10:25
U.S.-led coalition said Tuesday it had killed the second-most-wanted insurgent in Afghanistan, a senior al Qaeda leader from Saudi Arabia who was responsible for setting up terrorist training camps and launching attacks on U.S. and Afghan forces.
The Saudi, identified by the coalition as Abu Hafs Al Najdi, also known as Abdul Ghani, operated mostly from the mountainous Kunar province in northeast Afghanistan. A list of the 85 most wanted terrorists released by the Saudi government in 2009 placed him 21st; that list gave his real name as Salef Nayef Eid al Mahlafi, and put his current age at 27.
In addition to Mr. Najdi, the April 13 airstrike in Kunar's Dangam district bordering Pakistan killed another al Qaeda leader, known as Waqas, the coalition said. It said a total of 25 al Qaeda militants have been eliminated in Afghanistan over the past month. Just a few weeks ago, senior coalition officials had estimated the entire al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan at as low as 50 to 100 fighters.
However, earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that al Qaeda, which by and large had moved out of Afghanistan after the Taliban's downfall in 2001, has returned to set up terrorist training camps in Kunar, Nangarhar and Nuristan provinces along the border with Pakistan's tribal areas. U.S. forces have largely abandoned Nuristan and have withdrawn from many parts of Kunar over the past two years, as the coalition focused its efforts on the southern part of the country.
Although the commander of coalition forces, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, told reporters earlier this month he doesn't believe al Qaeda is resurging in Afghanistan, some senior U.S. military officers disagree, saying the withdrawals from Nuristan and Kunar have created a vacuum for al Qaeda to come back.
The coalition's Afghanistan target list is classified and the military hasn't released the name of the most-wanted militant. Al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahri are believed to be hiding across the border in Pakistan.
Mr. Najdi "was the second-highest priority in our operations to capture or kill insurgents," said U.K. Army Maj. Tim James, a coalition spokesman in Kabul. "Losing such an important member of al Qaeda in Afghanistan will have a significant impact on their ability to operate in Afghanistan and is a blow to the insurgency."
Mr. Najdi, who had been targeted by the U.S.-led forces since at least 2007, operated a network of insurgents throughout Kunar, organizing attacks on Afghan and U.S. bases, plotting kidnappings of foreigners, running militant training camps and providing financing from Pakistan, the military said.
He was an instrumental link between al Qaeda's leadership in Pakistan and its operations in Afghanistan, and his ability to "provide considerably more funding to insurgent fighters" had allowed the insurgency to obtain more weapons and recruits, the coalition said Tuesday.
Separately, the Afghan Ministry of Justice released the results of its initial inquiry into Monday's escape of hundreds of Taliban prisoners from the Sarpoza prison in the southern city of Kandahar. The report faulted coalition and Afghan forces for failing to notice the removal of large amounts of earth during the digging of the tunnel into the prison, and for failing to spot the movement of a large number of vehicles that ferried out the prisoners early Monday morning.
According to the report, a failure to implement regulations allowed the inmates to move freely through the prison block at night, a circumstance that permitted them to escape through a tunnel that opened into an unlocked cell. This showed that some prison officials were implicated in the plot, the report said.
According to a U.S. military official, 61 of the at least 475 Taliban escapees had been rearrested by Tuesday.
The intelligence gathering and airstrike that led to Mr. Najdi's death were conducted by the U.S. military's secretive Joint Special Operations Command, known as JSOC, which has taken the lead in targeting al Qaeda in Afghanistan, a U.S. official said. In contrast, the Central Intelligence Agency leads the campaign of drone strikes that has killed numerous al Qaeda operatives sheltering across the border in Pakistan.
Many American officials say JSOC, which oversees elite units such as the Army's Delta Force and Navy SEAL Team Six, is their most effective tool to combat al Qaeda in Afghanistan, where the U.S. has far more freedom to strike than in Pakistan. But they also fear that JSOC, with a global mission and commitments in Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and other places, is already stretched thin.
