Afghanistan Conflict Monitor

Afghanistan War Spending To Double: Australia

'Afghanistan War Spending To Double: Australia', The Australian, 12 May 2009

EXCERPT: "Defence spending will jump by 21 per cent to $26.6 billion next year but the Rudd Government will still struggle to meet its pledge to lift the defence budget by 3 per cent in real terms over the next four years. A massive $2.4 billion boost to spending on defence equipment, plus a doubling of spending on the war in Afghanistan, provide the impetus for a $3 billion boost to defence funding in 2009-10. The Afghanistan war is budgeted to cost $1.2 billion in 2009-10 and Defence will also spend an extra $87 million on establishing a Middle East operations headquarters in the United Arab Emirates. While Australia's formal military contribution to the war in Iraq will end on July 31, Defence has budgeted $62 million for operations in Iraq next year including a security detail to protect the embassy in Baghdad. Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said $218 million had been committed for operations in East Timor and a further $30 million for Solomon Islands."

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See also:
'$650 million to stabilise troubled regions', The Australian, 12 May 2009
'Australia: Army accused of covering up killing', The New Zealand Herald, 12 May 2009
'Diggers dispute Afghanistan body count', News.com.au, 11 May 2009

Related posts:
'More Australian troops for Afghan mission', 30 April 2009
'ADF's Afghan victims top Iraq', 24 October 2008
'Troops overstretched: Australian DM', 3 June 2008
'More Australians want to leave Afghanistan', 3 October 2008

Australian Forces "Assassinate" Top Taliban Commander

'SAS "Assassinate" Taliban Leader Mullah Noorullah', The Australian, 6 May 2009

EXCERPT: "Australian special forces have taken part in a targeted assassination of a senior Taliban leader, an operation army commanders claim will disrupt the insurgents' campaign in southern Oruzgan. Mullah Noorullah was killed in a combined operation involving coalition troops and Australian special forces, Defence said yesterday. It did not say when Noorullah was killed but did say the incident occurred in Deh Rafshan district in southern Oruzgan, where the Australian Special Operations Task Group is based. The SOTG tag is commonly used by defence as a synonym to describe elite Special Air Service operatives authorised to hunt and kill Taliban leaders in an Afghan variation on the Vietnam-era Phoenix Program. The statement was vague about Noorullah's position within the Taliban hierarchy, but it claimed he had been involved in an April 12 attack on Australian reconstruction and mentoring soldiers, in which four insurgents were killed. It was alleged the insurgent leader was implicated in other unspecified roadside bomb and rocket attacks against coalition forces."

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See also:
'Australian soldiers hit by Taliban bomb', Southern Highland News, 6 May 2009

Related posts:
'More Australian troops for Afghan mission', 30 April 2009
'PM drawing up plans for surge of diggers', 6 March 2009
'Australian special forces kill Taliban commander', 12 January 2009
'Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan', 15 May 2008

More Australian Troops For Afghan Mission

'More Australian Troops For Afghan Mission', The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 April 2009

EXCERPT: "Kevin Rudd has expanded Australia's military commitment in Afghanistan and put his stamp on a war that he says is becoming increasingly unpopular. About 450 extra personnel will be deployed, including 100 more soldiers to mentor the Afghan army and 120 personnel who will be deployed for eight months to provide security for the presidential election in August. The boost will lift Australia's commitment to 1550 soldiers. The Prime Minister said the extra troops would be there for "a fair bit of time". He said: "The Government has no interest in Australian forces being in Afghanistan for a day longer than is necessary. Mr Rudd said Australia's two main interests in the war were to prevent Afghanistan being used as a training ground for terrorists and to support the US under the ANZUS Treaty, which was invoked after the September 11 attacks. Ten Australian soldiers have died in the war, including nine in the past 18 months."

