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CIAO DATE: 7/5/2006
Afghan Update: Nov. 28 - Dec. 31, 2005
Joseph Button
January 2006
Coalition Forces
On Nov. 30, suspected Taliban militants ambushed a U.S.-led convoy in Helmand province. U.S. warplanes and troops responding to the attack killed two militants.
On Dec. 4, two U.S. Chinook helicopters facing enemy fire made emergency landings. The first landed harshly north of Kandahar, injuring five U.S. soldiers. The second aircraft made a came down at a forward base in Uruzgan province, injuring an Afghan soldier.
Three U.S. soldiers remained in stable condition after their convoy drove over a road side bomb on Dec. 4 near the Deh Chopan district of Zabul province.
U.S., Afghan and ISAF troops engaged the Taliban on Dec 4 in a small village north of Kandahar city. Coalition forces killed 13 rebels who were responsible for a series of recent roadside bomb attacks. Eight coalition troops were injured in the offensive operation.
Coalition forces commander Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry announced on Dec. 8 that there is no substantive evidence to believe that Osama bin Laden died in the Pakistan earthquake. Eikenberry stated that there is also no evidence of al-Qaida fighters moving from Iraq into Afghanistan to train terrorists, but he did concede that there has been an increase in suicide bombings and improvised explosive device attacks in the latter country.
Provincial police official Yar Mohammad said that an air attack by U.S. forces on Dec. 10 resulted in the death of five Taliban in Uruzgan province.
On Dec. 11, a suicide bomber set off explosives near a U.S. military convoy in Kandahar city. The blast killed the bomber and injured three civilians, but did not injure any coalition soldiers.
Taliban guerrillas shot dead an American soldier on Dec. 15 as U.S. and Afghan forces conducted a joint patrol in Kandahar province. An American and an Afghan soldier were also injured. Coalition forces killed one Taliban soldier before heavy air strikes bombarded the area.
In accordance with the Afghan peace and reconciliation plan, the United States released 47 suspected Taliban prisoners on Dec. 15. More than 300 prisoners have been released this year.
On Dec. 20, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered a cut in the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to about 16,000 from the current 19,000. This change is scheduled to occur in the spring of 2006. The senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, recommended this change because Afghanistan’s own security forces are growing and NATO is set to expand its Afghan peacekeeping mission in early 2006.
Armed militants attacked a joint patrol of coalition forces and Afghan police on Dec. 22 in Ghazni province. Troops conducting a combat patrol came under fire from an estimated 15 militants on the roof of a mosque. The fighting resulted in the death of two militants and one Afghan policeman. Coalition forces detained three militants and wounded three others.
Coalition forces clashed with rebels on Dec. 22 in Paktika province, leaving one Afghan soldier wounded. A number of enemy causalities were reported after coalition air support bombarded the conflict area.
On Dec. 28, reported al-Qaida insurgents attacked a U.S. Special Forces camp -- Camp Tillman -- which lies along the Afghan-Pakistan border. No U.S. personnel died in the attack, but one source said that at least 12 insurgents died in a U.S. counter air-strike.
A roadside bomb explosion on Dec. 28 killed a U.S. and an Afghan soldier in Kunar province. The troops were riding in a military vehicle when the bomb exploded.
A Dec. 28 road accident involving U.S. forces killed one soldier and injured four others. The accident took place in Kandahar city.
On Dec. 29, two U.S. soldiers were injured when an improvised explosive device detonated under their vehicle on a Helmand province road.
General Afghan Security
On Dec. 2, a roadside bomb detonated under the vehicle of a district leader in Kandahar province. The Taliban blast killed the district leader, two security guards and injured three policemen.
Taliban rebels ambushed Helmand provincial police on Dec. 2, killing one policeman and wounding five others.
Newly elected parliament official, Esmatullah Muhabat, died on Dec. 3, after he received injuries fighting with a local Laghman province faction. Three of Muhabat’s men also died in the territorial clash between non-Taliban militant groups.
On Dec. 5, a group of Taliban driving in a car opened fire on a group of policemen who were discussing problems with local citizens in a village in Helmand province. The Taliban gunfire killed a policeman and two civilians and injured two other police.
