04 Jul 2009 11:26:49 GMT
Source: Reuters
(For full coverage on Afghanistan, double click on [ID:nAFPAK])
By Paul Tait
KABUL, July 4 (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers were killed in a complex attack on a base in southeast Afghanistan that ended with air strikes on Saturday, the U.S. military said, two days after a major operation against the Taliban was launched in the south.
The attack included an attempted suicide truck bombing of the base in the Zirok district of southeastern Paktika province, local officials said. As many as 30 Taliban insurgents might have been killed in the air strikes, they said.
It came after thousands of U.S. Marines launched a major offensive in southern Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and major opium poppy producing area, on Thursday, the first big operation of U.S. President Barack Obama's new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and stabilise Afghanistan [ID:nSP401743].
The Marines and other forces have so far met little resistance and there have been no reports of big reprisal attacks by the Taliban or its allies since Operation Khanjar, or Strike of the Sword, began in Helmand.
Another seven U.S. soldiers and two Afghan troops were wounded in Saturday's attack on the combat operating post near Zirok, Lieutenant Commander Christine Sidenstricker said.
"It was a complex attack that started with small-arms and indirect fire on the post, then an improvised explosive device went off," Sidenstricker said.
"Air strikes were called in some time after," she said.
Hamidullah Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said a suicide bomber drove a truck towards the base during the attack but was shot before he could reach it. Explosives in the truck detonated during the shooting, he said.
Zwak said the soldiers died in the explosion but neither the U.S. military nor the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan gave any details.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said "several Afghan and foreign soldiers were killed". There was no independent verification of his claim.
Zwak said about 30 Taliban fighters were killed in the air strikes but those figures again could not be verified independently. Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said in a statement about 20 insurgents were killed.
Saturday's attack came in the same area where a U.S. soldier was reported missing this week. The soldier has been missing since Tuesday and is believed to have been captured by insurgents, the U.S. military has said.
Some of the most active insurgents in the area include the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, against which U.S. and other NATO troops have launched a number of operations in recent weeks.
The network is allied with the Taliban and has been behind several high-profile attacks in attacks.
It is headed by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former government minister under the Taliban, although effective leadership of the group has passed to his more radical eldest son Sirajuddin.
The U.S. Marines launched their new operation in Helmand with violence in the Taliban-led insurgency at its worst since the austere Islamist group was ousted from government in late 2001.
The new operation was launched after years of stalemate in the south, which provides most of the poppy crop that funds the insurgency, with the hope that it would turn the tide of a war some in Washington say they are not winning.
Its intention is to seize ground from the Taliban and hold it, something overstretched NATO troops have so far been unable to do, and to win the trust of local communities and turn people away from the insurgency.
The new strategy is also meant to help improve security for Aug. 20 presidential elections in Afghanistan. (Additional reporting by Elyas Wahdat in KHOST and Hamid Shalizi in KABUL; Editing by Valerie Lee)
FACTBOX-
04 Jul 2009 12:10:32 GMT
Source: Reuters
July 4 (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers were killed in a complex attack on a base in southeast Afghanistan that ended with air strikes on Saturday, the U.S. military said, two days after a major operation against the Taliban was launched in the south.
A Canadian soldier was killed in bomb blast on Friday southwest of Kandahar.
Here are figures for foreign military deaths as a result of violence or accidents in Afghanistan since 2001:
NATO/U.S.-LED COALITION FORCES:
Britain 171
Canada 121
Denmark 22**
France 28*
Germany 35
Spain 25
Netherlands 19
United States 719
Other nations 67
TOTAL: 1,207
NOTES:
** Figures supplied by Danish Central Command, includes one suicide.
* Figures supplied by French military.
Sources: Reuters/icasualties (www.icasualties.org/oef), compiled from official figures. (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Sophie Hares)
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KABUL (Reuters) - Three soldiers from the NATO-led force were killed in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, a spokesman for the alliance in Afghanistan said in on Tuesday.
