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AFGHANISTAN UPDATE19 July 2007 No. 10: 12 - 18 July 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:
Multiple security incidents occurred across Afghanistan on Wednesday, 18 July, including suicide bombings, ambushes and kidnappings. The Afghan police were the target of much of the violence, as a suicide bomber attacked a police station in Kabul on Wednesday, killing one civilian and injuring 25 others, while a pair of bombers killed four outside the main police station in the eastern province of Khost. Elsewhere, ambushes of police convoys in the provinces of Lowgar and Zabol each left six policemen dead. Afghan police have suffered significant losses in 2007; the Afghan Interior Ministry stated in June that over 300 police had been killed in the previous three months. A Turkish diplomatic convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber in Kabul, and the German Foreign Ministry reported late on Wednesday that two Germans working for the United Nations had been kidnapped, along with five of their Afghan colleagues. Meanwhile a report published by Great Britain's House of Commons Defence Committee on Wednesday has warned that the international effort is being jeopardized by a lack of resources, including insufficient troop levels. The release of the study comes in the wake of a warning by senior British officers to Downing Street that failure in Afghanistan could have catastrophic strategic consequences, and also a report by the Daily Telegraph that British casualty rates in Afghanistan are approaching 10% and may be on pace to surpass those from the Second World War. Sixty-four British servicemen have died in Afghanistan since first deploying in 2001, including 20 this year. Defence Secretary Des Browne, who criticized the Telegraph article in a letter to the editor, has backed calls for reinforcements, telling the BBC "that NATO nations should do more to meet the shortfalls in requirements." The House of Commons report also expressed concern that poppy eradication efforts were proving counter-productive and risking the lives of British soldiers. This finding comes at the same time as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan William Wood admitted that efforts to curb poppy cultivation have failed, and that the harvest in 2007 will be even larger than the record crop of 2006. The cultivation of 457,135 acres surpasses last year's total of 407,715, and Helmand province, which was named in a recent study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as the world's largest narcotics supplier, accounted for 212,506 acres alone. The UNODC warned that the dramatic surge in opium production in Afghanistan had negated the progress that had been made in limiting the worldwide supply through reducing cultivation elsewhere. A public opinion poll released on Tuesday has shown significant decline in Canadian support for the military operations in Afghanistan. The survey, conducted by Angus Reid Strategies, shows that a mere 16% of the Canadian population want to extend the military mandate beyond its current expiration date of 2009, while 64% feel that Canada is bearing too large a share of the burden. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is attempting to lighten that burden, and has again called upon NATO allies to increase their troop commitments. Canada's troops are primarily deployed in the restive southern province of Kandahar, and 66 Canadians have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001, including six in a road-side bombing on 4 July. The turbulent security situation during the last week in Afghanistan has been mirrored by a turbulent political environment. After criticizing the government in an interview with Newsweek, Abdul Sattar Murad was removed from his post as governor of Kapisa province on Monday. Government officials accused Murad of "sowing discord" and said the decision on his removal had been made before the interview. A report by Afghanistan's Tolo television on Monday stated that the governor of Logar province has also been sacked and said that more would soon follow, although it did not cite a reason for the dismissal. Tolo TV also reported on Sunday that the recently scheduled peace jerga between Afghan and Pakistani tribal leaders, due to take place in the first week of August, has been postponed for at least a week due to the recent security problems in Pakistan. The wave of violence that followed the storming of the Lal Masjid in Islamabad on 10 July has been particularly acute in the areas which border Afghanistan; Pakistani officials closed a major crossing-point near Spin Boldak in Kandahar on Tuesday after militants were caught attempting to cross the border. German Chancellor Angela Merkel advocated renewing the mandate for the three components of Germany's military presence in Afghanistan on Wednesday. According to the German news agency DDP, Merkel said any withdrawal due to the difficulty of the task would be 'negligent,' and that fulfilling the mandate properly would require extending the missions of Germany's contribution to the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom, the NATO-led ISAF, and the six-strong contingent of Tornado reconnaissance aircraft. Meanwhile the United States has pledged a donation of 186 aircraft to the Afghan armed forces by 2012, beginning with six refurbished Russian helicopter-gunships in August. Finally, the U.N. Security Council issued a plea to international, Afghan and insurgent forces on Tuesday urging greater care by all to avoid civilian casualties. Between the overwhelming firepower often employed by international forces and the brutal methods used by insurgents to exploit non-combatants, civilians have paid a high price in the conflict. The Security Council also recommended closer coordination between international and Afghan forces to promote cultural awareness and a better understanding of Afghan society and sensitivity. Cameron Scott
Stories and Links: Germany: Doubts rise over Afghan engagement, Inter Press
Service, 12/7 Follies rise amid the ruins of a puzzled Afghanistan, The
Financial Times, 12/7 NATO in Afghanistan; No rush for exit, yet, The Economist,
12/7 Outside view: Staying the Afghan course, United Press International,
13/7 Militias, graft stall Afghan roadways, The Washington
Times, 14/7 War and lack of commitment hinder transitional justice,
Integrated Regional Information Networks, 15/7 Bundeswehr in Afghanistan: Greens to hold special summit,
Der Spiegel, 15/7 Northern Afghanistan faces new security threat, Institute
for War and Peace Reporting, 16/7 Hunting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, Reuters, 17/7 Addicted in Afghanistan, ISN Security Watch, 17/7
Editorials, Transcripts and Reports: Afghanistan must not be Britain's Vietnam, The Independent,
16/7 'The Government Cannot Deliver' Transcript of interview with
Abdul Sattar Murad governor of Kapisa province, Newsweek,
12/7 In-attention to Detail: Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan,
Center for Defense Information, 17/7 U.K. Military Operations in Afghanistan: Thirteenth Report of
Session 2006-07, House of Commons Defence Committee, 18/7 |
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