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Afghan, NATO forces fire rockets into Pakistan
2011-07-08 15:06:50
ISLAMABAD, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Afghan and Nato-led troops fired rockets into Pakistan's northwest tribal region of North Waziristan on Friday, causing no injuries, local TV channel reported.
US firm pays $7.5 million over Kabul brothel row
Thu Jul 7, 4:46 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – An American firm providing security at the US embassy in Afghanistan has paid $7.5 million to settle claims its guards visited brothels in Kabul with the knowledge of company officials, the Justice Department said Thursday.
Marine general says U.S. succeeding in Afghanistan but gains not yet 'irreversible'
July 8, 2011 Los Angeles Times
The top Marine in Afghanistan says the Marines from Camp Pendleton and other bases, along with troops from coalition nations, are successfully thwarting a Taliban counter-offensive in Helmand province and also training Afghan forces to ultimately take responsibility for protecting the province.
Canada ends combat mission in Afghanistan
By DEB RIECHMANN - Associated Press – Thu, Jul 7, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Canada formally ended its combat role in Afghanistan on Thursday, closing a mission that has cost 157 soldiers their lives since 2002 — casualties that shocked Canadians unaccustomed to seeing their troops die in battle.
NATO helicopter crashes in Afghanistan
By AMIR SHAH | AP – Thu, Jul 7, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A NATO helicopter crashed Thursday in eastern Afghanistan but no one was hurt, the U.S.-led coalition said.
NATO Admits Afghan Civilian Deaths, Probes Claims
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
The NATO-led force in Afghanistan says it accidentally killed civilians in an air strike earlier this week and is investigating separate allegations that a coalition air raid killed two more civilians.
Afghan election body to review poll dispute - Karzai
Reuters Thu Jul 7, 2011
KABUL - Afghanistan's independent election body will review the ruling of a special court set up by President Hamid Karzai that overturned results for a quarter of the seats in the country's parliament, Karzai's palace said on Thursday.
Pakistan Rejects US Allegation on Slain Journalist
VOA News July 8, 2011
Pakistan is denouncing comments by the top U.S. military officer that elements within the Pakistani government sanctioned the killing of a journalist in late May.
DynCorp Should Refund $2 Million for Afghan Work, Audit Says
Bloomberg By Tony Capaccio Jul 8, 2011
DynCorp International Inc., the largest U.S. contractor in Afghanistan, should refund at least $2 million it was paid by the State Department for costs that “were either not authorized or for services not provided” for Afghan police training work, according to an audit.
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Afghan, NATO forces fire rockets into Pakistan
2011-07-08 15:06:50
ISLAMABAD, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Afghan and Nato-led troops fired rockets into Pakistan's northwest tribal region of North Waziristan on Friday, causing no injuries, local TV channel reported.
Residents were quoted as saying that around 18 mortar shells landed near a Pakistani checkpost at Ghulam Khan border area, adding Pakistani force returned fire.
The incident took place a day after Pakistani, Afghan and Nato military officials met in the Pakistani northwestern city of Peshawar to discuss preventing repeat of cross border firing.
The Afghan president's office said in Kabul that Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani had agreed in telephone conversation with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the establishment of a joint military commission to address problems emerged on the Afghan and Pakistani border.
Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson blamed militants for the current cross border attacks, saying there is a common concern on this issue.
Pakistan said that 55 security personnel were killed and over 80 others injured in five cross border attacks in Dir district, Bajaur and Mohmand tribal regions in a month time. Afghanistan claimed that hundreds of rockets and artillery rounds were fired into eastern Kunar and Nangrahar provinces from Pakistani territory, killing 40 people and injuring 50 others.
"The situation is being created by militants causing loss of human life and damage to property in Pakistan as well as in border regions of Afghanistan," the Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua told weekly press briefing.
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US firm pays $7.5 million over Kabul brothel row
Thu Jul 7, 4:46 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – An American firm providing security at the US embassy in Afghanistan has paid $7.5 million to settle claims its guards visited brothels in Kabul with the knowledge of company officials, the Justice Department said Thursday.
