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AFGHANISTAN UPDATE16 August 2007 No. 14: 9 - 15 August 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 James Wilson by email at jwilson at basicint.org with comments or suggestions. Previous editions of BASIC's Afghanistan Update are available here. Summary:
The Times reported that British frontline troops in Afghanistan are being killed at such a rate that, were it to continue, 1 in 36 would not survive a six-month tour of duty. The revelation comes after a weekend that saw six international troops killed by insurgency attacks. Three U.S. troops were killed in Nangarhar province when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle. In a further incident two British soldiers were killed and five injured near the southern town of Sangin. Elsewhere, a NATO service member died and three were wounded when their vehicle rolled over during a combat logistics patrol Sunday in eastern Afghanistan. A surprising second attempted attack on a U.S. led military base also took place this week in Uruzgan province. Four militants were reportedly killed during the attack on Firebase Anaconda. Coalition spokeswoman Capt. Vanessa R. Bowman, emphasized that "direct attacks are an unorthodox method for Taliban fighters." In a response to news reports last week that Afghanistan will produce another record poppy harvest this year, the Bush administration unveiled a multimillion-dollar strategy to combat poppy production and increase punishments for those who fail to do so. The strategy aims to provide between $50-60 million to Afghan development officials who make inroads into cutting production. This is on top of $420 million already spent on U.S. assistance that has cut the number of poppy producing provinces, but failed to control overall production. Grim reports by British ministers have suggested that it could take a generation to eradicate the country's opium crops. "Afghanistan is facing another year of very high poppy cultivation, driven by continued high figures in the south," said Lord Malloch Brown, Foreign Office minister. "This second increase in as many years is extremely disappointing. Yet again, Helmand looks likely to be the main driver of cultivation." Political relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan seemed set to ease this week as Gen. Musharraf met with President Karzai at the closing ceremony of a cross-border jirga, or peace conference, held to discuss Taliban threats to both nations. There had been fears earlier in the week that the importance of the event would be lost following Gen. Musharraf's failure to attend the opening ceremony. Earlier exchanges between the Afghan president and Pakistan's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, had suggested that the peace conference would end in failure, with Shaukat Aziz looking to place much of the blame for Taliban insurgency in his country on Afghanistan. Mr. Aziz said "Afghanistan is not yet at peace within itself." However by Monday tensions seemed to have lifted and at its conclusion a series of resolutions had been passed on drugs and terrorism. It remains to be seen, however, if these resolutions, bound only by moral authority, will prove to be a success. Two female South Korean hostages who had been held since mid-July were released Monday in Ghazni province. Their release is part of an ongoing hostage negotiation between Taliban militants, the Korean Government and the Afghan authorities. The New York Times reported that the women had been released due to sickness and as a sign of good will during the ongoing hostage negotiations. The kidnappers have already killed two male hostages and have threatened to kill more, if 21 Taliban fighters are not released from prison. The Afghan Government has so far resisted calls to hand over these prisoners, preferring instead to launch an armed raid on the Taliban. This is an option which has so far been rejected by the Korean Government, which has twice refused to allow a U.S.-Afghan force to attempt a rescue, fearing that the move will lead to heavy hostage losses. In other news coalition forces have clashed with Taliban militants in Helmand province. The ambush, which took place last Thursday, left at least 10 militants dead and many wounded. In a separate incident a suicide bomber attacked a U.S. led coalition convoy in Khost province Monday. The blast killed the bomber but caused no U.S. casualties. South Afghan police and U.S. forces also thwarted a militant ambush at the district chief's compound in Kandahar province. During a clean up operation following the initial attack, however, a roadside bomb hit a police vehicle leaving five officers dead and two wounded. James Wilson
Stories and Links: Tokyo opposition leader will not back Japan in Afghanistan mission,
The Washington Post, 09/08 New Afghan Police Terrorized By Taliban, The Washington
Times, 10/08 Afghanistan and Iraq boost BAE profits, The Guardian,
10/08 How A 'Good War' In Afghanistan Went Bad, The New York
Times, 12/08 U.S. Behind Afghan Warlord's Rise, Fall, The Boston Globe,
12/08 Under Siege, The Times, 12/08 British plea for U.S. forces to leave Helmand, The Daily
Telegraph, 14/08 U.S. feels heat as Iranian leader visits Afghanistan, The
Guardian, 15/08
Editorials, Transcripts and Reports: Civilian death toll rises in the bloody battle of Helmand,
The Guardian, 12/08 U.K.'s Afghan mission at turning point, says Browne, The
Guardian, 16/08 |
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