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AFGHANISTAN UPDATE21 June 2007 No. 6: 14 - 20 June 2007 If you would like to receive this update, please email basic-wash at basicint.org with the phrase "subscribe to Afghanistan Update" in the subject line. Feedback on format and content is also gladly received. In particular we are keen to hear feedback of how useful you find this update. Please contact Cameron Scott by email at cscott at basicint.org with comments or suggestions. Previous editions of BASIC's Afghanistan Update are available here. Summary:
Dozens have been killed in suicide bombings by the Taliban across Afghanistan in the last week. Twenty-four people, mostly Afghan policemen, died when a bomber leapt onboard a bus in Kabul on Sunday in one of the deadliest attacks since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001. It was the fifth suicide bombing in Kabul this year, the fourth having occurred the day before when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of U.S. security contractors, killing four civilians. Ten people were killed and another ten wounded last Friday when a suicide bomber struck a Dutch armored car in the town of Tirin Kwot in Oruzgan province. The Taliban, however, suffered significant casualties in various engagements during the last week, with 50-60 insurgents killed in Oruzgan alone. Elsewhere the Taliban briefly overran the district of Yahyakhel in Paktika on Sunday and Mianeshin district in Kandahar on Monday. The Pajhwok news service reported that many insurgents were captured when the Yahyakhel was retaken on Sunday evening, while a NATO statement confirmed that Afghan forces had regained control of Mianeshin without firing a shot on Wednesday. In a Pentagon press briefing on Wednesday, U.S. Army Col. Martin Schweitzer downplayed the importance of these actions by the Taliban, saying that the insurgents could only control territory for a period of hours and that the significance of the two events had been ill-represented in the press. Military operations by international forces this week have again resulted in civilian casualties. Seven boys were killed in an airstrike on Sunday, when U.S. forces targeted a compound in the Zargun Shah district of Paktika believed to be harboring al-Qaeda militants. U.S. officials have apologized to local authorities for the deaths, and said they were unaware that the compound contained a mosque and a madrassa. Western forces have faced a wave of criticism in recent weeks for causing civilian casualties, which have already reached 230 in 2007 according to the aid organization Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR). NATO officials reviewed operational procedures in Afghanistan at a meeting in Brussels last Thursday, which they said have been successfully refined to reduce non-combatant deaths. In a rebuttal of recent statements made by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak maintained that Iran and Afghanistan have good relations, and said that while weapons of Iranian origin had been found, there was no evidence of involvement by the Iranian government. Some observers have also voiced skepticism over claims of Tehran backing the Taliban, citing Iran's support of the Northern Alliance during the Taliban era and investment in Afghan reconstruction. In recent days, however, Iran has increased the rate at which it is deporting Afghan refugees, expelling up to 2,000 a day. Over 100,000 have been forcibly returned to Afghanistan in the last two months. Britain's Ministry of Defence has been harshly criticized after it was revealed British soldiers in Afghanistan face life-threatening waits for treatment of up to seven hours after being injured, often due to a lack of suitable equipment, particularly helicopters. The British military's most senior medic responded to the accusations and said that "in practice…we have met on every occasion…the needs of the actual patient." He admitted, however, that at three hours, British troops often have to wait longer for treatment than American soldiers did in Vietnam did forty years ago. The British ambassador to Afghanistan, Sherard Cowper-Coles, stated on Wednesday that British involvement in Afghanistan could be maintained for decades, and said that the majority of Afghans supported the presence of international forces despite the recent spate of civilian casualties. Britain, whose military contingent in Afghanistan is due to increase by 700 personnel to a total 7,700 this year, may be joined in this long term commitment by several other ISAF member states. Defense News reports that Finland is considering a substantial increase to its Afghan deployment, which currently stands at 106 troops stationed in various parts of the country. Finnish and U.S. defense officials discussed a plan that would have Finland assume command of ISAF's northern sector and consolidate its forces into one area, although no specific figures on any personnel increase were given. Sweden will also increase its contribution to ISAF, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported last Thursday. Sweden's government passed a measure on 1 June allowing for the military deployment to be raised to a maximum 675 personnel; the reinforcements approved last week will bring Sweden's total contribution to 360. The Croatian news agency HINA reported on Friday that Croatia's forces in Afghanistan will be increased to 200 by the end of 2007 and 300 by the end of 2008, and that they would assume a greater role in the training of the Afghan national security forces. Romania is prepared to send further troops to Afghanistan, but will only do so as part of a larger international increase according to Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu. German daily Der Bild reported on Wednesday that a further six German Tornado reconnaissance aircraft may be sent to Afghanistan. The new aircraft would be stationed in Mazar-e Sharif alongside the existing six, which have already flown 194 missions since arriving there in April, according to German news agency DDP. Cameron Scott
Stories and Links: Afghanistan's press; thriving yet threatened, The Economist, 14/6 http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9340157 NATO fights on all fronts in Afghanistan, Asia Times Online, 14/6 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IF14Df02.html A voice for the Afghan insurgency, Asia Times Online, 15/6 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IF15Df03.html NATO image problem: Civilian deaths always blamed on alliance despite Taliban, The Associated Press, 16/6 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/16/asia/AS-GEN-Afghan-Taking-the-Blame.php Can the war in Afghanistan be won? BBC News Online, 17/6 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6756125.stm Sphere of influence: In Western Afghanistan, the United States tries to counter Iran's deep ties, U.S. News and World Report, 17/6 http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070617/25afghan.htm Suicide Bomb Teams Sent to U.S., Europe, ABC News Online, 18/6 http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/06/exclusive_suici.html Taliban fighters back in caves of Tora Bora, The Daily Telegraph, 18/6 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/18/wafghan218.xml After bus attack, Afghan police mourn their own, The New York Times, 18/6 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/world/asia/18afghan.html?hp=&pagewanted=all U.S. makes mockery of Afghan democracy: ousted MP, Reuters, 18/6 http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1842694920070618 Afghans seek help on corruption, BBC News Online, 19/6 How misery of heroin was brought home to Afghanistan, The Times, 20/6 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1957365.ece The perils of carving a path to the Taliban's front door, USA Today, 19/6 http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-19-afghan-road_N.htm A political revival in Afghanistan, Asia Times Online, 20/6 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IF20Df01.html Afghan schools try to make new start, BBC News Online, 20/6 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6768801.stm
Editorials, Interviews and Reports: Afghanistan: The winnable war, The Washington Times, 17/6 http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070617/COMMENTARY/106170009/1012 Taliban's grim reminder; troops need a better chance in Afghanistan, The Glasgow Herald, 18/6 http://www.theherald.co.uk/search/display.var.1477985.0.talibans_grim_reminder.php Hope in Afghanistan, The Times, 19/6 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article1951159.ece Outside View: Iran arming the Taliban? United Press International, 19/6 http://www.upi.com/International_Intelligence/Analysis/2007/06/19/outside_view_iran_arming_the_taliban/6234/ Britain's duty is to find a humane way of reducing crop, The Times, 20/6 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/bronwen_maddox/article1957350.ece Pity the children, The Financial Times, 20/6 DoD Briefing with Col. Schweitzer and Maj. Gen. Khaliq via Video Conference from Afghanistan in the Pentagon Briefing Room, U.S. Department of Defense, 19/6 http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3995 Afghanistan: low level, high impact, Paul Rogers, OpenDemocracy.net, 14/6 http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflicts/global_security/afghanistan_low_level_high_impact
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