Armor Group North America Inc. (AGNA) and its affiliates made the payout ostensibly to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims for payment on State Department contracts.
But the Justice Department said: "The settlement resolves US claims that in 2007 and 2008, AGNA guards violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) by visiting brothels in Kabul, and that AGNA's management knew about the guards' activities."
The settlement also resolves allegations that AGNA misrepresented the prior work experience of 38 guards -- third country nationals -- that it had hired to watch the embassy.
The case came to light thanks to a whistleblower, James Gordon, who was employed as the director of operations at the company. The Justice Department said Gordon had been awarded $1.35 million of the settlement proceeds.
The nonprofit Project On Government Oversight (POGO) watchdog reported in September 2009 that security at the US embassy in Kabul was being undermined by a breakdown in discipline and morale among guards.
It said it had obtained emails, photographs, and videos that "portray a Lord of the Flies environment," referring to the title of the novel by William Golding about stranded schoolboys who turn into savages on a desert island.
It said guards presented POGO with allegations and photographic evidence that some supervisors and guards were engaging in "near-weekly deviant hazing and humiliation of subordinates."
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Marine general says U.S. succeeding in Afghanistan but gains not yet 'irreversible'
July 8, 2011 Los Angeles Times
The top Marine in Afghanistan says the Marines from Camp Pendleton and other bases, along with troops from coalition nations, are successfully thwarting a Taliban counter-offensive in Helmand province and also training Afghan forces to ultimately take responsibility for protecting the province.
But he wishes the Kabul government would increase its efforts to provide services to villagers in the province, particularly in Sangin where the Marines ousted the Taliban after months of fighting.
"Sangin is an important area that needs to come under the influence of the Afghan government," said Maj. Gen. John Toolan, who assumed command of U.S. and coalition forces in Helmand province in mid-March.
Toolan also said that Pakistan is not providing enough help in keeping Taliban fighters and supplies from flowing from Pakistan into Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
The Camp Pendleton-based 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment is expanding the sense of security for villagers in Sangin, Toolan said.
The 1/5 replaced the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, also from Camp Pendleton, that had 25 killed and more than 200 wounded. During months of fighting, the 3/5 pushed the Taliban into the fringes of the community.
Still, progress in Sangin and elsewhere in the province remains fragile, Toolan said. "Nothing is irreversible," he said.
The 1/5 has had seven Marines killed since late April. Two have been killed from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment from Twentynine Palms. In all, 30 Marines have been killed since April 1.
The Taliban's weapon of choice continues to be the roadside bomb. Toolan said the Marines find a high percentage of such bombs before they can detonate -- a capability that may increase, he said, with the recent arrival of new technology.
Taliban fighters rely on the roadside bombs because they no longer have the capability to attempt much in the way of small-arms fighting, he said. "They don't have the supplies, the resources to keep the pressure up."
The provincial capital of Lashkar Gah is being returned to Afghan control, Toolan said. British troops under his command have departed the city, with the Afghan army and police now taking the lead in providing security.
Marines on the Afghan side of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border are disrupting long-established "rat-lines" used by the Taliban to bring fighters and supplies from Pakistan into Helmand and Kandahar provinces, Toolan said.
A conference was held recently in the Afghan city of Spin Boldak to discuss increased cooperation between the two sides. The U.S. has long wanted Pakistan to be more aggressive in stopping its country from being a sanctuary for the Taliban.
"I think it's an OK relationship but I don't think the Pakistanis share enough information with us that we can do something about it," Toolan said. "We're talking but talk is cheap."
Toolan is a veteran commander from the war in Iraq. He led Marines during the assault on Baghdad in 2003 and the fighting in Fallouja in 2004.
In any war, the nature of the conflict changes over time, Toolan said. "In Iraq, we went in to fight the [Saddam Hussein's] Republican Guard and ended up fighting the fedayeen [a Sunni insurgency]," he said.
And in Afghanistan, the goal has now shifted toward preparing the Afghan forces for the eventual leavetaking of the U.S. and other Westerners.
"We're at a critical stage this year," Toolan said in a telephone interview from Camp Leatherneck, the Marines' base in Helmand province. "...We need to set [the Afghans] up for success."
