Afghanistan Conflict Monitor

NATO Backs Afghan Official Despite Jail Accusation

NATO Backs Afghan Official Despite Jail Accusation, The Washington Post, 6 March 2010

EXCERPT: "The NATO-led military force in Afghanistan said on Saturday it had confidence in the choice of a man picked to run a former Taliban stronghold, despite a NATO commander saying he spent years in a German prison for assault. Abdul Zahir, head of the new administration installed in the town of Marjah, denies the accusation that could set back the biggest NATO military operation of the eight-year-old war by damaging his legitimacy. The commander of NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, British Major General Nick Carter, told the Wall Street Journal NATO has known for two weeks that Zahir had been convicted in Germany of assaulting his stepson and jailed for four years. Marjah, a town in southern Helmand Province, was seized last month in the massive Operation Mushtarak."

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Related articles:
New Afghan chief in Marjah has criminal record, The Associated Press, 6 March 2010
US forces face scepticism after taking Afghan town, ABC News, 5 March 2010
Afghanistan military operation concludes in Helmand province, Eurasia Review, 4 March 2010
Afghanistan war: NATO unfolds blueprint to rebuild Marjah, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 March 2010

Related posts:
Focus in Marjah turns to building government, 1 March 2010
Afghan officials claim control over Taliban area, 25 February 2010
Helmand handover to begin next year, 12 November 2009
Securing Helmand, 29 September 2009

Marjah Effort Shows Values, Flaws Of Afghan Forces

Marjah Effort Shows Values, Flaws Of Afghan Forces, NPR, 2 March 2010

EXCERPT: "When the U.S. military began its counterinsurgency offensive in Afghanistan's Helmand River valley last summer, some 4,000 Marines took part in the operation aside about 300 Afghan forces. By autumn, the number of Afghan troops participating more than doubled, according to Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, the Marine commander in southern Afghanistan. Nicholson told NPR that a major challenge in building local relationships was the lack of Afghan soldiers and police. But senior U.S. officers say the current operation against the Taliban-stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province is far different. Several thousand Afghan soldiers and police are participating alongside U.S. Marines in the operation that began in mid-February. Afghan national police were brought in from elsewhere in the country to replace corrupt local cops, U.S. officers say. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, points out that there are about 4,500 Afghans with U.S. and coalition troops in Marjah. 'It's well planned,' Mullen says. 'Afghans are in the lead.' But a senior military official tells NPR that the U.S. definition of 'in the lead' means Afghans are planning the operation, and sitting down with Afghan elders in mosques or in meetings known as shuras."

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Related articles:
Developing a skilled force is key to Afghanistan's lasting stability, The New Statesman, 27 February 2010
Viewpoint: Measuring success in Afghanistan, BBC News, 22 February 2010
Afghan army lacks enough Pashtuns, AOL News, 19 February 2010
US enlists ex-foes for Afghan army, The Wall Street Journal, 9 February 2010

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NATO falls short in push for new trainers, 24 February 2010
Karzai may institute conscription, 8 February 2010
US makes small strides in augmenting ANA, 1 February 2010
Karzai wants ANA to replace foreign forces in five years, 20 November 2009
Assessment of plans to train Afghan National Security Forces, 5 October 2009

Help Promised for Returning Marjah IDPs

Help Promised for Returning Marjah IDPs, IRIN News, 2 March 2010

EXCERPT: "Hundreds of families who fled fighting in the Marjah area of Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, in February have started returning home; conditions are difficult but steps are being taken to help them, government officials say. Over 4,000 families were displaced by a major anti-Taliban offensive by NATO and Afghan forces which began on 13 February, according to the provincial authorities. 'Over 600 displaced families have returned to Nad Ali and Marjah [both towns in Nad Ali District] from Lashkargah over the past four days,' Ghulam Farooq Noorzai, director of Helmand's refugee affairs department, told IRIN, adding that more people would return in the days ahead. Dawood Ahmadi, a spokesman of the governor of Helmand, gave a bigger return figure: 'About 2,500 families have returned to their homes and only 1,000-1,200 families are in Lashkargah.' The government said it is not providing transport assistance to the returning families. Most people were using small cars as they had few belongings. However, roads around Marjah have been risky because of improvised explosives planted by the insurgents."

