AFPAK / Iraq Sweep
12December 2011
Afghanistan
1) Four militants were killed in an air raid operation in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province overnight, an official said on Monday. "Four armed militants were planting Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) on Sunday night along a road in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province, some 120 km east of capital Kabul, to target security forces in the area," district administration chief Mohammad Hassan told Xinhua.
2)A controversial scheme that pays and arms Afghans to defend their villages in areas with a strong insurgent presence is likely to be expanded and extended, a senior officer from the NATO-led coalition fighting in Afghanistan has said. Original plans called for up to 30,000 members, though only around 10,000 are in place at the moment. "Our focus is remains building the agreed upon (quota) of 30,000 ALP," a spokesman for the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command - Afghanistan said in a statement. Reuters
3)Tuesday's bombing of a Kabul shrine was part of a campaign to target Shia Muslims in Afghanistan, a man claiming to lead a new Afghan group says. The man, who gave his name as Ali Sher-e-Khuda, told the BBC his group was inspired by Pakistan's Sunni militant Lashkar-e-Jhangviorganisation. He said the group had not officially sanctioned the Kabul attack, but did not deny his men carried it out. BBC
4)Afghanistan's Interior Ministry says it's standing by President Hamid Karzai's decision to shut down private security companies early next year and transfer their responsibilities to a government-run guard force. Ministry spokesman SediqSediqqi said Monday that all private companies will be disbanded on March 20, 2012. NYTimes
5) A statement which Afghan Islamic Press [AIP] received from the Interior Ministry on Monday, 12 December, said that ISAF and Afghan forces had killed 14 opponents and detained 11 others in Konar and Zabol provinces over the past 24 hours. The statement added that the security forces seized 12 different kinds of weapons, 12 mines, eight hand-grenades, 110 kg of explosives, four motorcycles and a quantity of war equipment. BBC Translations
Pakistan
1) Gunmen killed a truck driver and burnt seven tankers carrying oil for NATO troops in Afghanistan, the second such attack in Pakistan in less than a week, police said Monday. The convoy was attacked while returning to Karachi from the Afghan border, which Pakistan shut to Nato supplies on November 26 after Nato air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The gunmen attacked in the town of Dadar in Bolan district, about 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of Quetta, police said. The Tribune
2) Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday that the government would not hold talks with Taliban until they surrender. Talking to media outside the Parliament he said , “We will hold talks with Taliban if they surrender and accept the government’s writ.” The minister said that he has asked the Taliban to come down from the mountains and surrender their arms to the law enforcement agencies. To a question, he said, law and order has improved due to steps taken by the government adding that no untoward incident took place during the ‘Asura’. Dawn
3) Pakistan’s interior minister and prime minister have both denied the government is holding peace talks with its homegrown Taliban, according to media, saying it would do so only if the militants first disarmed and surrendered. The deputy commander of the Pakistan Taliban, who have been waging a four-year war against the government in Islamabad, said on Saturday that the two sides were holding talks, a move that could further fray the US-Pakistan relationship. But both Prime Minister YousufRazaGilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik denied the reports. Dawn
4) The ISAF Commander in Afghanistan John Allen said that we would not give any surety of not occurring incidents like Mohmand Agency during the war in Afghanistan. In an interview at Kabul, he said that a balance relation between NATO and Pakistan is needed. The News
5) According to BBC News, Prime Minister YousufRazaGilani has said, “Pakistan may continue blockage of NATO convoys into Afghanistan for several weeks.” Pakistan postponed the escorts in protest at air strikes which caused 24 dead of its troops at two checkpoints on the Afghan border last month. MrGilani refused to ban closing Pakistan’s airspace to the and that moreover, he also denied rumors about President Asif Ali Zardari had suffered a stroke and the army was trying to expel him. MrGilani pointed out that MrZardari was making a rapid improvement in hospital in Dubai. However, he would need two weeks’ rest to recover before returns home. AAJ
6) US Ambassador in Pakistan, Cameron Munter on Monday expressing sorrow on the 'terrible tragedy' of Mohmand agency attack by Nato forces, termed it an 'unintentional' act and a result of 'failure of mechanism'. Speaking in Geo News program 'Capital Talk', he said: "We feel as Pakistani people do on this terrible tragedy. It should not have happened." When asked to comment on possible closure of Pakistan airspace for US planes, Cameron Munter said 'let's not forget that Pakistan and US are on the same side' and that there should be more talk between the two allies rather than less. "Let's get beyond the anger." Geo
