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Petraeus Hands Over Command in Afghanistan
VOA News July 18, 2011
U.S. General David Petraeus has handed over command of American and NATO troops in Afghanistan to U.S. General John Allen, transferring responsibility at a time when international forces are beginning to pull out of the war-torn country.
Afghan police take control of province
Foreign troops cede power in peaceful region
Associated Press By Rahim Faiez Sunday, July 17, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan - International military forces handed over control of a peaceful province in the center of the country to Afghan police on Sunday, taking another step in a transition that will allow foreign troops to withdraw in full by the end of 2014.
Afghan Targeted Killings Couldn't Go without Revenge: Govt
Tolo news July 18, 2011
Afghan government would avenge the serial and targeted killings of high-ranking Afghan officials and tribal elders, President Karzai's Spokesman said on Sunday.
Roadside bomb kills 2 Afghan police in S Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Two Afghan policemen, including the police chief of Rigistan district in Kandahar province, 450 km south of the capital city of Kabul, were killed as a roadside bomb struck their vehicle on Monday, deputy to provincial police chief Shir Shah Yusufzai said.
As Canadians leave Afghanistan, questions remain
By Jason Gutierrez (AFP) – July 18, 2011
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canada's top general in Afghanistan held his head high as his combat troops flew out of the country on Monday, even if the long war against the Taliban shows little sign of ending.
Christian missionaries step up activities in Afghanistan
Associated Press of Pakistan
KABUL, Jul 18 (APP): Under protection cover of foreign troops and under the garb of conducting developmental and social uplift programmes, Christian missionaries have stepped up their proselytizing activities, targeting, in particular, the poor sections of Afghan society. A Kabul-based source, who is familiar
British force in Afghanistan was 'unacceptably' weak: report
AFP Sun Jul 17, 2011
LONDON - The British task force sent into Afghanistan's Helmand province in 2006 was badly equipped, under-manned and not strong enough to take on the Taliban, a scathing government report concluded Sunday.
Afghan Central bank says there is no crisis at 2nd largest lender
CNN By David Ariosto July 17, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's acting central bank governor says the country's second largest private lender is not in crisis, warning outspoken lawmakers -- who claim the bank is in trouble -- against spreading fear among its account holders.
Fareed's Take: Deal making needed in Afghanistan
CNN By Fareed Zakaria July 17th, 2011
This week Ahmed Wali Karzai was gunned down by one of his bodyguards - a close family associate. Ahmed was President Hamid Karzai's half brother and ran the crucial southern provinces of Afghanistan for Karzai.
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Petraeus Hands Over Command in Afghanistan
VOA News July 18, 2011
U.S. General David Petraeus has handed over command of American and NATO troops in Afghanistan to U.S. General John Allen, transferring responsibility at a time when international forces are beginning to pull out of the war-torn country.
Petraeus steps down after a mixed year in which he oversaw a surge of 30,000 additional U.S. troops aimed at reversing the Taliban insurgency, particularly in southern Afghanistan. He commanded some 140,000 U.S. and coalition forces at a time when violence reached its worst levels in the 10-year war.
General Allen officially took command at a ceremony Monday in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Petraeus is leaving the post to head the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
In his farewell address, Petraeus warned of a tough fight ahead, noting “there is nothing easy about such a fight especially when the enemy can exploit sanctuaries outside the country.” The military has accused neighboring Pakistan of not doing enough to fight Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants in the country's tribal region along the Afghan border.
Allen, who headed U.S. Central Command, also warned of “tough days ahead” but said it was his intention to maintain the “momentum of the campaign.” The new commander of U.S. and NATO forces said he wants to see Afghanistan become a secure and stable environment free from the extremism and terrorism that has plagued the country.
Violence has surged in Afghanistan. On Monday, NATO said a bomb attack killed three of its service members in the country's east.
The day before, a senior advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a member of parliament were killed in an attack in Kabul.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing of Jan Mohammad Khan, the former governor of Uruzgan province. Khan was killed along with Uruzgan lawmaker Mohammad Ashim Watanwal late Sunday when two men wearing suicide vests targeted Khan's home in western Kabul's Karte Char district.
