Three US contractors killed in Afghan insider attack

Kabul - An Afghan air force official said that three American contractors were killed in an apparent attack by an insider in the Afghan capital Kabul. The international force in Afghanistan confirmed the shooting that took place on Thursday morning.

The anonymous Afghan air force official said: "It is unclear yet why he shot these advisers and no one else was there to tell us the reason. An investigation has been opened." The attack victims were employed to help train Afghan air force personnel under a contract with the US Defense Department. The Afghan portion of operation Enduring Freedom ended at the end of 2014 and also the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). However, under a Status of Forces agreement signed last September by President Ghani along with a Bilateral Security Agreement with the US approximately 12,000 NATO troops will remain in Afghanistan, with about10,600 being Americans.

The new operation is called Resolute Support. While the main mission will be to train and support Afghan troops and security force there will also be a counter-insurgency operation as set out in the Bilateral Security Agreement: The Parties acknowledge that U.S. military operations to defeat al Qaida and its affiliates may be appropriate in the common fight against terrorism. Some reports such as here and here do not mention the fact that there will still be combat missions as part of the Global War on Terror or Overseas Contingency Operations as the new politically correct naming protocol would have it. There will also be numerous private contractors at work in Afghanistan as well.

 A Wikipedia article lists deaths of private contractors by the year and incidents in Afghanistan up to December 2014. There are 218 foreign private contractor deaths listed. 49 of those were private military contractors. The largest number, 65, were Americans, with the next largest being 19 from Nepal. There were 16 from the UK and even 13 Canadians and the same number from the Philippines. These are only a small number of the total which is estimated at 1481 as of December 31, 2013. The Taliban have launched a number of violent attacks of late even though the winter usually sees a definite decline in fighting. On Thursday an attack on a funeral in Laghman province killed 16 including four police and twelve civilians. On Wednesday another eleven policemen were killed and others wounded in an attack on a checkpoint in Ghazni province.

Bomb kills two US soldiers in Afghanistan

Kabul - According to Interior Ministry spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi the vehicle being driven by the two soldiers was hit by the bomb. The international military coalition (ISAF) provided less detail saying only that two of its members had been killed.

Seddiqi said: "It was a magnetic bomb. It was either attached to the vehicle belonging to the foreigners or it was planted and detonated remotely." Another source said at least three civilians had also been killed in the attack Fox News reported a spate of attacks in which at least 19 Afghans were killed along with the two American soldiers. The Washington Post says that the attack that killed the two Americans was on an ISAF convoy north of Kabul, near the Bagram military base. Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahi claimed that they were responsible for the attack.

 Another attack on Saturday morning killed 12 Afghan civilians while they were clearing mines in Helmand province, according to Omar Zwak, a spokesperson for the provincial governor. The Taliban said they were responsible for that attack but claim that the targets were not civilians but were actually soldiers. Three militants were killed as well and four arrested according to authorities. The attack was near the former UK base Camp Bastion.

  Another attack Saturday morning by unknown gunmen killed Atiquallah Raufi, head of the Afghan Supreme Court secretariat, according to a spokesperson for the Kabul chief of police. In the afternoon a suicide bomber in Kabul targeted an army bus killing six members of the army and wounding 18 other people. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack as well.

 At the end of this year the US combat role in Afghanistan is set to end and most troops withdrawn. However, nearly 11,000 troops are to remain to train, advise, and assist in Afghan missions. They will also have a limited combat role in counter terrorist missions. In 2016 the number of US forces is scheduled to drop to 5,500. However, there is a partnership agreement that lasts until at least 2024 in which the US makes pledges to support Afghanistan in a number of ways. Recently Afghanistan and the US also signed a bilateral security agreement that former president Karzai refused to sign.

New Zealand withdraws troops early from Afghanistan

New Zealand troops were set to withdraw from Afghanistan by September 2014 but now the plan is to withdraw many of their troops by April of 2013. Five New Zealand troops were killed in August this year.

