeback in recent years.
How can that be when we are killing and capturing so many?
During the last week of August, at the instigation of Afghan authorities, American troops supported a major push into the Mehlajat area on the southwest edge of Kandahar City, driving them from that area but with few casualties on either side.
Like they made us do it? Puh-leeze, corporate media!!
Blotz said the combat phase of Dragon Strike began five or six days ago in Arghandab, Zhari and Panjwye districts, with “shaping operations’’ preceding that for several weeks....
Yeah, the escalation has been occurring all summer.
Man, am I tired of being shoveled horse s*** as news.
In Arghandab, the inflow of troops has made it possible to begin trying to pacify an area where thick vegetation, irrigation canals, and pomegranate orchards provide good cover for Taliban insurgents, said Colonel Joe Krebs, the Second Brigade Combat team’s deputy commander....
Yeah, running those farm fields and communities will really win the people over.
Along with the military buildup has come a similar effort to increase the presence of US State Department employees, along with aid contractors paid by the Americans, staffing district stabilization teams in those key districts.
Related: A Diplomatic CIA
I now already assume that anyone who is mentioned in the newspaper and is connected to the U.S. government is CIA.
Why would you think any different?
The civilian buildup has not been as dramatic as the military one....
In a separate development yesterday, four aid workers for the US Agency for International Development were kidnapped by gunmen on one of the country’s major highways, according to embassy and police officials....
Related: Aid Workers Killed in Afghanistan
Btw, AID = CIA.
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Nobody much cared, either, for I never saw another word.
KABUL, Afghanistan — A NATO airstrike killed a senior Al Qaeda commander in eastern Afghanistan, officials said yesterday....
NATO said an air weapons team went in after the strike and confirmed that the targeted structure was destroyed....
Oh, then I'm convinced the NATO lie is the truth, aren't you?
Southern Afghanistan remains highly volatile. The operation has so far flushed militants out of Arghandab district, Afghan army Lieutenant Colonel Nabeullah Khan said. It has also cleared the area of mines, a major concern for residents, he said.
NATO said yesterday that it had detained several insurgents suspected of making bombs, and was searching for a Taliban leader believed to have led attacks on coalition forces in the area.
More psyops prop.
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KABUL, Afghanistan —Three Afghan civilians also died in the south in a suicide attack on a NATO convoy, a local official said. Nine other civilians were wounded in the bombing, which occurred near the airport in Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold. The suicide attacker detonated explosives while in his vehicle, causing the casualties, said Zulmai Ayubi, a spokesman for the Kandahar governor.
A NATO spokesman confirmed one Afghan death and said the blast caused substantial damage to buildings in the immediate area and left a significant crater in the highway. NATO said the wounded civilians were medically evacuated. One coalition vehicle was damaged in the attack, he said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
NATO confirmed yesterday that four Afghan civilians were killed and three were wounded during a coalition operation Wednesday in Andar district of Ghazni province in the east.
Yeah, somehow the mistakes never seem to matter.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO said yesterday that it captured several insurgent leaders in recent days and detained at least 438 suspected militants over the last month....
Then HOW in the WORLD are we LOSING?
You eventually reach the point where you realize it is the AmeriKan media that can not be believed.
Afghan and coalition forces also killed at least 15 insurgents in a firefight in eastern Kunar Province who were trying to set up an attack position, the coalition said. It said initial reports indicated there were no injuries to civilians.
That's what cover-ups, 'er, initial reports always say.
NATO said Afghan and international forces captured a senior Taliban leader based in the Panjwai district of Kandahar Province Thursday. A military operation called “Dragon Strike’’ is underway in Kandahar, the heartland of the Taliban insurgency, to clear the area of militants.
What if they live there?
The captured Taliban leader helped militants obtain weapons and bomb components and provided training and bed-down locations for the Taliban leadership, NATO said.
I no longer believe anything NATO says. Sorry.
NATO also said that Afghan and coalition security forces captured a Haqqani Network operative involved in explosive attacks and providing support to Taliban insurgents. He was captured in Khost, in the east near Pakistan, on Thursday.
Oh, NOW they are an OFFICIAL NETWORK with a CAPITAL N!
Related:
"Haqqani.... credited with introducing suicide bombing to the region.... cultivated as a "unilateral" asset of the CIA and received tens of thousands of dollars in cash for his work.... He may have had a role in expediting the escape of Osama Bin Laden.... In July 2008, CIA officials confronted Pakistan officials with evidence of ties between Inter-Services Intelligence and Haqqani. Haqqani has been accused of involvement in the 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul...."