The attack came as Bamiyan province became the first of seven areas to transfer security responsibility from international forces to Afghan troops. A ceremony was held Sunday in the province to mark the handover from New Zealand troops to local forces.
The security transition is expected to be completed by the end of 2014, as the United States and allied countries withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan.
Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama announced he will withdraw 33,000 of the 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan over the next 14 months.
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Afghan police take control of province
Foreign troops cede power in peaceful region
Associated Press By Rahim Faiez Sunday, July 17, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan - International military forces handed over control of a peaceful province in the center of the country to Afghan police on Sunday, taking another step in a transition that will allow foreign troops to withdraw in full by the end of 2014.
Bamiyan province is one of seven areas going to Afghan security control this month in a first round of the transition.
Another, Panjshir province in the east, began the transfer earlier this month. Both places have seen little to no fighting since the overthrow of the Taliban nearly 10 years ago and barely had any coalition troop presence.
Violence has increased in other parts of Afghanistan, however, since the Taliban began a yearly offensive in April. Afghan and NATO troops killed at least 13 Taliban fighters in the east Sunday, and three NATO service members were killed in roadside bomb attacks.
The transition to Afghan control will allow international military forces to start withdrawing slowly from Afghanistan until all combat troops are gone in just more than three years.
Bamiyan only had a small foreign troop contingent from New Zealand. Bamiyan and Panjshir are the only two provinces that will be handed over in their entirety during this month’s transition phase.
Other areas to be handed over are the provincial capitals of Lashkar Gah in southern Afghanistan, Herat in the west, Mazer-e-Sharif in the north and Mehterlam in the east. Afghan forces also will take control of all of Kabul province, except for the restive Surobi district.
Not all residents of Bamiyan were happy with the handover decision, which they said had resulted in increased violence in the province by insurgents seeking to make the Afghan government look bad.
“People are very concerned about security in Bamiyan right now,” said Bamiyan lawmaker Abdul Rahman Shaheedani. “When several months ago they announced the areas where the first phase of transition would occur, and named Bamiyan, militant activities increased.”
In Sunday’s fighting, Afghan and NATO troops fought an overnight gunbattle with Taliban insurgents and called in an airstrike on the building where the fighters were holed up. At least 13 Taliban were killed.
Air Force Capt. Justin Brockhoff, a spokesman for the coalition, said the overnight operation targeted a Taliban leader in the Kuz Kunar district of Nangarhar province. The force of Afghan and coalition troops came under fire and insurgents refused requests to come out of the building. The fighting ended with an airstrike, and there were no casualties among civilians or security forces.
A spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor said the bodies of 13 insurgents had been found.
Also Sunday, NATO said one service member was killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan and two others by a similar device in the south. The deaths bring the total number of coalition forces killed this month to 34.
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Afghan Targeted Killings Couldn't Go without Revenge: Govt
Tolo news July 18, 2011
Afghan government would avenge the serial and targeted killings of high-ranking Afghan officials and tribal elders, President Karzai's Spokesman said on Sunday.
Speaking at a press conference, Karzai's Spokesperson Waheed Omar said the assassination of our national figures and tribal elders is part of a big plot by the enemies of Afghanistan.
Mr Omar said the Taliban and their affiliates want to disrupt the security transition process, but the process will continue despite all challenges.
"The Taliban and their supporters who are the cause of the presence of international forces in Afghanistan are making efforts to prevent Afghans from taking the security lead," Mr Omar said.
Just a couple of days after the assassination of President Karzai's younger brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, a close advisor of President Karzai, Jan Mohammad Khan and Mohammad Hashim Watanwal, who represented Oruzgan province in the parliament, were killed in a late-night attack on Sunday as part of the Taliban's targeted killing campaign.
Karzai's Spokesman described the murdered figures as the servants of the people of Afghanistan, saying the government is committed to talks with the Taliban, but soon killers of Afghan national figures will have to pay back.
"We are committed to fight against those who carry out this sort of cowardly actions, so that revenge of the death of elders and protectors of Afghanistan is taken," he said. "But again we want peace and stability in Afghanistan and we won't turn back on the way to peace in the country."
Meanwhile, officials in the ministry of interior affairs said despite growing security challenges security handover process will be implemented.