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Canada ends combat mission in Afghanistan
By DEB RIECHMANN - Associated Press – Thu, Jul 7, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Canada formally ended its combat role in Afghanistan on Thursday, closing a mission that has cost 157 soldiers their lives since 2002 — casualties that shocked Canadians unaccustomed to seeing their troops die in battle.
The move adds to the burden of U.S. and Afghan troops who are trying to prevent a Taliban rebound in the militants' southern stronghold where Canadian troops had been fighting in their bloodiest conflict since the Korean War.
Canada is withdrawing its combat units as the sixth largest troop-contributing nation, behind the U.S., Britain, Germany, France and Italy. Like Americans and Europeans, Canadians have grown weary of the war as it nears the 10-year mark.
While 2,850 Canadian soldiers are going home, 950 others have started streaming into Afghanistan to help train Afghan security forces to take the lead role in securing the country by 2014.
Canada passed the responsibility for two districts of Kandahar province to U.S. forces at Kandahar Air Field during a ceremony held in a hall decorated with Canadian maple leaf flags. After remarks, handshakes and the exchange of military paperwork, troops held a moment of silence for their fallen comrades.
Since 2002, 157 Canadian troops, one diplomat, one journalist and two aid workers have been killed in Afghanistan.
The bodies of all Canadian soldiers who die in Afghanistan are flown to Ontario and driven to a Toronto morgue before their bodies are returned to their hometowns. Canadians often line the overpasses of Highway 401 — now known as the "Highway of Heroes" — to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers.
Canadian officials said the troop deaths and bodily harm and psychological wounds suffered by soldiers must be seen in context with the progress they helped make in Afghanistan.
"We've seen a complete change," Canadian Brig. Gen. Dean Milner, commander of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, said in a video teleconference from Kandahar. "I think the Canadians have held the fort here for five or six years. With the surge of American forces and Afghan forces over the last year, we were able to accomplish a great deal."
"It's gratifying to see children going to school — schools opening up all over the place — roads being built, ministry buildings. There's a lot to speak about."
After staking out a place near the relative quiet of Kabul in 2002, Canada decided its military was ready and able to do more and assumed responsibility for Kandahar in 2006. Kandahar is where the Taliban was born in the early 1990s. A city of 800,000, its population is mainly ethnic Pashtun, the same as the Taliban. Most recently, Canadian troops were deployed in Panjwai and Dand districts, just outside the city.
The withdrawal of the Canadian combat troops, which will reduce the U.S.-led coalition to about 130,000 forces, comes at a time the Taliban continue to show their resilience, peace talks are in their infancy and governance and development are lagging security gains on the battlefield.
Underscoring the persistent dangers, a roadside bomb killed eight Afghan policemen patrolling in a vehicle in Jawzjan province in northern Afghanistan, said provincial police chief, Abdul Aziz Ghyrat. Northern Afghanistan had been relatively calm but has seen a rise in violence over the past two years.
"It's safe to say that the country of Afghanistan remains volatile," Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "There have been very hard-fought gains made as far as the stability and security, but it is fragile and much of the responsibility rests, of course, with the government of Afghanistan."
MacKay said the process of training Afghan forces was well under way. But he added: "It is the professionalism and their ability to secure some of these particularly violent regions like Kandahar that will be the telling feature as to whether the security will last."
Canada's role in Afghanistan stood in contrast to its refusal of a U.S. request to send troops to Iraq. The decision by Canada's former Liberal government not to participate in the Iraq war was seen as a rebuff to the Bush administration, and the stepping up of the Afghan mission may have been part of an effort to repair ties with Washington.
The United States currently has more than 90,000 troops in Afghanistan, far more than any other foreign country. President Barack Obama announced last month that 33,000 American troops will leave Afghanistan by the end of next summer.
British Prime Minister David Cameron announced Wednesday that the U.K. will withdraw 500 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, a move that will reduce the size of the British contingent to 9,000.
Other top troop-contributing nations are Germany with 4,800, France with 3,900 and Italy with 3,880.
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet has said that about 1,000 French troops would be out by the summer of 2012.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has said his country aims to start pulling out troops by the end of the year.
