Afghanistan Conflict Monitor

Record Number Of Roadside Bomb Attacks

'Roadside Bomb Attacks In Afghanistan Shatter Record', USA Today, 8 July 2009

EXCERPT: "Roadside bomb attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan are blowing past previous records, causing a rising number of wounded as U.S. troops are waging a major offensive to stop growing violence from Afghan insurgents. The total number of incidents with roadside bombs, also called improvised explosive devices (IEDs), hit 736 in June, which set a record for the fourth straight month. Incidents have risen from 361 in March, to 407 in April and 465 in May, records show. Records also show the steadily worsening security situation in Afghanistan during the past two years. In June 2007, there were 234 incidents and another 308 in June 2008, according to statistics from the Pentagon's Joint IED Defeat Organization. Incidents include IEDs found and cleared, ineffective attacks and attacks that kill or wound coalition troops."

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'Growing menace of Afghan IEDs', BBC News, 8 July 2009
'The trouble with armored vehicle', Defence Management, 8 July 2009
'Afghan army, police to get handheld detectors as IED violence escalates', Defence Industry Daily, 7 July 2009

Related posts:
'Rethinking IED strategies', 7 July 2009
'Use of IEDs increased by 80 percent', 5 June 2009
'US predicts 50 percent spike in IEDs', 15 May 2009
'Casualties caused by IEDs on the rise', 3 April 2009
'Afghan roadside bombs hit record in 2008', 26 January 2009

Karzai Victory May Trigger Afghan Violence: US

'Karzai Victory May Trigger Afghan Violence: US', The Guardian, 9 July 2009

EXCERPT: "The expected victory of Hamid Karzai in next month's presidential elections in Afghanistan will trigger a violent backlash from ordinary Afghans, a top US commander in the country has warned. Although the Taliban have threatened to disrupt polling day itself, David Haight, the US colonel who is in charge of pacifying two strategically vital provinces on the southern doorstep of the capital, Kabul, says he is far more concerned about the aftermath of the election. 'I think the people down here are disgruntled with the government because there feeling is, look, "I'm just right to the south, I'm frigging 40 miles away and you couldn't help me?"' said Haight. 'I think that apathy is going to turn into some anger because when the administration doesn't change, and I don't think anyone believes now that Karzai is going to lose ... I think there is going to be frustration from people who realize there is not going to be a change. The bottom line is they are going to be thinking: "four more years of this crap?"' Haight said."

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'Retiring US commander predicts easy Karzai win', The Associated Press, 9 July 2009
'EU to deploy election observers in Afghanistan', China View, 9 July 2009
'Afghan candidate hires Carville as campaign advisor', Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 9 July 2009

Related posts:
'Afghans name Karzai "most trusted": Poll', 22 June 2009
'Secretary General: 10,000 NATO troops for elections', 17 June 2009
'Karzai accused of alliance with warlords', 16 June 2009
'Karzai maneuvers secure grip ahead of election campaign', 21 May 2009
'Karzai in move to share power with warlord wanted by US', 11 May 2009

Afghanistan Tones Down Contentious Marriage Law

'Afghanistan Tones Down Contentious Marriage Law', The Associated Press, 9 July 2009

EXCERPT: "Afghanistan's government has revised a law that stirred an international outcry because it essentially legalized marital rape, officials said Thursday. The new version no longer requires a woman submit to sex with her husband, only that she do certain housework. The changes, which parliament is expected to approve, likely reflect a calculation by President Hamid Karzai that his reputation as a reformer is more important than support from conservative Shiites who favored the original bill. Presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada said the revisions show that Karzai has followed through on a pledge made in April to expunge the offensive parts of the marriage law, which applies only to minority Shiite Muslims. Women's rights activists welcomed the new draft, but many said the government had not done enough and that little will change in day-to-day life."

