Afghanistan News January 10, 2006

January 10, 2006

NATO Chief Urges Netherlands To Back Afghan Peacekeeping
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
January 10 2005-- NATO urged the Dutch parliament today to approve a government plan to send 1,400 more troops to Afghanistan, warning that insurgents would exploit any delays in efforts to step up peacekeeping.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters in Brussels that the Dutch contribution would be vital, adding, "Let's not grant the Taliban victory." He said he hopes the Netherlands can make its decision before an international conference on the reconstruction of Afghanistan in London due at the end of the month.

NATO is looking to raise its troop numbers in Afghanistan by 6,000 to over 15,000. Britain and Canada have also said they are ready to help in the expansion, which is seen easing the burden on the larger U.S.-led coalition there.

US 'perplexed' over Dutch hesitance on Afghanistan force
Tue Jan 10, 9:33 AM ET
THE HAGUE (AFP) - The United States is concerned by the Dutch hesitance to send troops to southern Afghanistan as part of the new NATO deployment in the country, a senior US official said in an interview.

"I think the NATO is doing good work. I believe that the US and the European Union are doing good work in the world. This is why I am perplexed by the debate in the Netherlands," the US Assistant Secretary of State for European affairs Daniel Fried told the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant on Tuesday.

"Frankly, I do not understand how the Dutch could pull out," he added.

The Dutch are coming under increasing pressure to decide quickly whether they will send troops or not to Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province.

But there is disagreement among the government parties about the mission.

The cabinet has said it support a new mission to Afghanistan but would leave the actual decision up to the Dutch parliament who could decide in February, after two ministers said they would not back an official government decision on the sending of troops.

It is unclear if there is a majority in parliament that backs the sending of 1,100 troops to Uruzgan, as politicians and public alike fear such a mission is too dangerous.

"To be frank, I do not think the security situation in southern Afghanistan is as bad as it is being presented in this overheated debate" in the Netherlands, Fried said.

"Sure, there are risks, but risks are everywhere," he told the Volkskrant.

"The fight against terrorism is a war that concerns everybody. This is not America's war, just as World War II was not France's war or a Dutch war."

On Monday, NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, himself a Dutchman, also urged the Netherlands to make a quick decision on the new mission to Afghanistan.

Many die in Pakistan tribal clash
Tuesday, 10 January 2006 BBC News
Seven Pakistani troops and 14 suspected militants have died in fierce fighting on the Afghan border, the army says.

The soldiers died in a rocket attack on an army post in the North Waziristan tribal area. Troops returned fire, killing 14 militants, the army said.

Military spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan told the BBC the militants included locals and foreigners.

Another 22 people have died in recent fighting, eight of them troops and eight villagers killed at the weekend.

'Neutralise'

Pakistan's army said two of those killed in the latest rocket attack - in the village of Sarbanki near Miran Shah - were soldiers, while five others were from the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Two women in Sarbanki were injured after being hit by stray bullets.

Reports said several soldiers were also wounded.

Maj-Gen Sultan told the BBC that the militants' local leader, Bilal, had been killed in the fighting.

He said the authorities would continue their efforts "to expel foreigners from the area and neutralise local miscreants".

Tens of thousands of Pakistani soldiers are deployed in the tribal area to hunt for Taleban and al-Qaeda militants who fled the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

More than 200 Pakistani soldiers have lost their lives in the fighting while the military claims it has killed about 600 militants.

'Soldiers missing'

On Saturday at least eight troops died when an army checkpoint was attacked at around midnight, about 24km (15 miles) east of Miran Shah.

Reports say the attackers were armed with assault rifles and rockets. Several soldiers are still missing.

The army responded with helicopter gunships, attacking what it said were the hideouts of suspected militants. It said at least three people were killed.

In a separate incident, people in the village of Saidgai, 12km (eight miles) north of Miran Shah, said military helicopters opened fire on a house early on Saturday leaving eight people dead and a number of others injured.

Islamabad protested to US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan over the incident, which the Pakistani army is investigating.

Pakistani officials insist the firing came from across the border but deny US forces entered Pakistani territory.

In December a man described by the government as a top al-Qaeda commander, Egyptian-born Abu Hamza Rabia, was killed in North Waziristan.

Officials said that he and four others died when their explosives blew up. Local people said their house came under helicopter gunfire.