Source: IRIN News [pdf]

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Related articles:
Afghanistan: Where patients fear to tread, IRIN News, 18 February 2010
Helmand offensive hampering emergency health care in Afghanistan, Eurasia Review, 10 February 2010
Afghanistan: Helmand IDPs tired of leaving their homes time and again, ReliefWeb, 9 February 2010
Conflicts producing internal refugees in Afghanistan, CRI English, 8 February 2010

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No camp for Marjah displaced, 17 February 2010
More IDPs than previously thought: Government, 4 January 2010
IDPs leave camp from insecurity, lack of aid, 22 June 2009
IDPs reluctant to return home, 28 April 2008

Focus in Marjah Turns to Building Government

Focus in Marjah Turns to Building Government, Financial Times, 1 March 2010

EXCERPT: "The initial phase of the military offensive in southern Afghanistan to wrest Marjah from insurgent control has largely ended, but the more daunting task of building a credible government in place of Taliban rule has just begun, according to senior US and Afghan officials. The top US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, Abdul Karim Khalili, Afghan vice-president and a host of other senior officials on Monday entered the town – now controlled by US Marines and Afghan soldiers, and where the fierce gun-battles have ceased. The farmlands of Marjah, once a Taliban stronghold and drug-trafficking hub, remain treacherous. Over the course of the two-week offensive, the 5,000 Marines and Afghan soldiers have encountered hundreds of mines and homemade bombs, and the troops plan another detailed, house-by-house operation to clear ground they have already passed through. More than 100 insurgents have been killed alongside at least six Nato troops; four Nato troops were killed on Monday. But the Afghan flag now flies over Marjah, where no government presence existed before the offensive, and the shooting has stopped, at least for now."

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Related articles:
Afghan complaints show obstacles ahead in war, The Associated Press, 1 March 2010
Analysts assess Marjah offensive, Reuters, 1 March 2010
Afghan soldiers show improvement in Marja assault, Los Angeles Times, 1 March 2010
Marines to remain in Marja for months, Boston Globe, 1 March 2010
After push in Marja, Marines try to win trust, The New York Times, 28 February 2010

Related posts:
Afghan officials claim control over Taliban area, 25 February 2010
Concern over civilians slows NATO advance, 19 February 2010
NATO forces to launch Helmand offensive, 25 January 2010
Helmand handover to begin next year, 12 November 2009
Securing Helmand, 29 September 2009

Afghan Officials Claim Control Over Taliban Area

Afghan Officials Claim Control Over Taliban Area, The New York Times, 25 February 2010

EXCERPT: "The black, red and green flag of Afghanistan was hoisted over the center of this onetime militant stronghold on Thursday, as Afghan officials symbolically claimed control after a major military offensive by Afghan and international troops to drive out Taliban fighters. With Afghan soldiers, tribal elders and residents of Marja looking on, the governor of Helmand Province, which includes Marja, and a leading Afghan army general promised at the ceremonial flag-raising to restore security and stability to the city, and to transform it from a bastion of the Taliban into a 'symbol of peace.' But even as the government re-staked its claim on the center of Marja, there were reports of scattered fighting in the fields to the north of the city as American and Afghan troops continued to pursue Taliban militants. And Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, said that it could take up to a month for the Defense and Interior ministries to remove buried bombs and booby traps and rout pockets of insurgents in Marja."