7) American flag was lowered at the Shamsi airbase on Sunday as the US military personnel had been asked to vacate the facility by December 11. Pakistan had asked the US to vacate the airbase in Balochistan following NATO fighter jets and helicopters attacks on two border posts on November 26, which killed 24 soldiers. Pakistani security forces entered the airfield Sunday morning and hoisted the national flag as the last transport US aircraft left with remaining personnel and equipment. Daily Times
8) Pakistan will shoot down any US drone that intrudes its airspace as per new directives, a senior Pakistani official said. According to the new Pakistani defence policy, “Any object entering into our airspace, including US drones, will be treated as hostile and be shot down,” a senior Pakistani military official told NBC News. The policy change comes just weeks after a deadly NATO attack on Pakistani military checkpoints killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, prompting Pakistani officials to order all US personnel out of a remote airfield in Pakistan. Daily Times
Iraq
1)Seven people have been seriously injured among them three security officers in twin IED blasts in Baghdad on Monday, police said. “Four civilians were injured in an IED explosion in al-Ghazaliyah neighborhood, north of Baghdad, on Monday,” a police source told AKnews. The bomb was placed on a roadside in the area. When police rushed to the scene of the attack a second IED went off leaving three of the policemen seriously wounded. AKNews
2 ) Iraq has signed another contract with the French energy company Alstom. This time, Alstom is supposed to build a 728 MW power plant in Mansourieh for $539 million USD (643.4 billion IQD). This year, Alstom signed several contracts about power plants -- the last one last month -- as well as about a high-speed railway between Basra and Baghdad in June. AKNews
3)Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama Al Nujaifi considered, on Monday, that keeping 15 thousand employees at the US embassy in Iraq after US troops’ withdrawal is illogical. This issue requires answers from Iraqi government, Nujaifi revealed indicating that the parliament will host Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki to discuss Security Forces’ readiness at his return from Washington. Alsumaria
4) NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Dec. 12 announced that a mission to train Iraqi security forces will end at the turn of the year. "The North Atlantic Council has decided to undertake the permanent withdrawal of the NATO Training Mission-Iraq personnel from Iraq by 31 December 2011," Rasmussen said in a statement. DefenseNews
5) Iraq's eastern province of Diyala on Monday officially demanded to become a semi-autonomous region within the Iraqi state, following the footsteps of Salahudin, the first province that declared such a status. A statement from Diyala's provincial council said the decision was made with the support of a majority of its 28 members, after 18 out of 23 present at Monday's session voted in favor of the semi-autonomous status. Xinhua
6)The Iraqi Defense Ministry assured on Monday that the withdrawal of U.S. troops is taking place as planned. Currently only 6,000 soldiers are left in Iraq and will withdraw before the end of the month, the Ministry said. "The next base that will be handed over to us is Diwaniya Base," Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari said. AKNews
7) In the ongoing debate whether or not Iraq is able to protect its airspace after the withdrawal of U.S. forces, government adviser Hamid Abdul Hussein announced that Iraq began the construction of two radars to protect the Iraqi border. The construction will allegedly be finished by April 2012. After that, the government hopes that Iraqi military can monitor and protect 60 percent of Iraqi airspace. "We don't need protection from the U.S. or neighboring Gulf states for the Iraqi airspace because we are developing our defense system," Hussein said.AKNews
Full Articles
Afghanistan
1)4 militants killed in eastern Afghanistan
JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Four militants were killed in an air raid operation in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province overnight, an official said on Monday. "Four armed militants were planting Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) on Sunday night along a road in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province, some 120 km east of capital Kabul, to target security forces in the area," district administration chief Mohammad Hassan told Xinhua.
He said based on intelligence reports, security forces carried out a precision air strike that left all militants dead on the spot.
Taliban insurgents have not made any comment yet.
The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since the militant group announced it would launch a rebel offensive starting from May 1 against Afghan and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan.