New Zealand Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman announced that the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team(PRT) will return from Afghanistan by the end of April in 203. There will be what the government calls a "sensible, orderly, and professional" early withdrawal. New Zealand has already been involved in the Afghan mission for ten years. Coleman said

:"Our success is reflected in Bamiyan's position as a leader in the transition process."

Bamiyan is the province in which the New Zealand contingent is stationed.

The government has been under pressure to withdraw troops earlier than September of 2014 after five New Zealanders were killed recently. Coleman however attributed the shortening of the period as due to the rebuilding of the Bamlyan airport which will make it impossible for New Zealand to land Hercules aircraft there. Coleman promised that New Zealand would continue to support Afghanistan.

Future support may include a few Defence Force trainers who will work at the Afghanistan National Army Officer Training Academy. The prime minister of New Zealand John Key had been signalling an earlier withdrawal for some time. Key also said that officials of ISAF(International Security Assistance Force) had also encouraged the move.

Not all the reconstruction teams will be withdrawn just 11 of the 26 original teams would return by the end of 2013. Key said:

"ISAF's view has been it's not sensible for everyone to go through the keyhole at one time."

Key claimed that the New Zealand groups had helped children go to school, improved hospital services and supported the economy of Bamiyan province. The opposition Labour Party leader David Shearer applauded the early withdrawal saying:

"Our soldiers have achieved remarkable results during the nine years that we have been on the ground in Afghanistan...Staying there any longer would not have made a significant difference to all we have achieved. There is a time to leave and this is it."

The Green Party spokesperson for defence Kennedy Graham said the troops should be withdrawn immediately:

"New Zealand has made a significant commitment to Afghanistan and the people of Bamiyan - however the PRT was never intended to be a combat unit..Sadly, the role of those serving in the provincial reconstruction team now appears to be focused more and more on patrolling a dangerous part of Bamiyan province, where our troops are being drawn into counter insurgency operations."

No doubt the withdrawal is a politically popular move.

Afghanistan air strikes kill more civilians

According to a breaking new report in Al Jazeera an attack overnight in Badghis provine killed 14 civilians according to area police. Speaking with Al Jazeera today officials said that six more civillians were wounded. No further details were released.

In eastern Afghanistan a bomb killed three NATO troops. This year so far 142 coalition troops have been killed. Another report from Xinhua through an Indian source claims that six civilians were killed when ISAF forces targeted a suspected Taliban hideout.

This attack was in the Sangin district of Helmand province.on Friday. Authorities released a statement saying:"Taliban militants opened fire on the checkpoints of Civil Order Police and ISAF on Friday and in retaliation the NATO-led ISAF aircrafts carried out air raids against the suspected hideout of the insurgents but unfortunately six innocent civilians were martyred," Those killed include three girls and two boys, as well as a woman all from the same family. The provincial governor was quick to condemn the attack. Karzai has constantly condemned night raids and air strikes but NATO takes little notice it would seem.

Afghanistan killings: What happened remains unclear and many questions remain

The details of this incident are quite unclear but most accounts say that there was one lone gunman who left a base near Kandahar in the early hours of Sunday morning. Some accounts say around 3 AM.

How is it that this soldier apparently a sergeant was allowed out of the base alone and armed at this time of night? None of the accounts of the event explain this at all. Surely security would be tight at this base.

Some accounts talk of his leaving his command post at this time. Was the command post inside the base or outside the base or what exactly was he supposed to be doing? Again some accounts say that an Afghan soldier noticed his leaving the post and notified superiors. They then had a head count and found indeed that a soldier was missing and sent out a patrol.

According to some accounts he surrendered to this patrol as he was coming back to the base. According to other accounts he gave himself up when he got back to the base.

