Articles found August 29, 2007
Coalition forces kill more than 100 insurgents in Afghanistan
August 28, 2007
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Afghan and coalition forces have killed more than 100 insurgent fighters in an ongoing battle Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said.
The fighting is in Kandahar province's northern Sha Wali Kot district.
Along with the insurgents, one Afghan service member was killed. Three coalition and three Afghan troops were wounded.
The incident started, the coalition said, when troops were attacked by "a large group of insurgents from reinforced fighting positions."
The insurgents were armed with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms.
"Throughout the battle, insurgents continued to reinforce the area, engaging Islamic Republic of Afghanistan forces in an attempt to overrun their position."
The force, said to be led by the Afghan National Security Forces, "used small arms and crew-served weapons to repel the enemy attack while calling for close air support, which destroyed the enemy hilltop positions with bombing runs."
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Stop muddling Afghan file, Ottawa is warned
TheStar.com August 16, 2007 bruce campion-smith ottawa bureau chief
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Military experts say Canadians won't be won over unless government is more open, stresses progress
OTTAWA–Stephen Harper's new messengers on the military mission in Afghanistan aren't likely to win over Canadians unless they're able to deliver a more coherent case about the reasons for the mission, one that stresses Canada's development work, military experts say.
One group is calling on the government to begin regular briefings – as often as once a week – with senior defence and foreign affairs officials to help Canadians better understand the situation in Afghanistan.
"The government needs to do better," said retired Col. Alain Pellerin, of the Conference of Defence Associations, a pro-military lobby group based in Ottawa.
"We're starting to do construction on the ground. We're starting to build a capability for the future. That's the message the government has to repeat constantly to the media and the population."
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Eradication or legalisation? How to solve Afghanistan's opium crisis
Declan Walsh and Ian Black Wednesday August 29, 2007 The Guardian
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The UN reported on Monday that there had been a "frightening" explosion in opium production in Afghanistan with Helmand province, where Britain has 7,000 troops deployed, leading the way. A record crop means that the country now accounts for 93% of the world's supply and the situation is getting worse daily despite billions being spent to eradicate the trade since 2001.
Here the Guardian asks experts in the field what can be done to bring production of the drug to an end
Chris Alexander
Deputy special representative of the UN secretary general to Afghanistan
The report is astonishingly downbeat and rightly so. But it does point to some solutions. This year we have doubled the number of poppy free provinces from six to 13. The incentives for others to follow suit must be massively strengthened. We need structured investments in governance, law enforcement, agriculture and infrastructure.
The next step is for the government of Afghanistan and donors to get serious about removing known traffickers from positions of responsibility. This does not require trials and conviction; it can be done on the basis of administrative responsibilities. Everyone in the government from President Karzai down knows this has to be done ... They know who these people are and, with the right support from the international community, can take action.
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Brown under fire for twin-track military strategy
Michael White Wednesday August 29, 2007 The Guardian
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Gordon Brown was last night accused of being unrealistic in his determination to sustain Britain's twin-track military strategy in both Iraq and Afghanistan despite growing concern that the armed forces are seriously over-stretched.
In the wake of a spate of criticisms of the lawless state of the four southern Iraqi provinces which are under British oversight, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, insisted yesterday that UK military deployments will be based "on the situation on the ground in Basra, not the situation on the ground in Baghdad
Like Mr Brown he stressed that important work remains to be done, though the troops' role is changing in their "very difficult, very tough" situation in Iraq.
Endorsing Mr Miliband's remarks, Downing Street admitted that Mr Brown had not spoken to President Bush on Iraq - or anything else - since the pair met at Camp David last month. Number 10 refused to engage in "hypotheticals" about the pace of the British withdrawal from Basra and the spokesman made light of US warnings that American troops might have to fill any gaps left by Britain.
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S. Korea to accelerate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan
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South Korea plans to speed up its preparation for the pullout of more than 200 soldiers in Afghanistan after a deal with the Taliban on the release of 19 Korean hostages, officials here said Wednesday.
They also indicated that Seoul's future role in Afghanistan _ possibly as a member of the civil-military Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) _ will be limited.
The withdrawal of the troops is a key condition of the hard-won agreement that heralded an end to the six-week hostage crisis.
A National Assembly resolution requires about 60 medics of the Dongui unit and 150 engineers of the Dasan unit to terminate their humanitarian mission in the war-ravaged nation and return home by the end of this year, although the U.S. has asked South Korea to continue its contribution there.
"I asked for reconsideration, particularly with the Republic of Korea's representation in Afghanistan and its participation in the provincial reconstruction teams," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M.
Gates said after a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Kim Jang-soo in Singapore on the sidelines of the Sixth Asia Security Summit in June.
But South Korea has reaffirmed its plan to withdraw the units stationed in a U.S. military base in Bagram, about 80 km north of the Afghan capital, Kabul.
"There is no change in the schedule to withdraw the troops by the end of this year," Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-gi said.
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Government split after Dutch request for troops
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In a move likely to split Norway’s centre-left coalition, the government is considering sending troops to the turbulent Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan.
Responding to a Dutch cry for help, the Ministry of Defence confirmed today that the government is considering sending troops to help the struggling NATO mission in southern Afghanistan.