The helicopter crashed on takeoff from a base in Zabul, southern Afghanistan. The dead were two Canadians and a Briton, ISAF said, while two other Canadians were also injured.
"An airwing flight safety investigation is underway and it has determined that the crash did not occur as a result of enemy fire," Major Luc Gaudet a spokesman for NATO said.
The incident happened on Monday when seven U.S. soldiers were killed in separate Taliban attacks in various parts of Afghanistan.
The crash comes as thousands of U.S. Marines and hundreds of other NATO troops, as well as Afghan forces have launched an operation last week to wrest control of several districts of southern Helmand, from Taliban control.
(Reporting by Sayed Salahuddin and Golnar Motevalli; Editing by David Fox)
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Kabul - Four US soldiers participating in NATO-led operations were killed in two roadside bomb blasts in southern Helmand province, an alliance military spokeswoman said Sunday. The US service members were killed on Saturday in two separate incidents......
Kabul - Four US soldiers participating in NATO-led operations were killed in two roadside bomb blasts in southern Helmand province, an alliance military spokeswoman said Sunday. The US service members were killed on Saturday in two separate incidents......
Sun Jul 12, 9:07 AM
LONDON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama said US and NATO-led troops had pushed back the Taliban in Afghanistan but he warned that there was still a long, hard campaign ahead.
"We knew that this summer was going to be tough fighting, that there was an interest in the Taliban exerting control. They have, I think, been pushed back but we still have a long way to go. We've got to get through elections.
"We've got a serious fight on our hands and we've got to deal with it smartly but we've got to deal with it effectively," Obama said in an interview with Britain's Sky News on Saturday during his visit to Ghana.
Fifteen British soldiers have been killed this month in southern Afghanistan, where US and British forces are battling Taliban insurgents ahead of the presidential and provincial council elections on August 20.
The surge in casualties has raised the British death toll in Afghanistan above the number of dead in the Iraq campaign and raised questions in Britain about tactics and strategy.
Obama said the contribution of the British military was "critical" and establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan was essential to prevent it again becoming a launch pad for terror attacks on the West.
"This is not an American mission. The mission in Afghanistan is one that the Europeans have as much, if not more, of a stake in than we do... The likelihood of a terrorist attack in London is at least as high, if not higher, than it is in the United States.
"And that's the reason why (former and current British prime ministers) Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and others have made this commitment."
Obama said he wanted a new push after the election to train Afghanistan's army and police so Afghans could take greater responsibility for controlling their own security.
"I think we need to start directing our attention to how do we create an Afghan army, an Afghan police, how do we work with the Pakistanis effectively, so that they are the ones who are really at the forefront at controlling their own countries.
"All of us are going to have to do an evaluation after the Afghan election to see what more we can do.
"It may not be on the military side, it might be on the development side providing Afghan farmers alternatives to poppy crops, making sure that we are effectively training a judiciary system and a rule of law in Afghanistan that people trust."
Brown defended Britain's strategy for Afghanistan on Saturday, saying it was "the right one" and he insisted the western allies were winning the battle against Taliban insurgents in their heartlands of Helmand Province.
The prime minister said it was vital that the country not become an "incubator for terrorism" where the Taliban could provide a safe haven for Al-Qaeda.
Fatalities have risen since British forces launched Operation Panther's Claw, an assault on the Taliban in Helmand Province which is designed to create safe conditions for Afghans to vote in next month's elections.
The Afghan interior ministry said Sunday that British and Afghan troops had killed up to 200 insurgents in the operation.
The United States has said it is sending up to 30,000 new troops to Afghanistan this year as the Taliban -- ousted from power by the US-led invasion in 2001 -- has regrouped.
Thousands of the additional US troops have been deployed in Helmand, where most British troops are based.
But defence minister Bob Ainsworth rejected angrily to accusations from a British political rival that British troops had been "bailed out" by the US forces.
"This is not an American takeover, I think it is quite disgraceful for people to suggest," he told Sky News.
British forces organised "coordinated operations" with the US forces as soon as they arrived in Helmand, Ainsworth said, and troops were working as a coalition.
