- Reaction score
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8 Coalition personnel killed in helicopter crash
COMBINED JOINT TASK FORCE -76, COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, Release #086, Feb. 18, 2007
Article Link
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Eight Coalition personnel were killed and 14 others were wounded early Sunday when a Coalition CH-47 helicopter had a sudden, unexplained loss of power and control and crashed in eastern Afghanistan. A search and rescue operation was launched immediately to secure the site, recover the passengers and transport wounded personnel to Coalition medical facilities for treatment. The helicopter was transporting a total of 22 people, including aircrew, at the time of the crash. Coalition forces strongly advise any Afghans in the area of the crash to stay away from the site for their own safety. Recent reporting indicated a Taliban build up for operations against the Coalition forces in the region. “The loss of these servicemembers is felt by all of us here in Afghanistan, and we offer our deepest sympathy to the families of those who were killed,” said Lt. Col. David Accetta, Coalition spokesman. The names of those involved in the incident are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The specific location and details of the incident will not be released until the completion of recovery operations. An investigation will be conducted to verify the cause of the crash.
-30-
Eight US military personnel killed in Afghan chopper crash
Agence France Presse, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Eight US servicemembers were killed and 14 injured when a helicopter crashed in southeastern
Afghanistan after a "sudden loss of power and control," the US-led coalition said. The twin-rotor chopper crashed in the southeastern province of Zabul, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) southwest of the capital Kabul, not far from a main highway, residents and officials said on Sunday. "Eight coalition personnel were killed and 14 others were wounded early Sunday when a coalition CH-47 helicopter had a sudden, unexplained loss of power and control and crashed in eastern Afghanistan," a coalition statement said. "The helicopter was transporting a total of 22 people, including aircrew, at the time of the crash," it said. The coalition said an investigation would be launched to verify the cause of the crash. It had said earlier the chopper came down after reporting engine failure. "Recent reporting indicated a Taliban build-up for operations against the coalition forces in the region," the statement said. Zabul is a rugged and mountainous area that sees regular clashes between security forces and fighters from the Islamist Taliban movement. The chopper was on a transport mission and not a combat mission at the time of the crash, coalition spokesman Lieutenant Colonel David Accetta told AFP ....
8 U.S. troops die in Afghan 'copter crash
CNN, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Eight coalition members were killed and 14 others wounded when their helicopter had a "sudden, unexplained loss of power and control" and crashed in southeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, military officials said. All eight were U.S. personnel, according to news wire reports. The CH-47 Chinook was transporting 22 people, including crew, at the time of the crash. Rescuers found the 14 injured passengers after launching a search operation and transported them to the hospital. The crew initially indicated they had engine failure, an earlier statement said ....
8 U.S. Troops Die in Afghan Copter Crash
NOOR KHAN, Associated Press, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Eight U.S. troops were killed and 14 wounded when a military helicopter crashed Sunday in southeastern Afghanistan after reporting engine failure, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement. The CH-47 Chinook helicopter was carrying 22 passengers and had a "sudden, unexplained loss of power and control and crashed," the statement said. "It was not enemy fire related," said Col. Tom Collins, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force. "The pilot was able to radio in that he was having engine problems. We're confident it was not due to enemy action." The helicopter crashed in the Shahjoi district of Zabul province, about 50 yards from the main highway between Kabul and Kandahar, and appeared to be destroyed and scattered in several pieces. U.S. and Afghan military blocked reporters from entering the crash site. The incident Sunday was the first U.S. military helicopter crash since May 2006, when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter that attempted a nighttime landing on a small mountaintop crashed in eastern Kunar province, killing 10 U.S. soldiers ....
Canadian troops kill ‘threatening’ Afghan civilian
Graham Thomson, CanWest News Service, 17 Feb 07
Article Link
Fearing they were about to be attacked by a suicide bomber, Canadian troops shot and killed an Afghan civilian who was acting in a “perplexing” manner on Saturday, according to military officials. And, in what appears to be an odd coincidence, a second Afghan civilian was fatally shot by yet-unidentified coalition forces in the same region of southern Afghanistan hours earlier. In the shooting involving Canadians, soldiers thought the man was wearing a bomb as he approached a military convoy on a highway near Kandahar Air Field. “He appeared to be chanting and refused to heed verbal and visual warnings to stop,” said Lt.-Cmdr. Kris Phillips. “As he continued his approach members of the convoy noted that there appeared to be a device with wires protruding from it attached to his chest.” Phillips said soldiers fired warning shots twice before shooting the man. “The behavior of this individual is somewhat perplexing. Upon closer investigation explosives were not found although the man did have an unusual mix of wires straps, tubes and other materials strapped to his torso.” Phillips said the man’s identity is unknown and the matter is under investigation. “He was acting in an unusual and threatening manner,” added Karen Johnston, a Armed Forces spokesperson in Ottawa ....
