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October 7, 2007 

4 Afghan police, 4 Taliban killed
KABUL, Afghanistan - A bombing and a gunbattle killed four police officers and four militants in Afghanistan, officials said Sunday.

Two officers were killed and two others were wounded when a bomb exploded under their car in Yaqoubi district in Khost province on Saturday, police chief Wazir Pacha said.

Also in eastern Afghanistan, a Taliban ambush in Nuristan province left two other officers dead, police officer Mohammad Daud said. Four militants were also killed in the Saturday clash, which occurred in the remote Kamdesh district.

Elsewhere in the east, two Afghan civilians were killed in Kunar province after speeding toward a checkpoint without stopping, NATO said. The checkpoint had been set up because intelligence indicated insurgents planned to launch an attack on a NATO base.

In Paktika province, a "suspicious" man was shot and killed after being asked to halt, NATO said.

Afghanistan is going through its most violent period since the U.S. invasion six years ago. More than 5,100 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency-related violence in 2007, according to an Associated Press count based on information from Afghan and Western officials.
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NATO troops shoot dead three Afghan civilians
Sun Oct 7, 3:46 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - International soldiers under NATO command shot dead three Afghan civilians at the weekend when they did not heed warnings to stop near checkpoints or military vehicles, the force said.

In the eastern province of Kunar on Saturday, the soldiers shot and killed two people in a truck that had not stopped at a checkpoint, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

A district chief told AFP Saturday that three other people, including a woman, were wounded in the incident.

ISAF said the checkpoint was erected after information that insurgents in the area were reinforcing themselves by using trucks.

Also on Saturday, an Afghan man "behaved suspiciously" near an ISAF convoy in the eastern province of Paktia, the statement said. He ignored warnings in the local language to stop and was shot and killed.

"We deeply regret the loss of life in both of these incidents," said ISAF spokesman Major Charles Anthony. The shootings were being investigated, the statement said.

More than 700 civilians have been killed this year by military action or in attacks by Taliban and other insurgents, whom international forces are here to rein in.

The forces are under fire for the casualties they cause, and have been urged by President Hamid Karzai to take more care. They have also been criticised for aggressive behaviour and intrusive searches of homes.
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Japan may cut support of Afghan mission
By HIROKO TABUCHI, Associated Press Writer
TOKYO - Japan would scale back its support of the U.S. in Afghanistan by ending naval assistance to vessels involved in ground missions there under a ruling party proposal that officials predicted Sunday would gain parliament's approval.

Since 2001, Japan's navy has been providing fuel for coalition warships under an anti-terrorism law that has been extended three times. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has strongly pushed for another extension to the mission, which expires on Nov. 1.

However, Fukuda has been forced to make concessions because of strong resistance from the opposition bloc, which took control of parliament's upper chamber following a massive electoral defeat for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in July.

A new draft law, submitted to the opposition Friday, would clearly limit the mission to naval refueling and supplying of water to vessels participating in the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom's maritime patrol missions in the Indian Ocean.

"Under the new law, there will be no refueling to ships providing support for ground operations (in Afghanistan)," Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Sunday on a public broadcaster NHK talk show.

It was not immediately clear how seriously U.S. ground operations in Afghanistan would be affected. As of Aug. 31, 2006, Japanese vessels had supplied about 120 million gallons in fuel worth $168 million to coalition vessels, according to the Foreign Ministry.

"The Indian Ocean is an important passageway for much of the world's oil, and tankers passing through could fall victim to terrorism," Komura said. "Providing security there is valued highly by the international community, and we will continue to provide logistical support."

According to LDP's Web site, the new draft law would also rule out search and rescue missions, as well as humanitarian relief efforts.

The current law allows more leeway in what kind of support Japan's military can provide — a sensitive issue because of the country's pacifist constitution.

The LDP had hoped to secure a quick compromise with the opposition over the draft law before the mission expires. But the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan has demanded a full debate in parliament, raising the possibility the government will not meet the Nov. 1 deadline.

The Democrats are critical of the mission because they say the U.S.-led Afghan campaign has not been properly sanctioned by the United Nations. They also say the mission violates the pacifist constitution.