7 Pakistani Troops Reported Killed In New Attack
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
January 10 2005 (NCA) -- At least seven members of the Pakistani security forces have been reported killed in a rocket attack on a military post in a Pakistani tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Officials said suspected militants attacked the post near Miranshah, capital of the North Waziristan tribal region, early this morning. The assault is reported to have continued for a number of hours. No casualties among the attackers were immediately reported.

The attack came days after eight Pakistani troops were reported killed Saturday in an assault on another post in the region. Pakistan has deployed thousands of forces in an effort to stop Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants and their local allies from operating along the mountainous Pakistan-Afghan border region.

Australia to send more troops to Afghanistan
Tue Jan 10, 4:02 AM ET By Michelle Nichols (Additional reporting by James Grubel)
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia will send an extra 110 troops to Afghanistan to bolster the fight against Islamist militants, increasing its presence in the country to about 300, the Australian government said on Tuesday.

The deployment, which includes two Chinook helicopters, would provide additional medical evacuation and air mobility support to 190 Australian special forces troops in Afghanistan, it said.

Australia's special forces were sent to Afghanistan in July to help hunt down Taliban and al Qaeda fighters who have doggedly pursued a violent insurgency since a 2001 U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban for harbouring the militant al Qaeda network.

Al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, has been blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

"(Australia's extra troops) will be deployed as part of Australia's continuing commitment to the fight against terrorism," Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile, who is acting prime minister while John Howard is on holiday, told Australian radio.

Australia initially sent 1,550 troops to Afghanistan in 2001 to join the U.S.-led attack, including special forces who were involved in some of the earliest and fiercest fighting.

Defense Minister Robert Hill said the helicopters and extra troops would be fully operational by March and would remain in Afghanistan for the rest of the special forces deployment, which is due to finish in September.

"Afghanistan has made significant progress since its liberation from the Taliban and it is important the international community continues to work together with the Afghan government to ensure progress continues," Hill said in a statement.

The Australian Greens party said the country should be withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, not sending more.

"Our troops should be in Australia and our neighborhood where our national interests are concentrated," Greens leader Bob Brown said in a statement.

The Australian government is also due to decide whether to send a 200-strong reconstruction team to Afghanistan.

The Australian newspaper reported on Tuesday that a reconstruction team would be deployed in April, but Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters in Washington no final decision had been made.

The Australian deployment comes as NATO urged the Dutch parliament on Monday to approve a government plan to send 1,400 more troops to Afghanistan, warning insurgents would exploit any delay in alliance efforts to step up peacekeeping.

The North Atlantic alliance is looking to raise its troop numbers in Afghanistan by 6,000 to more than 15,000 to help ease the burden on the larger U.S.-led coalition there.

Arianna Huffington: Will A Stable Afghanistan Be Yet Another Casualty of the War in Iraq?
HuffingtonPost.com via Yahoo! News Arianna Huffington Mon Jan 9, 9:12 PM ET
For all the disastrous consequences of the Iraq invasion -- including another 28 Americans killed over the last five days -- one of the most devastating has been the way it caused us to take our eye off the ball in Afghanistan. You do remember Afghanistan, don't you?

Four years after we toppled the Taliban, the first front on the global war on terror is facing a very uncertain future.

At a Pentagon briefing last week, President Bush slipped on his rose-colored glasses while touting the "amazing" progress being made "on the road to democracy" in Afghanistan. And while positive steps have certainly been taken, with the first elected parliament in 30 years being sworn in late last month, the new government is facing an aggressive insurgency, widespread corruption, a tattered infrastructure, severe electrical shortages, a lack of trained police and army forces, and a sputtering economy still dominated by drug traffickers.

Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record), so courageous in his critique of the Bush administration's handling of Iraq, is equally clear-eyed about the problems plaguing Afghanistan -- drawing the unmistakable connection between the two countries: "You can't carry the same intensity in two global invasions," he said. "Iraq is sucking the oxygen out of everything." Including our efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.

During his Pentagon comments, President Bush took a page from his Iraq PR strategy and tossed around a slew of numbers meant to counteract reports that the "training of Afghan police and army forces is proceeding at a snail's pace": "The Afghan national army," he said, "is now nearly 27,000 soldiers who are trained and equipped. General Abizaid tells us these soldiers are tough in battle... There are some 55,000 Afghan police officers on the beat. They're taking the fight to the enemy." How long before Gen. Abizaid has to follow in the footsteps of Gen. Casey and clarify exactly how few of these soldiers and police officers are actually ready to, as the president put it, "step in" so we can "step back"?