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'Afghan "anti-woman law changed"', BBC News, 8 July 2009

Related posts:
'Violence against women is widespread: UN', 8 July 2009
'Backing women's rights deadly for officials', 26 June 2009
'Karzai vows to change controversial law', 28 April 2009
'Afghan women protest new restrictive law', 15 April 2009
'Afghan rape-law review to take months', 7 April 2009

Afghan Blast Kills 25, Half Of Them Children

'Afghan Blast Kills 25, Half Of Them Children', The Associated Press, 9 July 2009

EXCERPT: "A truck filled with explosives that police believe may have been destined for Kabul blew up on a highway Thursday, killing 25 people — more than half of them children walking to school. Two American soldiers died in combat as the U.S. military reported the number of roadside bombs in Afghanistan last month was nearly three times the figure for Iraq. The attacks served as a grim reminder that the bloody conflict is widening, even as thousands of U.S. troops are being sent to Afghanistan to try to turn the tide against the Taliban-led insurgency, which has made a comeback after the Islamic extremist movement was ousted from power in 2001. The blast occurred about 7 a.m. as police were trying to clear a traffic jam on a highway in Logar province after the truck, which was loaded with timber, had overturned the night before. Suddenly, explosives hidden beneath the timber detonated, killing 21 civilians and four policemen, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemerai Bashary said."

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'Factbox: Security developments in Afghanistan, July 9', Reuters, 9 July 2009
'Taliban attack leaves 2 police dead, 2 wounded in north Afghanistan', China View, 9 July 2009
'Afghanistan: Up to 27 killed in fighting', The New York Times, 8 July 2009

Related posts:
'The Taliban's winning strategy in Afghanistan', 7 July 2009
'Afghan insurgent violence accelerates in 2009', 12 June 2009
'US surge "will lead to spike in conflict"', 29 May 2009
'Taliban threatens spring offensive', 29 April 2009
'NATO figures show surge in violence', 31 January 2009

Violence Against Women Is Widespread: UN

'Silence Is Violence: End The Abuse Of Women In Afghanistan', United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 8 July 2009

EXCERPT: "Violence is pervasive throughout Afghanistan. It has diverse manifestations in different parts of the country. Violence against women is widespread and deeply-rooted as well as acute. The violence which scars the lives of a huge proportion of Afghan women and girls is rooted in Afghan culture, customs, attitudes, and practices. Afghan women have limited freedom to escape the norms and traditions that dictate a subservient status for females. Women in Afghanistan are also subjected to the violence inherent in armed conflict that has intensified in recent years and is exacting an increasingly heavy toll on Afghan civilians. Violence, in its acute form, makes it presence felt in widespread lawlessness and criminality. All these forms of violence are closely linked to a deeply entrenched culture of impunity that is, in part, an outcome of decades of conflict and indifference to a justice agenda that would also allow for a transition from, and draw a line under, a long history of egregious human rights violations."

To continue reading the report, click here [pdf].

See also:
'New UN report takes firm stand on women's rights in Afghanistan', The Christian Science Monitor, 8 July 2009
'Burqa losing favour as Afghan women opt for chador', Reuters India, 7 July 2009
'Malalai Joya: The woman MP who dares to defy Afghanistan's warlord rulers', Times Online, 5 July 2009
'Operational Effectiveness and UN Resolution 1325 - Practices and Lessons from Afghanistan [pdf]', Swedish Defence Research Agency, 31 May 2009

Related posts:
'Security, peace and development for Afghan women', 29 May 2009
'Afghan women struggle to be heard', 10 February 2009
'Living female in Afghanistan', 17 July 2008
'Many women are unaware of their rights', 15 May 2008

Afghan Toll "Will Rise Further": UK

'Afghan Toll "Will Rise Further"', BBC News, 8 July 2009

EXCERPT: "A British soldier has become the seventh to die in a week of fighting in Afghanistan, as a minister warned 'more lives will be lost'. The serviceman, from the Light Dragoons, died in an explosion near Gereshk in Helmand Province on Tuesday night. Next of kin have been informed. Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said 'for Britain to be secure, Afghanistan needs to be made secure'. The latest death takes the number of soldiers to die in Afghanistan to 176. In a keynote policy speech - the first since he was appointed defence secretary - Mr Ainsworth said the way forward in Afghanistan would be 'hard and dangerous'. He added: 'More lives will be lost and our resolve is going to be tested... Success will be achieved incrementally.'"