Opposition lawmakers have also alleged that oil supplied by Japanese ships was diverted to U.S. operations in Iraq, triggering public outrage.

"The government must more clearly disclose its activities over the last six years," DPJ secretary-general Naoto Kan told a Fuji TV talk show on Sunday.

Kan did not comment specifically on the draft law, but said, "How I see it, these activities are not based on a U.N. resolution ... and violate the constitution."

On Saturday, the country's largest business daily, the Nikkei, said Japan was preparing to withdraw its ships entirely from the region because the government did not expect to meet the deadline — a report quickly denied by the Defense Ministry.

Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba reiterated Sunday the government remained confident it can win backing of the opposition, which controls parliament's upper chamber.

"We believe the new law will be approved in the upper house," Ishiba told a separate talk show aired by TV Asahi.

"Afghanistan remains a terrorist hotbed, and peace in that region is in Japan's national interest," Ishiba said. "Why shouldn't Japan provide fuel to ships that patrol the sea, to prevent the proliferation of terrorism and drugs?"

The LDP lost control of the upper house in elections in July. It still controls the lower house, however, which can override an upper house decision.

But Fukuda, who took office last month, has sold himself as a compromiser and promised to reach a consensus with the opposition over the Afghan mission.

Japan, America's top ally in Asia, also backed the U.S. invasion of Iraq and provided ground troops for a non-combat, humanitarian mission in southern Iraq from 2004-2006. Since removing ground troops last July, Japan has expanded its Kuwait-based air operations.

Japan also hosts about 50,000 U.S. troops and is working with the U.S. on a joint missile defense system.
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6 years later, US expands Afghan base
By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer Sun Oct 7, 2:29 AM ET
BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Six years after the first U.S. bombs began falling on Afghanistan's Taliban government and its al-Qaida guests, America is planning for a long stay.

Originally envisioned as a temporary home for invading U.S. forces, the sprawling American base at Bagram, a former Soviet outpost in the shadow of the towering Hindu Kush mountains, is growing in size by nearly a third.

Today the U.S. has about 25,000 troops in the country, and other NATO nations contribute another 25,000, more than three times the number of international troops in the country four years ago, when the Taliban appeared defeated.

The Islamic militia has come roaring back since then, and 2007 has been the battle's bloodiest year yet.

Barnett R. Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan at New York University, said U.S. leaders in Washington "utterly failed" to understand what was needed to consolidate that original Taliban rout, which started with airstrikes on Oct. 7, 2001, less than a month after the Sept. 11 attacks in Washington and New York.

"The Bush administration did not see Afghanistan as a long-term commitment, and its leaders deceived themselves into thinking they had won an irreversible victory. They did not consider Afghanistan important and always intended to focus on Iraq," he said.

"Now the U.S. and international community have fallen way behind, and the Taliban are winning strategically, even if we defeat them in every tactical engagement," he added.

At Bagram, new barracks will help accommodate the record number of U.S. troops in the country.

"We've grown in our commitment to Afghanistan by putting another brigade (of troops) here, and with that we know that we're going to have an enduring presence," said Army Col. Jonathan Ives. "So this is going to become a long-term base for us, whether that means five years, 10 years — we don't know."

Insurgents have launched more than 100 suicide attacks this year, an unprecedented pace, including a bombing in Kabul on Saturday against a U.S. convoy that killed an American soldier and four Afghan civilians — the third suicide blast in Kabul in a week.

Separately on Saturday, two Afghan civilians were killed in Kunar province after speeding toward a checkpoint without stopping, NATO said. A "suspicious" man was also shot and killed in Paktia province after being asked to halt, it said.

More than 5,100 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency related violence so far this year, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials. That far outpaces last year's violence, when the AP count topped 4,000 for the entire year.

Some 87 U.S. troops have also died so far this year, also a record pace. About 90 U.S. servicemembers were killed in all of last year.

Wide areas of the south — in Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces — are controlled by the Taliban, and the fighting is migrating north, into Ghazni province — where 23 South Koreans were kidnapped in July — and Wardak, right next door to Kabul, the capital.

Osama bin Laden, whose presence here was a trigger for the U.S.-led attack, is still at large, possibly hiding in the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

And Afghan farmers this year grew a record amount of opium poppy, prompting officials to draw up plans to use the military in drug interdiction missions against traffickers.