And there were a few stats the president left out of his numerical cavalcade, including the fact that the Taliban-led insurgency, still going strong, claimed some 1,500 lives last year, including nearly 100 U.S. soldiers -- more than double the number who lost their lives there in 2004. What's more, the Afghan insurgents are starting to emulate the all-too-successful tactics of their counterparts in Iraq. The country has seen a surge in roadside bombings and suicide attacks.

Efforts to reconstruct the war-torn nation are also proceeding very slowly. With the reconstruction of Iraq sucking up some $30 billion, the rebuilding of Afghanistan has had to make do with the leftovers -- $1.3 billion since 2002. But, despite the need for more roads, schools, clinics, and reliable electricity (even Kabul only gets a few hours of power a day), the Bush administration has slashed reconstruction aid to Afghanistan from $1 billion in 2005 to $623 million in 2006 -- an amount that Ronald Neumann, Bush's new ambassador to the country, says falls far short of what's needed. He told Congress that it would take some $5.2 billion over the next four years to get the job done.

"This is too critical to just say we want victory but we want it on the cheap," said Neumann. But that is exactly how Bush hopes to get it.

Perhaps the most destabilizing factor plaguing Afghanistan is the illicit drug trade. The country produces over 80% of the world's opium -- and drug trafficking accounts for more than half of its GDP. But the impact is far more than economic. As a Kabul-based Western diplomat told Newsweek: "Afghanistan's main problems are all linked to drug trafficking: rampant corruption, repressive militia groups, human-rights abuses and bad governance."

Indeed, Newsweek reports that many of the country's leaders are among the biggest drug lords. According to "Diplomats and well-informed Afghans," "up to a quarter of the new Parliament's 249 elected members are linked to narcotics production and trafficking." One source claims that 70 percent of the drug traffic can be linked to Afghan government officials. The Afghan president's own brother has been accused of being a major player in the heroin trade (a charge he vehemently denies).

Despite all this, the U.S. has done little more than give lip service to the crisis, taking a surprisingly hands-off approach.

When it comes to discussing America's withdrawal from Iraq, the president's default talking point is that America won't cut and run. But when it comes to Afghanistan, he's cutting troops (by 13 percent) and funding -- and running the risk of allowing the country to fall into chaos.

What about his commitment to staying the course? Or does that only apply to Iraq?

Special forces in regular clashes in Afghanistan
Sydney Morning Herald - Jan 10 2006 By Tom Allard
AUSTRALIA'S special forces contingent in Afghanistan is having regular - and deadly - firefights with Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants, and has killed dozens of enemy fighters.

The difficult security situation also extends to frequent attacks on the compound the Australians share with other forces and lies behind the decision of the Federal Government to send an extra 110 personnel and two helicopters to support them.

The two Chinook helicopters, pilots, mechanics and support staff will be ready to deploy at the end of next month following a $25 million upgrade of the aircraft which will enhance their armour, electronic self-protection sensors and weaponry.

There are 190 Australian special forces - SAS and commandos - already on the ground in Afghanistan and the Minister for Defence, Robert Hill, said the multi-role Chinooks would provide much-needed airlift and transport support. While he said Afghanistan's security had improved, Senator Hill said it remained very dangerous.

"There are incidents of suicide attacks, there are remnants of the Taliban in particular that have never accepted the legitimacy of [Afghanistan's] democratic Government and are still continuing their struggle," he said.

Senior Defence sources painted an even more alarming picture of the security situation, with one saying Australia's special forces had been "very, very busy".

Specialists in long-range reconnaissance and highly regarded for their exploits in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, the special forces have been used to hunt some of the most hardcore Taliban fighters, said another Defence source.

There were regular firefights and the Australians had killed dozens of enemy fighters, many of whom are hiding in Afghanistan's impenetrable and freezing mountains.

Two of the special forces have been injured in the process, although it is understood they have returned to duties.

Camp Russell, where the Australians and other forces are based, has also come under rocket and mortar attack.

Labor's defence spokesman, Robert McClelland, welcomed the new deployment and praised the "highly effective" special forces. Labor wants Australian troops out of Iraq but regards Afghanistan as "terrorist central" and has long said that Australian forces should never have left. The SAS were withdrawn from Afghanistan so they could fight in Iraq.