Afghan National police and soldiers killed nine Taliban insurgents and arrested six others on a Dec. 6 offensive mission in Uruzgan province. Following an information lead from an arrested Taliban commander, troops and police surrounded a Taliban camp and ordered the insurgents to surrender. The Taliban refusal resulted in a three-hour fire fight. Enemy fire killed one Afghan policeman during the battle.
Mohammad Wali, the Helmand provincial spokesman, announced that Taliban insurgents had ambushed an Afghan police patrol, killing two officers and injuring two others on Dec. 8. The police wounded two of the attacking insurgents in the skirmish.
On Dec. 10, Taliban militants armed with machine guns and rockets led a highly coordinated attack on government offices in Helmand province. The surprise three hour attack left seven police officers dead and six others wounded. The government offices and four police vehicles also received damage. Afghan police killed six Taliban soldiers out of 90 soldiers that a Taliban spokesman said carried out the attack.
Insurgent rebels shot dead a pro-government religious leader on Dec. 13 in southern Kandahar province. The man was shot by gunmen riding a motor bike as he walked to a religious school. This is the ninth pro-government religious leader killed by militants in 2005.
A suspected suicide bomber died on Dec. 14 in the Balkh province city of Mazar-e-Sharif. Nobody else was hurt in the blast located near the Hazrat Ali shrine.
On Dec. 15 in Ghazni province, officials recovered the assassinated bodies of a local district education department head and a school staff member. The Taliban were blamed for the abduction and assassination.
Hundreds of townspeople from Logar province gathered on Dec. 16 to protest the detainment of six mullahs arrested for being suspected Taliban fighters. The villagers clashed with local police and claim that police shot dead two of the villagers. Police claim that the arrested men were preparing to ambush a police convoy and believe their investigation will reveal the truth of their Taliban alliance.
Taliban guerillas ambushed a police patrol on Dec. 16 on a highway in Zabul province. The attack and subsequent gun fight left three policemen and one guerilla dead.
On Dec. 17, Taliban insurgents attacked a high school in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. The insurgents killed a school guard and a male teenage student and fired at teachers. The Taliban left orders to shut down the school or face further attacks. Hamid Karzai publicly condemned this latest Taliban attack on a school.
Taliban fighters attacked a Zabul highway police checkpoint on Dec. 17. The ensuing battle left four police, three Taliban and one Afghan interpreter dead.
Taliban militants attacked another police patrol on Dec. 17 in Deh Rawood district of Uruzgan province. The provincial governor announced that one policeman and two militants died during the clash.
On Dec. 18, suspected Taliban fired at a police patrol in Helmand province. An Afghan interpreter working with a private U.S. security firm was wounded, but the police did not suffer any casualties.
A Dec. 19 Taliban attack resulted in the death of three Afghan police and the capture of another. The militants set fire to the Kunar province police post before fleeing the location.
Two Taliban rebels set fire to a primary school on Dec. 22 in Kandahar province. The night-time blaze did not cause any injuries.
On Dec. 23, Taliban militants shot and wounded a police officer when they raided a government building in Paktia province.
A premature land mine explosion on Dec. 24 killed six Taliban insurgents placing the bomb near a road in Kandahar province.
On Dec. 24, Afghan police arrested three Taliban militants and charged them with planning suicide attacks. The Kandahar police found a large amount of explosive materials at the site of the arrest.
Taliban insurgents ambushed a police convoy on Dec. 24 in Farah province and then kidnapped a police officer and two tribal chiefs after injuring one policeman.
Dozens of Taliban rebels stormed a government building on Dec. 24 in Khost province, injuring one policeman. A similar attack occurred at a near-by government building without injury a day earlier.
On Dec. 29, two suicide bombers accidentally detonated their devices while strapping bombs to their bodies near the border at Spin Boldak.
A Taliban explosive device killed four Afghan policemen and injured seven others on Dec. 29 in Helmand province.
Pakistan
Disgruntled Afghan and Pakistani border guards at the Spin Boldak-Chaman crossing engaged in a fist fight on Dec. 1 after an apparent trespassing violation by Pakistani guards. The crossing shut down later that day and locals indicate that more troops moved up to the frontier border. The Spin Boldak-Chaman crossing is one of the two main checkpoints between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Dawn Newspaper first announced on Dec. 3, that a top al-Qaida operative died in North Warizstan along with five other militants. Pakistani officials say that Abu Hamza Rabia is described as al-Qaida’s operational commander. Officials also said that the militants died after a self-made bomb exploded in their house, but tribal residents reported that an unmanned “air vehicle” launched a missile at the house.