Still, JSOC has counted a series of recent successes against al Qaeda in northeastern Afghanistan. An airstrike in September killed two senior leaders and other al Qaeda operatives who had gathered at a training camp in Kunar. Special Operations forces in December captured another senior al Qaeda operative, Abu Ikhlas al-Masri, who had long operated in and around Kunar. Mr. al-Masri has since provided intelligence about al Qaeda's attempts to reestablish Afghan bases, U.S. officials say.
Wednesday 27 April 2011
U.S.-led coalition said Tuesday it had killed the second-most-wanted insurgent in Afghanistan, a senior al Qaeda leader from Saudi Arabia
Brazen Afghan jailbreak may have dire consequences
An audacious jailbreak organised by the Taliban that freed hundreds of prisoners could have a devastating effect on efforts to quell a growing insurgency and underscores the weakness of the Afghan government and its security forces.
The Taliban wasted little time in crowing about how they were able to orchestrate the mass escape from the main jail in Kandahar in Afghanistan's south, freeing about 500 inmates on Monday under the noses of Afghan and foreign security forces.
Analysts now fear the jailbreak will help an emboldened Taliban spread their insurgency despite strenuous efforts by Afghan, U.S. and other foreign troops over more than a year to hit back at militants in their strongholds in the south.
It comes as a blow to both the Afghan government and NATO-led foreign troops who have boasted of recent security gains in Kandahar after months of heavy fighting. The Taliban have said more than 100 of its commanders were among the escapees.
"The jailbreak is likely to have real implications for the upcoming fighting season," said Felix Kuehn, an independent researcher based in Kandahar city.
veteran Afghan air force pilot opened fire inside a military compound at Kabul International Airport early Wednesday, killing an unknown number of Afghan and NATO forces
veteran Afghan air force pilot opened fire inside a military compound at Kabul International Airport early Wednesday, killing an unknown number of Afghan and NATO forces in what might have been another in a series of attacks by Taliban infiltrators, authorities said.
U.S. Master Sgt. Jason Haag, a NATO spokesman, said some NATO forces were killed, but could not say how many.
The pilot, whose identity was not immediately released, began shooting about 11 a.m. after an argument with a foreign colleague, according to a statement released by Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi.
"An Afghan officer opened fire on foreigners after an argument," Azimi said. "For the past 20 years, he has been a military pilot."
Azimi could not give a specific number of deaths and injuries but said the gunman was killed. He did not say whether the foreigner involved in the dispute was a member of NATO coalition forces or whether that person was among the casualties.
The Taliban claimed that it sent the Afghan officer to shoot Afghan and foreign troops at the compound and that he had killed several of both, according to spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid. He did not say how he was informed of the number of casualties.
Maj. Michael Johnson, a spokesman for NATO forces, said they were aware of the shooting but had not yet received details.
Reporters were not allowed into the air force compound, where Afghan troops guarded the doors and no NATO forces were visible. Afghan air force officers declined to comment about the shooting.
The Afghan air force, formerly the Afghan national army air corps, was renamed last year after years of training and upgrades by U.S. forces. The U.S.-led Combined Air Power Transition Force has been working to rebuild and modernize the Afghan air force since 2007, and a number of Afghan pilots and trainees have traveled to the U.S. for English language, instrument and undergraduate pilot training.
The air force numbered about 2,400 as of 2009, a year after they inaugurated their new headquarters at the airport. At the time, President Hamid Karzai said they had been reborn, equipped with 26 new or refurbished aircraft, including transport helicopters and Ukrainian military planes bought with U.S. funding.
Wednesday 20 April 2011
A soldier who was injured in Afghanistan while clearing roadside bombs has died, the Ministry of Defence said today.
The soldier was on an operation to clear improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Nahr-e Saraj (South) district of Helmand Province
9:39AM BST 20 Apr 2011
The soldier, from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps, was on an operation to clear improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Nahr-e Saraj (South) district of Helmand Province on Monday when one bomb detonated.
Initially taken to Camp Bastion in Helmand, the soldier was then evacuated to the Queen Elizabeth NHS Hospital in Birmingham, but died on Tuesday, the MoD said.