Mr McClelland urged Senator Hill to speed up the additional deployment of a military reconstruction team to help with the rehabilitation of Afghanistan's infrastructure and other rebuilding tasks.

No final decision has been made on sending the 200-strong reconstruction team and, contrary to media reports yesterday, Australia is not sending any more special forces to Afghanistan.

The Government wants the SAS to provide security for the Commonwealth Games.

Resistance to continue until US pullout: Omar
The News: Jang By Rahimullah Yusufzai Tuesday January 10, 2006
PESHAWAR: Taliban leader Mulla Muhammad Omar has said his men would continue to fight until the eviction of the US-led coalition forces from Afghanistan.

In a message to the Afghan people on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, a copy of which was delivered to The News in Peshawar, Mulla Omar advised the Taliban fighters to follow Islamic teachings while fighting the enemy and refrain from taking emotional and individual decisions on the battlefront.

Also, a Taliban spokesman, Dr Hanif said Mulla Omar had also rejected President Hamid Karzai’s latest offer of talks. On Sunday Karzai had invited the Taliban leader to contact his government to seek reconciliation. The Taliban spokesman said no talks were possible as long as the US-led foreign troops remained in Afghanistan.

"Talks are offered whenever the US military and the Afghan government suffer losses in Taliban attacks and there is need to raise the morale of their soldiers," Dr Hanif argued. He pointed out that the Americans were trying to pull out and put Nato forces in the frontlines in southern Afghanistan.

In his message, Mulla Omar said the US was the biggest enemy of Muslims. He stressed that Muslims must wage Jihad against the US to defend their homelands and civilisation. He criticised the Muslim rulers siding with the US in its "war on Muslims" and termed them traitors.

"These rulers claim to be Muslims but they assist non-Muslims to kill and harm Muslims. They have allowed CIA to establish spy centres in their countries," he alleged. Mulla Omar urged Muslims worldwide to support the Afghan fighters resisting the US occupation of Afghanistan.

Daily Afghan Report
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty 1/9/06
Afghan President Invites Former Taliban Leader To Peace Talks
President Hamid Karzai said on 8 January that several hundred former Taliban fighters have accepted his government's reconciliation offer and he suggested that Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar should "get in touch" if he wants to discuss peace, AP reported on 9 January. While leaving the possibility of talks with Omar open, Karzai told AP that he does not think the leader of the former Taliban regime will be making peace. "He has so much on his hands against Afghanistan," Karzai said of Omar. In May 2004, the Afghan government established the Commission for Strengthening Peace and Stability to coordinate its reconciliation program with the neo-Taliban and other antigovernment forces. While the commission has claimed success in offering amnesty to neo-Taliban fighters willing to renounce their opposition to the government, the neo-Taliban leadership has consistently rejected such overtures (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 November 2005). AT

Former Afghan Prime Minister Hekmatyar Encourages Jihad

In a message commemorating the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca dated 8 January and published by the Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), former Afghan Prime Minister and Hizb-e Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar writes that it is "incumbent on every Afghan" to engage in jihad until "all occupation forces are driven out" of Afghanistan and "an Islamic system is established" in that country "in accordance with the people's wishes." In his message, Hekmatyar claims that the foreign aid provided to nongovernmental groups in Afghanistan is aimed at "converting Afghans to Christianity and spreading moral corruption." He writes that the United States is trying to force Pakistan to "give up" its struggle with India over Kashmir "in return" for making the Durand Line -- a disputed boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- "permanent." The Durand Line -- named after Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, the British signatory to the 1893 agreement that demarcated the border between Afghanistan and British India -- has never been officially recognized by Afghanistan and has been at the core of disagreements between Afghanistan and Pakistan since the creation of Pakistan in 1947 (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," 2 January 2003). AT

Religious Scholars In Northern Afghanistan Seek Ban On Non-Islamic Religious Celebrations

The Council of Ulema of Konduz Province has issued a resolution that characterizes non-Islamic religious celebrations as against Islamic law, Sheberghan-based Aina TV reported on 8 January. "Celebration of ridiculous festivals such as Christmas, the Christian New Year, and Indian holidays is against Shari'a law and means the propagation of other religions," the resolution stated, according to Aina. Konduz Governor Mohammad Omar has sought to stress the importance of respect for the religious festivals of other faiths. "In my opinion, we should respect other religions so that they respect ours," Mohammad Omar told the Konduz Council of Ulema, adding that Islam teaches respect toward other faiths. AT