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'Laying the groundwork for a bloody and drawn-out conflict in Afghanistan', The Guardian, 8 July 2009
'"Gloom" over Afghanistan troop deaths', AFP, 8 July 2009
'Fury over MoD refusal to buy more helicopters for Afghanistan troops', Times Online, 8 July 2009
'Allies fear US just shifts Taliban problem', The Philadelphia Inquirer, 8 July 2009

Related posts:
'Britain's war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan triple', 3 July 2009
'British troops in major offensive against Taliban', 23 June 2009
'"British treasury is crippling war": Former commander', 9 June 2009
'British army deaths in Afghanistan overtake Iraq', 5 June 2009
'Britain to NATO members: Help more in Afghanistan', 12 November 2008

Allied Officers Concerned By Lack Of Afghan Forces

'Allied Officers Concerned By Lack Of Afghan Forces', The New York Times, 7 July 2009

EXCERPT: "One week after several battalions of Marines swept through the Helmand River valley, military commanders appear increasingly concerned about a lack of Afghan forces in the field. 'What I need is more Afghans,' said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of the Marine expeditionary brigade in Helmand Province. He accompanied the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, during a visit with troops at Patrol Base Jaker here on Monday. General Nicholson and others say that the long-term success of the operation hinges on the performance of the Afghan security forces, which will have to take over eventually from the American troops. General Nicholson said the American force of almost 4,000 had been joined by about 400 effective Afghan soldiers. 'The net increase in Afghan security forces is zero' since the brigade arrived a few months ago, he said. The lack of Afghan forces 'is absolutely our Achilles' heel,' added Capt. Brian Huysman, commander of Company C of the First Battalion, Fifth Marines in Nawa."

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'Marines: More Afghan soldiers, training needed', Miami Herald, 8 July 2009
'Taliban kill eight police, surround east Afghan office', Vancouver Sun, 8 July 2009
'Three districts in Helmand still out of Afghan govt control', China View, 8 July 2009

Related posts:
'Erratic Afghan forces pose challenge to US goals', 8 June 2009
'The long march: Building an Afghan national army', 29 May 2009
'Afghanistan's national security forces', 16 April 2009
'Expansion of security forces fraught with challenges', 25 March 2009
'Creating effective Afghan security forces', 12 March 2009

ECC Response To ARM Report

Grant Kippen, Chairman, 'Electoral Complaint Commission: Response To ARM (Afghanistan Rights Monitor) Report, The Winning Warlords', Electoral Complaint Commission, 8 July 2009

EXCERPT: "I read with some dismay the recent report by ARM, The Winning Warlords, alleging the ECC's collusion with President Karzai regarding challenges made against his vice presidential nominees, Marshall Fahim and current Vice President Khalili. The report states, 'All of the challenges were responded to at the behest of president (sic) Karzai and in a corrupt procedure which culminated in the official approval of the Karzai-Fahim-Khaleli candidacy.' These are very serious allegations made by ARM and, as Chairman of the Electoral Complaints Commission, I ask ARM, to either publicly retract this statement or produce evidence that clearly shows that our procedures were either corrupt or influenced in any way by the President or his office."

To continue reading the letter, click here [doc].

See also:
'Eide issues warnings on Afghan elections', UPI, 8 July 2009
'Troop surge sign of 'failure': Afghan election candidate', Canada.com, 8 July 2009

Related posts:
'The winning warlords', 1 July 2009
'Afghanistan's election challenges', 25 June 2009
'Afghan public opinion and the Afghan war', 14 April 2009
'Afghan people "losing confidence"', 9 February 2009