ISAF
A convoy traveling through Kandahar city on Dec. 4 was the intended target of a suicide bomber who killed one civilian, wounded two others and injured a Canadian soldier.
NATO officials approved plans on Dec. 8 to send an additional 6,000 troops into southern Afghanistan beginning in May of 2006. This new set of troops will bring NATO’s peacekeeping force to 16,000. British and Canadian forces are already setting up command bases in the Southern provinces. This mandate will place more European and Canadian forces into more dangerous parts of Afghanistan and also allow the United States to focus mostly on the extremely hostile eastern Afghan provinces.
Canadian officials announced on Dec. 7 that three Canadian Special Forces troops were recently wounded during offensive missions. Canadian authorities would not comment on the mission for security reasons, but it is likely that they were injured while conducting offensive operations on Dec. 4 near Kandahar.
Swedish military officials announced on Dec. 9 that a second Swedish NATO peacekeeper died in hospital care weeks after an insurgent bomb ripped through his patrol car on Nov. 25. Sweden currently has 100 troops in Afghanistan, but its forces will soon be increased to near 400 personnel.
French ISAF soldiers discovered a large weapons cache 35 km north of Kabul on Dec 10. Among the weapons were demolition kits and over 40 rockets. ISAF forces will destroy the cache of weapons.
On Dec. 12, a road side bomb detonated close to a military vehicle, wounding three Canadian soldiers and one foreign journalist. The incident occurred in Kandahar province, 90 km to the west of Kandahar city.
Suspected militants attached a mine to the back of a donkey and exploded the ordinance near a German aid agency vehicle on Dec. 14 in Badakhshan province. The attack did not cause any human injuries.
On Dec. 16, a suicide bomber driving a car loaded with explosives detonated his car between two Norwegian ISAF vehicles. The Kabul city blast did not injure any of the ISAF troops, but did kill a near-by civilian and injured another.
A suicide car bomber injured six people on Dec. 20 in Herat city. The bomber targeted NATO vehicles in route to an airport. The blast slightly injured three Italian soldiers and three citizens.
On Dec. 22, that Dutch government announced that it would send up to 1,400 additional troops to Afghanistan. In 2006, the Dutch will join the United Kingdom and Canada as they set up bases and PRTs in the hostile southern region of Afghanistan. Despite opposition from the Dutch parliament, these troops are set to join the 600 troop contingent in June for a period of two years.
Taliban rebels claimed responsibility for a roadside bomb that injured two Dutch soldiers and two civilians in the Dec. 26 blast that occurred in the northern province Baghlan.
Other News in Brief
* On Dec. 1, the United States and Afghanistan signed a memorandum of understanding on future aid agreements. The agreements plan for the United States to support education, health care and economic and democratic development programs. These programs will be implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Afghan government. U.S. funding is expected to reach $5.5 billion over the next five years.
* A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck on Dec. 13 in a remote region in Badakhshan province. Citizens in Islamabad and Kabul both felt the tremor. Reports from the sparsely populated region indicate that there was little significant damage caused by the earthquake.
* On Dec. 19, Afghanistan opened its first session of parliament since 1973. During the session Hamid Karzai swore in the 351 new parliamentarians. This highly heralded event came with mix views as many critics point to the large presence of many current and former warlords in parliament. Recognizing this reality, Karzai urged members of the new parliament to put aside their differences for the interests of the country. The opening of parliament is the final step in the transition to democracy plan that was created soon after the Taliban overthrow.
* U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Afghanistan on Dec. 19 to witness the inauguration of Afghanistan’s new parliament. During his one day visit, Cheney held talks with Karzai and visit troops at the Bagram base.
* In a close vote on Dec. 21, Yunus Qanuni became the first elected president of the Wolsei Jirga, narrowly beating Abdul Rasoul Sayyaf, 122 votes to 117. Sibghatullah Mojaddi, a close ally of Karzai was picked to head the 102 seat upper house.