Afghan civilians killed by soldiers
Canadian troops question one victim’s mental stability
MURRAY BREWSTER The Canadian Press, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Two unarmed Afghan civilians were shot and killed by NATO forces in a pair of bizarre, seemingly unrelated, incidents Saturday. One episode, 12 kilometres west of Kandahar, involved a Canadian battle group patrol and a man the army implied may have been mentally unstable .... For the Canadians, it is the second time in a week they’ve been involved in an unintentional shooting and both incidents Saturday join a long series events which have started to erode relations with the Afghan population, who’ve taken to complaining bitterly about being in the crossfire — or on the receiving end of stray warning shots. Describing the man as a suspected suicide bomber, Phillips said the unidentified victim in the Canadian incident — outside the village Senjaray — approached a patrol, walking along the centre line of the road. "He appeared to be chanting and refused to heed verbal and visual warnings to stop," Phillips said at Kandahar Airfield. The closer the man came, the stranger he appeared and as the patrol slowed soldiers spotted what they thought were wires sticking from a bulge in the man’s jacket. Two warning shots were quickly snapped off but the man kept coming until a third burst was fired, killing him instantly. "Upon closer investigation, no explosives were found but the man did have an unusual mix of wire, straps, tubes and other materials fastened to his torso," said Phillips, who added a military police investigation has been launched in conjunction with Afghan authorities. "His behaviour is perplexing to say the least. We’re not sure why he was in the middle of the road. "We’re not sure why he was approaching one of our convoys. We’re not sure why he was behaving the way he was, so there are some questions that need to be answered." ....
NATO school under siege by Taliban
Young Afghans risk death for chance to build better future
Graham Thomson, Edmonton Journal, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
A new school opened in Afghanistan on Saturday -- which might not sound like a big deal. But in Afghanistan it is huge. The Tarin Kowt Trade Training School is a symbol of everything that can go right in this devastated country -- and a reminder of what is still so terribly wrong. The NATO-run school will teach young men who are illiterate and impoverished, and therefore prime targets for Taliban recruiting, the basics of carpentry. They'll learn how to build tables and chairs, maybe even a coffee table. In the words of one of their teachers, they'll take up the saw, not the sword. Which sounds wonderful, except that to operate safely the school has to be located inside a special military compound surrounded by blast walls. That, in turn, is located inside a large NATO base, Camp Holland, home to 2,000 troops near the town of Tarin Kowt, 100 kilometres north of Kandahar. Security is such a dicey affair here that for the opening ceremonies, dignitaries arrived in a convoy of armoured personnel carriers. Reporters based at Kandahar Air Field were flown in on a helicopter that had three machine-gunners and was shadowed by a second helicopter gunship. The students -- there are only nine of them -- smiled bravely for the cameras, even though they face death from the Taliban for taking the classes ....
Daily News Summary: Bush Afghan Broadside Targets NATO
Michael Moran, Council on Foreign Relations, 16 Feb 07
Article Link
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) likes to think of itself as the most successful military alliance in history for its role in checking Soviet expansion during the Cold War. But faced with fighting an actual war in Afghanistan, the alliance is finding it hard to turn decades of war planning into an effective battlefield strategy (TIME). Speaking to the American Enterprise Institute, President Bush on February 15 echoed complaints from U.S. commanders in Afghanistan that some European NATO military units arrive with so many “caveats,” or restrictions on engagement, that they amount to little more than an overarmed constabulary. He has ordered 3,200 soldiers of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade into the country, a move he must not relish given the tenor of the U.S. domestic debate on Iraq. Many of Europe's politicians, however, appear unmoved. Under political fire at home, Norway's government assured angry parliamentarians on February 14 its 150 soldiers would serve only in the relatively calm capital city, Kabul (Aftenposten). German and French forces, too, operate under strict, noncombat limitations (LAT). The effort to secure Afghanistan could falter, Bush said, if NATO does not step up. “Allies must lift restrictions on the forces they do provide so NATO commanders have the flexibility they need to defeat the enemy.” He added his voice to numerous predictions that Taliban forces will conduct their own “surge” (NYT) when the spring thaw arrives in Afghanistan ....
