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.

Afghan night raid deal may be largely symbolic

According to the title of an article by Chris Carroll in Stars and Stripes it largely is. Of course the Pentagon will not issue an official statement to this effect!

The agreement will have the effect of easing relations between the Afghan government and the U.S. and NATO forces at a time when tensions were building over a number of issues. Certainly night raids was one of those issues

The new agreement gives the Afghan government and judiciary considerable say in their operation at least on paper. Karzai would even have veto power over them and an Afghan judge would need to provide a warrant.

As usual the devil is in the details. The agreement covers only "special operations". These are joint Afghan-U.S. operations approved by Afghan security and also judicial officials. This leaves room for other operations that are outside this definition.

A specialist at the Heritage Foundation noted:“It defines it fairly narrowly, and leaves open the possibility of a counter terrorism raid conducted by a CIA paramilitary group or other unit,” Defense Dept. officials refused to answer questions about unilateral raids!

Rick Nelson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said:“If there’s a threat to the homeland, the United States always reserves the ability to act unilaterally,” said Rick “Ozzie“The rhetoric may not line up with that, however, because we have the need for an agreement with the Afghan government beyond 2014."" Karzai long demanded that Afghans have control over the raids and this agreement seems to give them that.

One other note. Although warrants are needed for the raids. The warrants can be obtained after rather than before the raids if necessary. For more see the full article or another article here.

In 2011 there were about 2000 night raids. Expect the U.S to stay for years in Afghanistan after 2014 but with smaller numbers and extensive use of special forces and night raids along with Afghans.

Afghanistan: U.S. and Karzai government reach deal on night raids

A deal on night raids has been reached between the U.S. and Karzai government. This clears away an obstacle for a broader deal on the U.S. presence in Afghanistan after 2014. The U.S. will maintain a presence for years after the withdrawal of combat troops. No doubt special forces will stay and night raids will continue under the new rules. There was no word when the new agreement comes into effect. Afghanistan at present does not even have the legal framework for implementing the agreement so it cannot take effect right away.

The new rules would give Afghanistan veto power over the raids. While the raids are praised as a key tactic by NATO commanders locals and the Afghan government have objected to them. The deal was signed by Defense Minister General Wardak and U.S. Marine General John Allen the top NATO commander. Allen said:"Today we are one step closer to the establishment of the U.S.-Afghan strategic partnership. Most importantly, today we are one step closer to our shared goal and vision of a secure and sovereign Afghanistan," Translated this means they are closer to an agreement for NATO to remain in Afghanistan for another decade or so after 2014.

Under the agreement, Afghan authorities will have control over prisoners taken in night raids and decide whether to allow U.S. interrogators access to detainees. An Afghan judge would give a warrant approving the raid. At present the Afghans have no set up to do this. This makes one wonder if the new rules are actually for after 2014! There is no date of the changes mentioned or even a time line. NATO commanders are reported to be worried that the curbs will hurt the effectiveness of their operations.

A new elite Afghan special operations commando group will lead raids. Probably the group is modeled on U.S. special forces and were no doubt trained by NATO. Defense Minister Wardak said:"From now on all night raids will be conducted by the Afghan national army, police and intelligence in close coordination with Afghan judicial bodies," Presumably he means when the deal comes into force. The deal may simply deflect some of the criticism of the raids from NATO and the U.S. to the Karzai government. Those attacked object to the invasion of their homes in the middle of the night and the collateral damage caused not just that Americans are involved. For some time now many of the raids are joint operations. For more see this article.

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.

Afghanistan: Karzai wants night raids and house searches to stop

 After a report looking into civilian casualties caused by NATO air strikes and night raids Karzai has again asked for both to stop. He has been complaining about these raids and demanding they cease for ages now but without significant results. After all, Afghanistan is occupied and not a sovereign country.
    However, Karzai does have some leverage. He has said he will not sign an agreement allowing NATO forces to stay in Afghanistan after 2014 unless the raids stop. In 2014 troops are supposed to turn over security to Afghans but now it seems that NATO troops may stay for up to a decade later. No one asks the Afghans or Americans if this is what they want. This is all to be negotiated between NATO officials and their rather testy puppet Karzai.
     NATO has insisted that the raids will continue but that they will involve Afghan forces more. Most of these raids are by special forces usually U.S. special forces. NATO insists that there are few casualties and that usually there is not even a shot fired. However, the report of the Karzai government cited numerous examples of civilian casualties including the pregnant wife of a local anti-drugs chief. Even when no shots are fired locals are not happy about home invasions in the middle of the night!
    Of course the vast majority of civilian deaths are the result of insurgent activity. However, Karzai has little control over those killings. It seems he has little control over those caused by the forces that are supposed to be providing security for Afghans either. For more see this article.