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AFGHANISTAN UPDATE26 July 2007 No. 11: 19-25 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:
Kidnappings by the Taliban have dominated the headlines in the last week, as the abductions of two Germans and five of their Afghan colleagues in Wardak province last Wednesday were followed by the brazen kidnapping of 23 South Korean missionaries from a bus in Ghazni province on Thursday. At present neither situation is on the verge of a positive outcome. One of the two Germans kidnapped on 18 July was found dead on Monday, and it was later reported that the other German had been killed as well. While this statement was denied, the six others remain captive and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has balked at the demands of the kidnappers, who have demanded the release of Taliban prisoners and the immediate departure of German troops from Afghanistan. Germany has the third largest contingent of military personnel in Afghanistan with just over 3,000, and several Germans have been kidnapped or killed already in 2007. Meanwhile the Taliban killed a South Korean hostage on Wednesday and have renewed their threats to kill the remaining 22, 18 of whom are women, while a report claiming that eight hostages had been released is now believed to have been false. An original deadline of 14:30 GMT on Sunday evening came and went as Korean envoys negotiated with the Taliban, who established a second deadline of Tuesday. Afghan security forces have surrounded the kidnappers, but provincial governor Mirajuddin Pathan has ruled out the use of force to free the hostages. The Taliban have demanded the immediate withdrawal of Korean forces from Afghanistan and the release of insurgents held by the Afghan government. Both of these demands have been refused, although Korean forces were already scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan at the end of the year. The South Korean government has banned it citizens from travelling to Afghanistan, while the practice of sending missionaries to countries such as Afghanistan has been questioned domestically. The confusion which has characterized both these hostage situations was apparent in yet another kidnapping incident reported yesterday. Reports emerged that a German journalist and an Afghan colleague had been abducted by the Taliban in the eastern province of Konar. The German Foreign ministry investigated the situation but was unable to confirm the disappearance of any German national. It was later reported that the said journalist was in fact a Danish citizen of Afghan origin, and shortly thereafter the truth emerged that he had not been kidnapped at all but had in fact escaped his would-be assailants. However, the incident highlights the increasing risk foreign workers face in Afghanistan. NATO and Afghan security forces launched 'Operation Chakush' (Hammer), on Tuesday, a collaborative effort designed to clear the Gereshk valley of northern Helmand of Taliban insurgents. Various incidents in the southern and central provinces of Kandahar, Helmand and Oruzgan may have killed up to 75 insurgents, according to a report by the Associated Press. Engagements in recent days have also taken a toll on international forces as well, however, as four U.S. soldiers were killed by a road-side bomb in the eastern province of Paktika on Monday, while British, French and Norwegian forces also sustained casualties in separate incidents. Condolences have come in from across the world with the passing of Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last King of Afghanistan, on Sunday. Described as "weak if well-meaning" during his 40 year reign as monarch, Zahir Shah was deposed in a bloodless coup while abroad in 1973 and remained in exile during the Communist era and the civil war that followed. He was bestowed with the honorary title of 'Father of the Nation' by President Hamid Karzai in 2001, and the chronic instability which has wracked the country since his dethroning has led his rule to be seen in hindsight as something of a 'Golden Age' for Afghanistan. Zahir Shah was the last in a succession of Pashtun monarchs that united modern Afghanistan in 1747. He was buried in the family mausoleum on Tuesday, and is survived by five children. In other political developments, fugitive warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was reported to have called for an end to the insurgency last week. Hekmatyar, a former Prime Minister of Afghanistan and an active leader in the resistance against the government of Hamid Karzai, is head of the Hezb-e-Eslami political party. Another party official, however, told the Pajwhok Afghan News Agency last Thursday that the statement was a fake and that Hezb-e-Eslami's opposition to the government and international forces remained. Meanwhile the peace jerga to be held between Afghan and Pakistani tribal leaders is now back on track to take place in the first week of August, according to a report by the Associated Press of Pakistan on 22 July. An article in the Daily Afghanistan newspaper on 22 July said that President Karzai is optimistic that the three-and- a-half day summit in Kabul would yield progress in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan. U.N. representative Tom Koenigs has called on Chancellor Angela Merkel to hold firm in the face of pressure to withdraw German troops from Afghanistan, saying that "it is important that such a strong and important partner as Germany energetically keeps the course." Merkel in turn vowed that Germany would "intensify its engagement," and maintain its commitment to Afghanistan. Bundeswehr Inspector General Wolfgang Schneiderhan stated in an interview with Der Spiegel on Tuesday that a German withdrawal would be a "catastrophe in terms of our alliances," but said flatly that German troops would not be sent to southern Afghanistan and that the topic was "not open for discussion." Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema called for an end to the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom mission, saying that its continued existence hindered coordination between international forces and created greater risks for Afghan civilians. In response to recent incidents of civilian casualties, Canada has stated that it will double the training given to soldiers who call in air support, and Britain has begun operations using GMLRS rocket launcher system, which boats greater accuracy and power than comparable artillery platforms. Cameron Scott
Stories and Links: Bureaucrats with guns: Canada's secret weapon, Ottawa
Citizen, 19/7 Britain's £1.5m bribes fail to buy Taleban peace deal, The
Sunday Times, 22/7 Assessing reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, The
Daily Times (Pakistan), 23/7 Governor Lashes Out at NATO, Institute for War and Peace
Reporting, 23/7 Afghanistan: Deep in Taliban Country, Institute for War
and Peace Reporting, 23/7 Taleban hostage crisis tests President's nerve, The Times,
24/7 Analysis: Seoul in hostage dilemma, United Press International,
24/7 U.S.' Skelton wants Iraq drawdown, has Afghan worries, Reuters,
24/7
Editorials, Transcripts and Reports: Where less is more, The New York Times, 23/7 We are failing in Afghanistan, The Guardian, 19/7
International help is needed to rescue this failing mission, The Independent, 19/7 http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2782489.ece AP Interview: Out-of-date U.N. sanctions on al-Qaida, Taliban
are harming the fight against terror, Interview with Richard Barrett,
the Associated Press, 20/7 'Our Sacrifices Do Not Leave Me Cold' Interview with Inspector
General Wolfgang Schneiderhan of the German Army, Der Spiegel,
23/7 DoD News Briefing with Maj. Gen. Rodriguez from Afghanistan, U.S. Department of Defense, 25/7 http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4013 The Taliban Fedayeen: The World's Worst Suicide Bombers?
The Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Monitor, Vol. 5, Issue
4, 19/7 |
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