10th Mountain commanding general talks to troops about extension
CJTF-76 (USA) news release # 082, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – A sea of faded, dusty Army Combat Uniforms covered the cold metal folding chairs inside the chapel at Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan, January 29 as the Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, wearing them anxiously awaited the arrival of their commanding general. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, the 10th Mountain Division commanding general, went to Sharana to visit the troops and discuss the recent announcement that the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division’s tour in Afghanistan will be extended. “Because you are staying here, you’ll make a huge difference,” Freakley said. “The Soldier’s creed says I will always place the mission first-this is the mission,” he said. “Your mission is to destroy the enemy and come home safely. Destroy the enemy and bring each other home.” Freakley also informed the Soldiers that their families were being well taken care of. A group has been put together at Fort Drum to help families with counseling as well as helping them attempt to get refunds on trips and activities that had already been paid for in anticipation of the Soldiers’ return. “You’re a championship team that’s been asked to play another quarter,” Freakley said. “There are days when you make a difference for our whole nation with what you do.” “I’d rather be fighting them over here than back at home,” said 2-87 Command Sgt. Maj. Jose Vega before encouraging his troops to “Lace up your boots one more time.” The Soldiers seemed to appreciate Freakley’s genuine interest in their families well being. When Freakley asked if there were any other issues brought on by the extension that the command could help with, several Soldiers raised their hand to express concerns ranging from pregnant spouses to schools they had planned to attend. Freakley assured his troops that each issue would be looked at and had notes taken on the Soldiers’ concerns. Freakley once again told them “You guys have made a phenomenal difference in Afghanistan,” before waiting outside of the small wooden chapel to shake the hands of each Soldier as they left to return to their jobs and carry on with the mission.
-30-
Pakistan Urges Kabul to Talk With Taleban
Arab News (SAU), 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Pakistan has renewed a call for neighboring Afghanistan to open dialogue with Taleban insurgents to stem the rise in violence in the war-torn country. Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai, a former general who is now governor of the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, warned the Taleban-led insurgency was already turning into a “liberation war” in Afghanistan. It is “developing into some kind of nationalist movement, a resistance movement, some sort of liberation war against the coalition forces,” he told journalists in the provincial capital of Peshawar. Aurakzai was speaking ahead of a rare media trip to North Waziristan, an area used by Taleban militants close to the Afghanistan border. A group of journalists flew yesterday to Miranshah, the main city in North Waziristan where thousands of troops are deployed to stop Taleban cross-border movement, for a briefing by senior army officials. In September Aurakzai engineered a peace deal with militants in North Waziristan, evoking suspicions from Kabul and the commanders of international forces battling the Taleban in Afghanistan ....
Pakistani forces say determined to seal Afghan border
Robert Birsel, Reuters, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Pakistani troops in Lwara Fort on the Afghan border are on guard, but not for invaders from Afghanistan. They're trying to stop militants crossing in to Afghanistan to battle U.S.-led NATO troops. The red, brick fort sits on a small, barren plain surrounded by snow-streaked mountains, several hundred metres from the Afghan border. Brigadier Rizwan Aktar, commander of the fort, points from its high walls to a fracture in a nearby line of hills -- the Chandi Gap, a notorious militant crossing point, he says. But he told reporters on a weekend tour of border defences in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region he and his men were determined to stop infiltration into Afghanistan: "The people who want to create any nonsense, we are going to control them." Pakistan is a major U.S. ally in the war on terrorism but U.S. officials appear increasingly frustrated about the help a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan is getting from the Pakistani side of the border. Taliban leaders are operating from Pakistan where training, financing and recruiting are also taking place, they say. Pakistan says it can't completely seal the 2,500 km (1,500 mile) border but it is doing all it can to stop infiltration. But Pakistan says infiltration is a minor factor behind the Taliban surge. Rather, it's a cocktail of Afghan factors including anger over civilian deaths in military attacks, corruption and the booming drug trade that's fueling the Taliban war, it says ....