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Related articles:
Flag raised, Marjah reaches turning point, The Wall Street Journal, 25 February 2010
Taliban lose control of stronghold, The Press Association, 25 February 2010
Civilian toll rises in NATO's Marja offensive, Toronto Star, 25 February 2010>
Taking it to the Taliban, TIME, 25 February 2010

Related posts:
Concern over civilians slows NATO advance, 19 February 2010
Afghanistan braces for urban warfare, 12 February 2010
Taliban vow guerrilla warfare against NATO, 11 February 2010
US and British to launch biggest offensive since 2001, 3 February 2010>

Concern over Civilians Slows NATO Advance

Concern over Civilians Slows NATO Advance, Reuters, 19 February 2010

EXCERPT: "Whenever Afghanistan's Taliban turn up the heat in the battle with U.S. Marines, the troops have to think twice before retaliating or calling in air strikes in order to avoid civilian casualties. That caution is guiding a NATO and Afghan military offensive designed to break the Taliban's grip on their last big stronghold, in Helmand province, without alienating the local population. But while the strategy may raise chances of local government officials winning the trust of Afghans as they try to stamp their authority, it may also delay the end of the assault in Marjah district and put NATO forces in danger. NATO forces are taking preventive measures, including sending A-10 jets to kill Taliban militants planting explosives. A-10s are designed for close air support for ground forces, meaning they can hit targets without firing large ordnance. The Taliban, meanwhile, are digging in for a fight to death, the Pentagon has said, increasing the chances of heavier fighting that could endanger civilians."

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Related articles:
US compensates Afghans for death, damage from war, The Washington Post, 19 February 2010
NATO "ill equipped to prevent Afghan civilian deaths", Daily Times, 19 February 2010
NATO may need 30 more days to secure Taliban stronghold, VOA News, 19 February 2010
Nato takes heavy casualties in Marjah, Financial Times, 19 February 2010

Related posts:
US curtails use of airstrikes in Marja assault, 16 February 2010
Afghanistan braces for urban warfare, 12 February 2010
Casualties "increasing" ahead of major assault: Red Cross, 10 February 2010
Helmand refugees fleeing ahead of offensive, 8 February 2010
Civilians and the international security strategy, 3 April 2009

No Camp for Marjah Displaced

Afghanistan: No Camp for Marjah Displaced, IRIN News, 17 February 2010

EXCERPT: "The government and aid agencies have decided not to set up a camp for hundreds of families displaced by fighting between pro-government forces and the Taliban in the Marjah area of the southern province of Helmand.' We don't want to make this a protracted emergency where people would remain in a camp indefinitely,' Dawood Ahmadi, a spokesman of the Helmand governor, told IRIN. Just over 10,000 people (1,573 families) arrived in the provincial capital of Lashkargah in the past 10 days as a major offensive in Nad Ali District by NATO and Afghan government forces got under way, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). 'Most of the IDPs [internally displaced persons] have been accommodated by relatives and friends in Lashkargah and some live in rented rooms,' Farooq Noorzai, head of the provincial department of refugee affairs, told IRIN. UNHCR, which relies on information it receives from local partners including the department of refugee affairs, said there had been no 'significant' shelter problem facing IDPs in Lashkargah."

 

Source: Afghanistan: OCHA Update #2 on Helmand Displacement, 16 Feb 2010 [pdf]

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Related articles:
Humanitarian actors need urgent funding to aid Afghans: UN official, UN News Centre, 17 February 2010
Afghan offensive displaces at least 1,240 families, Press Trust of India, 16 February 2010

Related posts:
More IDPs than previously thought: Government, 4 January 2010
Afghanistan among top ten humanitarian crises: Report, 23 December 2009
Afghanistan and Iraq drive up global refugee toll, 17 June 2008
IDPs reluctant to return home, 28 April 2008

Afghanistan Taliban "Using Human Shields": General

Afghanistan Taliban "Using Human Shields": General, BBC News, 17 February 2010

EXCERPT: "Taliban militants are increasingly using civilians as 'human shields' as they battle against a joint Afghan-Nato offensive, an Afghan general has said. Gen Mohiudin Ghori said his soldiers had seen Taliban fighters placing women and children on the roofs of buildings and firing from behind them. The joint offensive in southern Helmand province has entered its fifth day. US Marines fighting to take the Taliban haven of Marjah have had to call in air support as they come under heavy fire. They have faced sustained machine-gun fire from fighters hiding in bunkers and in buildings including homes and mosques. Gen Ghori, the senior commander for Afghan troops in the area, accused the Taliban of taking civilians hostage in Marjah and putting them in the line of fire. Nato has stressed that the safety of civilians in the areas targeted in the joint Nato and Afghan Operation Moshtarak is its highest priority."