Rubin said Washington ignored how difficult the fight would be and wanted to prevent U.S. forces from being tied down in nation-building exercises as in the Balkans.

"Since 2005, U.S. generals have told me (former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld) was drumming his fingers on the table trying to find out when he could take the troops out," Rubin said. "Now the administration has completely reversed itself, but of course without ever admitting it was wrong and still without a strategy that has a serious chance of success."

Still, U.S. commanders point out that military operations have killed more than 50 mid- and high-level Taliban commanders this year, causing at least a temporary disruption in the militants' abilities. The Afghan army participated in its first jointly planned and executed operation, in Ghazni province, earlier this summer.

Originally, Pentagon planners thought Bagram would be a "temporary" camp, Ives said, but an increased U.S. commitment to Afghanistan means Bagram needs to grow.

"Where we designed a base around 3,000 (troops), it quickly moved to 7,000 and now we're housing about 13,000, so just in a very short period of time you've grown not necessarily exponentially but you've definitely doubled just about every two years," Ives said.

A new runway accommodates heavier C-5 cargo planes and Boeing 747s. New soldiers' barracks — safer and more comfortable than the wooden structures that dot Bagram — are being built. And more workers are flowing in. Two years ago, some 1,500 Afghans worked in support roles at Bagram; today 5,000 walk through its front gates daily.

Six years after CIA agents and Special Forces soldiers helped the Northern Alliance swoop down from their northern stronghold toward Taliban-controlled Kabul, President Hamid Karzai is increasingly asking that Taliban militants join the government through peace talks. And the U.N. has said an increasing number of fighters want peace.

But the Taliban and factional warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the militant group Hezb-i-Islami, have rejected those offers, saying that international troops must first leave the country.

Although the Taliban seems to have an endless recruiting base in the ethnic Pashtun heartland in southern and eastern Afghanistan and the Pakistan border region, some fighters are laying down their arms and joining the government.

Officials in Ghazni province on Saturday said some 50 militants from Andar District — a Taliban stronghold where some of the Korean hostages were held — will join the government's reconciliation process.

But the U.S. will mentor Afghanistan's military for years to come, Ives said. He said America's military and aid commitments to Afghanistan are "speaking volumes."

"Our commitment to them is really saying we will be here until you have the security and stability that allows you to be a developing country on your own, and if that's 10 years then it's 10 years," he said. "But I think the thing is we're looking to help them as much as we can."
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Canadian government announces $25 million in food aid for Afghanistan
Sun Oct 7, 5:50 AM By The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda today announced a $25-million program to help feed people in southern Afghanistan.

The money will be used to fund the purchase of grain and cooking oil in areas hard hit by Taliban militants.

Canadian officials say this year alone 8,700 tonnes of food have been distributed to about 400,000 people.

Oda made the announcement as she and Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier continued the second day of their visit to Afghanistan.

Oda says "this renewed partnership will help ensure that vulnerable Afghan children will continue to receive necessary food aid."

Oda and Bernier arrived in Kandahar after a visit to Kabul, where they met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The two newly shuffled Canadian cabinet ministers arrived in the Afghan capital just 30 minutes after another deadly suicide bomb attack Saturday, but that didn't daunt their persistent pitch that life is getting better for ordinary Afghans.

Canada has 2,300 soldiers based in southern Afghanistan.
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Iran, Afghanistan stress security cooperation
Tehran Times Political Desk
TEHRAN — Through bilateral cooperation Iran and Afghanistan could eradicate terrorism and drug smuggling which have negative effects on the regional stability and security, Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said in a meeting with Afghan ambassador to Tehran Mohammad Yahya Maroufi on Saturday.


Referring to Iran’s long borders with Afghanistan and the strong historical, cultural and ethnic bonds between the two countries, Iranian defense minister underlined the importance of expanding ties with Kabul.

Bolstering defense ties with all neighboring Muslim countries, especially with the friendly and brotherly nation of Afghanistan, is a top priority of the Iranian foreign policy, Najjar noted.

He further emphasized the need for the establishment of an Iran-Afghanistan joint defense commission.