Karzai Reiterates Position On Recognition Of Israel

President Karzai said in Kabul on 8 January that his government will establish diplomatic ties with Israel once the Palestinians have established their own state, AP reported. "Israelis are people like we are," Karzai said. "If I have the right to live, and have a home, and have a country, Israel has the right to live and have a country." Karzai also expressed the wish that God might grant ailing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "a longer life." Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev welcomed Karzai's remarks, "The Jerusalem Post" reported on 8 January. Karzai first discussed the possibility of Kabul's formal recognition of Jerusalem in an interview with Israeli journalists in Kabul in October (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," 28 November 2005). AT

Afghanistan Travel Warning
Community Dispatch (press release) January 09, 2006
This Travel Warning provides updated information on the security situation in Afghanistan. The security threat to all American citizens in Afghanistan remains critical. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Afghanistan issued June 09, 2005.

The Department of State strongly warns U.S. citizens against travel to Afghanistan. There is an ongoing threat to kidnap and assassinate U.S. citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. The ability of Afghan authorities to maintain order and ensure the security of citizens and visitors is limited. Remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qaida network, and other groups hostile to the government, remain active. U.S.-led military operations continue. Travel in all areas of Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul, is unsafe due to military operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry among political and tribal groups, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and kidnapping. The security environment remains volatile and unpredictable.

Attacks on international organizations, international aid workers, and foreign interests have continued throughout the year. Foreigners in Kabul and elsewhere throughout the country were targeted for violent attacks and kidnappings. In late August, a British security guard in Farah was kidnapped and executed. In November, an Indian engineer in Nimroz was kidnapped and killed. Attacks on Afghan workers affiliated with international organizations occurred throughout the country, sometimes resulting in fatalities. There have been several rocket attacks in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan, including multiple attacks early on October 12 that targeted a Canadian ISAF camp (Camp Julian), an area near the Canadian Ambassador's house (close to the U.S. Embassy), and the Afghan National Department of Security headquarters, as well as an October 25 rocket-propelled grenade attack on a NGO in Faisabad.

Improvised explosive device (IED) and particularly, vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attacks, are on the rise. Several U.S. Embassy employees were injured in an IED attack in Kabul on August 21. Dozens of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were wounded or killed September 28 in a VBIED attack on an Afghan National Army convoy traveling on the Kabul-Jalalabad Road (commonly called the Jalalabad Road). On November 14, multiple bombings occurred in Kabul on this road, also killing and injuring several ISAF and Afghan individuals. Because the Embassy has also received other information over the past several months about potential threat of other attacks on Jalalabad Road, use of this road generally is restricted for Embassy employees and, if the security situation warrants, sometimes is curtailed completely.

Family members of official Americans assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul are not allowed to reside in Afghanistan. In addition, unofficial travel to Afghanistan by U.S. Government employees and their family members requires prior approval by the Department of State. From time to time, the U.S. Embassy places areas frequented by foreigners off limits to its personnel depending on current security conditions. Potential target areas include key national or international government establishments, international organizations and other locations with expatriate personnel, and public areas popular with the expatriate community. Private U.S. citizens are strongly urged to heed these restrictions as well and may obtain the latest information by calling the U.S. Embassy in Kabul or consulting the embassy website below. Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations, bombings, assassinations, carjackings, rocket attacks, assaults or kidnappings. Possible threats include conventional weapons such as explosive devises or non-conventional weapons, including chemical or biological agents.

The United States Embassy cannot provide visa services, and its ability to provide emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is limited. Afghan authorities also can provide only limited assistance to U.S. citizens facing difficulties. U.S. citizens who choose to visit or remain in Afghanistan despite this Travel Warning are urged to pay close attention to their personal security, and avoid rallies and demonstrations. They are also encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy through the State Department's travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Afghanistan. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the U.S. Embassy. Registering makes it easier for the Embassy to contact Americans in case of emergency. The U.S. Embassy is located at Great Masood Road between Radio Afghanistan and the Ministry of Public Health (the road is also known as Bebe Mahro (Airport) Road), Kabul. The phone number is +93-70-108-001 or +93-70-108-002. The Embassy website is http://afghanistan.usembassy.gov.

Updated information on travel and security in Afghanistan may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States, or for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. For further information, please consult the Consular Information Sheet for Afghanistan and the current Worlwide Caution Public Announcement which are available on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website at http://travel.state.gov