Afghanistan Conflict Monitor

Afghan Election Campaign Workers "Killed in Air Strike"

Afghan Election Campaign Workers "Killed in Air Strike", BBC News, 2 September 2010

EXCERPT: "Ten election campaign workers have been killed in an air strike by Nato-led forces in Afghanistan, officials say. The governor of the northern province of Takhar, Abduljabar Taqwa, told the BBC that two people were also wounded in the attack in the Rostaq district. President Hamid Karzai condemned the incident, saying that 'pro-democracy people should be distinguished from those who fight against democracy'. A Nato spokesman said a 'precision air strike' had hit a militant's vehicle. The target was a senior member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, who regularly co-ordinated and conducted attacks with known IMU and Taliban insurgents, Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said. The Isaf statement said 'initial reflections' indicated that eight to 12 insurgents were killed or wounded, including a Taliban commander."

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Related articles:
Karzai condemns air strike as Gates arrives, Reuters, 2 September 2010
Military now bragging about Afghan air strikes, Wired, 1 September 2010
Pratap Chaterjee: Killing the wrong people in Afghanistan, CBS News, 20 August 2010

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NATO strike cited in Afghan civilian deaths, 14 August 2010
Afghan villagers protest over NATO "civilian killings", 12 August 2010
NATO to blame for rocket attack that killed dozens: Karzai, 26 July 2010
US drone crew blamed for Afghan civilian deaths, 31 May 2010
"Unjustifiable" NATO air strike kills 27 civilians, 22 February 2010

NATO Chief Backs Starting Security Handover in 2011

NATO Chief Backs Starting Security Handover to Afghans Next Year, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 31 August 2010

EXCERPT: "NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he hopes NATO member states will agree at an upcoming summit to start handing over security responsibilities in Afghanistan to Afghan authorities next year. The NATO chief's comments came on August 30, as the deaths of four more NATO soldiers were reported due to fighting in Afghanistan. The alliance said four U.S. troops were killed in a Taliban-style bomb attack -- raising to 21 the number of Americans killed in the past three days, according to the AFP news agency. In his interview with Danish television, the NATO chief said the security situation in Afghanistan was "definitely" not satisfactory. But he said there had been some progress in security, and that he hoped NATO members would agree at a November summit in Lisbon to begin gradually handing over security responsibilities in 2011."

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Related articles:
Afghan police unit's lack of guns and gas shows flaw in US exit strategy, Bloomberg, 31 August 2010
NATO kills Afghan children, loses three soldiers, AFP, 27 August 2010
Ban on hired guns will complicate Afghan exit: PM, CTV, 25 August 2010

Related posts:
Afghan president criticizes anti-terror strategy, 30 August 2010
US pullout plans give Taliban a boost: Karzai, 27 August 2010
Taliban attacks kill 12 NATO troops in 2 days, 14 July 2010
Training of Afghan military, police has improved: NATO, 31 May 2010

Afghan President Criticizes Anti-Terror Strategy

Afghan President Criticizes Anti-Terror Strategy, The Associated Press, 30 August 2010

EXCERPT: "President Hamid Karzai renewed his criticism of coalition strategy in fighting Afghanistan's stubborn insurgency, saying it has thus far produced nothing but civilian deaths. Karzai's sharp comments delivered Sunday fit a pattern of greater outspokenness by the Afghan leader as he appeals for support among the beleaguered Afghan public. In a meeting with visiting German Parliament speaker Norbert Lammert, Karzai said there was a 'serious need' to alter strategy against the Taliban and other groups linked to al-Qaida, the presidential office said. 'There should be a review of the strategy in the fight against terrorism, because the experience of the last eight years showed that the fight in the villages of Afghanistan has been ineffective apart from causing civilian casualties,' Karzai was quoted as saying. Karzai's statements come at a time when the Obama administration is ratcheting up pressure on the Afghan leader to do more to stamp out corruption. The Afghan government maintains that the U.S. should instead focus more on other fronts, including pressuring Pakistan to shut down insurgent sanctuaries."