Afghanistan’s envoy presented the Afghan Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak’s warm compliments to Najjar and called for strengthening bilateral ties in all areas.

On behalf of the Afghan defense minister, he invited Gen. Najjar for an official visit to Afghanistan.

""We believe that the trip would be a turning point in the two countries' defense ties,"" he added.

Maroufi further appreciated Iran's unfailing supports for the establishment of peace, stability and security in Afghanistan, saying that expanding comprehensive ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran is on the Afghan foreign policy agenda.
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Iran for expansion of defense relations with Afghanistan
Tehran, Oct 6, IRNA
Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said here Saturday that expansion of defense relations with all Muslim and neighboring countries, especially Afghanistan, is a priority of Iran's foreign policy.

Najjar told Afghan Ambassador to Tehran Mohammad Yahya Maroofi that long borders and deep historical, ethnic and cultural commonalties and bonds between Iran and Afghanistan would pave the way for further expansion of the two-way ties and cooperation.

The minister stressed formation of joint defense commission and implementation of provisions of a joint defense declaration.

"Through mutual cooperation, Iran and Afghanistan can overcome such problems as terrorism, drugs transit and adverse impacts of contraband smuggling on regional stability and security," said Najjar.

Maroofi, for his part, underlined all-out expansion of bilateral cooperation.

Inviting Najjar to visit Afghanistan on behalf of Afghan Defense Minister General Abdulrahim Wardak, Maroofi said the visit would hopefully be a turning point in bilateral security and defense relations.
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Kabul, City of Fear
The Afghan government has vowed to make the capital a symbol of security, but recent bombings have sown terror.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting By Wahidullah Amani in Kabul (ARR No. 267, 05-Oct-07)
Kabul’s narrow streets, recently so crowded, are now unnaturally calm.

The last 10 days of Ramadan are usually the year’s busiest, as shoppers rush to buy clothes, presents and food for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that ends a month of fasting. Kabul’s daytime population normally doubles during this periods as crowds come in from the provinces to complete their purchases.

But for the past few days, the shops have been empty and the streets deserted. Those who do venture out have pinched faces and a hurried look – they all fear that another suicide attack could come at any time.

“I had to come to the city to buy things for Eid,” said Nafas Gul, 28. “But I am sorry I’m here. I am afraid all the time, and I’m hurrying so that I can get home. Everyone there is worried about me.”

The past two weeks have seen several devastating attacks that have taken the lives of dozens of military and civilians in various parts of the capital.

The Taleban have claimed responsibility for the carnage, saying it marks a new phase in their “jihad” or holy war against the Afghan government and the foreigners who back it.

The biggest incident was on September 29, when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives on a bus full of Afghan army personnel, killing 30 and injuring 29. The blast shattered the calm of a neighbourhood previously considered safe, Kart-e-Parwan.

Another bomb just three days later made Kabul residents uncomfortably aware that no area of the capital is truly safe any more. The October 2 blast, in the western part of the city, targeted a shuttle bus carrying Afghan police.

Witnesses say 15 people were killed and ten were injured. The interior ministry confirmed the death toll, which included 10 police, but spokesman Zmarai Bashiri put the number of injured at three.

Sher Mohammad, 25, has a shop in the area. He was close to the bus at the time of the explosion, and saw the man police believe to be the bomber.

“There was a man in a large patu [Afghan shawl] sitting under a tree opposite my shop,” he said. “When the bus arrived, a number of police got on. He did, too, and a few minutes later there was a big explosion.

"I saw the dead and wounded scattered everywhere. There were women and children among them. I saw one of our neighbours who was injured, and I immediately rushed him to hospital."

Mohammad Bashir, 27, said that he got to the scene of the bombing soon after the attack took place.

"When I got to the bus, I saw five dead children and one woman near the bus. The children had school uniforms on. I got in the bus and took four injured people out. There were a lot of dead in the bus, most of them burnt," he said.

Things have reached a stage where Kabul residents are changing their way of life. Many families are keeping their children home from school, undermining one of the government’s major successes.

“I have three children,” said 40-year-old Sulaiman. “I am very worried about them when they go out every day. If the situation continues like this, I will have to stop them going to school.”