COMBINED JOINT TASK FORCE -76, COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, Release #086, Feb. 18, 2007
Article Link
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Eight Coalition personnel were killed and 14 others were wounded early Sunday when a Coalition CH-47 helicopter had a sudden, unexplained loss of power and control and crashed in eastern Afghanistan. A search and rescue operation was launched immediately to secure the site, recover the passengers and transport wounded personnel to Coalition medical facilities for treatment. The helicopter was transporting a total of 22 people, including aircrew, at the time of the crash. Coalition forces strongly advise any Afghans in the area of the crash to stay away from the site for their own safety. Recent reporting indicated a Taliban build up for operations against the Coalition forces in the region. “The loss of these servicemembers is felt by all of us here in Afghanistan, and we offer our deepest sympathy to the families of those who were killed,” said Lt. Col. David Accetta, Coalition spokesman. The names of those involved in the incident are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The specific location and details of the incident will not be released until the completion of recovery operations. An investigation will be conducted to verify the cause of the crash.
-30-
Eight US military personnel killed in Afghan chopper crash
Agence France Presse, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Eight US servicemembers were killed and 14 injured when a helicopter crashed in southeastern
Afghanistan after a "sudden loss of power and control," the US-led coalition said. The twin-rotor chopper crashed in the southeastern province of Zabul, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) southwest of the capital Kabul, not far from a main highway, residents and officials said on Sunday. "Eight coalition personnel were killed and 14 others were wounded early Sunday when a coalition CH-47 helicopter had a sudden, unexplained loss of power and control and crashed in eastern Afghanistan," a coalition statement said. "The helicopter was transporting a total of 22 people, including aircrew, at the time of the crash," it said. The coalition said an investigation would be launched to verify the cause of the crash. It had said earlier the chopper came down after reporting engine failure. "Recent reporting indicated a Taliban build-up for operations against the coalition forces in the region," the statement said. Zabul is a rugged and mountainous area that sees regular clashes between security forces and fighters from the Islamist Taliban movement. The chopper was on a transport mission and not a combat mission at the time of the crash, coalition spokesman Lieutenant Colonel David Accetta told AFP ....
8 U.S. troops die in Afghan 'copter crash
CNN, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Eight coalition members were killed and 14 others wounded when their helicopter had a "sudden, unexplained loss of power and control" and crashed in southeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, military officials said. All eight were U.S. personnel, according to news wire reports. The CH-47 Chinook was transporting 22 people, including crew, at the time of the crash. Rescuers found the 14 injured passengers after launching a search operation and transported them to the hospital. The crew initially indicated they had engine failure, an earlier statement said ....
8 U.S. Troops Die in Afghan Copter Crash
NOOR KHAN, Associated Press, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Eight U.S. troops were killed and 14 wounded when a military helicopter crashed Sunday in southeastern Afghanistan after reporting engine failure, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement. The CH-47 Chinook helicopter was carrying 22 passengers and had a "sudden, unexplained loss of power and control and crashed," the statement said. "It was not enemy fire related," said Col. Tom Collins, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force. "The pilot was able to radio in that he was having engine problems. We're confident it was not due to enemy action." The helicopter crashed in the Shahjoi district of Zabul province, about 50 yards from the main highway between Kabul and Kandahar, and appeared to be destroyed and scattered in several pieces. U.S. and Afghan military blocked reporters from entering the crash site. The incident Sunday was the first U.S. military helicopter crash since May 2006, when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter that attempted a nighttime landing on a small mountaintop crashed in eastern Kunar province, killing 10 U.S. soldiers ....
Canadian troops kill ‘threatening’ Afghan civilian
Graham Thomson, CanWest News Service, 17 Feb 07
Article Link
Fearing they were about to be attacked by a suicide bomber, Canadian troops shot and killed an Afghan civilian who was acting in a “perplexing” manner on Saturday, according to military officials. And, in what appears to be an odd coincidence, a second Afghan civilian was fatally shot by yet-unidentified coalition forces in the same region of southern Afghanistan hours earlier. In the shooting involving Canadians, soldiers thought the man was wearing a bomb as he approached a military convoy on a highway near Kandahar Air Field. “He appeared to be chanting and refused to heed verbal and visual warnings to stop,” said Lt.-Cmdr. Kris Phillips. “As he continued his approach members of the convoy noted that there appeared to be a device with wires protruding from it attached to his chest.” Phillips said soldiers fired warning shots twice before shooting the man. “The behavior of this individual is somewhat perplexing. Upon closer investigation explosives were not found although the man did have an unusual mix of wires straps, tubes and other materials strapped to his torso.” Phillips said the man’s identity is unknown and the matter is under investigation. “He was acting in an unusual and threatening manner,” added Karen Johnston, a Armed Forces spokesperson in Ottawa ....
