Afghanistan Conflict Monitor

Commandos to Be Charged over Children's Deaths

Commandos to Be Charged over Children's Deaths, ABC News, 27 August 2010

EXCERPT: "Charges will be laid against some Australian soldiers involved in a deadly night raid in which five children were killed in Afghanistan last year. Early last year six Afghans were killed during an Australian Special Operations Task Group raid targeting an insurgent leader in Uruzgan province. Four of the dead were small children. Two more children and two adults were also wounded. An operational investigation into the incident was referred to the director of military prosecutions, who has now recommended charges against some of the special forces soldiers involved in the raid. Australia Defence Association head Neil James says the director of military prosecutions operates outside the Australian Defence Force chain of command."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Charges will make defence "accountable", The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 August 2010
Kilcullen on rising Australian casualty rate, ABC News (Australia), 26 August 2010
Diggers treading a trigger wire, The Australian, 26 August 2010
Australian soldier killed in Afghan firefight with Taliban; Australia's toll at 21 soldiers, The Canadian Press, 24 August 2010

Related posts:
Australian troops will stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014, 26 August 2010
Diggers cleared over Afghanistan deaths, 18 December 2009
Australian DM rules out Afghan troop increase, 5 November 2009
Australian troops kill five Afghan children, 13 February 2009
Australian forces detained Taliban insurgents in "dog pens", 2 September 2008

Australian Troops Will Stay in Afghanistan Beyond 2014

We Will Stay in Afghanistan Beyond 2014 Says Australian Chief of Defence, The Herald Sun, 26 August 2010

EXCERPT: "Australian troops will stay in Afghanistan well beyond the 2014 deadline set by the Government, the nation's top military commander says. Chief of Defence Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said Diggers would remain in Oruzgan Province after the two to four-year mission to train local Afghan security forces had expired. 'We will still be there supporting them beyond the two to four years, for a period of time,' Air Chief Marshal Houston said. He refused to be drawn on whether it was helpful for politicians to announce possible exit dates, after a US Marine Corps General criticised the US Administration for its plan to begin withdrawing forces next July. 'The coalition will continue to fight very, very hard for a long time to come, certainly beyond 2011 and certainly well into the future,' said Air Chief Marshal Houston."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Lack of troops "may be boosting Taliban", ABC News (Australia), 26 August 2010
Defence names soldier killed in Afghanistan, Brisbane Times, 25 August 2010
Bipartisan backing for Afghan war debate, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 August 2010
PM says Australia's Afghan mission is vital and troops will remain for years to come, The Australian, 25 August 2010

Related resources:
Australia’s military involvement in Afghanistan since 2001: A chronology, Parliament of Australia - Department of Parliamentary Services, 16 July 2010
2010/11 Australian Defence Budget Analysis, The Australian Defence Budget Review Magazine, 16 April 2010

Related posts:
Diggers could complete Afghan mission in 2 to 4 years, 23 June 2010
Aussies could be in Afghanistan "until 2040", 10 June 2010
Australia's role in building Afghan National Army, 22 September 2009
Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan, 15 May 2008

Diggers Could Complete Afghan Mission in 2 to 4 Years

Australian Troops Could Complete Afghan Mission in 2 to 4 Years, Herald Sun, 23 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Senator Faulkner said the latest advice to the Federal Government from Defence was that it would take between two and four years to complete their mission to train the 4th brigade of the Afghan National Army to a standard to allow it to take over responsibility for the stability and security of Oruzgan province. Senator Faulkner said he could not provide a more specific timeframe but expected Australia would then provide an overseeing role as troop numbers were reduced, as it had in Iraq. Senator Faulkner and Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith announced an Australian civilian would head up the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Oruzgan as part of a change to command structure in the area, due to Dutch troops pulling out on August 1. A new US-led multinational command structure to be called 'Combined Team - Oruzgan' operating under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force flag would take control."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Afghan army holds the key to decade-long conflict, The Age, 23 June 2010
Afghan commitment finite, says PM, The Age, 23 June 2010
Scrutiny on Afghan mission as tributes flow, The Canberra Times, 23 June 2010
Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott agree on need to stay course in Afghanistan, Herald Sun, 22 June 2010

Related posts:
Aussies could be in Afghanistan "until 2040", 10 June 2010
Coalition to boost Afghan role, 23 April 2010
Australia to review Afghan force, 21 October 2009
Handover in "three to four" years: Australia, 21 July 2009

Aussies Could Be in Afghanistan "Until 2040"

Aussies Could Be in Afghanistan "Until 2040", ABC Online, 10 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Australia's strategy in the country has been thrust back into the spotlight this week with the deaths of two Australian Army engineers in Uruzgan province. Defence Minister John Faulkner says Australian troops are likely to be in Afghanistan for the next three to five years as part of the US-led effort against a resurgent Taliban. But former US strategic analyst Daniel Ellsberg has warned that the war is not even half-way through. 'For Australian troops I think that three to five years is not just a conservative estimate, it's totally foolish,' he told Radio National this morning. 'The war will no more be over in three to five years than it is right now. If Australians are committed to supporting this strategy they can figure on 10, 20 and 30 years.'"