The police are attempting to deal with the problem by increasing their presence on the streets and boosting the number of checkpoints where cars are stopped and searched. But this has not helped calm fears among residents of the capital.

“The police appear on the roads and search vehicles whenever they want to, said 42-year-old Mohammad Rahim. “They only do it for two hours a day, so it does nothing but bother people. They do a search early in the morning, but they’re gone by 10 am.”

The two latest attacks were both in the early morning.

The interior ministry acknowledges that the recent bombings have increased concerns and spread fears across Kabul, but the spokesman insists that there are new precautions for preventing a repeat of the recent attacks targeting the security forces.

“We have developed good plans, which we hope will achieve positive results,” said spokesman Bashiri.

He would not go into any detail, citing the need for confidentiality.

“We want Kabul to be a symbol of security,” he said. “We are very concerned about the recent incidents. It is not easy to combat suicide attacks, but we are hoping for the cooperation of the local population.”

But that may a tough sell for residents like Gul Wali, 57. He is angry and bitter, and despite the Taleban’s clear acceptance of responsibility, he is in no doubt as to whom to blame.

“There is no security in the city,” he said. “The police do nothing except take bribes. This whole situation is because of the government. I don’t let my family members leave the house any more. If they go out, I have to worry about them until they get back.”
Wahidullah Amani is IWPR’s lead trainer and reporter in Kabul.
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Using our soldiers as pawns in new Afghan game
Oct 07, 2007 04:30 AM Thomas Walkom Toronto Star,  Canada
Canada's purpose in Afghanistan is changing subtly but significantly. When then-prime minister Paul Martin agreed to send combat troops to Kandahar, his aim was to defeat the Taliban. Now, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai actively lobbies to bring his Taliban adversaries into a coalition government, the role of Canadian and other NATO-led troops is not to destroy the insurgents but to pressure them into talks.

In the real world of power politics, this is classic carrot and stick strategy. The carrot Karzai is offering his adversaries, including Taliban leader Mullah Omar, is a major role in the country's government. Canada and other NATO countries willing to have their soldiers die for the Afghan regime constitute the stick.

"If a group of Taliban or a number of Taliban come to me and say, `President, we want a department in this or in that ministry, or we want a position as deputy minister ... and we don't want to fight any more' ... If there will be a demand and a request like that to me, I will accept it," Karzai said last week.

What he left unsaid was the threat that if Taliban leaders don't compromise, they will continue to come under attack from NATO.

For Karzai, this makes perfect sense. As long as the insurgents have support in Afghanistan and hideouts in neighbouring Pakistan, they cannot be defeated.

In effect, he is saying to Mullah Omar: I can't win but neither can you. So let's make a deal and divvy up the spoils.

Yet it is a strategy that can work only if NATO keeps fighting. Otherwise, faced with a carrot and no stick, the Taliban would be tempted to battle on until they win.

Which explains why, even as Karzai makes overtures to Omar, he continues to plead with Canada to stay the course.

His problem, however, is that Canadians – even those who now support the war – may not be willing to have their soldiers used as pawns in this new great game.

We have been given many reasons for going to war.

Sometimes, the federal government says we want to ensure that Afghan girls can go to school. Sometimes, it says the aim is to defeat the Taliban so as to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist base. At yet other times, we are told we are fighting to avenge the 9/11 attacks.

Chief of defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier says the aim is to kill the "scumbags."

All of these reasons are simple and powerful.

The argument that we are fighting the Taliban abroad so that we don't have to fight them in downtown Toronto may be wrong. But it has resonance.

However, when the rationale for war is simply to buttress the negotiating position of an obscure foreign leader, will Canadians be as amenable?

It's one thing to fight a war to kill "scumbags." It's another to fight a war in order to persuade these same "scumbags" to accept six cabinet seats in a coalition government rather than seven.

I applaud Karzai for his attempts to end Afghanistan's nightmare through negotiation. Ultimately, a political solution is the only way out.

But at the same time, I wonder how the parents and husbands and wives and girlfriends and boyfriends of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan will feel if he succeeds – if Mullah Omar becomes Karzai's prime minister; if, as part of a coalition deal, more severe forms of sharia law are imposed on women; if the very few gains Afghanistan has made in the field of human rights are reversed.