Afghan civilians killed by soldiers
Canadian troops question one victim’s mental stability
MURRAY BREWSTER The Canadian Press, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Two unarmed Afghan civilians were shot and killed by NATO forces in a pair of bizarre, seemingly unrelated, incidents Saturday. One episode, 12 kilometres west of Kandahar, involved a Canadian battle group patrol and a man the army implied may have been mentally unstable .... For the Canadians, it is the second time in a week they’ve been involved in an unintentional shooting and both incidents Saturday join a long series events which have started to erode relations with the Afghan population, who’ve taken to complaining bitterly about being in the crossfire — or on the receiving end of stray warning shots. Describing the man as a suspected suicide bomber, Phillips said the unidentified victim in the Canadian incident — outside the village Senjaray — approached a patrol, walking along the centre line of the road. "He appeared to be chanting and refused to heed verbal and visual warnings to stop," Phillips said at Kandahar Airfield. The closer the man came, the stranger he appeared and as the patrol slowed soldiers spotted what they thought were wires sticking from a bulge in the man’s jacket. Two warning shots were quickly snapped off but the man kept coming until a third burst was fired, killing him instantly. "Upon closer investigation, no explosives were found but the man did have an unusual mix of wire, straps, tubes and other materials fastened to his torso," said Phillips, who added a military police investigation has been launched in conjunction with Afghan authorities. "His behaviour is perplexing to say the least. We’re not sure why he was in the middle of the road. "We’re not sure why he was approaching one of our convoys. We’re not sure why he was behaving the way he was, so there are some questions that need to be answered." ....
NATO school under siege by Taliban
Young Afghans risk death for chance to build better future
Graham Thomson, Edmonton Journal, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
A new school opened in Afghanistan on Saturday -- which might not sound like a big deal. But in Afghanistan it is huge. The Tarin Kowt Trade Training School is a symbol of everything that can go right in this devastated country -- and a reminder of what is still so terribly wrong. The NATO-run school will teach young men who are illiterate and impoverished, and therefore prime targets for Taliban recruiting, the basics of carpentry. They'll learn how to build tables and chairs, maybe even a coffee table. In the words of one of their teachers, they'll take up the saw, not the sword. Which sounds wonderful, except that to operate safely the school has to be located inside a special military compound surrounded by blast walls. That, in turn, is located inside a large NATO base, Camp Holland, home to 2,000 troops near the town of Tarin Kowt, 100 kilometres north of Kandahar. Security is such a dicey affair here that for the opening ceremonies, dignitaries arrived in a convoy of armoured personnel carriers. Reporters based at Kandahar Air Field were flown in on a helicopter that had three machine-gunners and was shadowed by a second helicopter gunship. The students -- there are only nine of them -- smiled bravely for the cameras, even though they face death from the Taliban for taking the classes ....
Daily News Summary: Bush Afghan Broadside Targets NATO
Michael Moran, Council on Foreign Relations, 16 Feb 07
Article Link
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) likes to think of itself as the most successful military alliance in history for its role in checking Soviet expansion during the Cold War. But faced with fighting an actual war in Afghanistan, the alliance is finding it hard to turn decades of war planning into an effective battlefield strategy (TIME). Speaking to the American Enterprise Institute, President Bush on February 15 echoed complaints from U.S. commanders in Afghanistan that some European NATO military units arrive with so many “caveats,” or restrictions on engagement, that they amount to little more than an overarmed constabulary. He has ordered 3,200 soldiers of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade into the country, a move he must not relish given the tenor of the U.S. domestic debate on Iraq. Many of Europe's politicians, however, appear unmoved. Under political fire at home, Norway's government assured angry parliamentarians on February 14 its 150 soldiers would serve only in the relatively calm capital city, Kabul (Aftenposten). German and French forces, too, operate under strict, noncombat limitations (LAT). The effort to secure Afghanistan could falter, Bush said, if NATO does not step up. “Allies must lift restrictions on the forces they do provide so NATO commanders have the flexibility they need to defeat the enemy.” He added his voice to numerous predictions that Taliban forces will conduct their own “surge” (NYT) when the spring thaw arrives in Afghanistan ....