___
Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press eriter Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report.
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NATO helicopter crashes in Afghanistan
By AMIR SHAH | AP – Thu, Jul 7, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A NATO helicopter crashed Thursday in eastern Afghanistan but no one was hurt, the U.S.-led coalition said.
The crew was recovered after the crash, which occurred in Parwan province. NATO said the cause of the incident was under investigation.
The Taliban claimed its fighters shot down the aircraft, but the coalition said that initial reports indicated no militant activity in the area.
Also in the east, villagers protested the deaths of civilians in a coalition airstrike earlier this week in Khost province.
The civilians were killed Tuesday during a fight between insurgents and an Afghan-led security force, which was searching for a leader of the Haqqani network, a militant group affiliated with the Taliban and al-Qaida.
A coalition helicopter was called to support ground troops, who were being hit with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. The coalition said the helicopter killed several of the insurgents and unintentionally, some members of the insurgents' families who were living with the fighters.
Gen. Raz Mohammad Oryakhail, an Afghan army commander in Khost, said 13 people — including the Haqqani leader, six of his fighters and members of their families — were killed in the strike in Shamul district.
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NATO Admits Afghan Civilian Deaths, Probes Claims
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
The NATO-led force in Afghanistan says it accidentally killed civilians in an air strike earlier this week and is investigating separate allegations that a coalition air raid killed two more civilians.
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said an air strike in the Shamal district of eastern Khost Province late on July 5 had killed "several" insurgents as well as "a number of associated family members."
Afghan officials say up to 11 civilians were killed in the air strike, which prompted angry street protests.
On June 6, hundreds of people gathered in Ghazni Province to protest the deaths of two young shepherds they said were killed in an air strike by foreign forces that same day.
ISAF said it had conducted a strike in the area but claimed it had killed one insurgent who had been planting a bomb and no one else. It said it had launched an investigation into the incident, together with the Afghan Interior Ministry.
Meanwhile, there were new reports of an air strike killing civilians in Khost Province on July 7.
Provincial police chief Mohamad Zazai said up to 13 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in "a NATO air strike on a residential house in Dowamanda district early this morning."
There was no immediate reaction from NATO.
The accidental killing of civilians by foreign troops is a major source of friction between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Western backers, and has angered many ordinary Afghans.
Coalition commanders accuse Taliban and other militants of operating in close proximity to noncombatants in an effort to maximize such civilian casualties in the event of air or other military strikes.
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Afghan election body to review poll dispute - Karzai
Reuters Thu Jul 7, 2011
KABUL - Afghanistan's independent election body will review the ruling of a special court set up by President Hamid Karzai that overturned results for a quarter of the seats in the country's parliament, Karzai's palace said on Thursday.
It is an apparent back down by the Independent Election Commission -- which ran the foreign-funded September poll -- after it last month rejected the special court and described its cancellation of results as "unprofessional and non-transparent". The IEC was unavailable for comment on Thursday.
The IEC will now review the special court decisions and compare them to its own ballot findings. It will uphold any special court rulings it finds to be correct, Karzai's palace said in a statement.
The special court, established by a presidential decree after fraud-marred parliamentary elections last year, ordered 62 lawmakers elected in the September poll to vacate their seats in the 249-seat parliament.
Most lawmakers, including many who do not face losing their seats, reject the court and its ruling as unconstitutional and illegal. Many Afghan officials and international observers agree, and critics say the court was set up to further Karzai's agenda and silence opposition.
(Reporting by Hamid Shalizi; writing by Michelle Nichols; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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Pakistan Rejects US Allegation on Slain Journalist
VOA News July 8, 2011
Pakistan is denouncing comments by the top U.S. military officer that elements within the Pakistani government sanctioned the killing of a journalist in late May.
Pakistani Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan on Friday called Admiral Mike Mullen's remarks “extremely irresponsible and unfortunate.” The minister said such comments will create problems in bilateral ties between the United States and Pakistan, and could negatively impact joint efforts against terrorism.