The Haqqani Network is based in Pakistan and is believed to have links to Al Qaeda.
Really flogging that dead mule, aren't they?
Also in Khost, another Haqqani senior leader and six insurgents were killed in an operation Thursday, NATO said. It said the leader was directly involved in the planning and coordination of attacks against forward operating bases Salerno and Chapman in August in which more than 30 Haqqani Network insurgents were killed....
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We are so winning, huh?
"Karzai speech calls on Afghan troops; Wants his forces prepared to lead after US pullout" by Rahim Faiez, Associated Press | October 3, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — Separately yesterday, nine drug traffickers were sentenced to up to 17 years and given stiff fines by the Primary Court of the Criminal Justice Task Force for trafficking 41 pounds of heroin, 968 pounds of opium, and 24 pounds of hashish....
Psyops show.
The announcement was seen as part of Afghanistan’s effort to demonstrate it is cracking down on the illegal drug trade, which is a major source of revenue for the country’s insurgency.
And for money-laundering banks.
Also in the restive south, coalition forces said they found more than 1,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate in a village in the Arghandab district of Kandahar Province on Friday. They said more than 20 homemade bombs could have been made with the amount of material discovered.
That could also be fertilizer for the fields.
It was the second significant find of bomb-making material in Arghandab in two days. On Thursday, forces found more than 2,400 pounds of the same material.
Psyops prop.
NATO forces last week began an operation called Dragon Strike in areas around Kandahar to flush out militants and destroy their strongholds.
Six insurgents were killed by coalition troops Friday in Kandahar’s Zhari district.
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Related: NATO Kills Afghan Children in Several
KABUL, Afghanistan — Three explosions just minutes apart rocked Kandahar last night, killing up to four Afghan police officers in the nation’s largest city in the south....
Also yesterday, NATO said a joint Afghan-coalition unit launched a night mission that killed a senior Taliban leader....
An insurgent with the Haqqani network, which is responsible for attacking coalition and Afghan troops, was captured in an operation Sunday in eastern Khost Province, the alliance said. The Haqqani network is a Pakistan-based faction of the Taliban with close ties to Al Qaeda.
Btw, which "Al-CIA-Duh" would that be, huh?
The made-up "Al-CIA-Duh?"
Or the "Al-CIA-Duh" CREATION for the COURTROOM!?
Related:
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh and the OSI
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh's Greatest Hits
Prop 101: The "Terrorism" Business
New York Times Admits War on Terror is U.S. Creation
Oh, AmeriKa's MSM KNOWS ALL ABOUT and yet STILL PUSHES the CHARADE, huh?
Also see: Occupation Iraq: Israel's IEDs
Occupation Iraq: Israelis Killing U.S. Troops
Occupation Iraq: Israeli-Trained Death Squads
Plan B
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh and the OSI
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh's Greatest Hits
Prop 101: The "Terrorism" Business
Prop 102: Iraq and Government Lies
Al-CIA-Duh
Who Invented "Al-CIA-Duh?"
"Al-CIA-Duhs" Catch-and-Release Program
Asymmetrical Warfare Group
Operation Gladio
Operation Northwoods
Occupation Iraq: British Bombers
Occupation Iraq: America's Roadside Bombs
'The Salvador Option'
Special Police Commandos
Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group
Prop 201 tutorial
FRU
Islam's 9/11
Who is Bombing in Iraq? Are the bombers Al-Qaeda, the CIA or Israel?
How much more evidence do you need?
Israeli Mossad Role in Turkey Coup Plot Revealed
Israel funded "terrorist" groups through BCCI
AMIA was Mossad False-flag Operation
Mossad Agent killing Oz Tourists to steal their identity to use in fake Al-Qaeda operations
‘Mossad capable of US attack’: US Army officials
Iran hangs "terrorist" linked to Mossad
Montreal Averts Israeli Mossad Terrorist Attack
Israeli Mossad = al Qaeda?
Judiciary starts work on case of Mossad-linked terror group
Assassins caught on video reveals possible Mossad-Fatah link
Mossad funded Abu Nidal through BCCI
Mumbai: The Mossad Angle
Hamas Was Founded by Mossad
Israeli officer sells weapons to terrorists in Iraq
MOSSAD FALSE FLAG TERRORIST ATTACKS
Revealing information on Mossad terrorist acts worries Europeans
Mossad and Moving Companies: Masterminds of Global Terrorism?
Group that took credit for "Bandini Bomber" linked to Mossad.