A spokesperson for Interior Affairs Ministry, Sediq Sediqi, said: "Police forces are prepared to undertake the responsibilities. And Afghan police forces are committed to prove they are capable enough to take this big responsibility."
Once again Karzai's Office called on the United States to step up efforts to neutralise and dismantle insurgents' safe havens on the other side of Afghan border.
"If tomorrow the United States can eliminate insurgent safe havens and prevent militants to infiltrate into Afghan territory, the hostilities will lose soul and Afghan people know at best how to deal with them without tanks and planes," Mr Omar said.
The remarks came as Bamyan became the first province to be handed over to Afghan forces.
Meanwhile, some Afghan lawmakers see the assassination of senior government officials controversial.
Concerned about the new wave of targeted killings over the past weeks, parliamentarians urged investigation into the incidents.
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Roadside bomb kills 2 Afghan police in S Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Two Afghan policemen, including the police chief of Rigistan district in Kandahar province, 450 km south of the capital city of Kabul, were killed as a roadside bomb struck their vehicle on Monday, deputy to provincial police chief Shir Shah Yusufzai said.
"The gruesome incident happened at around 09:00 a.m. local time, as a result Wali Mohammad, the police chief of Rigistan district, along with another police, was killed," Yusufzai told Xinhua.
He blamed the attack on the enemies of peace, a term used against Taliban militants by government officials.
However, the armed outfit fighting Afghan and NATO-led troops has yet to make comment.
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As Canadians leave Afghanistan, questions remain
By Jason Gutierrez (AFP) – July 18, 2011
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canada's top general in Afghanistan held his head high as his combat troops flew out of the country on Monday, even if the long war against the Taliban shows little sign of ending.
With a spotlight shining on a red maple leaf emblazoned on the aircraft taking them home, Brigadier General Dean Milner led 120 of his troops onto the tarmac of Kandahar's sprawling airfield built on the same desert where the Taliban was born.
It was a farewell of brief, but emotional, handshakes and embraces after nine years of fighting the Taliban which has left 157 Canadian troops dead -- their names etched on a marble memorial left behind.
"It feels good heading back to family," said Milner, who refused a soldier's offer to carry his bag under sand blasts from the desert.
"It has been an outstanding mission, with a lot of great accomplishments and I hope there will be good transition," he added, before giving a thumbs up and climbing aboard the plane.
Those who left with Milner were among nearly 3,000 Canadian troops whose combat mission has ended in a war that cost Ottawa $11 billion and killed one of its diplomats, two aid workers and a journalist on top of its soldiers.
They leave at the height of Afghanistan's most intense fighting season.
Last week's assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, President Hamid Karzai's powerful half-brother and NATO ally in Kandahar and the south, by the head of his personal security was a sign of how volatile the country remains.
It was also a reminder of the scale of the task facing the Afghan police and army as foreign troops gradually handover responsibility for the nation's security.
"They don't have their own airfields, airplanes or tanks, though I think they are keen to carry on their own independent operations," said Major Robert Tesselar, who spent 11 months training Afghan police and soldiers.
He said he was optimistic that US forces replacing the Canadians would pick up where they left off, but admitted there could be minor transition problems and warned that Afghan forces need further mentoring.
"They are in the process of taking control of their own country and some aspects of it are at the stage to be able to do that," he said.
"There are, however, still brigades that have just come out of training a year ago and they need more training."
For some the departure was tinged with disappointment at leaving before the job of eliminating the Taliban is complete.
Master Corporal Sean Smith of Nova Scotia, a 40-year-old father of two daughters, ending his tour meant leaving behind an unfinished job.
"I am happy to be going home and it is I believe a good time to go, but a lot of us feel there is a lot more left to do," he said as he queued to deposit his weapons at a container van converted into a makeshift armoury.
"We were sent to do a job and there is this kind of feeling that we are pulling out early. I would be a lot happier if we could just finish it."
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Christian missionaries step up activities in Afghanistan
Associated Press of Pakistan
KABUL, Jul 18 (APP): Under protection cover of foreign troops and under the garb of conducting developmental and social uplift programmes, Christian missionaries have stepped up their proselytizing activities, targeting, in particular, the poor sections of Afghan society. A Kabul-based source, who is familiar with modus operandi of these missionaries, has disclosed that foreign forces are using all means including financial resources, health support and developmental work to spread Christianity in Afghanistan.