Won't they wonder if the whole thing was a waste of time? Won't they suspect their lovers and sons and daughters died for nothing?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas Walkom's column appears Thursday and Sunday.
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One killed as Somali Islamists bring in Afghan-trained commander
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) - A Somali security official was killed in Mogadishu, witnesses said Sunday, as Islamists insurgents brought into their ranks an battle-tested Afghan-trained commander.

Gunmen shot dead Ahmed Hareed, a district official for Somali National Security Agency, overnight in the south of the lawless capital, the latest in a string of attacks targeting government employees and sympathisers.

"Hareed was targeted because of his services to the government, just like many other officials who have faced the same fate," said Mohamed Ibrahim, a friend.

On Sunday, four civilians were wounded in the capital's Suqaholaha district after Ethiopian troops opened fire in response to a grenade attack, a witness said.

"Of the four, one of them was seriously wounded," said resident Abdullahi Abdi Mohamud.

Daily insurgent-led attacks have convulsed Mogadishu since January when the government, backed by Ethiopian forces ousted an Islamist movement that controlled much of southern and central Somalia.

Last month, leaders of a new Islamist-dominated opposition group formed in neighbouring Eritrea vowed to drive off the Ethiopian troops, accusing them of occupying their country.

Islamist fighters (also known as Al-Shabab) named Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Ali "Abu-Mansoor", the former deputy commander of Islamic Courts Union (ICU) that was ousted from Somalia early this year, as their spokesman in Mogadishu.

A spokesman is usually a commander among Islamist fighters.

Abu-Mansoor, 38, who was trained in Afghanistan in 2001-2002, gained fame when he commanded militiamen against Ethiopian forces who had invaded the country's Gedo region in 1996, according to Islamist website heegan.net.

In addition, he also set up a militia training in Somalia in the 1990s at the height factional wars.

Somalia has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre touched off a deadly clan-based power struggle that has defied numerous efforts to restore stability.
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Pakistani forces kill 20 militants, army says
Sun Oct 7, 2:38 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani soldiers backed by helicopter gunships killed 20 pro-Taliban militants in an attack on Sunday in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border, a military spokesman said.

The army attack came hours after staunch U.S. ally President Pervez Musharraf swept the most votes in a presidential election.

"The operation is still on. Militants hold positions in the mountains and we're targeting them with artillery and helicopter gunships," said military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad.

Twenty militants had been killed and 15 wounded, he said.

Arshad said the attack was launched after militants ambushed a military convoy near Mir Ali town, 24 km (15 miles) east of the region's main town of Miranshah town on Saturday evening.

Residents of the area had said earlier they had seen a military build-up, apparently in preparation for an offensive against the al Qaeda-linked militants.

Pakistan has seen a wave of violence since July, when a peace pact with militants broke down in North Waziristan and army commandos stormed a radical mosque in the capital, Islamabad.

The violence has reinforced opposition among many Pakistanis to Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Musharraf has said terrorism and extremism are the biggest challenges the country faces and has called for reconciliation among political parties to tackle it.

Waziristan is a hotbed of support for Taliban and al Qaeda militants, who fled to the region after U.S.-led forces drove them out of Afghanistan in late 2001.

Militants in neighboring South Waziristan are still holding about 225 soldiers captured at the end of August.
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Latest British fatality in Afghanistan was friend of Prince William
Sat Oct 6, 6:14 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - The latest British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan was a friend of Prince William and his former platoon commander during his military training, royal officials said Saturday.

Major Alexis "Lex" Roberts, 32, died after an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle as he returned to Kandahar airbase in southern Afghanistan early Thursday, the defence ministry in London said.

The officer, who was married with two young daughters, was serving with the 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles at the time.

In a statement, royal officials said Prince William, 25, was "deeply saddened" to learn of Roberts' death. He said he remembered the officer with "great respect" and said he was also a "good friend".

Roberts taught William during a posting to Britain's elite military academy, Sandhurst, between 2004 and 2006.

"At this time, his thoughts and prayers are with Lex's wife, Susie, their two young daughters, Alice and Freya, and with all his family and friends," the statement for the prince said.