MARRIOTT BOMB:Mossad pulls off another false-flag operation
Mossad Exposed in Phony`Palestinian Al-Qaeda' Caper
Mossad orchestrated Christmas Day bomb plot
British Broadsheet Links Mossad to 9/11
How Mossad Deceived the U.S. Military on 9/11
A Look at the Mossad's Assassination Squads
Army Captures 'Terrorist Ring' Working for Mossad
Lebanon's Army captures Israeli Mossad 'Terrorist Ring'
A bumbling Mossad hand suspected in Dubai assassination
Mossad stealing passports in Australia and NZ
Mossad supporting "Radical Muslim" groups.
Mossad-Linked Cell Arrested in South Lebanon
Mossad links to 1986 Berlin disco bombing
HUNDREDS OF MOSSAD AGENTS CAUGHT RUNNING WILD IN AMERICA!
Mossad-backed terror network in Lebanon
Mossad was found to be propping up 'Islamic terrorist' groups in mid-east.
Mossad implicated in a coup plot in Turkey, a NATO country
Mumbai Terror Attacks: The Mossad Angle
Mossad linked to "Jundollah" attacks, and kidnapping of Iranian border guards
Mossad behind Hindu terror group
Israeli Mossad Links To World Trade Center Attack
Abu Nidal - Mossad terrorist
'Terror' group in Iran linked to Mossad, CIA
Attack On US Embassy In Yemen Linked To Mossad
Mossad Black Ops and False Flags
Mossad linked to "Crotch Bomber"
Mossad linked to 9/11 attacks: Report
9-11 Mossad Agents Admit Mission: "Our Purpose Was To Document The Event"
Only people actually arrested on 9-11 were Israelis
Mossad Link Found to One of Key 9-11 Hijackers
Bush Administration Ignores Mossad-Al Qaeda Terrorist Link
Al Qaeda are really Mossad
Mossad linked to Ergenekon plot
Hezbollah infiltrated by Mossad, does Israel's bidding. Attacks when Israel needs excuse to invade Lebanon
Is Hizbullah a Mossad front?
Israel tricked the US into attacking Libya
When Israel attacked the USS Liberty they tried to frame Egypt for it.
The Lavon Affair: Israel has a history of faking terror attacks.
Israel creates and aids terror groups.
If HAMAS is so bad why did Israel create it? To demonize Palestinians?
Israel stages all these "terror" attacks to trick America into hating Israel's enemies.
Who are the "terrorists" again?
Qari Yousef Ahmadi, Taliban spokesman, accused NATO of engaging in a propaganda campaign to demoralize the insurgents’ by inventing Taliban leaders and alleging they were killed or captured.
We call it a PSYOP but it is the same thing.
Related: The Difference Between Propaganda and Public Relations
That clears that up anyhow.
In western Nimroz Province yesterday, a police convoy was ambushed in Khash Rod district, said General Abdul Jabar Pardeli, provincial police chief.
Five militants were killed, three wounded, and two captured during a gun battle, he said, adding that police suffered no casualties.
Looking for more money?
Related: The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: False Flags Flying High in Afghanistan
What happened to the convoy again?
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Two explosions rocked Kandahar yesterday, the second day of deadly blasts in the southern Afghan city where Taliban insurgents are fighting back against US and Afghan forces pushing into areas long held by the insurgents.
A car bomb and a second, smaller blast killed nine people, including one Afghan policeman, said Kandahar’s provincial health director, Qayum Pokhla. Another 26 people were wounded, including police officers.
On Monday night, three explosions, just minutes apart, killed three Afghan police officers in the city. When police gathered to tend to the wounded after the first blast, two more explosions occurred, said Zelmai Ayubi, spokesman for the provincial governor of Kandahar.
Also Monday, Noor Ahman, deputy mayor in Kandahar, was killed in an insurgent attack, and later in the day, Habibullah Aghonzada, a former district chief in Arghistan, was gunned down by assailants as he prayed in a packed mosque.
The NATO military coalition described the two as “dedicated public servants who sought to improve the lives of their fellow countrymen.’’
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Early yesterday in Arghandab district, outside Kandahar, NATO said it captured a Taliban leader suspected of coordinating attacks and arming Taliban fighters.
Trying to keep a grip on their stronghold, the Taliban are fighting with both weapons and rhetoric....
They have a newspaper, too?
The NATO coalition is fighting an uphill battle to win the allegiance of people in Kandahar.
“When only the Taliban were ruling our land there was peace and tranquillity. Since the Americans have set foot on our land, we don’t have work and our health is no better,’’ said Naseebullah Ghamjam, a 38-year-old laborer.
I can think of NO GREATER INDICTMENT of AmeriKa's occupation than that.
