AFGHANISTAN UPDATE

31 May 2007

No. 3: 24-30 May 2007

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Summary:

• NATO helicopter crashes in southern Afghanistan
• Operation Ambush: Taliban announce beginning of 'spring offensive'
• Prisoner-swap in March provided opportunity to target Dadullah, British defense sources reveal
• United Nations asked to take greater role; will begin tracking civilian casualties
• Political feud leads to bloodshed in Jowzjan province
• Political developments and deployment updates

A Chinook transport helicopter crashed near Kajaki in the southern province of Helmand late on Wednesday, killing five US soldiers, one Canadian and a Briton. A team responding to the crash was ambushed, according to Reuters, but did not sustain any casualties. The Taliban claimed to have shot the helicopter down, and although this could not be immediately confirmed, the Associated Press reported that US military officials investigating the incident said the helicopter may have been struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. This is the second crash of a helicopter in Afghanistan this year; eight US soldiers were killed when their Chinook went down in Zabol province in February.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, announced the beginning of 'Operation Kamin' (Ambush) on Sunday. Ahmadi said that roadside bombs, suicide bombers and ambushes would all be utilized to target international and government forces in a full-on offensive. Another Taliban spokesman, Zaibollah Mohajed, also said that civilians working in Afghanistan on aid and reconstruction projects would also be subject to attack, according to the Islamic News Agency of Pakistan. Former Taliban and Afghan government officials have attributed the Taliban's increasing use of such media statements to growing influence from al-Qaeda.

The Times reported on Sunday that the operation which resulted in the death of Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah was made possible by the controversial prisoner exchange in March for Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo. Among the Taliban prisoners released was Dadullah's brother, Dadullah Mansoor, whose movements were subsequently tracked and ultimately led to Mullah Dadullah himself. The Times also revealed that the raid on Mullah Dadullah's compound was conducted by Afghan troops and soldiers of the British Special Boat Squadron (SBS), rather than US Special Forces as had been previously claimed.

Britain has called for the United Nations to assume a greater role in stabilization and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. Speaking at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York last Thursday, Defence Secretary Des Browne said that Afghanistan's problems were more than military in nature, and that the international effort needed a body to coordinate the actions of foreign governments, military forces, and aid groups. Browne was scheduled to meet later in the day with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Jean-Marie Guehenno, head of UN peacekeeping. Meanwhile, the United Nations has urged NATO to adopt an approach to counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan that is both long-term and integrated into the larger nation-building strategy, stating that the current violence is directly tied to the flourishing opium trade.

The United Nations announced on Monday that it will begin close monitoring of civilian casualties in Afghanistan. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), up to 380 civilians have been killed in 2007 during the fighting between military forces and insurgents. The United Nations has accused the Taliban of disregard for the safety of civilians, but also said that the US military has broken international humanitarian laws in Afghanistan, citing an incident on 4 March in which US Marines opened fire on a crowd near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan after being attacked by a suicide bomber. An ongoing investigation into the incident found that the Marines were also fired on by insurgents, a fact which could aid their defense case.

A political feud brought fresh violence to northern Afghanistan this week. Seven people were killed and thirty-four wounded when police and demonstrators clashed in the town of Shiberghan in Jowzjan province on Monday. The violence was provoked by the arrest of six men accused of an assassination attempt on MP Ahmad Khan; members of the Junbesh-e-Milli party, which is loyal to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Rashid Dostum, gathered to protest the arrests and demand the removal of provincial governor Juma Khan Hamdard. Both Khan and Hamdrad are former allies of Dostum but have suffered a recent split. Hamdrad blamed Dostum for ordering the demonstration, while Khan accused Dostum in Parliament of having orchestrated the attempt on his life, according to the Ariana television station in Kabul. President Hamid Karzai condemned the violence, and a report by National Afghanistan television stated that he has authorized compensation to be paid to the victims' families.

Following meetings with G8 foreign ministers in Germany, Pakistan and Afghanistan have again agreed to closer cooperation in fighting terrorism. Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and his Afghan counterpart, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, stressed that their two nations must work together to resolve their security problems. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been particularly strained in recent weeks due to clashes along the border and mutual accusations of territorial infringement.

Several European nations have announced additions to their deployments in Afghanistan during the last week. Albania announced on 25 May that it will deploy another company to its current contingent. The Albanian news agency ATA reports that this company will serve under Italian leadership. Bulgaria will send a mechanized company of 121 soldiers by 1 July, according to the Bulgarian news agency BTA. This will bring Bulgaria's total troop commitment to 400 personnel. The Kyodo news service reported on 25 May that Japan received requests from the United States and Britain in February to deploy a military helicopter unit to Afghanistan. Japanese defense officials stated that sending helicopters to Afghanistan would be difficult but possible, but said that the request had not been repeated.

Cameron Scott
BASIC

Stories and Links:

Fighting Taliban at Grass-Roots Level, The Los Angeles Times, 25/5 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-border25may25,1,4692431.story?track=rss&ctrack=2&cset=true

Afghanistan: Trouble on the Farm, Asia Times Online, 25/5 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IE25Df02.html

Britain calls for greater UN involvement in Afghanistan, The Guardian, 26/5 http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2088600,00.html

Smash our trade in opium, Afghans tell British, The Daily Telegraph, 26/5 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/26/wafg26.xml

Hunt for 'traitors' splits Taliban, The Observer, 27/5 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2088999,00.html

Afghans Target Airlift, Interoperability with NATO forces, Defense News (subscription required) 28/5 http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2774020&C=airwar

Army Wants Arms Based on NATO Standards, Defense News, (subscription required) 28/5 http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2774015&C=navwar

Rise in Violence in North Shows Afghanistan's Fragility, The New York Times, 29/5 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/world/asia/29afghan.html

Taliban learns tactics, propaganda from al Qaeda, The Washington Times, 30/5 http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070530-120152-2753r.htm

NATO General Tells of Taliban Setbacks, The Washington Post, 30/5 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/29/AR2007052901938.html

Allies fall out over spraying of poppy crops, Financial Times, 30/5 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9f211af4-0e49-11dc-8219-000b5df10621.html

Pentagon sees Taliban on defensive in Afghanistan, Reuters, 30/5 http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN3044262920070530

Editorials, Interviews and Reports:

Losing the 'other war' in Afghanistan? Ambassador Karl Inderfurth, International Herald Tribune, 29/5 http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/29/opinion/edinderfurth.php

Now we must stiffen our resolve, Con Coughlin, The Daily Telegraph, 30/5 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/30/wafg230.xml

NATO's Commander in Kabul; interview with US Gen. Dan McNeil, The Spectator, 26/5 http://www.spectator.co.uk/archive/features/30982/natos-commander-in-kabul.thtml

"Germans will have to go on the offensive," interview with Ahmed Rashid, Der Spiegel, 29/5 http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,485299,00.html

Securing, Stabilizing, and Reconstructing Afghanistan: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight, Government Accountability Office, 24/5 http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07801sp.pdf