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Bodies of Aussie soldiers coming home, The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 June 2010
Soldiers' deaths fuel calls to pull out, The New Zealand Herald, 10 June 2010
Vice-chief of the Australian Defence Force denies Taliban resurgence, Herald Sun, 9 June 2010
Minister warns of Afghanistan violence, ABC Online, 8 June 2010

Related posts:
Coalition to boost Afghan role, 23 April 2010
Australian DM rules out Afghan troop increase, 5 November 2009
Australia to review Afghan force, 21 October 2009
Handover in "three to four" years: Australia, 21 July 2009

Captured Leader Offers Insight Into the Taliban

Captured Leader Offers Insight Into the Taliban, The New York Times, 6 May 2010

EXCERPT: "Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the most senior Afghan Taliban leader in custody in Pakistan, is providing important information to American officials on the inner workings of the Taliban, pivotal insights as the United States looks ahead to negotiations to end the war in Afghanistan, according to senior American intelligence and military officials. Mullah Baradar, the second-ranking Taliban leader, was arrested in January outside Karachi, Pakistan, in an operation by American and Pakistani intelligence agents. His Pakistani captors initially limited American interrogators' access to him, but American officials say they have had regular, direct contact with Mullah Baradar for several weeks. For now, officials say, Mullah Baradar is not revealing details of Taliban combat operations, yielding little that American commanders would like to know as they prepare for a military operation around Kandahar, the Taliban’s spiritual base and Afghanistan’s second largest city."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Gizab's Taliban commander captured, Australian Government Department of Defence, 7 May 2010
Qayyum Zakir: the Afghanistan Taliban's rising mastermind, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 April 2010
Pakistan allows US to question Taliban leader Baradar, BBC News, 20 April 2010

Related posts:
Arrests of top Taliban figures ended talks: Eide, 19 March 2010
Mystery of Taliban military leader's capture deepens, 18 February 2010
Taliban's leadership council runs Afghan war from Pakistan, 29 January 2010
New wave of warlords bedevils US, 20 January 2010

Coalition to Boost Afghan Role

Coalition to Boost Afghan Role, The Australian, 23 April 2010

EXCERPT: "A coalition government would increase Australia's troop commitment in Afghanistan and take over allied military leadership in the Oruzgun province from the Dutch. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, in a speech to the Lowy Institute, said 'it would be a poor reflection on our defence capabilities' if Australia were unable to help replace the Dutch when they leave in August this year. Mr Abbott said: 'If satisfied that the role made strategic sense and was compatible with our other military commitments, a Coalition would be prepared to consider doing more.' In a later interview with The Weekend Australian, Mr Abbott confirmed that this included replacing the Dutch as the lead coalition military force in Oruzgan: 'If we could do it, I don't see why we shouldn't.' This would effectively reverse decades of Australian strategic culture. Since the Vietnam War, Australian forces have not taken allied leadership responsibility in a province in any battlefield."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Abbott wants lead role for troops in Afghanistan, The Age, 24 April 2010
Special forces support uprising against Taliban, The Australian, 24 April 2010
Governor-General Quentin Bryce visits Australian troops in Afghanistan, Herald Sun, 23 April 2010

Related posts:
Australian DM rules out Afghan troop increase, 5 November 2009
Australia to review Afghan force, 21 October 2009
Handover in "three to four" years: Australia, 21 July 2009
Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan, 15 May 2008

Australian SAS Nabs Taliban Commander

 Australian SAS Stealth Nabs Taliban Commander in Afghanistan, Herald Sun, 21 April 2010

EXCERPT: "Australian special forces troops from the Perth-based SAS Regiment and the Sydney-based Commando Regiment, along with Afghan police, netted Mullah Faqir and three other fighters north of Tarin Kowt. His capture on April 12 came just a few weeks after three other bomb makers including senior Taliban commander Mullah Janan Andewahl were caught by Australian forces. The Taliban strongman and his followers were handed over to Dutch authorities at Tarin Kowt where they were held in a high security prison at Camp Russell before being transferred to local authorities for processing. A Defence statement said Mullah Faqir was the mastermind behind bomb attacks in the Mirabad Valley during March that wounded four Diggers and three Afghans."

