THE FORGOTTEN WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

News

09/19/13 rferl: At Least 20 Afghan Police Dead In Taliban Ambush Taliban fighters have ambushed a police convoy in Afghanistan's northern Badakhshan Province, killing 20 officers and wounding 12 others. Deputy Provincial Governor Mohammad Baydar confirmed those figures to RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, adding that "heavy casualties" had been inflicted on Taliban fighters, without giving figures.

09/19/13 TheNation: Mass-Casualty Attacks in the Afghan War Since the start of the American war in Afghanistan, dozens of mass-casualty incidents involving Afghan civilians have plagued the enterprise. According to a document obtained by The Nation, three incidents in particular led the US command to issue a series of so-called tactical directives, other guidances and what the military calls fragmentary orders (FRAGOs) designed to restrict military operations and reduce civilian casualties.

09/19/13 TheNation: Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan, 2001-2012 The Nation’s interactive database on civilian casualties in Afghanistan is an attempt to compile as complete a list as possible of all known civilian deaths that have occurred in the country as a result of war-related actions by the United States, its allies and Afghan government forces, from the invasion in October of 2001 through the end of 2012.

09/19/13 KP: Former Afghan senator join Taliban group in northern Afghanistan According to reports, a former Afghan senator has joined Taliban group in northern Sar-e-Pul province of Afghanistan and has announced his support to Taliban group. Qazi Abdulhai reportedly joined Taliban group along with a number of his supporters. He was also a former commander of Afghan local police (ALP) forces in Kohistanat area.

09/19/13 KP: Afghan intelligence foil attack on military base in Kunar National Directorate of Security (NDS) on Thursday announced, a suicide bomber was arrested in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan before the bomber manage to carry out suicide attack in this province. National Directorate of Security (NDS) following a statement said, the suicide bomber was arrested during a military operation by Afghan intelligence forces.

09/19/13 NATO: ISAF Casualty, September 19th KABUL, Afghanistan (Sep 19) – An International Security Assistance Force service member died as a result of a non-battle related injury in eastern Afghanistan today.

09/18/13 Xinhua: 55 militants killed in Afghan raid within 24 hrs Fifty-five Taliban militants were killed and 37 wounded in separate joint military operations since early Tuesday, said the Afghan Interior Ministry Wednesday morning. "Afghan National Police, army, National Directorate for Security (NDS) and the coalition forces conducted several joint clean up operations in surrounding areas of Balkh, Badakhshan, Kunar, Nangarhar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Logar, Paktiya, Helmand, Kapisa and Herat provinces, killing 55 armed Taliban and injuring 37 others over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement presenting daily operational updates.

09/18/13 pakistantoday: Afghan army kills 5 Pakistanis entering Balochistan territory Zhob Following India, Afghan forces started violation of international borders as at least five Pakistanis including a trooper and a woman were killed as the Afghan army opened fire at the border of Balochistan, officials said on Wednesday.

09/18/13 AFP: Taliban gunmen kill provincial Afghan election chief Taliban assassins riding motorbikes gunned down a senior election official in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, raising fears the presidential vote due in April will trigger a surge in violence. Amanullah Aman, the head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in Kunduz province, was killed by two gunmen outside his home in Kunduz city as he left for work.

09/18/13 KP: US drone strike kill 6 Taliban in eastern Afghanistan According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, at least six Taliban militants were killed following a US drone strike in this province. Provincial security chief Gen. Abdul Habib Syed Kheli confirming the report said the airstrike was carried on Tuesday evening in Chapa Dara district.

09/17/13 AP: Wide-open Afghan presidential race kicks off Afghanistan's presidential race kicked off Monday as election authorities began accepting the nominations of would-be candidates, the start of a wide-open race whose winner will oversee the final phases of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops amid a relentless Taliban insurgency.

09/17/13 helihub: Australia’s Chinook mission in Afghanistan complete Eight (RWG-8), the Australian Army Aviation Detachment, has completed its five-month mission in Afghanistan. RWG-8 marked the End of Mission during a ceremony at Kandahar Airfield (KAF) on 14 September. The KAF-based RWG consisted of two CH-47D Chinook medium lift helicopters operating throughout the Afghan summer months as part of the American-led Regional Command South Aviation Task Force.

09/17/13 Tolonews: Two More Arrests Made in Connection to Indian Writer’s Murder The Paktika provincial Police officials on Tuesday announced that it has four men now in custody for the recent murder of Indian writer Sushmita Banerjee. The police said that all the men admitted to being assigned to the assassination by the Haqqani Network and Pakistan based Al-Jihad Madrassa.

09/17/13 CSMonitor: Gunman in Afghanistan puts spotlight on the dangers facing Afghan policewomen Five men were arrested today in Afghanistan for their role in the killing of the most senior female police officer in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, who was seen as a symbol of improved women’s rights as Western troops pull out and hand over security responsibilities to Afghans.

09/17/13 janes: SVBIED attack wounds 21 people in Afghanistan's Paktika TWENTY-ONE people - including 15 security personnel - were wounded in a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) attack by Taliban militants in Saroza district in Afghanistan's Paktika province on 13 September, Khaama Press and Pajhwok reported. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

09/17/13 McClatchy: Multi-nation military base offers Afghans a lesson on getting along The very nature of the exotically multinational force at Camp Marmal in northern Afghanistan seems to mock the notion that war makes any sense. Of the 17 nations represented here, the main northern base for the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan, most were at war with at least one of the others at one time or another. There are troops here who tried hard to kill each other in the former Yugoslavia. Several who were rivals during the Cold War are present, as are forces that fought on opposite sides in both world wars. Some can trace their enmity back much further. Who, after all, could forget the war between Sweden and Norway in 1814?