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November 17, 2007 


U.S.-led troops kill 23 militants in Afghanistan
KABUL (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces have killed 23 militants during weapons searches in southern Afghanistan while two Canadian coalition soldiers and their interpreter died in a bomb blast, the foreign forces said on Saturday.

As rebel casualties mount, there are scant signs their insurgency to topple the pro-Western Afghan government and eject foreign forces is weakening, but instead there have been more clashes this year compared to 2006 and spread over a wider area.

Coalition forces searched compounds in the Garmser district of Helmand province looking for weapons.

"Several armed militants threatening coalition forces were engaged and killed during the course of this operation," a U.S. military statement said.

Another 11 suspects were detained, it said.

Afghan troops killed more than 10 Taliban fighters in the Zherai district of the southern province of Kandahar on Saturday, the provincial police chief said.

Two Canadian soldiers with the international force and their interpreter were killed in the south when their armored vehicle hit a homemade bomb on Saturday, the Canadian army said. Three Canadians were wounded.

In eastern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber targeting U.S. forces killed one civilian, the international force said.

The Taliban have killed more than 200 people in over 130 suicide attacks this year.

While the number of attacks and casualty figures are up from last year, the proportion of foreign troops and civilians killed in suicide bombings is down, security analysts say.

This is because foreign forces are better protected against the attacks and the Taliban are using fewer suicide car bombs which tend to kill more bystanders. The percentage of Afghan police and soldiers killed has gone up, though.

In the usually more peaceful north, armed gunmen loyal to a former warlord killed nine policemen and wounded another five in an ambush, the provincial police chief said on Saturday.

"The police team was sent to the Shahrak district to disarm an irresponsible armed group posing a threat to the people," Shah Jahan Noori, the police chief of Ghor province.

While efforts to disarm former fighters have had some success, after 30 years of war Afghanistan is still awash with weapons and armed groups have been reforming in some areas as the security situation deteriorates.

In the west, five rockets landed at Herat airport overnight, the Herat border police chief Rahmatullah Safai said.

"Initial reports indicate that no one was killed, but we don't know the extent of damage at the moment," he said.

Herat airport is also used by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Taliban said the international troops were the target of the attacks.

(Writing by Jon Hemming; Additional reporting by Sharifuddin Sharafiyar in Herat and Finbarr O'Reilly in Kandahar; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
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2 NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan
By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - A series of clashes in southern Afghanistan left 43 suspected Taliban militants dead, while a roadside bomb killed two NATO soldiers, officials said Saturday.

Twenty-three Taliban militants were killed during a U.S.-led coalition operation aimed at disrupting a weapons transfer in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said Saturday.

A truck apparently full of Taliban weapons exploded during the operation in Helmand province's Garmsir district. Coalition troops detained 11 people suspected of being part of a weapons running operation.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb in the south killed two NATO soldiers and their translator on Saturday, the alliance said in a statement. Three other NATO soldiers were wounded in the blast that hit their vehicle, the statement said.

The nationalities of the NATO dead and wounded was not disclosed, nor the location of the bombing.

In Kandahar province, Canadian and Afghan troops battled militants and called in airstrikes in Zhari district on Saturday, leaving at least 20 suspected militants dead, said provincial police chief, Sayed Agha Saqeb. An Afghan soldier was also killed, he said.

In the western province of Ghor, meanwhile, at least four police were killed Friday after militants attacked them during a police operation in Shahark district, Gen. Shah Jahon Noori, the provincial police chief, said Saturday. Noori said an unknown number of police were missing after the attack and five were wounded.

Separately, a suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked a NATO convoy in Nangarhar province's Chaparhar district on Saturday, killing an Afghan civilian and wounding another NATO soldier, officials said. The bomber was killed in the blast which also left two civilians wounded, said Noor Agha Zuwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

Afghanistan has seen record levels of violence this year. More than 5,800 people have been killed in insurgency related violence in 2007, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.
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Associated Press Writer Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.
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France turns down Canada's entreaties to send more troops to Afghanistan
SUSAN SACHS Special to The Globe and Mail November 17, 2007
PARIS -- France recognizes Canada's "sacrifices" in Afghanistan but is not yet prepared to increase its troop levels or humanitarian assistance there, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said yesterday.

But he stressed that France had no intention of pulling out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization military mission, as some French commentators have suggested. "There is no question of our leaving Afghanistan," Mr. Kouchner said.

He made his comments after a two-hour meeting here with Maxime Bernier, his Canadian counterpart.

Canada, which has so far lost 71 soldiers in the Afghanistan war, is seeking commitments from its NATO allies to step up with extra ground troops or otherwise boost their military involvement in the battle with Taliban militants.

Although he has not been specific about his intentions toward the Afghan mission, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has hinted that he would be open to a more robust role for France in NATO operations if it was guaranteed a leading role.

France withdrew from the organization's military command 41 years ago and it remains hostile to the perceived dominance of the United States.

A French battalion of 1,100 soldiers is already deployed in Afghanistan as part of the 40,000-strong NATO force. Most of the troops operate around the capital, Kabul, while the Canadian forces are stationed in the more violent southern region.

France recently sent six Mirage warplanes to the southern base in Kandahar to provide close air support for NATO troops, as well as four helicopters to run search and rescue operations. It also committed about 200 military trainers to work with Afghan government forces.