Admiral Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington Thursday that he has not seen anything to counter reports that Islamabad approved the beating death of Pakistani reporter Saleem Shahzad. But Mullen said he could not tie the killing to a specific Pakistani government agency.
Pakistani's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency has dismissed allegations of any involvement in Shahzad's killing as “baseless.”
Shahzad, who worked for the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online, disappeared from Pakistan's capital Islamabad on May 29. His body was found in a canal two days later bearing signs of torture.
Before his death, the journalist had been investigating alleged ties between Pakistan's military and militant groups. Shahzad had also told a human rights activist that he had been threatened by the ISI.
A Pakistani government spokesman earlier on Friday said the government has set up a judicial commission to investigate Shahzad's death and that any information should be shared with the panel. The unnamed spokesman
said any other statements issued on the subject may be considered an attempt to influence the probe, and warned that some elements are trying to use the case against the Pakistani government.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists named Pakistan the most dangerous place for journalists in 2010, with at least eight killed.
In his comments to reporters Thursday, Admiral Mullen said the reported abuse and killing of journalists in Pakistan is “not a way to move ahead” and is instead is a way for the Pakistani government to “spiral in the wrong direction.”
The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff also acknowledged U.S. relations with Pakistan are “under extraordinary pressure.”
He said Islamabad's already fragile bond with Washington became severely strained when U.S. special operations forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in a raid on his compound deep inside Pakistan in May.
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DynCorp Should Refund $2 Million for Afghan Work, Audit Says
Bloomberg By Tony Capaccio Jul 8, 2011
DynCorp International Inc., the largest U.S. contractor in Afghanistan, should refund at least $2 million it was paid by the State Department for costs that “were either not authorized or for services not provided” for Afghan police training work, according to an audit.
The payments were made because contracting officials from State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs “did not always perform a detailed review of invoices prior to payment,” said the audit, released today by the inspectors general of the Pentagon and the State Department .
Contracting officials approved invoices for unauthorized travel and purchases and excess labor costs, said the audit, which examined State’s management of what is now a $4.6 billion contract for Afghan police training and criminal justice initiatives.
In one example, DynCorp, based in Falls Church, Virginia, billed $334,400 for personnel to travel to Washington, D.C., from Texas to attend weekly meetings that included “unreasonable round trip airline tickets,” a one-day car rental and $104 in parking fees and hotel fees that exceeded allowable per-diem expenses, the audit said.
While the meetings occurred on the same day every week, one DynCorp official initially purchased a $335 round-trip ticket and then changed flights multiple times “which caused the price to increase to $1,931,” said the audit.
Bloomberg News provided DynCorp with a copy of the audit. DynCorp Comments
“We understand and respect the important role of those charged with oversight, will review the report’s recommendations and will work to resolve them to the satisfaction of the government,” said DynCorp spokeswoman Ashley Burke.
“Refunds can be issued for any number of reasons but we carefully review each invoice to validate every cost we submit for reimbursement,” Burke said. “In the limited instances where a refund is due, the company works with our customer to ensure all concerns are addressed and we issue a refund,”
The additional $2 million is on top of $39.9 million the State Department as of March asked DynCorp to refund for work in Iraq and Afghanistan for such reasons as incorrect billing charges and duplicate payments. Billing System
The State Department needs to improve its scrutiny of DynCorp vouchers because, “due to systemic internal control weaknesses in the DynCorp billing system,” the agency and the Pentagon are “at an increased risk that the contractor could bill both for the same charges,” the audit said.
The audit outlines the latest status of DynCorp business systems which have had deficiencies since 2007 when the Defense Contract Audit Agency first raised concerns with its methods for labor accounting, billing and purchasing.
The Defense Contract Management Agency in June 2010 disapproved DynCorp’s purchasing system. The agency initiated in October -- and then halted -- a status review to assess corrections “because the team identified recurring internal control weaknesses early in the process.”
“These deficiencies and weaknesses increased DynCorp’s risk for producing inaccurate invoices,” the agency said.
Burke, the company spokeswoman, said DynCorp has taken “a comprehensive, company-wide approach to refine and enhance all of our business systems through a team of more than 100 personnel. Our goal is to identify and correct potential issues before they occur.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net
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