Spokesman for Task Force Helmand Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick said he announced the death "with much sadness".
He said: "The soldier was neutralising a complex set of improvised explosive devices which had been sown in an alleyway between two compounds when one of the devices detonated.
"Immediate first aid was provided and a helicopter medical emergency response team recovered the casualty to the military hospital in Camp Bastion."
Monday 18 April 2011
gunman in Afghan army uniform opened fire inside Kabul's defence ministry Monday, killing two soldiers and wounding seven in an audacious strike at the heart of government claimed by the Taliban
A gunman in Afghan army uniform opened fire inside Kabul'
s defence ministry Monday, killing two soldiers and wounding seven in an audacious strike at the heart of government claimed by the Taliban.The attack, which the militants said was aimed at France's visiting defence minister Gerard Longuet, was the third major assault on Afghan security targets in four days and one of the worst security breaches in years.
"A person in Afghan army uniform opened fire on his comrades, killed two soldiers, injured seven others, then was targeted himself and was brought down," Afghan army spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP.
After his death, the attacker was found to be wearing a suicide vest, he said.
One of those killed was a bodyguard of the deputy defence minister, while those injured included an aide to the defence minister and a secretary to the army's chief of staff, said a senior security official speaking anonymously.
Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak was not injured in the shootout, a Western security source said separately, but it is thought that the suicide bomber was shot dead close to the minister's office.
Earlier, a military source had told AFP on condition of anonymity that three insurgents had managed to enter the building, which faces President Hamid Karzai's palace, and all were killed.
The ambush inside the tightly-secured compound is thought to be the most high-profile security breach since a failed attempt on Karzai's life in 2008.
French defence minister Longuet is currently on a visit to Afghanistan but was not in the building at the time of the firefight.
A French official stressed they had seen "no evidence" that the attack was an attempt to kill Longuet, while his office said he was at Bagram airfield, more than 40 kilometres (24 miles) away, at the time.
The incident is now over and an investigation is under way.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP that Longuet was the target.
"The reason for conducting this attack is the invasion of Afghanistan by the French military," he said, adding that it was not carried out over the controversial banning of the Islamic full-face veil in France.
There are some 4,000 French troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of a roughly 130,000-strong NATO-led international force.
The Islamist militia are known frequently to exaggerate claims in relation to their attacks.
The incident comes amid a string of serious attacks on pro-government security forces in recent days by insurgents wearing military and police uniforms.
On Friday the police chief of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, seen as a key battleground in the war, was killed in the police headquarters by an attacker in police uniform.
And on Saturday, five international and four Afghan troops died when a member of the Afghan National Army blew himself up at an army base in Laghman province, eastern Afghanistan.
That was the deadliest single attack against foreign forces since December, while Saturday was the worst day for international troops in Afghanistan since June last year, with a total of eight soldiers killed.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Monday, six police officers were killed by a roadside bomb in Ghazni province, central Afghanistan, the provincial police chief said, in an attack also claimed by the Taliban.
In three months' time, Afghan forces are due to start taking control of security from foreign troops in eight more peaceful areas of the country, allowing for limited international withdrawals.
Afghan forces are due to take full control of security in their country in 2014, allowing a full withdrawal of foreign combat troops.
The fighting season in Afghanistan is starting to get under way as spring arrives, and Western officials including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have warned it could bring some of the bloodiest fighting yet in the near ten-year war.
Friday 15 April 2011
An unarmed British soldier was hailed for his astonishing bravery after capturing a Taliban bombing chief in a fist fight.
Private Lee Stephens leapt off an armoured vehicle to grab the high-ranking Taliban fighter
from a motorbike after a chase across the desert in Helmand province."I grabbed the geezer," said Gunner Pte Stephens, 30. "It was Mark One left, Mark Two right fists. That was it. No weapons, just my hands."
Soldiers from B Company, 3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment, based at Durai Junction on Highway One, had pushed into an insurgent hotspot looking to disrupt the enemy.