Norwegian troops are already based in the northern part of the war-torn South Asian country, but the government has several times declined similiar requests from Canada of moving Norwegian troops to the more turbulent south.
The issue is known to split Norway’s centre-left coalition government. While the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) is willing to move troops further south, the Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti) principally objects to a Norwegian presence in southern Afghanistan.
Parliamentary Secretary Espen Barth Eide (Labour) of the Ministry of Defence confirmed to newspaper Dagsavisen that there were bilateral talks at a government level between Norway and close NATO partner The Netherlands. The latter is already present in the Uruzgan province.
"The Norwegian government has never principally decided not to send troops to southern Afghanistan," Barth Eide said.
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Special forces rescue woman/color][/url]
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Germany's foreign minster sent special thanks to Norway's military after Norwegian special forces operating in Afghanistan helped rescue a pregnant German woman from kidnappers
Christina Meier has been working for the Christian organization Ora International and was captured by a criminal gang in Kabul over the weekend.
Norwegian special forces participated in storming the house in Kabul where she was being held and Meier was freed without any shots being fired. She was taken Monday to the German ambassador in Kabul, where she was reported to be in good shape.
German Foreign MInister Frank-Walter Steinmeier thanked the Norwegian forces for their contribution, which the Nowegian military wouldn't detail.
A Norwegian general major in Afghanistan would only say that Norway "contributes in many different ways in Kabul... to boost security in the area."
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More Quebecers ship out
KEVIN DOUGHERTY The Gazette Wednesday, August 29, 2007
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"It's hard." Chantale Descarie was eloquently simple in expressing her feelings as her husband, Cpl. Marcel Descarie, prepared to board a plane to Afghanistan yesterday, part of the final 118 soldiers of the latest Quebec-led rotation of Canadian troops on their way to a mission few Quebecers support.
Cpl. Descarie said while public support in Canada and other NATO countries for the mission might be mixed, his family supports it.
"They understand we are going there to help," he said.
Flags at the Valcartier military base flew at half staff to honour three Quebec soldiers who were killed last week by improvised explosive devices - the favourite weapon of Taliban insurgents - as Canada's fourth rotation, including 44 solders based in Valcartier, 57 from Edmonton and 17 based in Petawawa, Ont., readied for departure.
Funerals for Master Cpl. Christian Duchesne and Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier will be held tomorrow near Valcartier.
Yesterday, their families, which have requested a limited media presence at the funerals, issued a statement thanking Canadians for "the incredible show of support during the repatriation (of their sons' bodies) in Trenton on Aug. 26." "Veterans, ambulance workers, firefighters, police officers and citizens alike were present to pay their last respects to the fallen soldiers," said the statement made public by the Canadian Forces.
"A crowd of thousands gathered along the road separating Trenton airport from Toronto to salute the passing procession. Many were even perched on overpasses or parked alongside of Highway 401," the statement said.
"The Duchesne and Mercier families were deeply touched by this spectacular demonstration of support.
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Taliban free eight South Korean hostages
Updated Wed. Aug. 29 2007 7:42 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
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Eight South Korean hostages were released by Taliban militants Wednesday, the first of 19 captives scheduled to be freed under a deal reached between the group and the South Korean government.
Three hostages, all women, were released first to tribal leaders and then taken to an agreed location where officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross picked them up.
The women, their heads covered with red and green shawls, arrived in a car in the central Afghan village of Qala-E-Kazi.
They said nothing to reporters, who were asked by Red Cross officials not to question them.
The women were then taken in vehicles to the local Red Cross headquarters in the nearby town of Ghazni.
In Seoul, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong identified the women as Ahn Hye-jin, Lee Jung-ran and Han Ji-young.
He said they did not appear to have any health problems.
Hours later, four women and one man were released in a desert close to Shah Baz, an Associated Press reporter who witnessed both handovers has confirmed.
Seven women and four men are still to be released.
The South Korean government said the deal was reached on the condition that they pull all of their troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2007, as already planned.
The South Koreans also had to agree to stop all missionary work in the country.
The deal has been criticized by some within the Afghan government.
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Canadian ISAF member found dead in Kabul barracks
Updated Wed. Aug. 29 2007 8:06 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
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A Canadian member of the International Security Assistance Force has been found dead in his barracks room in Afghanistan.
The soldier, who has not yet been named, died shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time.
About an hour earlier he had been found injured in his room within a secure compound in Kabul, the Afghan capital.
Doctors were unable to save the soldier.
The serviceman's death is being investigated by ISAF and Canadian military officials.
ISAF has said there was no sign of forced entry or enemy action, but neither group is ruling out murder or suicide as possible reasons for the death.
There is no indication whether the soldier was based in Kandahar.
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Pakistan's Musharraf, Bhutto reach deal
Updated Wed. Aug. 29 2007 7:38 AM ET Associated Press
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf and former political rival Benazir Bhutto have reached agreement regarding Musharraf's military role, a key step toward a power-sharing agreement, a senior official said Wednesday.
"Both sides have agreed on the issue of uniform," Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a close Musharraf ally, told reporters. Bhutto was quoted in a British newspaper making a similar comment, though neither she nor Ahmed elaborated.
Envoys for the U.S.-allied military president and former Prime Minister Bhutto, who is planning a return from exile abroad, are trying to work out a pact that would help Musharraf secure another five-year presidential term.
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