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Eight British soldiers killed in Afghanistan: thousands pay respects in Wootton Bassett
Thousands of people lined the streets of Wootton Bassett today to pay their respects to eight British soldiers killed during the Army's bloodiest 24 hours in Afghanistan.
Published: 5:51PM BST 14 Jul 2009
As the bodies were flown home, the families of the fallen men, three of whom were teenagers, were at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire to see the coffins, draped in Union flags, carried from a C17 aircraft.
A private ceremony was held at the chapel of rest before a cortege of eight hearses left the base.
A church bell tolled as the cortege drove slowly through the nearby town of Wootton Bassett, with a crowd of thousands standing in tribute.
Many people threw flowers on the hearses as they drove by. Veterans saluted and some in the crowd clapped and even cheered.
Tearful family members, who were also standing in the crowd, comforted each other.
Among the servicemen being repatriated were five soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Rifles who died near Sangin in Helmand province on Friday in two "daisy-chain" explosions.
And The Earl of Wessex, the battalion's Royal Colonel, attended the chapel to pay his respects.
Corporal Jonathan Horne, 28, and Riflemen William Aldridge, James Backhouse and Joseph Murphy, all 18, were rescuing comrades from an earlier blast when a second device detonated.
Rifleman Murphy was carrying Rifleman Daniel Simpson, 20 – who was injured by the first makeshift bomb – when both were killed in the following explosion.
Rifleman Aldridge, from Bromyard, Herefordshire, was attempting to reach casualties from the first blast, despite being wounded himself.
His aunt, Alison Aldridge, was in the crowd today, carrying eight roses in tribute to the men.
Ms Aldridge, 40, from Bristol, said: "It is extremely sad that his life was taken so swiftly, but I take comfort from the fact that he had two very fulfilling years rather than a lifetime of regrets.
"As a boy he was loving and adventurous. He had a loving, caring mother and he got his strength of character from her. He was a family boy and that's what the army is all about.
"His ambition was the SAS – and he would have got there too. He was mentally prepared. He had affection for people and that's what drives ambition.
"It's lovely that so many people are here – young and old. It's amazing how so many young people here understand and respect what's going on."
Also on the flight home was Corporal Lee Scott, 26, of 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, who died in an explosion on Friday, just north of Nad-e-Ali, during Operation Panther's Claw.
And making up the eight were two men killed in separate incidents on Thursday.
Private John Brackpool, 27, of Prince of Wales' Company, of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was shot at Char-e-Anjir near Lashkar Gah while on sentry duty.
Rifleman Daniel Hume, 22, of 4th Battalion The Rifles was killed in an explosion while on a foot patrol, again near Nad-e-Ali.
Some 60 friends of Rifleman Hume had travelled to Wootton from Maidstone and Slough.
Among them was his ex-girlfriend Bianca Bond, 21, from Hampshire, now living in Dubai, who said the continuing war made her "very angry".
Ms Bond said: "I just can't believe he's gone. I'm very proud of the people who have come here and so proud of him.
"
I'm going to miss him. I keep expecting him to call or sign in to Facebook. I hope it all stops soon – they should get Gordon Brown to go out there and fight himself. They are not doing anything about it."
Another of his school friends, Natasha Straw, 20, from Maidenhead, said he had never said he lacked equipment and "wouldn't have it any other way".
The procession was the largest to pass through the market town since it became an official repatriation station in 2007.
Veterans and serving soldiers stood alongside shopkeepers, pub landlords, restaurant owners and children.
Mayor of Wootton Bassett Steve Bucknell said: "Every repatriation is a very sad event, whether it is one person or eight.
"What makes it so much sadder is when you see the friends and family of the fallen and it brings it home that these are real people with real lives – someone's son, grandson, brother and father. They are going to leave a hole in many lives.
"The people of Wootton Bassett are fantastic. They never fail to amaze me with their ability to always do the right thing."
The return of the eight bodies comes amid renewed controversy over the resources and manpower committed to Afghanistan.