Many of the villagers reported that there were helicopters hovering over the area. A member of parliament said:The residents of Panjwai district in the volatile Kandahar province said they showed no resistance during the mass murder - because they have become used to regular night raids by both foreign and Afghan forces."We have learned that our houses will be searched at night, and we just cooperate," . A resident said: "Americans are always threatening us with dogs and helicopters during night raids."

A number of residents of the villages attacked say they saw more than one soldier during the shooting. Many reports omit such reports or simply note them in passing. An exception is this Reuters report. Here is a sample quote:""Neighbors said they had awoken to crackling gunfire from American soldiers, who they described as laughing and drunk."They were all drunk and shooting all over the place," said neighbor Agha Lala, who visited one of the homes where killings took place. ""

Other witnesses report only one the one soldier. Some have claimed that the two villages attacked were several kilometers apart. It is strange that after firing and killing in on village he was able to walk to another and start in again. Some have concluded that this shows there was more than one attacker.

Questions arise as to which observations are correct. The official line and mainstream headlines all spout the official correct version of one attacker.

An interesting sidelight is that the alleged attacker seems to be associated with the Green Berets or Navy Seals. These groups were on a village stabilization operation. These special operations troops pair with villagers and become in effect a sanctioned and armed neighborhood watch no doubt designed to intercept Taliban. I wonder if this had anything to do with the incident?

The whole affair is murky and no one seems to be clarifying anything but instead are propagating an official line that conflicts with a considerable amount of eyewitness testimony. Since the incident a NATO airstrike has killed three more civilians. See this article.

A member of the Kandahar provincial council says that at least seventeen civilians were killed as a result of the shooting spree. However the governor's puts the number killed at 15. Haji Samad an elder from the area said:"Eleven members of my family are dead. They are all dead," Haji Samad, an elder from Panjwai district.

A spokesperson for the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) Captain Brockhoff could not confirm that anyone was killed. This cautiousness about such issues often makes authorities seem foolish or completely out of touch with reality. He did say however:"This is a horrific incident, and our thoughts are with the families of the affected. Our initial reports indicate multiple civilians - between four and six- are wounded. Those civilians are receiving care at coalition medical facilities,"

Bernard Smith an Al Jazeera reporter said: "We are now being told by the police sources that the US soldier left his base at three o clock this morning. It would have been pitch-black wherever he walked," "The soldier went through three separate houses, shooting at people as they slept in their beds.""The soldier then returned to his base and turned himself in. One wonders why a soldier would be allowed out of the base at 3 AM to wander off by himself and obviously armed as well.

Some reports say that the soldier suffered a nervous breakdown before the incident. So a person suffering a nervous breakdown is allowed out of the base at 3 AM and armed into the bargain.The soldier will be held in U.S. custody. The Afghan authorities will probably have nothing to do with any trial or punishment since U.S. troops are not subject to Afghan law.

There is already a huge surge in opposition to NATO forces after the recent burning of copies of the Koran. There has been strong opposition as well to night raids that often kill civilians. This latest incident will make things worse.

Forty one people have already been killed since the Koran burning. I imagine similar violent protests will follow this event.

Najeeb Azizi an analyst in Kabul said::"It is a very tragic incident in particular because the Afghan and US governments are trying to sign a strategic agreement for a long term," Everyone seems to have forgotten that the U.S. far from getting out entirely from Afghanistan in 2014 is trying to negotiate a long term stay in the country. For more see this Al Jazeera article. The event is also covered here by Reuters. in the BBC.

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Afghanistan: Two U.S. military officers killed at Interior Ministry

Details about the event are still forthcoming and unclear at present. The two killed were said to be a major and a colonel in the U.S. military.

 The two were killed by gunshot wounds to the head in a room reserved for ISAF advisers. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the incident and also said that the perpetrator and an accomplice were still on the loose and resisting. However neither NATO nor Afghan officials confirmed the Taliban account.