10th Mountain commanding general talks to troops about extension
CJTF-76 (USA) news release # 082, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – A sea of faded, dusty Army Combat Uniforms covered the cold metal folding chairs inside the chapel at Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan, January 29 as the Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, wearing them anxiously awaited the arrival of their commanding general. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, the 10th Mountain Division commanding general, went to Sharana to visit the troops and discuss the recent announcement that the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division’s tour in Afghanistan will be extended. “Because you are staying here, you’ll make a huge difference,” Freakley said. “The Soldier’s creed says I will always place the mission first-this is the mission,” he said. “Your mission is to destroy the enemy and come home safely. Destroy the enemy and bring each other home.” Freakley also informed the Soldiers that their families were being well taken care of. A group has been put together at Fort Drum to help families with counseling as well as helping them attempt to get refunds on trips and activities that had already been paid for in anticipation of the Soldiers’ return. “You’re a championship team that’s been asked to play another quarter,” Freakley said. “There are days when you make a difference for our whole nation with what you do.” “I’d rather be fighting them over here than back at home,” said 2-87 Command Sgt. Maj. Jose Vega before encouraging his troops to “Lace up your boots one more time.” The Soldiers seemed to appreciate Freakley’s genuine interest in their families well being. When Freakley asked if there were any other issues brought on by the extension that the command could help with, several Soldiers raised their hand to express concerns ranging from pregnant spouses to schools they had planned to attend. Freakley assured his troops that each issue would be looked at and had notes taken on the Soldiers’ concerns. Freakley once again told them “You guys have made a phenomenal difference in Afghanistan,” before waiting outside of the small wooden chapel to shake the hands of each Soldier as they left to return to their jobs and carry on with the mission.
-30-
Pakistan Urges Kabul to Talk With Taleban
Arab News (SAU), 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Pakistan has renewed a call for neighboring Afghanistan to open dialogue with Taleban insurgents to stem the rise in violence in the war-torn country. Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai, a former general who is now governor of the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, warned the Taleban-led insurgency was already turning into a “liberation war” in Afghanistan. It is “developing into some kind of nationalist movement, a resistance movement, some sort of liberation war against the coalition forces,” he told journalists in the provincial capital of Peshawar. Aurakzai was speaking ahead of a rare media trip to North Waziristan, an area used by Taleban militants close to the Afghanistan border. A group of journalists flew yesterday to Miranshah, the main city in North Waziristan where thousands of troops are deployed to stop Taleban cross-border movement, for a briefing by senior army officials. In September Aurakzai engineered a peace deal with militants in North Waziristan, evoking suspicions from Kabul and the commanders of international forces battling the Taleban in Afghanistan ....
Pakistani forces say determined to seal Afghan border
Robert Birsel, Reuters, 18 Feb 07
Article Link
Pakistani troops in Lwara Fort on the Afghan border are on guard, but not for invaders from Afghanistan. They're trying to stop militants crossing in to Afghanistan to battle U.S.-led NATO troops. The red, brick fort sits on a small, barren plain surrounded by snow-streaked mountains, several hundred metres from the Afghan border. Brigadier Rizwan Aktar, commander of the fort, points from its high walls to a fracture in a nearby line of hills -- the Chandi Gap, a notorious militant crossing point, he says. But he told reporters on a weekend tour of border defences in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region he and his men were determined to stop infiltration into Afghanistan: "The people who want to create any nonsense, we are going to control them." Pakistan is a major U.S. ally in the war on terrorism but U.S. officials appear increasingly frustrated about the help a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan is getting from the Pakistani side of the border. Taliban leaders are operating from Pakistan where training, financing and recruiting are also taking place, they say. Pakistan says it can't completely seal the 2,500 km (1,500 mile) border but it is doing all it can to stop infiltration. But Pakistan says infiltration is a minor factor behind the Taliban surge. Rather, it's a cocktail of Afghan factors including anger over civilian deaths in military attacks, corruption and the booming drug trade that's fueling the Taliban war, it says ....