Also see: Taliban I Told You So
What do you mean they are just the people that live there?
Meanwhile, the civilian head of NATO’s civil-military mission in Helmand Province said that the government of the province is getting to its feet approximately eight months after NATO troops stormed a key Taliban stronghold there.
Yup, we are winning.
Lindy Cameron, who is also the UK’s senior representative in southern Afghanistan, said she has seen significant progress in the past six months and expects a strong and capable provincial government by year’s end.
Which dovetails with what Gates said!
How long are they going to hang that carrot out in front of you?
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"Suicide bombing in Afghan mosque kills governor, 18 others" by Deb Riechmann and Rahim Faiez, Associated Press | October 9, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — A powerful bomb killed an outspoken Afghan governor and 19 other worshipers in a crowded mosque yesterday in northern Afghanistan, where insurgents are trying to expand their influence beyond the embattled south.
Setting of bombs in mosque isn't going to help, cui bono?
"Now stop and think here for a moment. All revolutions depend on public support. Revolutionaries try to first win the people before they take on the government. So, no revolutionary goes out and murders civilians in cold blood. Did Washington and his men just mow down a marketplace of their fellow colonials for the heck of it? No, they did not. Washington and the Founding Fathers knew that their revolution to build a new country needed the support of those who would live in that country. This is true for every revolution in history. Therefore, these acts of terror being blamed on the insurgency must all be fakes, committed by intelligence agencies working for the governments to be blamed on the insurgents in order to destroy public support for the revolution." -- Wake the Flock Up
A wounded survivor said he believed a suicide bomber praying to the right of the governor carried out the attack, which wounded 35 people and took place in Taluqan, the capital of Takhar Province.
The death of Mohammad Omar, the governor of neighboring Kunduz Province, came days after he publicly warned of escalating threats from Taliban and foreign fighters across the north. If steps aren’t taken to counter them, Afghan and coalition forces will face disaster, he said....
Security has been deteriorating for the past two years in Kunduz and surrounding provinces — known hideouts for the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and fighters from other militant factions, including the Haqqani network, Hizb-i-Islami, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan....
After all the guys we have captured or killed?
Although there were no claims of responsibility for yesterday’s attack, insurgents clearly were targeting the Kunduz governor, said Governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa of Takhar.
“He was the target, and the terrorists were able to kill him,’’ Taqwa said. “This is a big loss for us because Mohammad Omar was a very brave and good governor.’’
Among those killed were university students who lived in a nearby dormitory, according to local officials.
Abdul Haq, who is living in Takhar preparing for a university entrance exam, said he was about 15 feet away from the governor. Both were kneeling in the front row of the packed mosque waiting for the mullah to turn back to the worshipers and end the prayers.
“Suddenly a very strong explosion happened,’’ Haq said over the telephone from a hospital, where he was being treated for shrapnel wounds. “I think it was a suicide attack. I was on the left side of the governor and I think the suicide attacker was on the right side of the governor.
“I wasn’t completely unconscious, but I couldn’t move,’’ Haq said. “I saw the body of the mullah right in the same place where he was. He died there.’’
In the aftermath, people grabbed sheets to remove corpses and body parts strewn across the mosque. A wall inscribed with the words “Holy Word of Islam’’ was pockmarked from the blast.
Omar, who was born in Takhar Province, was a member of the nation’s ethnic Pashtun majority, as are most of the Taliban. He often spoke out against insurgents and pleaded with the Afghan government to send more security forces to the north. He survived at least three previous attempts on his life.
Omar was a longtime commander in northern Afghanistan and served under Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a key US-backed mujahideen leader, during the Soviet invasion in the 1980s.
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Afghanistan Censorship
Oh, he had LINKS to bin Laden, hanh?
Before he became governor of Kunduz in 2004, Omar had served as governor of Baghlan Province in the north and mayor of Taluqan.
Despite his position, everyone called him “Engineer Omar’’ because he studied engineering for a few years at Kabul Polytechnic Institute, said General Abdul Razaq Yaqoubi, former provincial police chief in Kunduz.
A year and a half ago, Omar’s brother, Noor Khan, the police chief of Archi district in Kunduz, was also killed by militants, Yaqoubi said.
“And they tried to kill Omar several times before,’’ Yaqoubi said. “Unfortunately this time, the militants were able to kill him. I have lots of good memories of him. He was a good friend. He is not among us anymore. It is a big loss.’’
The focus of the war, which entered its 10th year this week, has been on the south, but coalition troops are fighting resilient militants in both the east and north.
Translation; the whole country is a war zone.
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