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See also:
'Australia boosts troop and financial assistance to Afghanistan', Radio Australia, 30 April 2009
'More troops equal greater risk: Govt', The Age, 30 April 2009
'No doubt war support will wane: Fitzgibbon', ABC News, 30 April 2009

Related posts:
'PM drawing up plans for surge of diggers', 6 March 2009
'More Australians want to leave Afghanistan', 3 October 2008
'Surge in Afghanistan needed, Fitzgibbon says', 16 July 2008
'Australia calls for 10,000 more troops in Afghanistan', 5 June 2008
'More Afghanistan deaths likely: Australian PM', 28 April 2008

ADF Working Closely With Afghan Warlord

'ADF Plays Down Warlord's Role on Crucial Supply Chain', The Australian, 27 April 2009

EXCERPT: "Australian special forces have been working closely with a top Afghan warlord whose 2000-strong paramilitary force has proved invaluable in protecting the main Kandahar-to-Tarin Kowt supply route from Taliban attacks. The co-opting of former warlords as anti-Taliban allies by the US and its coalition partners is a well-established practice in Afghanistan. But the Australian Defence Force is reluctant to reveal too much about its well-developed links with Colonel Mutiallah Khan and his private army, which is known as the Kandak Amniante Uruzgan. The ADF will neither confirm nor deny knowledge of payments to Colonel Khan, whose paramilitary force is used to ensure security for overland convoys travelling from Kandahar to Tarin Kowt. The supply route is vital for the delivery of the fuel and logistics used to run the sprawling joint Australian-Dutch military base at Camp Holland on Tarin Kowt's outskirts. Asked to clarify the status of Colonel Khan, the ADF said yesterday the commander was employed by the Afghan Ministry of the Interior."

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See also:
'Long road to Tarin Kowt', The Australian, 27 April 2009
'"More trainers" for Afghanistan needed', The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 April 2009
'International pressure for us to do more in Afghanistan: Fitzgibbon', ABC News, 25 April 2009
'Australian soldiers have killed more than 100 Taliban', Herald Sun, 25 April 2009

Related posts:
'PM drawing up plans for surge of diggers', 6 March 2009
'Surge in Afghanistan needed, Fitzgibbon says', 16 July 2008
'Australia calls for 10,000 more troops in Afghanistan', 5 June 2008
'Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan', 15 May 2008

PM Drawing Up Plans For Surge Of Diggers

'PM Drawing Up Plans For Surge Of Diggers', The Daily Telegraph, 6 March 2009

EXCERPT: "Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will travel to Washington this month armed with plans for an Australian troop 'surge' in Afghanistan. According to well-placed sources on both sides of the Pacific, planners have been working for months on several options. They range from a small boost to training Afghani soldiers, through to a battalion-sized battle group of 1000 soldiers plus armoured vehicles, Black Hawk helicopters and possibly even Abrams main battle tanks. The plans involve troops from Darwin, Townsville and Brisbane and support personnel from around the nation. They include a Darwin based mechanised company and M-113 armoured vehicles and cavalry from Darwin and Townsville equipped with ASLAV light armoured vehicles. A number of army Black Hawk helicopters will have been fitted with electronic countermeasures by next month, enabling them to deploy for medical evacuation and transport duty."

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See also:
'Diggers trapped between heroics and heroin', The Canberra Times, 6 March 2009
'More troops needed to counter Taliban', The Australian, 6 March 2009
'Looming elections prompt call for help in Afghanistan', The Age, 6 March 2009
'Uneasy allies in a land that needs close friends', The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 March 2009
'Australian govt to send extra funds to Afghanistan', China View, 3 March 2009

Related posts:
'ADF's Afghan victims top Iraq', 24 October 2008
'More Australians want to leave Afghanistan', 3 October 2008
'Surge in Afghanistan needed, Fitzgibbon says', 16 July 2008
'Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan', 15 May 2008
'More Afghanistan deaths likely: Australian PM', 28 April 2008

Australian Troops Kill Five Afghan Children

'Australian Troops Kill Five Afghan Children', The Associated Press, 13 February 2009