Shortly after spotting an improvised explosive device, the soldiers saw a motorcyclist approach as they crossed open ground.
Insurgent gunmen then opened fire from behind him pinning the soldiers down and letting him speed off.
Lt Martyn Fulford, 24, from Churchdown in Gloucester, was commanding one of two Warrior armoured vehicles 2km away, which set off to intercept the bike.
He said: "It was a race towards Highway One. If he reached the tarmac he would have been able to outpace us. We just pipped him. I had my rifle out of the turret screaming at him. Pte Stephens ripped his headset off and leapt down."
Pte Stephens, from Solihull, said he grabbed the suspect around the neck and dragged him towards his vehicle. Asked what he was thinking, he said: "My muckers were getting shot at and I thought, 'I'm not having that.' "
Monday 4 April 2011
Protests erupted in Afghanistan again Monday against a Florida pastor's burning of the Quran, making four straight days of demonstrations
Protests erupted in Afghanistan again Monday against a Florida pastor's burning of the Quran, making four straight days of demonstrations — some deadly — against the destruction of Islam's holy book in a country struggling to beat back an insurgency led by Taliban religious extremists.
The demonstration in eastern Laghman province briefly threatened to turn into another melee as about 300 protesters brandished sticks and threw stones at police, who in turned started firing shots in the air, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene.
The protest started in Alingar district and the shouting crowd moved toward the provincial capital of Mihtarlam, where they clashed with officers who wanted to keep them out of the city, said Gen. Abdul Aziz Gharanai, the provincial police chief.
However, the protesters dispersed as officers started firing warning shots and no one was wounded, Gharanai said. The AP photographer also heard no reports of serious injuries.
At least 21 people have been killed in the past three days of protests across the country.
The violence was set off by anger over the March 20 burning of the Quran by a Florida church — the same church whose pastor had threatened to do so last year on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, triggering worldwide outrage.
The protests began Friday when thousands of demonstrators in the previously peaceful northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif poured into the streets after Friday's Muslim prayer services and overran a U.N. compound, killing three U.N. staff members and four Nepalese guards.
The demonstrations have appeared to awaken a simmering anti-foreigner sentiment in the country, where anger about civilian casualties and international contractors making fortunes off the long-running conflict have worn down the welcome for Western forces over more than nine years of fighting.
Meanwhile, NATO said one of its service members was killed Sunday in an insurgent attack in the east. NATO did not disclose other details or the nationality of the dead. The majority of the troops in the east are American.
The latest death makes a total of 102 NATO service members killed so far this year. In the same period of 2010, 129 NATO troops died.
Friday 1 April 2011
UN mission in Afghanistan has been thrown into a deep crisis after a furious mob of protesters killed and wounded a number of its staff
UN mission in Afghanistan 
has been thrown into a deep crisis after a furious mob of protesters killed and wounded a number of its staff in one of the country's most peaceful cities.One police source in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif claimed at least eight foreign UN employees were killed after a demonstration in the thriving commercial hub turned violent. Other officials reported different figures.
Provincial police spokesman Sherjan Durrani said the demonstrators poured out of mosques in the city in the early afternoon, shortly after Friday prayers where worshippers had been angered by reports that a Florida pastor had burned a copy of the Qur'an.
Last year Terry Jones, a US fundamentalist Christian leader, did threaten to burn copies of the Muslim holy book. He backed down after warnings that Islamic opinion around the world could be inflamed and the lives of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq endangered.
But on 21 March Wayne Sapp set light to a Qur'an with Jones standing by.
Durrani said that while most protesters were peaceful, others were seeking targets to attack, including shops and the UN compound.
Whatever the final death toll, the incident is seen as a disaster for the UN, coming just over a week after the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, announced that Mazar-e-Sharif would be one of the first areas of the wartorn country to be transferred from Nato to Afghan government security control.
If the number of UN staff killed is high, the organisation will be obliged to consider closing down or dramatically reducing all its operations in the country – something it came perilously close to doing in late 2009 when an attack on a UN guesthouse in Kabul killed five staff.
The UN has already issued a "white city" order, which forces all staff in the country into lockdown in their compounds.
