|
|
|
 |
|
|
| HOME |
| NUCLEAR AND WMD |
| TRANS-ATLANTIC SECURITY |
| WEAPONS TRADE |
| BASIC PUBLICATIONS |
| ABOUT BASIC |
 |
AFGHANISTAN UPDATE19 October 2007 No. 22: 12 - 18 October 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 Chris Lindborg by email at clindborg at basicint.org with comments or suggestions. NOTE: Starting with this edition, BASIC will release the Afghanistan Update on a bi-weekly schedule. Previous editions of BASIC's Afghanistan Update are available here. Summary:
A bomber on a motorbike targeted Afghan police on 13 October in Spin Boldak, a city near the Pakistan border. The attack resulted in an explosion that killed eleven people. On 18 October, a roadside bomb killed four Afghan policemen in a remote area of Khost province, also close to the Pakistan border. Elsewhere, a suicide attacker killed his mother and two younger siblings when his vest, loaded with explosives, apparently detonated prematurely. The incident happened on 14 October in Uruzgan province. According to some press reports, the mother tried to stop her son from carrying out his plans. While visiting the United States this past week, Afghan Defense Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak said that it will take more time to determine whether Iran is supplying weapons to militants in Afghanistan. Head of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), General Dan McNeill, said during a press conference on 18 October that ISAF had intercepted a weapons convoy last month that "clearly geographically originated from Iran." During his visit to Washington, D.C, General Wardak also appealed for more equipment for Afghan forces. On a related note, the Croatian newspaper Vjesnik (via BBC Monitoring International Reports) reported on 16 October that Croatia is donating 1,000 Kalashnikov rifles and 300,000 rounds of ammunition to Afghan security forces. Concern and debates over coalition force contributions continued this past week. In an effort to bolster strained troops, the U.S. Defense Department will alert National Guard troops for duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. The German Bundestag recently approved the extension of its troop participation in ISAF and extended the deployment of six German Tornado aircraft. The extensions were made for one year. The decisions were taken despite a drop in German support for the Afghanistan mission. A poll published on 17 October by the Allensbach Institute (website in German) showed that since 2002, German public support for the Afghanistan mission has fallen from 51 percent to 34 percent. Another vote will be held later this month on whether to extend German participation in the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). On 18 October, Japan's cabinet approved a counter-terrorism bill that would continue the controversial mission to fuel ships in support of the U.S.-led OEF. The renewal still needs to be approved by the parliament, where it is expected to encounter greater opposition. However, the bill includes changes to the current mission, such as the stipulation that Japanese ships would not be allowed to refuel vessels on military attack operations. On 16 October, the Canadian government advised that its troops stay in Afghanistan until at least 2011 despite calls by opposition leaders for the removal of Canadian troops by February 2009, which is the deadline of the current commitment. Earlier in the week, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the appointment of a panel to examine his country's mission in Afghanistan. During the upcoming parliamentary session in Canada, the House of Commons will be called upon to vote on the renewal of the military mission past 2009. U.K. Defence Secretary Des Browne chided unnamed allies for not "sharing the risks and costs of collective action" in Afghanistan (see column 708 of the U.K. House of Commons Hansard Debates here). His comments came in response to a question from Dr. Liam Fox, MP (Conservative-Woodspring), who wondered why some European countries were supporting a recently announced European Union mission to Chad when NATO has been pleading for more help in Afghanistan. Several major Canadian news services commissioned a poll that was released on 18 October, which found that 74 percent of Afghans support negotiating with the Taliban in an effort to reduce conflict. The interviews were conducted in person between 17 and 24 September. The polling company, Environics Research, has more information on the methodology and poll results. The Guardian reported on 15 October that the U.K. Government is supporting the controversial plans of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to divide the Taliban by pushing its senior leaders and supporters to defect. By Chris Lindborg and Candice Boyer, BASIC
Stories and Links: Afghanistan Seeks more help as violence soars, Kristin Roberts,
Reuters via AlertNet, 18/10 German defense minister opposes talks with Taliban, AFP
via Middle East Times, 18/10 Merkel is aloof as German public wavers on troops in Afghanistan,
Judy Dempsey, International Herald Tribune, 18/10 Opium funding up to 40 percent of Afghan unrest: U.S. general,
AFP via Yahoo! News, 18/10 Overhaul of Afghan Police is New Priority, David Rohde,
The New York Times, 18/10 Poll shows Afghans want NATO troops to stay, Alan Freeman,
The Globe and Mail, 18/10 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071018.wafghanpoll1810/BNStory/Front
Japan to alter support of U.S. in Afghanistan, AP via the
International Herald Tribune, 17/10 Canadians caught in border violence, Omar El Akkad, The
Globe and Mail, 15/10 U.K. backs plans to split Taliban from within, Julian Borger
and Declan Walsh, The Guardian, 15/10 Afghanistan is 'going down fast,' Terry Friel, The Australian,
13/10 Manley to head panel on future of Afghan mission, The
Telegraph-Journal, 13/10 Marines' Afghanistan Plan Sparks Debate; The Proposed Shift
Could Undermine Strategy, Some Argue, Ann Scott Tyson, The
Washington Post, 12/10 Romanians quietly in Afghanistan conflict, Matthew Fisher,
CanWest News Service via The Vancouver Sun, 12/10 Staying the Course: German Parliament Extends Afghanistan Troop
Mandate, Der Spiegel, 12/10 Editorials, Transcripts and Reports: Afghanistan: Don't cave in to the Taliban, Amin Saikal,
International Herald Tribune, Opinion, 18/10 DoD News Briefing with Col. Chip Preysler from Afghanistan,
News transcript, U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), 17/10 The Struggle for Pashtunistan: The Afghan-Pakistan War,
Anthony H. Cordesman, CSIS Report, 17/10 Don't Spray the Poppies, Re: ''Afghans
Pressed by U.S. on Plan to Spray Poppies'' (front page, Oct.
8), Norine MacDonald, Letter to the Editor, The New York Times,
16/10 Iraq, Afghanistan, and Self-Inflicted Wounds: Strategic Lessons
of Armed Nation Building, Anthony H. Cordesman, CSIS Report,
16/10 West facing an emerging Taleban state, The New Zealand
Herald, 16/10 Blame Hillier: Exclusive Excerpt: The inside story of one man's
push for an Afghan mission, and a government that let itself be
persuaded, Eugene Lang and Janice Gross Stein, McClean's,
15/10 Integrated political-military strategy needed to overcome violence,
bring peace to Afghanistan, Special Representative tells Security
Council, SC/9141, U.N. Security Council, via ReliefWeb, 15/10 Revitalizing U.S. Efforts in Afghanistan, Lisa Curtis and
James Phillips, Backgrounder No. 2076, The Heritage Foundation,
15/10 Canada fighting triple war, Michael Den Tandt, Editorial,
The Sudbury Star, 12/10 Coalition Warfare in Afghanistan: Burden-sharing or Disunity?
Timo Noetzel, Sibylle Scheipers, Chatham House Briefing Paper,
October 2007
|
|
BASIC
UK: The Grayston Centre, 2nd Floor, 28 Charles Square London
N1 6HT, +44-(0)20-7324 4680 |