Not today, but....
"Landslide kills 350 in Afghanistan; Authorities say more than 2,000 people missing" by Amir Shah and Rahim Faiez | Associated Press May 03, 2014
KABUL — A landslide triggered by heavy rain buried large sections of a remote northeastern Afghan village on Friday, killing at least 350 people and leaving more than 2,000 missing. Villagers looked on helplessly and the governor appealed for shovels to help dig through the mass of mud that flattened every home in its path.
The mountainous area in Badakhshan province has experienced days of heavy rain and flooding, and the side of a cliff collapsed onto the village of Hobo Barik around midday. Landslides and avalanches are frequent in Afghanistan, but Friday’s was one of the deadliest.
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Landslides occur frequently in the province, but they generally happen in remote areas and produce far fewer casualties, said Mohammad Usman Abu Zar from the Meteorology Department of Badakhshan province.
Authorities evacuated a nearby village over concerns about further landslides, the governor said. Dehqan said blankets and tents had been sent and about 400 people from nearby villages had gathered to help with the rescue effort.
Hayar said the landslide happened about 1 p.m. Friday, a day of worship in Afghanistan when many families would have been at home instead of at work.
President Obama, speaking at a White House news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, expressed his sympathy for the Afghan people.
‘‘Just as the United States has stood with the people of Afghanistan through a difficult decade, we stand ready to help our Afghan partners as they respond to this disaster, for even as our war there comes to an end this year, our commitment to Afghanistan and its people will endure,’’ he said.
It's hard to read this self-aggrandizing self-adulation regarding mass-murder, torture, and environmental devastation based on lies.
Badakhshan province, nestled in the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges and bordering China, is one of the most remote in the country. The area has seen few attacks from insurgents following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Afghans living in the rugged mountains of northern Afghanistan are used to natural disasters.
I don't know if they are used to this.
How do you get "used" to such a thing anyway?
A landslide in Baghlan province, also in northeastern Afghanistan, killed 71 people in 2012.
I typed Baghlan into my search and all I came up with was airstrikes and violence.
After days of digging unearthed only five bodies, authorities decided to halt the recovery effort and turn the area into a memorial for the dead.
Avalanches are also a factor. In February 2010, when more than 170 people were killed at the 12,700-foot-high Salang Pass, which is the major route through the Hindu Kush mountains that connects the capital to the north.
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"Agencies speed aid to Afghan landslide area; Disaster may have killed 2,100 people" by Tim Craig | Washington Post May 04, 2014
KABUL — Aid groups were rushing assistance to Afghanistan’s northern province of Badakhshan on Saturday, a day after a landslide buried scores of homes under more than 30 feet of mud and possibly killed as many as 2,100 people.
The landslide struck midday Friday about 50 miles from Afghanistan’s northeastern border with Tajikistan. Officials said at least 350 people were killed instantly.
More than 24 hours later, there were conflicting reports about how many others might still be buried under the debris.
A spokesman for the provincial governor told several media outlets Saturday that 2,100 people were missing and presumed dead.
Other provincial leaders called that figure high but said the precise tallies of dead may not be known for weeks, if ever.
May Allah bless their souls.
With officials still worried about new landslides in the affected area, villagers frantically dug for survivors Saturday. A battalion of Afghan National Army soldiers arrived on the scene, but a senior military commander said there was little hope of finding anyone alive.
‘‘Because of the thickness of the mud, there was nothing we could do,’’ said General Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the army.
The landslide is the latest in a string of deadly disasters in Afghanistan, a country already struggling with terrorism, poverty, and an uncertain future as the NATO-led coalition withdraws most of its remaining forces this year.
Over the past 10 days, Afghanistan has endured severe flash flooding, an earthquake and a coal-mine explosion that killed 20 miners.
First I've seen of the earthquake or mine explosion. Could either of those be related?
Now, Friday’s landslide threatens to become one of the country’s deadliest natural disasters in at least a decade.
The slide followed several days of heavy rain in Badakhshan’s Argo district, a remote area that includes the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges. Many of the houses are made of mud, stone, and straw and the landslide struck without warning, officials said, instantly encasing about 350 homes.
Can you imagine what happens to them when a drone missile comes crashing in?
As rescuers from neighboring villages arrived on the scene, a second slide occurred, killing nearly all of the first responders, said Mohammed Zekaria, a legislator from the area.
On Saturday, assistance teams from the United Nations and the Afghan Red Crescent Society were working to set up emergency shelters and distribute food, water, and medical supplies to more than 4,000 displaced residents.
But the area is largely inaccessible by vehicle, which was complicating rescue and aid efforts.
Late Friday, provincial officials pleaded for heavy equipment, noting that villagers had little to use but their hands to dig for survivors. Ari Gaitanis, a spokesman for the United Nations Mission Afghanistan, said that request was difficult to fulfill in such a remote area.