The Taliban also said that the killing was in response to burning of  copies of the Koran at Bagram Air Force. There have been demonstrations against the burning for days. A number of Afghans have been killed. Four were killed recently when they tried to storm a U.S. compound in the north.

   The center where the killings took place has been closed by ISAF. According to an Al Jazeera reporter Afghan have no part in investigating the deaths. A U.S. Dept. of Defense spokesperson said that they did not know who killed the two ISAF members or why. No doubt the truth or parts of it will come out in time. For more see this article.


UPDATE: ISAF is withdrawing hundreds of advisers from the Kabul area. For more see this article.

NATO helicopter attacks kills up to 28 Pakistani troops at check point

A NATO air attack on a Pakistani check point at the Afghan border killed up to 28 Pakistani troops. In retaliation Pakistan has shut down the transport of some supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan. The exact number killed is still not confirmed. A number of troops were wounded as well.

Pakistani officials told reporters that NATO helicopters "carried out unprovoked and indiscriminate firing." The Pakistani Prime Minister Raza Gilani condemned the attack. He said that the matter was being taken up with NATO and the U.S.

General John Allen the leader of NATO forces in Afghanistan expressed condolences to the families of any troops who may have been killed or injured. However, another spokesperson said that there was an ongoing investigation of the incident and it was not clear yet that there had been any deaths or injuries. Statements such as that are probably counter productive. They suggest that Pakistani on the scene reports cannot be trusted. While the exact number of those killed may be in doubt, surely there is little doubt there were deaths. If there were no deaths or injuries why would John Allen express his condolences?

Colonel Gary Kolb another NATO spokesperson said that the helicopters were responding to small arms fire. However the attack took place over a mile and a half into Pakistan at a clearly marked checkpoint. Relations between the U.S. and Pakistan are already strained after the U.S. carried out an attack that killed Bin Laden without notifying Pakistan beforehand. The Pakistani government also passed a resolution demanding that drone attacks stop but the U.S. simply paid no attention. For more seethis article.

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New ISAF commander in Afghanistan links development to security

This is from xinhuanet.
So bomber McNeil is leaving at last. I wonder if the new commander will also pursue a policy of air strikes that has alienated many Afghans. The emphasis upon security first and then development may lead to little or no development in those areas where the security is threatened by the Taliban. This may be deliberate as a means of showing that only co-operation with the occupiers will bring aid or development. The Taliban counter tactic will be to disrupt security in areas where there is development.The article does not mention where McKiernan is from but he is an American as was McNeil. This is an American mission of the type in which the UN is used as legitimising cover and NATO to provide aid and cannon fodder to take some of the burden off the U.S. McKiernan led the ground troops in the invasion of Iraq.


New ISAF commander in Afghanistan links development to security
http://www.chinaview.cn/index.htm 2008-06-04 20:48:09

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KABUL, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The newly appointed commander of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) military in Afghanistan General David McKiernan on Wednesday linked the development with security in the post-Taliban nation.
"First and foremost there can be no development in Afghanistan without security, but long-term security cannot exist without development and good governance," the commander told newsmen at his first press conference in ISAF's headquarters here.
McKiernan who took over the command of more than 52,000-strong NATO-led ISAF on Tuesday also called on the alliance's member states to be committed towards Afghanistan.
"I want to know that our partners here in ISAF are committed to this mission," he stressed.
Moreover, McKiernan noted that the future must be the credibility of the Afghan government to include security with its people.
However, the general did not speak about his military strategy towards Taliban-related militants but added that the NATO-led ISAFtroops would continue to support the Afghan government, its security forces and reconstruction process of Afghanistan.
"I am committed personally to help the Afghan government and Afghan people down the road to a secure and prosperous Afghanistan," he said, adding "Afghan people can rely on my personal resolve and on the resolve of ISAF."
Insurgency-related violence is on the rise in Afghanistan which claimed around 80,000 lives mostly of militants last year, a bloodiest one since the Taliban regime collapse in 2001.