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Related articles:
Civilian deaths mounting in Marjah offensive, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 February 2010
Civilian deaths undermine progress against Taleban, New Zealand Herald, 16 February 2010
Troops struggle to fight by strict rules in Afghanistan, The Dallas Morning News, 16 February 2010

Related posts:
Casualties "increasing" ahead of major assault: Red Cross, 10 February 2010
Taliban increasingly use children as bombers, shields, 26 October 2009
Terrorism kills more civilians than military action, 13 July 2009
UN: Afghan civilian deaths jumped 40 percent, 17 February 2009

Taliban Vow Guerrilla Warfare against NATO

Taliban Vow Guerrilla Warfare against NATO, AFP, 11 February 2010

EXCERPT: "The Taliban vowed on Thursday to fight back with a "hit and run" guerrilla campaign against Western and Afghan forces preparing to storm one of their key strongholds in southern Afghanistan. Thousands of US Marines and NATO and Afghan soldiers have massed around the town of Marjah, a Taliban bastion in Helmand province, poised to launch one of the biggest operations against the insurgents since the 2001 US-led invasion. The assault, dubbed Operation Mushtarak ("Together" in Dari) and expected to begin within days, aims to drive out the Taliban and replace their harsh rule with Western-backed Afghan government institutions. In a defiant statement on their website, the Taliban vowed to defend the town in the poppy-growing region of the central Helmand River valley, which they have controlled for years in tandem with drug traffickers."

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Related articles:
Taliban, Marines exchange fire as battle looms, The Washington Post, 11 February 2010
American forces in Afghanistan: Helmand hath less fury?, The Economist, 11 February 2010
Ousted tribal leaders poised to take over after Nato offensive, The Independent, 11 February 2010
Taliban plans to melt away into civilian population , The Telegraph, 10 February 2010

Related posts:
NATO will "stay the course" in Afghanistan: Chief, 22 December 2009
Helmand handover to begin next year, 12 November 2009
Afghan insurgent violence accelerates in 2009, 12 June 2009
Taliban grip on Helmand remains strong, 7 May 2009

Casualties "Increasing" Ahead of Major Assault: Red Cross

War Casualties "Increasing" Ahead of Afghan Assault, AFP, 10 February 2010

EXCERPT: "The Red Cross warned on Wednesday that war casualties were increasing around a Taliban bastion where US Marines are gearing up to launch a massive assault. Thousands of Marines, NATO and Afghan soldiers are massing around the town of Marjah in Helmand province, where military officials have predicted an impending offensive will be one of the biggest of the eight-year US-led war. The flow of residents fleeing the imminent offensive has slowed, provincial officials said, after loaded-down cars, trucks, tractors and buses clogged roads to the provincial capital Lashkah Gar for days. 'We have announced and told people in Marjah not to leave their houses as our operation is well planned and designed to target the enemy,' said Daud Ahmadi, spokesman for Helmand Governor Mohammad Gulab Mangal. 'Civilians will not be harmed,' he said... Staff working at the ICRC's first aid post in Marjah have been seeing increasing numbers of war casualties,' it said in an operational statement. Civilians and injured fighters find it 'more and more difficult' to obtain 'urgently needed medical care, owing to mounting security problems and numerous road blocks and checkpoints throughout Helmand province.'"

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Related articles:
Afghanistan says ready if thousands flee assault, Reuters, 10 February 2010
Marines test Taliban defenses before Afghan attack, The Associated Press via Yahoo! News, 10 February 2010
Troop hospitals stretched before big Afghan push, Reuters, 10 February 2010
As Afghan assault looms, many civilians haven't fled, McClatchy, 9 February 2010

Related posts:
Helmand refugees fleeing ahead of offensive, 8 February 2010
US and British to launch biggest offensive since 2001, 3 February 2010
NATO forces to launch Helmand offensive, 25 January 2010
Over 2,400 civilian deaths in 2009: UNAMA, 13 January 2010
Securing Helmand, 29 September 2009