Earlier in the day hundreds of Afghans marched on the US embassy in Kabul.
In a statement the UN confirmed that some of its staff members had been killed. "The situation is still confusing and we are currently working to ascertain all the facts and take care of all our staff. The special representative of the secretary general, Staffan de Mistura, is on his way to Mazar-e-Sharif now to deal with the situation personally on the ground."
Pakistani official says Islamist militants have attacked a terminal in the country's northwest for trucks carrying supplies for NATO and US troops in Afghanistan, killing three Pakistani guards at the site.
Pakistani official says Islamist militants have attacked a terminal in the country's northwest for trucks carrying supplies for NATO and US troops in Afghanistan, killing three Pakistani guards at the site.
Government administrator Akbar Khan said the guards were killed on Friday in the town of Landi Kotal, close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He says the attackers slit the guards' throats.
Taliban militants often attack NATO supply trucks in Pakistan, though the vast majority of the goods are untouched.
Much of the non-lethal supplies for the war effort in Afghanistan come via Pakistan after being unloaded at the Arabian Sea port of Karachi in the south.
American female soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are being encouraged to wear a Muslim headscarf when interacting with civilians
In an effort to get closer to the local population, American female soldiers stationed in Afghanistan 
are being encouraged to wear a Muslim headscarf when interacting with civilians. But some question whether the practice constitutes cultural sensitivity or a form of appeasement that is degrading to U.S. soldiers.Major Kyndra Rotunda, executive director of the Military Law and Policy Institute and AMVETS Legal Clinic, told The Daily Caller that while the women are not being ordered to wear the head scarf, encouragement is tantamount to a demand.
“They say they are encouraging women to wear the headscarf when they are out and about and on patrol. But the problem is — and I think anyone who has been in the military understands that being encouraged to do something is about the same thing as being ordered — it really puts them in an uncomfortable position when their commander says, ‘We really want you to do this, technically you don’t have to, but we really want you to do this,’” she said.
Lt. Col. Michael Lawhorn, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, stressed to TheDC that while commanders are encouraging American women to wear headscarves while engaging with civilians, they are not having them wear the headscarf in lieu of their kevlar helmets.
“Nobody is saying, ‘Okay as we head out onto this dangerous street, you wear a hijab instead of your kevlar helmet,’” Lawhorn said. “As women are on some of these engagement teams and they are going to go into places where are going to predominantly be dealing with other women, like giving them medical information or finding out their concerns are in the local community. Local commanders are encouraging them — not demanding, but encouraging — if they feel more comfortable — ‘Feel free to wear a headscarf.’”
Rotunda remained unconvinced, telling TheDC that helmets are always the preferred head wear among soldiers.
“Even if it is outreach, you never know what to expect. You really should be wearing your kevlar helmet, it is a safety issue,” she said.
Retired Col. Martha McSally, whose grievance about being forced to wear the Muslim abaya while stationed in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s resulted in 2002 legislation outlawing the practice of making female soldiers wear Muslim religious garb in Saudi Arabia, told The Daily Caller that the sanctity of the uniform should not be sullied with outside accessories like the hijab.
“Another thing that makes this inappropriate is that they are wearing it with their uniform,” she said. “All the services have several-hundred-page regulations about what is appropriate and is not appropriate to wear with the uniform, and we have very strict guidelines … You are representing the United States government. You are wearing the U.S. military uniform, and it confuses what you are representing when you add this to the uniform.”
In mid-February one of the sponsors of the 2002 legislation that outlawed the practice of making female soldiers in Saudi Arabia wear the abaya, Rhode Island Democratic Rep. James Langevin, wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates requesting more information about soldiers in headscarves.
“I understand the mission in Afghanistan is drastically different than the situation our female troops faced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 10 years ago,” Langevin wrote. “However I am interested to know the precise policies or operating instructions that are currently being employed with regard to the garments worn by female service members in Afghanistan and other Muslim nations.”
Langevin continues to wait for a response.