After his talks with Mr. Kouchner, Mr. Bernier described as "very good news" the deployment of the French Mirage jets. "I hope we will have other kinds of co-operation," he added.

But no immediate commitment was expected from France to relieve or replace Canadian troops.

Mr. Kouchner, who has argued for a greater French involvement in NATO, said he wanted to first visit Afghanistan and meet personally with French commanders and Afghan officials.

No date is set for that visit, although he said he hoped it would be before the end of the year.

"We have the same goals and the same difficulties," Mr. Kouchner said. "We have to work together."
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Bush, Fukuda discuss NKorea, Afghanistan
by Harumi Ozawa Sat Nov 17, 1:16 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told US President George W. Bush here Friday that he would make his "utmost efforts" to restart a Japanese naval mission supporting US-led efforts in Afghanistan.

After talks meant to defuse tensions on a range of issues, Bush promised "we will not forget" the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea as Washington moves to take Pyongyang off a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The prime minister also pledged to work to build "trusting relations" between Japan and China, according to Japanese deputy chief cabinet secretary Mitsuhide Iwaki, who attended the closed-door meeting.

Bush and Fukuda held their first formal face-to-face talks at a time when relations between the United States and its closest ally in Asia have run into a number of snags.

Washington did not hide its unhappiness earlier this month when the Japanese opposition forced a suspension in a naval mission to supply fuel to US-led forces in Afghanistan when its mandate expired.

"I told President Bush that I will make the utmost efforts for an early enactment of a legislation so that Japan's naval refueling mission in the Indian Ocean will resume as soon as possible," Fukuda said.

Fukuda, a 71-year-old political veteran who took over in September amid turmoil in his Liberal Democratic Party, was to spend only 26 hours here before flying home to help shepherd a bill to resume the mission through parliament.

For his part, Bush tackled the problem of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s to train its spies, which has flared up amid Japanese anger over US plans to say Pyongyang no longer sponsors terrorism.

"I understand how important the issue is to the Japanese people. We will not forget the Japanese abductees and their families," promised Bush, who did not explicitly tie the issue to de-listing North Korea as a terrorism backer.

Fukuda welcomed that pledge, saying: "On the abduction issue in particular, President Bush again confirmed the United States' unchanged support for the Japanese government."

On another dispute, Bush chided Tokyo for once again suspending US beef imports to Japan, urging Fukuda to open up Japanese markets to all US products and putting Texas beef on the menu for their working lunch at the White House.

Fukuda replied that Japan "will deal with this issue based on scientific findings with the top priority placed on people's food safety."

Japan once again suspended beef imports from a US meatpacking plant in October, amid Japanese fears of the threat from mad cow disease.

The two leaders also discussed climate change and energy security as well as the situation in Myanmar and international efforts to force Iran to suspend sensitive nuclear work that can lead to developing atomic weapons.

"The prime minister and I agree that a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten the security of the Middle East and beyond," said Bush. "We agreed that unless Iran commits to suspend enrichment, international pressure must, and will, grow."

Our two nations are united in our efforts to change the regime's behavior through diplomacy," he said.

Fukuda highlighted the importance of the Japan-US alliance, noting that he chose Washington as his first foreign stop as prime minister and vowing to work "hand-in-hand" with the United States on the international scene.

But Japan has vowed to withhold its aid for North Korea under a six-nation deal reached in February to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear programs until progress is made on the abduction issue.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il admitted in 2002 to abducting Japanese citizens, and has since returned five kidnap victims and their spouses and children.

Pyongyang, however, says others who were abducted are dead and the issue is closed. Tokyo believes there are other kidnapped Japanese still being held, possibly because they know state secrets.
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Helmand hero quits over troops' treatment
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom By Stephen Adams  17/11/2007
An Afghanistan war hero who led some of the toughest fighting against the Taliban is to leave the Army in disgust at the Government's treatment of troops.

Lt Col Stuart Tootal, 42, who some believe had the ability to lead the Army in the future, wrote a damning letter to military personnel chiefs slamming the "shoddy" treatment of soldiers before announcing his resignation.

It is a fresh blow for Gordon Brown and his Defence Secretary, Des Browne, who have been trying to show renewed commitment to the armed forces.

As commanding officer of 3 Para, Lt Col Tootal led his men in some of last year's most intense fighting in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, for which he was awarded the DSO. During his six-month tour between April and October, Lt Col Tootal had to contend with lack of food, water, ammunition and insufficient helicopter support.

Since returning, he became increasingly frustrated with troops' poor pay, the lack of equipment for recruits to train with, the state of Army housing and the lack of dedicated facilities for injured soldiers.

He left despite having been selected, on promotion to full colonel, to become Chief of Staff of the newly-created 6 Division, based in York.

Until very recently Lt Col Tootal was insisting he intended to take up the post.

A well-placed military source yesterday confirmed that Lt Col Tootal had made his concerns known over pay, training equipment, welfare and housing.

However, it is also thought that Lt Col Tootal was keen to stay in Wiltshire, close to his girlfriend, and had set his heart on becoming Chief of Staff of 3 Division, based in Bulford.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The Ministry of Defence is aware that Lt Col Tootal intends to leave the Army and we would like to thank him for his loyal service over 20 years, particularly his exceptional leadership of 3 PARA in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order."
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