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Related articles:
Occupation politics stymie Afghanistan, Asia Times Online, 30 August 2010
American concerns over Karzai deepen, The Wall Street Journal, 29 August 2010
Hamid Karzai lines up ultimate showdown with Nato with plan to stay in power, The Daily Telegraph, 29 August 2010
Gunmen kill Afghan election candidate, Reuters, 28 August 2010

Related resources:
Costs of War: Hotel Afghanistan, ISN, 30 August 2010
The contours of an Afghan settlement, Reuters - Afghan Journal, 30 August 2010

Related posts:
US pullout plans give Taliban a boost: Karzai, 27 August 2010
Afghan forces will not meet takeover deadline: US general, 24 August 2010
Afghan villagers protest over NATO "civilian killings", 12 August 2010
UN report says Afghan civilian toll up 31 percent, 10 August 2010

Toll from Afghan Base Raids Rises

Toll from Afghan Base Raids Rises, Reuters, 29 August 2010

EXCERPT: "The NATO-led force in Afghanistan said on Sunday more than 30 insurgents, including at least 13 suicide bombers, were killed when foreign and Afghan troops repelled al Qaeda-linked fighters who attacked two bases. Despite the presence of almost 150,000 foreign troops, violence across Afghanistan is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001. Insurgents have launched increasingly brazen attacks around the country in a bid to topple the government and force foreign troops to leave. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Sunday four more of its troops had been killed, taking to seven the number killed in the last two days in the south and east. An ISAF spokesman said all seven were Americans. At least 2,040 foreign troops have been killed since the war began, more than 60 percent of them Americans, according to website www.iCasualties.org and figures compiled by Reuters. Of those, at least 252 have died in the last three months."

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Related articles:
Officials: 13 would-be suicide bombers killed, CNN, 30 August 2010
Factbox: Security developments in Afghanistan, Aug 30, Reuters, 30 August 2010
Nato repels daring assaults on Afghan bases by insurgents in US uniform, The Independent, 29 August 2010
Taliban fighters, some disguised as American soldiers, attack two U.S. bases, The Washington Post, 28 August 2010

Related posts:
20 Haqqani Network fighters killed in raids in eastern Afghanistan, 13 August 2010
Taliban attack Afghan air base, 3 August 2010
Afghan militants fail in attack on NATO air base, 30 June 2010
US: Insurgents "degraded" in eastern Afghanistan, not defeated, 4 June 2010
Pentagon issues downbeat assessment on Afghanistan, 29 April 2010

New Case of Civilian Deaths Investigated in Afghanistan

New Case of Civilian Deaths Investigated in Afghanistan, The New York Times, 24 August 2010

EXCERPT: "A team of investigators from the American-led forces here headed to a volatile corner of northeast Afghanistan on Tuesday after local officials reported that a nighttime raid by NATO commandos there had left 8 civilians dead and 12 wounded. Details were sketchy, but the governor of Tala Wa Barfak, a district in Baghlan Province, said the Afghans had been killed in the village of Naik early Sunday by what appeared to have been a raid carried out by special forces. The governor, Mohammed Ismail, said a group of tribal elders he had sent to the village had returned with details. Among the dead were two women and a child, he said. Six of the dead were found in Naik, and two more villagers were found later in a field farther away, he said. Witnesses said the raid began Sunday at 2 a.m., when a number of helicopters descended on Naik. Groups of commandos entered a pair of houses, where the gunfire began, the witnesses said."

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Related articles:
Deadly U.S. raid sparks furor among Afghan civilians, NPR, 25 August 2010
5 soldiers charged with Afghan killings, UPI, 25 August 2010
Factbox: Security developments in Afghanistan, Aug 25, AlertNet, 25 August 2010
Two NATO soldiers, eight civilians killed in Afghan violence, AFP, 24 August 2010

Related posts:
Afghan villagers protest night raid, 18 August 2010
UN report says Afghan civilian toll up 31 percent, 10 August 2010
NATO "covered up" botched night raid, 12 March 2010
Strangers at the door: NATO night raids alienate Afghans, 23 February 2010