Horrific.
‘‘It’s not your typical easy place to get to,’’ Gaitanis said. ‘‘It’s mountainous, rocky, and add to that muddy, narrow roads, and everything else, it’s not an easy place to get to, especially with heavy machinery.’’
President Hamid Karzai said in a statement that he has ordered ‘‘relevant entities to provide immediate assistance to people affected by this natural disaster’’ and to ‘‘urgently rescue those who are trapped under debris.’’
‘‘The president offers his heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families of the victims and prays for patience of the bereaved and rapid recovery of the wounded,’’ the statement said.
On Friday, President Obama said the US government also stood ready to provide assistance. But a spokesman for the US-led coalition in Afghanistan said Saturday that the US military was still on ‘‘standby’’ because the Afghan National Army had not requested additional resources.
‘‘If they request support, we will provide support, but at this point they have not requested any support,’’ said Captain Keith Robinson, a spokesman for the international coalition’s northern regional command.
Even if the US military is called upon, there may be limits to what it could do because American troops have been steadily reducing their footprint in Afghanistan.
What?
There is nothing the U.S. military can't do!
As the number of coalition bases dwindles, the range of military medevac helicopters is increasingly limited.
US soldiers generally do not operate without the availability of medical air support.
We are not helping when they really need it?
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"Officials shift focus to aiding Afghans affected by landslide; Day of mourning held; village faces flooding threat" by Massoud Hossaini | Associated Press May 05, 2014
ABI BARIK, Afghanistan — As Afghans observed a day of mourning Sunday for the hundreds of people killed in a horrific landslide, authorities tried to help the 700 families displaced by the torrent of mud that swept through their village.
The families left their homes due to the threat of more landslides in the village of Abi Barik in Badakhshan province, Minister for Rural Rehabilitation Wais Ahmad Barmak said.
Another reason for the evacuation was the threat of flooding caused in part by the landslide itself, said Mohammad Daim Kakar, from the Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority. He said the shifting earth had made it difficult for water to drain through the valley — a serious concern as rain continued to fall Sunday.
It's also the record snowpack melt after a brutal winter, but that would interfere with the climate change, carbon tax narrative.
Engineers are working on a plan to divert the water, he said.
Authorities still don’t have a definitive figure on how many people died in the landslide, and estimates have ranged as high as 2,700. Officials have recovered about 350 bodies and estimated that 300 houses were buried under tons of mud.
It will be impossible to recover all the bodies, according to Afghan officials, who are expected to declare the area a mass grave.
I suppose Afghans are used to that after almost 40 years of war.
But many people continue to look for bodies on their own, said Abdullah Homayun Dehqan, the head of Badakhshan province’s National Disaster Department. He said officials met with community elders Sunday in Faizabad, the provincial capital, to see whether they wanted the government to continue digging, but said no final decision has been made.
Aid groups and the government have rushed to the remote area in northeastern Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan and China with food, shelter and water. But for those affected, help was slow to arrive.
‘‘My family, my wife and eight children are alive, but have nothing to use as shelter. We have nothing to eat,’’ said Barat Bay, a 50-year-old farmer and father of eight. ‘‘We have passed the last two nights with our children at the top of this hill with no tent, no blanket.’’
Kakar, who visited the area Sunday, acknowledged that aid had yet to reach some people but said their efforts were complicated by villagers from areas unaffected by the landslide also coming to claim the aid.
Those selfish Afghans!
A spokesman for the International Organization of Migration, Matt Graydon, said the group is bringing solar-powered lanterns, blankets and shelter kits. He said after a visit to the area Sunday that some residents have gone to nearby villages to stay with family or friends while others have slept out in the open.
‘‘Some people left with almost nothing,’’ Graydon said.
Authorities visiting from Kabul gave $800,000 to the provincial governor during visits on Saturday and Sunday to use in the aid effort, said Kakar and Barmak, who promised that the government would pay more if needed.
President Hamid Karzai designated Sunday as a day of mourning for the hundreds of people who died.
President Obama called Karzai on Sunday to offer his condolences and additional assistance for the relief efforts. A White House statement about the call did not elaborate.
Afghanistan has suffered through some three decades of war since the Soviet invasion in 1979.
An invasion provoked by the U.S. sending in "Al-CIA-Duh" types.
But natural disasters such as landslides, floods and avalanches have taken a toll on a country with little infrastructure or development outside of its major cities.
Already this year, 159 people have died in April and May from flooding, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Sunday in a statement. New waves of flooding are expected in two northern provinces, the agency said.
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That must be why the story was washed away today.