Read the full story.

Related article:
Australians help capture Taliban leader, The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 April 2010
Australia says three soldiers hurt in bombings in Afghanistan, Business Week, 28 March 2010

Related posts:
Roadside bombs taking bigger toll, 15 February 2010
Taliban making deadlier, high-tech IEDs, 16 September 2009
Australia to review Afghan force, 21 October 2009
Australian special forces kill Taliban commander, 12 January 2009

Diggers Cleared over Afghanistan Deaths

Diggers Cleared over Afghanistan Deaths, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 December 2009

EXCERPT: "Two internal defence inquiries have cleared diggers of illegally killing seven local men in Afghanistan in April. In separate statements issued on Friday, the Department of Defence said its soldiers had acted appropriately. Both incidents occurred in Oruzgan province where Australian troops are working with their Dutch colleagues to rid the region of the Taliban, remnants of al-Qaeda and other criminal forces. In the first incident on April 2, three Afghan men were killed while soldiers were clearing a house and surrounding buildings. 'The inquiry officer determined that the Australian soldiers acted lawfully, in self-defence, when the three men were killed,' a defence statement said. Intelligence had led the Afghan-Australian combined force to believe high-ranking members from the enemy were hiding out in the buildings, defence said. Eight other Afghans were initially detained but later released. An unnamed inquiry officer found there were no mistakes in the planning and execution of the mission."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Troops failed to check victims' identities: Inquiry, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 December 2009
Rudd commits extra support to Afghanistan, ABC News, 1 December 2009

Related reports:
Report of Inquiry Officer – Possible civilian casualties from close air support strike at [REDACTED], Afghanistan on 28 April 2009 [pdf], Australian Government - Department of Defense, 18 December 2009
Report of Inquiry Officer – Possible civilian casualties resulting from clearance of a compound at [REDACTED], Afghanistan on 2 April 2009 [pdf], Australian Government - Department of Defense, 18 December 2009

Related posts:
Australian troops kill five Afghan children, 13 February 2009
Australian special forces kill Taliban commander, 12 January 2009
Australian forces detained Taliban insurgents in "dog pens", 2 September 2008
Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan, 15 May 2008

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: A Partnership For Stabilising Afghanistan?

Matthew Hall, 'The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: A Partnership For Stabilising Afghanistan?', Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies // Australian Defence College, 5 November 2009

EXCERPT: "In efforts to bring stability and security to Afghanistan, the international community of states may have overlooked a critical ally: the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. This paper argues that the Organisation should be considered a partner in the international stabilisation efforts in Afghanistan, and proposes that Australia is well-placed to be the facilitator for such a venture. On 27 March 2009 the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) met in Moscow to hold a Special Conference on Afghanistan. This conference injected China, Russia and four Central Asian republics into the international dialogue over Afghanistan, establishing the SCO as an increasingly important stakeholder in the security and stability of Afghanistan. Yet, at a time when Canberra was considering its future military commitment to Afghanistan, few Australians noticed this important event."

Read the full report [pdf].

Related posts:
'Australian DM rules out Afghan troop increase', 5 November 2009
'Australia to review Afghan force', 21 October 2009
'Australia's role in building Afghan National Army', 22 September 2009
'Handover in "three to four" years: Australia', 21 July 2009
'Afghanistan war spending to double: Australia', 12 May 2009

Australian DM Rules Out Afghan Troop Increase

'Faulkner Rules Out Afghan Troop Increase', ABC Online, 5 November 2009

EXCERPT: "Defence Minister John Faulkner has told his American counterparts that Australia will not be sending any extra troops to Afghanistan. On his first visit to Washington as Defence Minister, Senator Faulkner met with congressional members, military commanders and his American counterpart, Defence Secretary Robert Gates. He has told them Australia will not be adding to the 1,550 soldiers it already has in Afghanistan. 'I've certainly indicated to those I've spoken to here in the United States over the last couple of days this number is right,' he said. It is a sensitive time for Barack Obama's administration as the President wrestles with a request for more troops from his generals in the field in Afghanistan and reviews the US strategy there. But Senator Faulkner says American leaders understand that Australia will not be sending any more troops."

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'Australian soldiers battle on without new surge in Afghanistan', Courier Mail, 5 November 2009
'Dutch role must be filled: Faulkner', AFP, 5 November 2009

Related posts:
'Australia to review Afghan force', 21 October 2009
'Handover in "three to four" years: Australia', 21 July 2009
'Afghanistan war spending to double: Australia', 12 May 2009
'Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan', 15 May 2008