EXCERPT: "Australian special forces soldiers have killed five children in an attack on a compound in Afghanistan. The tragedy has triggered a strong warning from the Afghan Government that civilian deaths are playing into the hands of the Taliban. Afghan ambassador Amanullah Jayhoon said his Government was very concerned that the Australians had not co-ordinated the operation with Afghan security forces. The ambassador said 1000 civilians were killed by Coalition forces last year and such killings were eroding support for the Afghan Government. The Australian Defence Force chief of joint operations, Lieutenant-General Mark Evans, said the soldiers were involved in an operation in Oruzgan province, southern Afghanistan, in darkness early on Thursday. A suspected insurgent was killed along with five Afghan children. No Australians were hurt. Australians operated under strict rules of engagement and set out to avoid civilian casualties at all times, General Evans said."

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See also:
'Afghanistan condemns civilian deaths in Australian raid', Reuters, 13 February 2009
'US envoy faces daunting task in reversing Afghan decline', VOA News, 13 February 2009
'Civilian casualties mar US envoy's Kabul talks', International Herald Tribune, 13 February 2009
'Coalition, Afghanistan to improve counter-terrorism cooperation', VOA News, 12 February 2009

Related posts:
'NATO-led troops killed around 100 civilians in 2008', 28 January 2009
'More Australians want to leave Afghanistan', 3 October 2008
'Australian forces detained Taliban insurgents in "dog pens"', 2 September 2008
'Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan', 15 May 2008

Australian Special Forces Kill Taliban Commander In Afghanistan

'Australian Special Forces Kill Taliban Commander In Afghanistan', Bloomberg, 12 January 2009

EXCERPT: "Australian special forces killed a top Taliban insurgent involved in bringing foreign fighters into Afghanistan and recruiting suicide bombers, the Department of Defence said. Mullah Abdul Rasheed helped coordinate bomb attacks against international forces in the southern province of Uruzgan, the department said. He may also have organized a rocket attack that killed an Australian soldier earlier this month. 'Rasheed was a senior commander in the Baluchi Valley and was believed to be responsible for Taliban operations in the area resulting in the deaths of Coalition Force members and Afghan civilians,' the department said in a statement. Australia has about 1,000 military personnel stationed in Uruzgan province and around Kandahar Airport as part of a NATO- led campaign against the Taliban insurgency. The Islamist movement has stepped up its offensive against Afghan troops and the 60,000 international soldiers deployed in the country in a bid to topple President Hamid Karzai's government. Armed clashes have risen to the highest level since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, the United Nations says."

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See also:
'Withdrawal by 2012 not guaranteed: Army chief', The Canberra Times, 12 January 2009
'Afghan war can't be won by foreigners - Commentary', The Australian, 12 January 2009
'Information warfare: An unpleasant reputation and unsavory past', Strategy Page, 12 January 2009
'Afghan women, children die in clashes involving Diggers', The Age, 11 January 2009

Related posts:
'Australians hand over 180 Taliban fighters', 11 December 2008
'ADF's Afghan victims top Iraq', 24 October 2008
'More Afghanistan deaths likely: Australian PM', 28 April 2008
'Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan', 15 May 2008

Australians Hand Over 180 Taliban Fighters

'Australians Hand Over 180 Taliban Fighters', The Age, 11 December 2008

EXCERPT: "Australian troops in Afghanistan have handed over 180 Taliban prisoners to the Afghan authorities. The Australian Defence Force insists the prisoners are well cared for and checked regularly by the International Red Cross. Special operations commander Major-General Tim McOwan, said last night the Afghan Government had given an assurance that the prisoners would not be subject to the death penalty. At a media briefing earlier, General McOwan said there was a rigorous and transparent procedure in place, which was overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross and other legal authorities. General McOwan revealed more details of the Taliban ambush in which nine Special Air Service soldiers were wounded on September 2 and described acts of heroism as they fought their way to safety. He said the SAS patrol killed 13 Taliban fighters on the day before the ambush and were hit as they were returning to base."

