At least 33 police and five civilians were killed in fighting after Taliban crossed over from Pakistan and attacked a remote region in eastern Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday.
Nuristan provincial governor Jamaluddin Badr said about 40 Pakistani invaders rebels also died in the two days of clashes that follow weeks of tit-for-tat allegations of cross-border attacks that have fanned diplomatic tensions between the neighbours.
A Russian-designed Ilyushin-76 cargo plane chartered by the U.S. military crashed into a mountaintop in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday, as fears rose for the fate of its nine-member crew.
The plane belonged to an Azerbaijani company, Silk Way, whose deputy director Adyl Katsymov said the fate of the crew was unknown. The flight originated from the Azerbaijan capital of Baku, said Kabul airport official Yaqub Rasoliob.
Anar Aghayev, the deputy chief of mission for the Azerbaijani embassy in Pakistan, said four of the crew members were Azerbaijani citizens, three were from Uzbekistan, and two were from Russia.
[Tolo News] Pak Taliban Attacked on Afghan police check post in eastern Nuristan province on Tuesday killing one person, local officials said.
The attack happened earlier today in Kamdish district of Nuristan province in which one Afghan border police was killed and one other was maimed, Gen. Aminullah Amarkhil, border police chief in eastern Afghanistan told TOLOnews.
Mr Amarkhil said that Afghan border police have killed nine Pak Talibs in the festivities. Pak Taliban also set on fire some residential houses in the district, he added.
Unconfirmed reports said that some non-combatants were killed in the attack. But Mr Amarkhil said there are no reports about civilian casualties.
Nuristan is bordered by Pakistain and previously beturbanned goons have crossed the border and attacked Afghan border police check posts.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/06/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
Clearly border checkpoints are the latest thing in Taliban circles. As far as I can tell it allows them to shoot off their guns and make fearsome faces -- thus acquiring jihad credit -- without having to venture deeper into dangerous territory. Or is there more to this that I'm unaware of, in my military ignorance?
[Dawn] Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... said Tuesday that he had expressed "deep concerns" to his Pak counterpart about deadly rocket attacks launched across the Taliban-troubled border.
Around 200 Afghans protested in the capital on Saturday against the attacks which have fanned tensions between the neighbours at a time of flagging Western support for the long war with the Taliban.
Speaking at a presser in Kabul alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... , the Afghan leader said he had raised the sensitive issue with Pakistain President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... at a recent meeting.
"The shells and artillery fired from Pakistain territory to Afghanistan have led to the death and injury of a number of our citizens," Karzai said.
"I have been very clear on the position of Afghanistan... We expressed the deep concerns of the people of Afghanistan and asked for an immediate stop to the shelling from Pak territory." Karzai said Afghanistan would not retaliate.
Pakistain disputes the Afghan version of events and says it has not fired deliberately on its neighbour's territory and says it is contending with Taliban attacks from Afghanistan.
The Pakistain army admits only that its security forces may have fired a few accidental rounds into Afghanistan while pursuing Orcs and similar vermin across the porous 2,400 kilometre (1,500 mile) border.
Pakistain said Monday that dozens of Taliban infiltrated from Afghanistan to attack a check post, killing one soldier.
There are Taliban strongholds on both sides of the border, but Afghan and US officials want Pakistain to do more to eradicate krazed killer sanctuaries in its semi-autonomous tribal belt that is used to launch attacks in Afghanistan.
Cameron, appearing with Karzai, struck a diplomatic note over the issue and said Britannia backed an improvement in Afghanistan-Pakistain relations.
"Now is the time for Pakistain and Afghanistan to sit and meet and talk on how we are to ensure what we need to do," he told news hounds.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/06/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] British Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... on Tuesday said the Taliban could have a future in the mainstream politics of Afghanistan, with the 10-year war resolved like the conflict in Northern Ireland. Guess he never did pick up on that "victory" idea.
On a day that four NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan, he also announced the creation of a Sandhurst-style military academy to train Afghan officers ahead of the pullout of Western combat forces by 2015.
"In terms of the political process and political reconciliation, firstly I would say to the Afghan people, we are with you, we want to help you," Cameron told a joint news conference with Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... in Kabul.
"To the Taliban my message is very clear. Stop bombing, stop killing, stop fighting, put down your weapons, join the political process and you can join the future of this country." Violence in Afghanistan has been at record highs, nearly 10 years after US-led troops invaded to bring down the Taliban regime for refusing to give up the late Osama bin Laden ... who is currently warming his feet by the fire with Hitler and Himmler... after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
"I have seen in it in my own country. In Northern Ireland, we had people trying to bomb and kill police and now they are taking part in politics themselves," said Cameron.
