|
|
|
CIAO DATE: 7/5/2006
Afghan Update: March 3 - March 31, 2006
Francis Rheinheimer
April 2006
Coalition forces
Three Afghan guards and a French Special Forces officer were killed when insurgents attacked a post in Kandahar on March 4. The same day, a roadside bomb exploded when a government vehicle drove by, killing a local intelligence chief and three of his bodyguards. The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks.
Two Canadian soldiers died on March 5, one in an automobile accident and the other from a savage axe attack at a meeting of village elders. The assailant was killed immediately after the attack.
Four U.S. soldiers were killed on March 12 when a bomb destroyed their armored vehicle. The soldiers were on patrol in the eastern region of Kunar.
A suicide bomber attempted to destroy a French military convoy on March 19 in the town of Spin Boldak. Only the attacker was killed.
On March 29, two coalition troops and at least 32 rebels were killed after militants attacked a military base of coalition forces in Helmand province. Pentagon officials confirmed one of the deceased was an American; the other was Canadian. At least 12 rebels were killed in the initial effort to beat back the “significant enemy element.” Later, attack aircraft dropped three 500-ton and two 1,000-ton bombs on Taliban buildings.
General Afghan Security
Taliban guerillas beheaded two former government officials on March 11 and dumped their bodies on the side of a road in Lashkargah, the provincial capital of Helmand. British troops are beginning to deploy in the city as part of ISAF’s expansion in the south.
At least four people, including two attackers, were killed on March 12 in Kabul in a suicide car bombing targeting the head of the country's senate, who escaped unharmed. The two killed were a young girl and an elderly man. The senator, Sibghatullah Mojadidi, blamed Pakistan’s intelligence service for the attack. Pakistan rejected the accusation.
The Taliban announced on March 13 that it had executed four foreign workers on the orders of leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. A company in Kabul confirmed four of its workers had gone missing.
Afghan troops killed 16 suspected Taliban insurgents attempting to cross the mountainous border from Pakistan on March 22. No troops were hurt. Officials launched an investigation into the action amid Pakistani claims that the dead were tribesman on their way to attend a religious festival. Pakistan recalled its ambassador the next day and demanded an apology and punishment for those responsible.
The chief of police in Kandahar was shot dead by his own bodyguard on March 23. Security forces killed the guard shortly after.
A roadside bomb killed three villagers in the province of Helmand when it exploded underneath their car on March 27.
Afghan forces killed six Taliban fighters on March 31 in an intense gun battle in southern Afghanistan. No troops were injured.
Pakistan
The UN World Food Program announced on March 3 that it was cutting back on aid to Afghanistan and areas of Pakistan damaged by last October’s earthquake. The agency said a falloff in contributions made it impossible to continue running helicopter missions to refugee camps in remote regions – those most in need of aid because of the harsh winter weather. The earthquake killed 73,000 people and left over 3 million homeless.
Pakistani troops killed at least 50 pro-Taliban militants in the northern region bordering Afghanistan on March 5. The violence erupted amid Afghan claims that Pakistan was not doing enough to control its border with Afghanistan, which remains largely unguarded.
Military and security officials said on March 17 that Pakistani Taliban control the northern parts of the country in a reign of terror in the name of Islam. They have established a “rigid social order based on a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.” A Peshawar security chief said some 120 pro-government tribal chiefs have been assassinated by violent extremists in recent months.
Pakistani forces using helicopter gunships attacked and killed 20 pro-Taliban militants near the Afghan border on March 24. The violence came a day after President Pervez Musharraf told militants hiding out near the border to Afghanistan to leave or face elimination. Afghan officials have accused Pakistan of failing to actively pursue Taliban rebels.
Street battles that erupted in Pakistan’s tribal belt on March 28 left at least 25 people dead. The violence occurred after supporters of a Pakistani preacher attempted to demolish the home of an Afghan Islamic leader.
International Security Assistance Force
An Afghan suicide bomber drove a car laden with explosives into a Canadian military convoy in southern Afghanistan on March 3, touching off a blast that wounded five soldiers. The attack on the outskirts of Kandahar came days after Canada formally took over command of the main foreign military base in the city from U.S. troops.
The Canadian deployment of 2,200 soldiers is part of an expansion of ISAF’s mission into southern Afghanistan, which will pave the way for the United States to draw down some troops in a separate foreign military force it leads.
Canada’s new prime minister, Stephen Harper, made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on March 14 and announced that the presence of Canadian troops would bolster security in the country’s troubled southern regions. In a meeting with troops, he said that Canada would not “cut and run” from Afghanistan and the struggle against terrorism.
NATO peacekeepers in Afghanistan found the biggest weapons cache in recent years on March 14, including 80 tons of TNT and 25,000 landmines. The weapons were stored in old Soviet bunkers.
Canadian troops killed a man driving a car in Kabul on March 14 on the belief that he was a suicide bomber. An investigation has been launched into the action.
NATO’s chief operational commander said on March 31 that he hopes the alliance will be able to expand throughout the country by the end of August, several months earlier than previously expected. U.S. Gen. James L. Jones said the ISAF could total as many as 25,000 troops, up from the current 8,400. NATO's mission has been limited to the capital, Kabul, and the relatively peaceful northern and western regions.
Other News in Brief
On March 8, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told the Security Council that Afghanistan’s struggle to become a viable democratic state is undermined by the deteriorating security situation. He said suicide bombings were up from five in 2002-2004 to 17 in 2005 and 11 in the first two months in 2006. Militants have targeted the fledgling security forces as well as soft targets like schools because engaging the better-trained and equipped foreign soldiers usually ends in defeat. Annan blamed the violence on weak state institutions, a thriving opium industry and factional differences.
On March 16, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar promised “unimaginable” violence for Afghanistan. He said that as the temperature warms and melts the snow in the mountains, Taliban rebels would step up their campaign against the 26-nation security force. U.S. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, the ground commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, said the army is watching for signs of rebel movement. Another U.S. commander said he expects a “fairly violent” spring and summer.
Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said on March 21 that he saw no threat from Iran, denying Washington’s claims that Iran poses a threat to regional security. He said aid from Iran was helping the reconstruction process, and that there was no evidence of covert efforts against Afghanistan by Iran.
On March 23, U.S. President George W. Bush expressed concern that an Afghan man could be executed for converting to Christianity 16 years ago. He said he found the arrest of Abdur Rahman, who recently returned from Germany, to be “deeply troubling.” According to strict Sharia law, apostasy is punishable by death.
On March 31, an Afghan police chief was detained as part of the investigation into the killing of 16 Pakistani who were attempting to cross into Afghanistan. Saqib Aziz, a Pakistani government official, alleged the victims were killed because of a feud between their tribe and the police chief’s tribe.
Ousted Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said on March 24 that he had been offered another Cabinet position but had declined. Abdullah lost his post after he and President Harmad Karzai had a falling out over the way the foreign ministry was being run.
Abdur Rahman, the Afghan man facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity, was released on March 28 for lack of evidence. He was granted asylum in Italy the next day.