The Gurkhas, who are mainly made up of Nepalese recruits, had been taking part in Operation Palk Wahel, which aims to drive out Afghanistan's former hardline rulers the Taliban from the Upper Gereshk Valley.

Roberts was the 82nd British soldier to die in Afghanistan since the start of operations in 2001.

Britain has about 7,000 troops there -- the second-highest number after the United States in the UN-sanctioned, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

The figure is set to rise to around 7,800 by the end of the year.
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Student assaulted by Afghans
7 Oct 2007, 0348 hrs IST, TNN Times of India, India
LUCKNOW: Tension gripped the Lucknow University campus on Saturday evening when a group of Afghan students brutally assaulted an Indian student, Charanjeet, who is also a state-level basketball player.

The incident took place right outside the campus police outpost following a dispute over alleged teasing of a female teacher from Tazikistan.

Timely action by the police prevented the situation from turning ugly but atmosphere was tense in the university hostels till late night following rumours that the Afghan students also abused Charanjeet by calling him 'bloody Indian'.

Four students were detained by the police but later released on the intervention of the university proctor who also brokered a compromise between the 'warring groups'.

However, university officers are also planning to lodge an official complaint with the Afghanistan embassy against Afghan students for indulging in violence and indiscipline.

It was around 4 pm when Charanjeet and his friends were warming up for basketball training sessions in the court on the Arts faculty ground near proctor office. A group of Afghan students, who are pursuing BA I course in the university, was also standing nearby.

They claimed that Charanjeet passed lewd remarks and made faces at the Tazik teacher Zara (name changed) who was passing by. Zara is pursuing a refresher course in Hindi from the university. When Zara told Afghan students about the remark, the latter caught Charanjeet and started beating him up. 
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No pause in war on terror, Pakistan tells critics
WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Rejecting allegations of a pause in its counter-terrorism campaign on its border with Afghanistan, Pakistan has renewed its commitment to a continued campaign against the scourge.

As the South Asian nation passes through a democratic transition, a senior Pakistani diplomat reminded critics to be patient and understanding of Pakistans comprehensive policy to contain the menace of extremism.

Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan assured a gathering at the Council on Foreign Relations here on Thursday there was no pause as troop deployments remained in place. "I dont think there is any kind of a pause in our policy.

Islamabad had deployed close to 100,000 troops in tribal areas and had lost 1000 of troops in the anti-terror war, Khan pointed out, contending: This shows the seriousness of the effort and seriousness of the challenge.

The diplomat observed: You cannot expect in these kinds of situations a solution overnight - you have to remain engaged, you have to try the economic approach, the political approach, administrative approach, if there are setbacks, they should not daunt you at all.

Pakistans resolve and determination (in the war against terrorism) was necessary for its own good and progress, he maintained, stressing: We have to persevere; success will not come overnight and it is a long-term engagement.
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Democracy to help fight extremist forces: Bhutto
LONDON, Oct 5 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Former premier Benazir Bhutto has said a democratic Pakistan will help stabilise Afghanistan, reducing pressure on NATO troops stationed in the neighbouring country.

Addressing a function arranged at the Royal Air Force Club in Piccadilly by the Defence and Security Forum here, the PPP chairperson said: A democratic Pakistan will pursue drug barons and bust up drugs cartel that today are funding terrorism."

A Pakistan where the rule of law was established would not let anyone establish, recruit, train and run private armies and militias, the self-exiled leader believed, promising her party, if catapulted into power, would eliminate terrorism.

She vowed a PPP government would give people security which, in turn, would bring in economic investment that would help them reverse the tide of rising poverty and undermine the forces of militancy and extremism.

He country would not have been passing through the current difficult phase had democracy been given a proper chance to grow and nurture, observed Bhutto, who alleged major political parties had been marginalised and civil society weakened.

As a result, she continued, Pakistan had to contend with the challenge posed by extremist groups, threatening the country's unity and integrity. The battle is now between extremism and moderation in Pakistan.

The weakness of law enforcement had triggered a series of suicide bombings, killing 600 people including military men, paramilitary personnel, policemen and civilians during the past 10 months.

If the PPP returned to power, she was confident, it could banish terrorism and give people security and combat the forces of militancy and extremism.
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