A total of 15 soldiers were killed in 10 days, bringing the number of UK military fatalities in the country since 2001 to 184 – surpassing the 179 who died in Iraq.
The Prime Minister has insisted it is right to press on with efforts to stop al-Qaeda using Afghanistan as a base for worldwide terror.
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British fighter jet crashes in south Afghanistan
20 Jul 2009 10:19:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
(For full coverage on Afghanistan, double click on [ID:nAFPAK])
* Pilots eject safely from jet, suffer minor injuries
* Third aircraft mishap in three days
* Roadside bomb kills 12 traders in Afghan west
KABUL, July 20 (Reuters) - A British Tornado fighter jet crashed at a major NATO base in southern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said, the third aircraft mishap in as many days as foreign forces press their new offensives against the Taliban. With military casualties rising, Afghanistan's growing insurgency is also taking a heavy toll on civilians. In the remote west, 12 Afghan traders were killed when their van hit a roadside bomb most likely meant for Afghan or foreign troops.
NATO spokesman Captain Glen Parent said the Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 aircraft crashed shortly after take-off at the sprawling Kandahar Air Field, the main military base for foreign troops in Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban.
NATO officials said the crash was not the result of an attack by insurgents. However, Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousuf said the insurgents had shot down a NATO aircraft near the Kandahar base, killing several soldiers.
The Taliban routinely claim responsibility for downing U.S. and NATO aircraft, usually with inflated casualty numbers.
Speaking to Reuters by a satellite telephone from an undisclosed location, Yousuf said foreign troops have been suffering "huge casualties" in Afghanistan.
July has indeed become the deadliest month for foreign troops in the 8-year-old war after thousands of U.S. Marines and British soldiers launched major new offensives in the Taliban heartland of Helmand, adjacent to Kandahar.
The offensives are the first major operation under U.S. President Barack Obama's new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and its militant Islamist allies in the region and stabilise Afghanistan.
But growing battlefield casualties, and warnings from commanders that more are to come in heavy fighting ahead, have started raising questions at home about tactics and force levels.
British troops have suffered their greatest battlefield losses since the 1980s Falklands War, including eight killed in a single day, prompting debate at home over whether soldiers are adequately equipped and whether they should be there at all.
British commanders are warning that an extra 700 troops sent to help secure the Aug. 20 presidential election will have to stay longer and even more may be needed if the goal of seizing ground from the Taliban and then holding it is to be achieved.
Concern is also growing at the lack of adequate Afghan troops available to hold ground once it is taken, adding to pressure on foreign forces even as thousands more troops and trainers are poured into the country.
CRASHED IN FLAMES
The two-seater Tornado crashed in flames inside the Kandahar base, Parent said, but the fire was later extinguished.
"It had British crew. They both ejected safely from the aircraft and are being treated for minor injuries," Parent said.
The Tornado is an aircraft capable of flying at low supersonic speeds and is used as a day-or-night attack aircraft able to fly at low altitudes. It can drop 1,000 lb bombs and carries Sidewinder and Storm Shadow missiles.
On Sunday, a Soviet-built Mi-8 transport helicopter crashed at the Kandahar base, killing 16 of the 20 people on board, the second fatal crash involving a Soviet-era helicopter in the south in less than a week.
In the east, a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed on Saturday, with both crew members killed.
In western Farah province, witnesses and officials said 12 men were killed and five wounded as a van carrying traders drove along a road linking two districts on Sunday.
"I saw 12 men were killed and four were wounded," Abdul Razzaq Samadi, a local tribal chief who was at the scene of the blast, told Reuters. "I took four wounded men to the hospital. Their condition was not good."
Highly destructive home-made bombs planted in the road are by far the most deadly weapons used by the Taliban and other insurgents, frequently killing civilians as well as the convoys and patrols of security forces they traditionally target.
In northern Kunduz province, German soldiers shot and killed two Afghan civilians, including a child, when their car's driver ignored warnings to stop as they approached a military post on Sunday, the German Defence Ministry said on its website.
Another three people in the car were seriously wounded.