Afghan Villagers Protest Night Raid

Afghan Villagers Protest Night Raid, Al Jazeera, 18 August 2010

EXCERPT: "Hundreds of villagers have blocked a highway in eastern Afghanistan to protest a night raid by Nato and Afghan soldiers that left two people dead. A statement from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said two 'Taliban insurgents' were killed in the raid in a district near Jalalabad. But villagers said the men were civilians; their protest temporarily closed the highway connecting Jalalabad to Pakistan on Wednesday. 'The Americans who killed these people should come and see whether it is civilians or insurgents they killed,' Mohammad Gul, one of the protesters, said. 'We need an explanation from them.' Many of the protesters chanted anti-American slogans, like 'down with Obama' and 'down with foreign forces,' during the hours-long protest. Isaf said the men had been involved in roadside bomb attacks, and that Nato and Afghan soldiers were fired upon from 'multiple directions' as they entered the compound."

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Related articles:
Protest erupts after NATO kills father and son during night raid, Examiner, 18 August 2010
NATO air strike kills Taliban commander in Kandahar, China View, 18 August 2010
Coalition forces seize anti-aircraft rounds in raid, CTV, 18 August 2010
"Caught in the middle, we don't have any power", Irish Times, 18 August 2010
Afghan civilians killed in nighttime U.S. raid, Los Angeles Times, 5 August 2010

Related posts:
Taliban, civilians reported killed during NATO raid, 6 August 2010
NATO "kills Afghan MP relative" in raid, 29 April 2010
NATO "covered up" botched night raid, 12 March 2010
Troops face new rules for "night raids": NATO, 5 March 2010
Strangers at the door: NATO night raids alienate Afghans, 23 February 2010

NATO Soldiers Among Dozens Killed in Afghan Unrest

NATO Soldiers Among Dozens Killed in Afghan Unrest, AFP, 16 August 2010

EXCERPT: "Three NATO soldiers and more than two dozen other people including women and children were killed in a wave of violence across war-troubled Afghanistan Tuesday, authorities said. The soldiers and eight civilians including at least three women and a child lost their lives in Taliban-style bomb explosions from late Monday, the alliance's force and Afghan officials said. The NATO soldiers, whose nationalities were not disclosed, died in two separate attacks, one in eastern and the other in western Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. Both attacks took place on Tuesday, ISAF said. Afghan officials said two civilians were killed when a bomb placed on a motorcycle went off in the southern province of Ghazni, also on Tuesday. The blast took place just as a police convoy was about to pass, said Mohammad Osman, commander of Afghanistan's southeastern police zone."

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Related articles:
NATO: 2 wounded Afghan gunmen pose as civilians, The Associated Press, 17 August 2010
Al-Qaida operative killed in Afghanistan: NATO, RTT News, 16 August 2010
Gen. David Petraeus says Afghanistan war strategy "fundamentally sound", The Washington Post, 16 August 2010
NATO Military deaths pass 2,000 as Afghan war review looms, Reuters, 15 August 2010

Related posts:
Taliban attacks kill 12 NATO troops in 2 days, 14 July 2010
The Afghan war: The campaign in the Spring of 2010, 23 May 2010
IEDs in Afghanistan double in past year, 8 April 2010
Taliban vow guerrilla warfare against NATO, 11 February 2010
2009 deadliest year for NATO troops, 25 August 2009

NATO Strike Cited in Afghan Civilian Deaths

NATO Strike Cited in Afghan Civilian Deaths, The New York Times, 14 August 2010

EXCERPT: "There is a 'fair chance' that a NATO jet inadvertently killed five Afghan civilians during a shootout with Taliban fighters in a village in southern Afghanistan earlier this week, an American official said Saturday. Some details were still unclear, but a local Afghan official and two witnesses said that the civilians were killed Thursday afternoon when a NATO aircraft fired on a house after a firefight with Taliban militants who had attacked a NATO convoy. The Taliban were operating in Luchak, a farming village in central Helmand Province, the epicenter of the insurgency. When the convoy arrived in Luchak, about a half-dozen Taliban fighters opened fire from behind a wall next to a house. After a 10-minute exchange of fire, the insurgents ran away, the witnesses said. Then, about 10 minutes later, a pair of helicopters appeared in the sky, the villagers said. Maj. Michael Johnson, a NATO spokesman, said the aircraft was a plane that had come in support of the troops on the ground. The witnesses said the aircraft fired on the house, killing five men inside. Two Afghans were wounded."