The missionaries have established their worship places at Paktia, Kabul, Bamiyan, Nooristan, Kunduz, Mazar-e-Sharif and Badakhshan, where they are guarded by the Afghan Army and the police personnel, Pushtu and Dari translations of Bible in blue and green colours, as gifts, are under wide circulation within Afghans.
In most cases missionaries are using the cover of NGOs to spread their message.
In August 2001, 24 workers of the NGO ‘Shelter Now International’ were arrested in Afghanistan who were later freed in Nov 2001 for engaging in activities involving conversion to Christianity.
In February 2006, an Afghan Abdul Rehman was arrested for his conversion to Christianity. He was released from prison on March 27 and was immediately flown to Italy on March 29, where he was accorded asylum by the Italian Government.
Activities by the foreign missionaries are creating backlash among Afghan people who are mostly religious minded and conservative; adding to the strength of the local resistance. It is worth noting that in Jul 2007, 23 South Korean missionaries were captured by Taliban elements in Ghazni Province, two hostages were executed before a deal was reached between the South Korean Government and the hostage-takers and the remaining group was freed and withdrawn in August 2007.
Activities by missionaries are being viewed with mush concern and suspicion in Afghanistan where the perception is gaining ground that conversions seek to dilute the Muslim identity of the country and are meant to dent the edge of the local resistance to the foreign presence.
Ulema Union of Afghanistan has strongly condemned the missionary activities under patronage provided by foreign forces.
The publication of a blasphemous book, “Al Furqan-ul-Haq” has added to the public ire.
“Knowing Afghans who are mostly religious minded people, the activities of missionaries, which are considered anti-Islam and anti-Afghan, and are conducted under the protection of foreign troops, are bound to create a strong backlash in Afghanistan,” say observers.
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British force in Afghanistan was 'unacceptably' weak: report
AFP Sun Jul 17, 2011
LONDON - The British task force sent into Afghanistan's Helmand province in 2006 was badly equipped, under-manned and not strong enough to take on the Taliban, a scathing government report concluded Sunday.
In the Operations in Afghanistan report, the Defence Select Committee slammed senior military officers and government ministers for their lack of foresight when taking over from US troops in the region five years ago.
The committee highlighted the shortage of air power and lack of urgency in responding to the increased threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as major factors in the unexpectedly high death toll among British troops.
Senior officers were rebuked for claiming that field commanders were satisfied with the back-up they received despite the opposite being true.
"The committee is disturbed by the fact that in 2006 the Secretary of State was being told that commanders on the ground were content with the support they were being given in Helmand when clearly they were not," a defence committee statement said Sunday.
"The report regards it as unacceptable that hard-pressed forces in such a difficult operation as Helmand should have been denied the necessary support to carry out the mission from the outset."
The task force was given the responsibility of securing the area, helping to rebuild war-ravaged towns and create a functioning political system, but ended up being dragged into a bloody conflict.
Key flaws in the decision to deploy the force included the provision of only five Chinook helicopters, around half the necessary total, and the failure to supply any vehicles capable of withstanding an IED blast.
"We believe that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) did not respond quickly enough to these challenges as they developed," the report found.
James Arbuthnot, chairman of the Defence Committee, added: "Our forces have achieved the best tactical outcomes possible in very difficult circumstances due to the high quality and training of our personnel.
"But the force levels deployed throughout 2006, 2007 and 2008 were never going to achieve what was being demanded of the armed forces by the UK, NATO and the Afghan government," he added.
Current Defence Secretary Liam Fox insisted that the major problems had been resolved.
"Since 2009 we have seen increases of force levels in Helmand and through the growth of the Afghan forces that have halted the momentum of the insurgency," he told the Sunday Telegraph.
"While there is much still to do, we are on track to achieve our target of ending UK combat operations in Afghanistan by 2015. We will not abandon Afghanistan," he vowed.
A British soldier was shot dead in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand, the 376th British serviceman to die in Afghanistan since 2001, the MoD announced Sunday.