The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan this month issued a new tactical directive aimed at reducing civilian casualties, often caused by air strikes, a source of great friction between Kabul and its Western allies. (Additional reporting by Saeed Ali Acahkzai in CHAMAN, Sharafuddin Sharafyar in HERAT, Sayed Salahuddin, Hamid Shalizi and Jonathon Burch in Kabul; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
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Bomb kills 4 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan - military
20 Jul 2009 19:04:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
- For full coverage on Afghanistan, double click on [ID:nAFPAK]
* Four U.S. soldiers killed in roadside blast
* British fighter jet crashes in south
* Roadside bomb kills 12 traders in Afghan west
By Paul Tait
KABUL, July 20 (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, military officials said, making July the deadliest month of the war for American forces.
In the south, a British Tornado fighter jet crashed at a major NATO base. Both crew members escaped serious injury but it was the third aircraft incident in as many days as foreign forces press ahead with new offensives against the Taliban.
With military casualties rising, Afghanistan's growing insurgency is also taking a heavy toll on civilians. In the remote west, 12 Afghan traders were killed when their van hit a roadside bomb most likely meant for Afghan or foreign troops.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan issued a short statement late on Monday saying four of its soldiers had been killed by a roadside bomb.
A spokesman for the U.S. military confirmed the casualties were all Americans. No other details were available.
U.S. commanders have warned of a spike in casualties after thousands of U.S. Marines and British soldiers launched major new offensives in the Taliban heartland of Helmand this month.
The offensives are the first major operation under U.S. President Barack Obama's new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and its militant Islamist allies in the region and stabilise Afghanistan.
At least 27 U.S. soldiers have been killed in combat so far in July, according to U.S. military figures, more than in any other month of the eight-year-old war. The previous highest monthly total was 26 killed in September last year.
Soldiers are now dying at rates nearing the worst suffered during the war in Iraq.
DEADLIEST MONTH
July had already become the deadliest month of the war for all foreign troops with well over 50 killed, Britain and its previously over-stretched troops in southern Helmand suffering most alongside the Americans.
British troops have suffered their greatest battlefield losses since the 1980s Falklands War, with eight killed in a single day this month, prompting debate over whether soldiers are adequately equipped and whether they should be there at all.
A British soldier was killed by an explosion in Helmand on Sunday, defence officials said. At least 187 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, more than the 179 lost during the six years of the Iraq war.
British commanders are warning that an extra 700 troops sent to help secure the Aug. 20 presidential election will have to stay longer and even more may be needed if the goal of seizing ground from the Taliban and then holding it is to be achieved.
Concern is also growing at the lack of adequate Afghan troops available to hold ground once it is taken, adding to pressure on foreign forces even as thousands more troops and trainers are poured into the country.
"EJECTED SAFELY"
NATO spokesman Captain Glen Parent said a Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 aircraft crashed shortly after take-off at the sprawling Kandahar Air Field, the main military base for foreign troops in Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban.
NATO officials said the crash was not the result of an attack by insurgents. However, Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousuf said the insurgents had shot down a NATO aircraft near the Kandahar base, killing several soldiers.
The Taliban routinely claim responsibility for downing U.S. and NATO aircraft, usually with inflated casualty numbers.
Speaking to Reuters by a satellite telephone from an undisclosed location, Yousuf said foreign troops have been suffering "huge casualties" in Afghanistan.
The two-seater Tornado crashed in flames inside the base, Parent said. "It had British crew. They both ejected safely from the aircraft and are being treated for minor injuries," he said.
On Sunday, a civilian Mi-8 transport helicopter crashed at the Kandahar base, killing 16 people, the second fatal crash of a Soviet-era helicopter in the south in less than a week.
In the east, a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed on Saturday, with both crew members killed. [ID:nSP234809] (Additional reporting by Saeed Ali Achakzai in CHAMAN, Sharafuddin Sharafyar in HERAT, Sayed Salahuddin, Hamid Shalizi and Jonathon Burch in Kabul; Editing by Diana Abdallah)
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