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Related articles:
Analysis: Probing war crimes in Afghanistan, IRIN News, 15 August 2010
Afghan attack kills three children, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 August 2010
Afghans say they're caught in a crossfire, UPI, 14 August 2010

Related posts:
Afghan villagers protest over NATO "civilian killings", 12 August 2010
UN report says Afghan civilian toll up 31 percent, 10 August 2010
Afghanistan says 39 civilians died in disputed NATO attack, 5 August 2010
NATO to blame for rocket attack that killed dozens: Karzai, 26 July 2010
"Unjustifiable" NATO air strike kills 27 civilians, 22 February 2010

NATO Slack Forces US to Send Afghanistan Trainers

NATO Slack Forces US to Send Afghanistan Trainers, NPR, 13 August 2010

EXCERPT: "American soldiers — and even private contractors — are spearheading the effort to build an Afghan army and police force, so American and NATO troops can one day leave. But Pentagon officials and military officers say NATO nations still aren't doing enough. A few weeks ago, hundreds of artillery troops and air defense artillery soldiers from Fort Sill in Oklahoma and Fort Campbell in Kentucky started heading over to Afghanistan. They weren't part of the so-called surge in combat troops. Instead, Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed orders for them to work as trainers because European nations were too slow in helping out. 'We're still not getting NATO able to force-generate and deploy forces in the numbers that we need,' says Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, who leads the training effort in Afghanistan. 'So Gates said, "OK then, I'm going to give you another unit."' It was the second time this year Gates said OK to more American trainers because NATO wasn't picking up the slack. An 800-soldier battalion from the 82nd Airborne Division just got back from Afghanistan on a three-month training mission, designed to serve as a 'bridge' to more NATO troops. But with the NATO troops still not arriving, the troops from Oklahoma and Kentucky were sent — for a year."

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Related articles:
The State of the War - Editorial, The New York Times, 12 August 2010
Planned Afghanistan drawdown a sensitive issue, CNN, 1 August 2010
Pentagon sees training allies as its greatest hope, Stars and Stripes, 30 July 2010

Related resource:
Tommy Sowers: Who Will Pay for the Afghan Military? The Question Congress Must Answer Now, The Huffington Post, 22 July 2010

Related posts:
Training of Afghan military, police has improved: NATO, 31 May 2010
Hundreds more trainers may be needed: NATO, 18 May 2010
A force in fragments: Reconstituting the Afghan National Army, 13 May 2010
US troops fill NATO training gap in Afghanistan, 28 April 2010
NATO falls short in push for new trainers, 24 February 2010

Danish PM Hopes Troops to Leave Afghanistan by 2015

Danish PM Hopes Troops to Leave Afghanistan by 2015, Reuters, 12 August 2010

EXCERPT: "Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Thursday he hoped Denmark could withdraw many of its 700 troops from Afghanistan by 2015, or even sooner. Denmark joins a growing band of NATO nations setting target dates for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, reflecting domestic unease over the rising death toll in the war against Taliban insurgents. Rasmussen has previously avoided setting an exit date.' I also share the vision, or the wish, that we can withdraw the troops in the sense of not having large numbers (of combat) forces in Afghanistan in (20)14/15,' Rasmussen told a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron. 'I even hope we could withdraw troops before that. This is not a promise, this is something I wish,' he said, speaking in English. 'If we stick to our strategy, I'm sure we can actually achieve this.'  Most Danish troops in Afghanistan are in the southern Helmand province fighting alongside Britain's 10,000 soldiers."

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Related articles:
2 Danish soldiers killed, 3 wounded in Afghanistan blast, The Canadian Press, 8 August 2010
Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan, RTT News, 21 July 2010

Related posts:
Denmark rallies public behind Afghan war, 23 February 2010
Afghanistan: Organizing Danish civil-military relations, 27 April 2009
Danish civilian projects lack personnel, 16 July 2008
Al-Qaida claims Danish embassy attack in Pakistan, 5 July 2008