Prime Minister David Cameron announced this month that Britain will withdraw a further 500 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year, taking numbers there to 9,000, as the West prepares to hand over security duties by 2015.
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Afghan Central bank says there is no crisis at 2nd largest lender
CNN By David Ariosto July 17, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's acting central bank governor says the country's second largest private lender is not in crisis, warning outspoken lawmakers -- who claim the bank is in trouble -- against spreading fear among its account holders.
"Azizi Bank was neither facing any crisis before, (and) is not facing (a crisis) now." Mohebullah Safi told CNN. "Many Afghans have accounts... and we shouldn't panic the people, which could affect our national interest."
Safi, who addressed parliament earlier this week at the request of lawmakers, said the central bank is investigating investment problems with Azizi Bank, but noted that its $588 million in reserves are safe.
He added that officials are working to change the country's banking laws to better monitor investments made by Afghan banks and their partners both domestically and abroad.
But Afghan parliament member Haji Zaher Qader claimed share holders tried bribe him to keep quiet over the bank's lending practices.
"They offered me a million dollars that I keep silent and not to talk about (the) Azizi Bank crisis, but I refused their offer," he told CNN.
Qader would not elaborate as to who offered him the alleged bribe or provide specifics about banking practices that are a cause of concern.
Still, lawmakers have called for a forensic audit of the bank's finances in an effort to prevent a similar scandal to last year's massive fraud at the country's largest private lender, Kabul Bank.
More than $900 million in loans went missing from Kabul Bank, many of them interest-free and made without proper documentation, no collateral or repayment plans.
The recipients allegedly used the loans to finance lavish lifestyles outside Afghanistan, triggering a crisis that threatened a collapse of the entire Afghan financial system. It also exposed widespread corruption throughout the Afghan banking sector.
Kabul Bank handled salary payments for thousands of Afghan soldiers, police and public workers and was reported to have held up to $1 billion in deposits belonging to Afghan citizens.
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Fareed's Take: Deal making needed in Afghanistan
CNN By Fareed Zakaria July 17th, 2011
This week Ahmed Wali Karzai was gunned down by one of his bodyguards - a close family associate. Ahmed was President Hamid Karzai's half brother and ran the crucial southern provinces of Afghanistan for Karzai.
His death has properly been described as a huge setback for Karzai and for the international coalition that is trying to support the Karzai government in Kabul.
But let's try to understand why Ahmed Wali Karzai was such a crucial figure. It provides us with a window into understanding the future of Afghanistan.
Ahmed Wali Karzai made deals with the local tribes to extend the central government's rule outside Kabul.
He was ruthless with tribes that would not support his brother, cutting them off from any aid and military assistance. In addition, he gave the American and British forces in Afghanistan information on hostile tribes and provided crucial intelligence on key groups and militants.
He was also the first Afghan leader to begin talking with the Taliban about ceasefires and their entry in the government. In other words, he was a practical dealmaker.
He was also famous in the West - or notorious - for the corruption that surrounded him. But corruption surrounded all of the billions of dollars in American and Western military aid and spending that were being brought into Afghanistan. Everyone in Afghanistan was corrupt.
Ahmed Karzai was also an ally and an effective dealmaker. The journalist Ahmed Rashid recalls he was a wheeler-dealer in the classic Afghan mode. But if he was a rogue, he was a lovable rogue who charmed you - which is one way of doing political business in Afghanistan.
Karzai's death reminds us that the kind of political business he excelled at is what we urgently need today. That is what will ultimately bring stability to Afghanistan.
Whether the United States has 100,000 troops or 50,000 troops and whether it withdraws at a slow or a rapid pace, at some point the Afghan government will have to make deals with those who wield power on the ground.
The effort to totally destroy those hostile forces has not worked for 10 years, and it likely will never work in a country with Afghanistan's geography, ethnicity and history.
What will work is a political settlement or a series of political settlements among various parties, supported by the many regional powers that surround Afghanistan and have been supporting these groups.
Ahmed Wali Karzai's deal making would have been a huge help in forging such a settlement.
Kabul and Washington will need a political surge to help replace Ahmed Wali Karzai.
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