Female service members are not the only ones concerned. Retired Navy SEAL Scott Taylor told TheDC that he has been troubled by reports of women wearing the headscarves with their uniforms.
six soldiers killed were Sgt. 1st Class Ofren Arrechaga, Staff Sgt. Frank E. Adamski, Spec. Jameson L. Lindskog, Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess, Pfc. Dustin J. Feldhaus and Pvt. Jeremy P. Faulkner.
large-scale helicopter-borne assault into a remote, insurgent-held sanctuary near the border with Pakistan left six U.S. soldiers dead in heavy fighting with Afghan and Pakistani insurgents, U.S. officials said. The operation, which was continuing Thursday, was designed to drive back the enemy in the remote and mountainous border region. One Afghan soldier was also killed in the assault. In this week’s assault, U.S. forces pushed deeper into the valley and closer to the Pakistan border than they had in years, killing large numbers of enemy fighters and uncovering several significant weapons caches, a U.S. military official said.
Names of the fallen..
The six soldiers killed were Sgt. 1st Class Ofren Arrechaga, Staff Sgt. Frank E. Adamski, Spec. Jameson L. Lindskog, Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess, Pfc. Dustin J. Feldhaus and Pvt. Jeremy P. Faulkner.
Prayers for the families of those lost in the fight.
female Airmen made history here March 30 when the F-15E Strike Eagles of "Dudette 07" blazed down the runway to provide close air support for coalition and Afghan ground forces.
Afghanistan: A team of female Airmen made history here March 30 when the F-15E Strike Eagles of "Dudette 07" blazed down the runway to provide close air support for coalition and Afghan ground forces.
The two-ship formation consisted of all females, two pilots and two weapons system officers, but more importantly, it marked the first combat mission flown from Bagram to be planned, maintained and flown entirely by females.
This mission represents the first combat sortie on record to involve only female Airmen from the pilots and weapons officers to the mission planners and maintainers, said Lt. Col. Kenneth Tilley, the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing historian.
Although the call sign for the mission may have been lighthearted, the sortie was all business calling for the pilots to travel to the Kunar Valley just west of the Pakistan border in support of a large Army operation that was underway.
"I have flown with female pilots before, but this was the first time I have flown in an all female flight," said Maj. Christine Mau, a 455th AEW executive officer. "This wasn't a possibility when I started flying 11-years ago."
While planning of the mission required support from women at all levels such as Capt. Kristen Wehle, the F-15 liaison officer at the combined air operations center, those involved evoked memories of legendary Women's Army Corps pilots and others for inspiration.
"Women's history means a celebration of the equality we have today in the military," said Capt. Jennifer Morton, a 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron weapons officer. "It makes me think back and find inspiration from heroes like Col. Jeannie Flynn."
In 1993, then 2nd Lt. Jeannie Flynn became the first female F-15E pilot. Although the Air Force permitted female pilots to enter pilot training in 1976, Lieutenant Flynn went on to become the first female fighter pilot to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Weapons School.
"Since 1993 we have had Air Force female pilots in combat positions, and because of that today I feel as a woman I can have whatever job I want," Morton said.
While Dudette 07 was set up to as an all female mission in honor of Women's History Month, Major Mau said inspiration for today's Airmen aspiring to great heights can come from many different places.
"I think I get a great deal of inspiration from my grandmother (who was a mother seven kids), but many of my role models today are males," she said.
In addition, the pilots never forget the contributions of the maintainers on the ground,
maintainers like Airmen 1st Class Casiana Curry, who enlisted Sept. 11, 2009, and enables the continued support of the warfighters on the ground.
"The four women officers represents only a portion of the women who supported this mission making it the first all female from tasking to completion combat sortie to date," said Capt. Leigh Larkin, s 389th EFS weapons systems officer.
"I thought it was kind of cool and something that I have never seen before," said Staff Sgt. Tamara Rhone, a 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief. "The women throughout time have paved the way for us today and they made it possible for us to be equal as well as respected as individuals. Females are a rare breed on the flight line. It is my hope that more females step up and join the maintenance career field."
BTricks