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See also:
'Special forces land crushing blow on Taliban in Afghanistan', The Australian, 11 December 2008
'September ambush was Taliban's revenge: general', The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 December 2008

Related posts:
'Surge in Afghanistan needed, Fitzgibbon says', 16 July 2008
'Australia wants global fight on Afghan, Pakistan border', 16 June 2008
'Australia calls for 10,000 more troops in Afghanistan', 5 June 2008
'Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan', 15 May 2008

Taliban Killed Afghan Asylum Seekers That Australia Sent Back

'Taliban Killed Afghan Asylum Seekers That Australia Sent Back, Report Claims', The Guardian, 27 October 2008

EXCERPT: "The Australian government today said it would investigate reports that up to 20 rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan were killed after being sent back. Under the former government of John Howard, about 400 asylum seekers were denied entry to Australia after it was deemed safe for them to return home. Their fate was traced by the Edmund Rice Centre humanitarian agency, which says it has documentary evidence that nine were killed by the Taliban. The organisation estimates a further 11 people died. The Australian immigration minister, Chris Evans, told the Sydney Morning Herald he was 'taking the claims very seriously'. Evans has asked for more information about the process of detaining asylum seekers on the Pacific island of Nauru. The so-called Pacific solution was scrapped after the Labor prime minister, Kevin Rudd, came to power in December. The Edmund Rice Centre said other asylum seekers rejected under the policy had been forced into hiding in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its investigation is featured in a documentary entitled A Well-Founded Fear to be broadcast next month."

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See also:
'Royal commission call as refugees killed', The Australian, 27 October 2008
'Australia probes Afghan killings', BBC News, 27 October 2008

Related posts:
'Canada turning away Afghan asylum seekers', 20 August 2008
'Returnees bemoan government's "empty promises"', 14 August 2008
'Return with dignity, return to what?', 18 June 2008
'Afghanistan and Iraq drive up global refugee toll', 17 June 2008

ADF's Afghan Victims Top Iraq

'ADF's Afghan Victims Top Iraq', The Australian, 24 October 2008

EXCERPT: "More innocent civilians have been accidentally killed or injured by Australian troops in Afghanistan than occurred during the entire Iraq conflict. The Australian Defence Force does not disclose the total number of civilians killed or injured in ADF operations, but it has revealed that more 'moral' compensation payments to victims have already been made in Afghanistan than were made during the war in Iraq. The greater incidence of civilian casualties in Afghanistan is believed to reflect the more intense close-quarter fighting being conducted by Australian SAS troops against the Taliban since 2005. But it comes at a time when humanitarian groups such as Human Rights Watch have expressed alarm about the growing number of civilians killed by Western forces in Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch says the Taliban has contributed to civilian deaths by deploying its forces in populated villages to shield them from counterattack. The ADF, which has 1090 soldiers in Afghanistan, told The Weekend Australian it had made 10 separate payments to families of civilians killed or injured by Australian troops. The most recent of these was the 'act of grace' payment made this week to the family of Afghan district governor Rozi Khan, suspected of being shot by Australian soldiers last month. By contrast, only eight such payments have been made to families of victims killed or injured by Australian troops in Iraq since it was invaded in 2003."

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See also:
'Taliban surrender "only a matter of time"', Brisbane Times, 24 October 2008
'Honour payment justified: Government', The Age, 23 October 2008
'ASIO agent watched my torture, claims Habib', The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 October 2008
'SAS troops were "paid too much"', The Age, 23 October 2008

Related posts:
'Australia calls for 10,000 more troops in Afghanistan', 5 June 2008
'Troops overstretched: Australian DM', 3 June 2008
'Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan', 15 May 2008
'More Afghanistan deaths likely: Australian PM', 28 April 2008
'No more troops "without plan to win": Australia', 18 March 2008