The Taliban have always refused to lay down arms until all foreign forces leave Afghanistan, but in recent weeks officials have said efforts are being made to establish contact between the Islamic exemplars, Kabul and the United States.
Cameron said a British-led military academy hoped to open its doors in 2013 and would train 1,350 Afghan officers a year, with around 120 British military trainers, attracting a funding pledge of $38 million from the United States.
"Today the president and I have been discussing our plan to build an Afghan Sandhurst to train the officers of the future that will form the backbone of the already successful Afghan army," said Cameron.
He also defended plans to increase British aid to Afghanistan, despite austere budget cuts at home, branding opponents "hard-hearted".
The Department for International Development said that British aid to Afghanistan this financial year was #102 million ($164 million) and would be #178 million ($287 million) next financial year.
Cameron declared progress in Afghanistan to be "on the right track" as he sought to regain momentum in a two-day trip overshadowed by the death of a British soldier who had earlier gone missing from his Helmand base.
"This is a great example of a country that if we walk away from, and if we ignore, if we forget about, the problems will come visited back on our doorstep," Cameron said.
He said "some progress" in Helmand province where the bulk of British troops are based, would allow for a "modest" drawdown to be announced for next year.
The British soldier's mysterious death in Helmand province, for which the Taliban grabbed credit, overshadowed Cameron's earlier announcement that security had improved enough for Britannia to withdraw some troops soon.
Cameron said he would make an announcement in parliament on Wednesday about the level of troop drawdowns next year, with weekend media reports saying he would order the withdrawal of 500-800 soldiers by the end of 2012.
Britannia has a total force of 9,500 in Afghanistan -- the second largest contingent of foreign troops in the country after the United States.
Cameron arrived in Helmand on Monday on a previously unannounced visit but decided to abandon a planned trip to the lovely provincial capital Lashkar Gah, one of a handful of towns earmarked for an early handover to Afghan forces.
In recent days a row between Afghanistan and Pakistain over claims of cross-border attacks by both sides has heightened tensions between the neighbours, threatening to disrupt any negotiated peace.
Cameron struck a diplomatic note over the issue and said Britannia backed an improvement in Afghanistan-Pakistain relations.
"Now is the time for Pakistain and Afghanistan to sit and meet and talk on how we are to ensure what we need to do," he told news hounds.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/06/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Clueless, utterly clueless. I am stunned that anyone with his access could conceive, let alone openly discuss the concept of shared outcomes. The madrassas of Chaman and Quetta, Pakistan and their ISI advisors must surely be in ecstatic celebration.
[Tolo News] Some Afghan politicians on their Tuesday session called on President Karzai to step down amid growing tensions between executive, judiciary and legislative branches of the government.
Parliamentarians claimed that President Karzai is sick and has lost the capability to govern the nation.
Some politicians warned that if President Karzai refuses to step down, they will implement the article 69 of the constitution.
The article 69 of the Afghan constitution says president accused of crimes against humanity and national treason could be held responsible by one third of the members of the House of Representative that will follow his resignation in a grand council, Loya Jirga.
Government taking a silence stance against Pakistain missile attacks into Afghanistan and neglecting the demands of parliamentarians have left the House of Representatives infuriated.
"The country is in a very sensitive situation. Lots of things will happen this year from security handover, Core Group summit to conclusion of US-Afghan strategic partnership agreement," Mohammad Shahir Rafiq, an Afghan MP, said. "President Karzai has fallen sick and fails to govern the nation. He should respect the Afghan nation and step down."
Another Afghan MP, Samiullah Samimi, said: "The time has come for the implementation of article 69 of the constitution. The President wants to drag the country to instability, not stability.
Tuesday session of politicians ended up with violence between two female politicians.
But President Karzai said new tensions between parliament and justice institutions are because democracy is young in the country.
"This is a normal process of democracy in Afghanistan and every nation that steps into a democratic system should go through some challenges to reach maturity," President Karzai said.
President Karzai has previously accused Pakistain of firing 470 missiles into Afghanistan which was later denied by officials in Islamabad.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/06/2011 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Tolo News] Pak Taliban Attacked on Afghan police check post in eastern Nuristan province on Tuesday killing one person, local officials said.
Asif Ali 
David Cameron
Some Afghan 