"Flash floods in northern Afghanistan kill 75" | Associated Press April 26, 2014
KABUL — Flash floods after heavy rains in northern Afghanistan killed at least 75 people and damaged thousands of homes, leaving authorities scrambling to help survivors in the remote region, officials said.
The rains began late Thursday and continued into Friday in four provinces. The worst affected appeared to be Jawzjan, where at least 36 people were killed, according to police spokesman Abdul Manan Raoufi. Other officials put the death toll there at 43.
Azizul Rahman Aymaq, who heads the disaster relief committee in Jawzjan, said more than 5,000 people have been displaced and medicine and drinking water are running short. Afghan army helicopters are helping rescuers reach the affected areas, he said.
‘‘The flooding started from early morning and still it is going on,” said one flood survivor, Shah Mahmood. “Around seven villages in our area were destroyed by flooding, all the people were standing on the rooftop of the houses and they were evacuated by Afghan army helicopters to safety.’’
In Faryam province west of Jawzjan, the floods killed 33 people, damaged more than 2,150 homes and caused widespread damage to farmland, said provincial governor Mohammadullah Patash.
Another six people were killed in Badghis province, said the provincial governor, Moammadullah Alizai. Suri Pul province was also affected by the flooding.
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"Afghanistan flooding kills more than 100 | Associated Press April 28, 2014
KABUL — Flooding in northern Afghanistan has killed more than 100 people and driven about 1,000 people from their homes, disaster relief officials said Sunday.
The Afghan National Army was using helicopters to rescue people trapped by the waters and ferry food and water to remote areas.
An official of the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said 111 bodies have been found in Sari Pul, Zawzjan, Faryab, and Badghis provinces. Around 20 other people were still missing.
The floods were fed by heavy rains late last week. The official said people were fleeing their villages after losing houses, crops, and livestock.
The rains began late Thursday and continued into Friday in the four provinces. The worst affected appeared to be Zawzjan, where at least 36 people were killed, according to police spokesman Abdul Manan Raoufi. Other officials put the death toll there at 43.
Azizul Rahman Aymaq, who heads the disaster relief committee in Zawzjan, said medicine and drinking water were running short.
‘‘The flooding started from early morning and still it is going on. Around seven villages in our area were destroyed by flooding, all the people were standing on the rooftop of the houses and they were evacuated by Afghan Army helicopters to safety,’’ one flood survivor, Shah Mahmood, said Saturday.
In Faryab province west of Zawzjan, the floods killed more than 30 people, damaged more than 2,150 homes, and caused widespread damage to farmland, said provincial governor Mohammadullah Patash.
At least six people were killed in Badghis province, said the provincial governor, Moammadullah Alizai.
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This post is starting to slide away from me.
Better get the injured to a hospital:
"3 Americans killed in attack on Kabul hospital" by Tim Craig | Washington Post April 25, 2014
KABUL — Three American medical staff members died when an Afghan security official opened fire Thursday at an American-run Christian hospital in Kabul in the latest violence targeting foreigners in Afghanistan.
The attack, which also wounded several people, took place about 9 a.m. as doctors and nurses were arriving at Cure Hospital, which is part of an international network of hospitals run by a Pennsylvania-based charity. The hospital largely focuses on providing medical care to needy children.
In a statement, the US Embassy in Kabul said, ‘‘With great sadness we confirm that three Americans were killed in the attack on CURE Hospital. No other information will be released at this time.’’
One of the dead Americans was identified as Jerry Umanos of Chicago, a Cure International pediatrician who had worked in Kabul for seven years and had previously practiced medicine in Chicago. Afghan Health Minister Soraya Dalil said the two others were a father and son who went to the hospital to meet Umanos.
Dalil said an American nurse was also wounded in the attack.
Sediq Seddiqi, a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said the gunman was an Afghan police officer, although other officials described him as a hospital guard. The gunman, who tried to commit suicide after the shooting, has been arrested, Seddiqi said.
The US Embassy declined to identify the occupations of the three Americans who were killed. But a spokesman for the Afghan Health Ministry described the three as ‘‘foreign doctors,’’ one of whom worked at the hospital and was greeting the other two, who were visiting.
All three were shot as they entered the hospital gate, the Health Ministry spokesman said.
‘‘We are trying to determine the cause of this attack,’’ said Abdul Zahir, Kabul’s police chief.
The attack comes as foreigners in Afghanistan were facing heightened concern about their safety amid a wave of brazen violence.
Over the past three months, as Afghanistan is in the midst of electing a new president, 20 foreigners have been killed in separate attacks targeting civilians. The attacks have occurred at a popular restaurant, an upscale hotel, and other venues where foreigners congregate.
I'm sure it was just their way of saying goodbye.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for much of the violence, including a March 20 assault on the Serena Hotel in Kabul that killed nine people, including two Canadians.
The violence is accelerating the pace at which foreigners are fleeing Kabul, a city that until recently has provided relative security for aid workers, journalists, and civilian contractors.
Hmmmmmmm!
With Thursday’s shooting, the dangers facing foreigners are heightened by what appear to be increasing random attacks by Afghan security officials. For years, the US-led coalition has struggled to combat so-called ‘‘green-on-blue’’ attacks in which Afghan soldiers have turned their weapons on NATO troops who were training or supervising them.
Now, however, civilians are also being targeted in such attacks.
Three weeks ago, an Afghan police officer shouted ‘‘Allahu akbar’’ (God is great) before shooting an Associated Press photographer and reporter who were sitting in a vehicle in Khost province in Eastern Afghanistan. The photographer, Anja Niedringhaus, a German citizen, was killed. The reporter, Kathy Gannon, a Canadian, was seriously wounded.
Related: Afghan Presidential Election
That attack occurred one month after Swedish journalist Nils Horner was shot and killed in a midday attack in Kabul. Horner, who was based in Hong Kong and had just arrived in Kabul to cover the run-up to the April 5 Afghan elections, was shot by several men as he walked down a street near a heavily fortified diplomatic compound.
I guess the U.S. didn't want anyone around to witness the rigged election.
Javid Kohestani, a retired Afghan army general and Kabul-based security analyst, said Taliban fighters and their sympathizers appear to be stepping up their attacks on civilians as military targets become harder to find due to the ongoing withdrawal of most remaining coalition forces.
Why would they do that? That type of thing only benefits continued occupation.
They want ‘‘to frighten foreigners and disrupt their reconstruction and development work,’’ Kohestani said. ‘‘Their initial targets now seem to be Americans and Europeans, but they may also target Muslim foreigners to show that security is getting worse.’’
I guess AmeriKan and NATO troops will just HAVE TO stay!
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After all, the Afghan people need to be protecte.... whoops!
"NATO blamed for Afgan deaths" by Azam Ahmed | New York Times April 16, 2014
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan officials said that a NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan killed a woman and two children Tuesday, again raising the issue of civilian casualties at a time when both the presidential election and the future of the Western troop presence are unresolved.
Local officials said that a NATO aircraft had fired a rocket into a village in the Nadir Shah Kot district of Khost province, striking a home where a family was gathered. In addition to killing the woman and children, the attack wounded a man, officials said. They said the victims might have been camping in tents in a mountainous part of the district.
A spokesman for the governor of Khost province, Mubrez Zadran, said a delegation had been sent to investigate.
In the past, instances of NATO causing civilian casualties have sparked condemnations from President Hamid Karzai, and the issue helped derail the signing of a security pact between the Afghans and Americans after he demanded an end to all such attacks.
On Tuesday, Karzai condemned the attack as a “violation of agreements between the two countries.”
The US-led military coalition issued a statement saying that it was aware of the reports of civilian casualties, and that “we are looking into these allegations and will provide more information as available.”
I am still looking for it in my Globe.
The number of civilian deaths at the hands of coalition forces has been in rapid decline, in large part because conventional US troops rarely leave their base anymore.
So says my coalition mouthpiece masquerading as a newspaper.
Special Operations forces continue to conduct missions, typically alongside their Afghan counterparts, as advisers. On occasion, when overwhelmed by insurgent fire, they call in air support.
But those strikes have grown rare, as coalition officials contend with an increasingly tough political landscape. Drone strikes have contributed to civilian deaths, although the coalition says it scaled those back.
The thing is you never forget the drone that killed your loved one, and will rightfully hate the ones that delivered it no matter what the excuse.
With Karzai set to leave office this year, and with the Americans preparing to withdraw most of their forces this year as well, the acrimony over Western military operations has only grown.
That tension reached a high point in January, when a coalition airstrike in the Ghorband district of Parwan province struck a village.
Isn't that were a US prison is located?
Neither side could agree on the death toll. The Afghans said at least 14 civilians died, while coalition officials put the number as low as two.
I already said goodbye.
The government of Karzai issued pictures and what it said was evidence of the strike, though some of that material was from an episode that occurred years earlier.
OMG! My deceptive media that has been caught using false photographs, most recently in Ukraine and Syria along with the dead bin Laden photoshops, throwing mud back!
It was unclear what might have led to the airstrike Tuesday, and neither the coalition nor the Afghan government offered a description of the events preceding the attack.
The area struck is along a crucial highway connecting Khost and Paktia provinces, though in a remote stretch. Government officials say that while the Taliban is active there, villagers also sometimes head up into the mountains to gather wood.
I guess that gets a drone strike called down on your head.
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Related: Turning daughters into sons, Afghans empower girls
Just ignore all the corpses, male and female.