In the second phase of security transition process begun earlier this month, Afghan forces will take over security responsibility of provincial capital Jalalabad city and three other districts from NATO-led coalition forces in near future.
The process of taking over security duties from the over 130, 000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) begun in July this year would be completed by the end of 2014.
2)NATO-backed Afghan militia scheme seen expanded
(Reuters) - A controversial scheme that pays and arms Afghans to defend their villages in areas with a strong insurgent presence is likely to be expanded and extended, a senior officer from the NATO-led coalition fighting in Afghanistan has said.
The Afghan Local Police were a flagship project of General David Petraeus, who stepped down as commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan earlier this year, but have been criticised by human rights groups.
Petraeus described them as one of the most critical planks of a stepped-up push for security. They aim to use modest salaries and foreign mentors to build or formalise local protection networks in areas with little army or police presence.
Original plans called for up to 30,000 members, though only around 10,000 are in place at the moment.
The scheme, launched in 2010, was originally expected to last no more than five years, after which units would be demobilised or absorbed into the regular police.
But commanders from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force consider them a key part of their success in loosening the Taliban's grip on areas like the southern Arghandab valley, once an insurgent stronghold.
And the coalition is now seriously considering making the groups a more lasting part of Afghanistan's security landscape.
"The scheme is likely to be expanded and extended," said a senior officer from the coalition. "It's under discussion but in some areas it is a really critical part of security."
Another NATO official, who also declined to be identified, confirmed that the coalition was discussing an expansion.
A spokesman declined to comment on whether the programme might be expanded, saying the decision lay with the Afghan government. ISAF was currently working to fill the agreed government quota, he added.
"Our focus is remains building the agreed upon (quota) of 30,000 ALP," a spokesman for the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command - Afghanistan said in a statement.
"Whether or not these dates or numbers change in the future is a decision ultimately made by President Karzai and the Ministry of the Interior."
The groups were formed in response to Afghanistan's downward security spiral, aiming to capitalise on a basic instinct to protect local communities -- much like Iraq's Awakening Council that helped turn the tide of the Iraq war.
This has worked in some areas, with locals citing improvements in security. But in others, criminals and insurgents are joining the ALP or government-backed militias, securing access to funds and guns, advocacy group Human Rights Watch said in a report earlier this year.
A lack of training, vetting, oversight and accountability means armed groups are adding another worry to the lives of ordinary Afghans already struggling with a war that this year has claimed a record number of civilian lives, the group warned.
Murder, torture, illegal taxes, theft and the gang rape of a teenage boy were among the abuses documented in the 102-page report, "Just Don't Call It a Militia".
It detailed the gang rape of a 13-year-old boy in northeastern Baghlan province by four ALP members, who abducted him in the street and took him to the home of a sub commander. No one has been arrested.
In another incident, the ALP were accused of beating teenage boys and hammering nails into the feet of one.
And in southern Uruzgan province, elders who refused to provide men for an ALP unit were detained and there have been reports of forcible collection of informal taxes.
3)New Afghan group claims shrine attack part of campaign
Tuesday's bombing of a Kabul shrine was part of a campaign to target Shia Muslims in Afghanistan, a man claiming to lead a new Afghan group says.
The man, who gave his name as Ali Sher-e-Khuda, told the BBC his group was inspired by Pakistan's Sunni militant Lashkar-e-Jhangviorganisation.
He said the group had not officially sanctioned the Kabul attack, but did not deny his men carried it out.
It has raised fears of a wave of new sectarian violence in Afghanistan.
Afghan officials say the attack was the work of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, but they have cast doubt there is a new Afghan group active in the country with formal links to it.
The killing of at least 71 Shia worshippers earlier this week was the first significant sectarian attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban.
Despite suffering years of violence, the country has not seen the attacks between Sunni and Shia Muslims that have been common in Pakistan and Iraq.
Ali Sher-e-Khuda spoke to the BBC's ShoaibHasan at a secret location in the Pakistani border province of Balochistan.
He said his group - which he called Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Afghanistan - is relatively new and operated on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghan border.
He said the organisation was made up of Afghans who are targeting Afghanistan's Shia minority.
"I was born in Nimroz and am of Afghan Pashtun origin," he said.
"[I] set up the organisation with other like-minded young men from Afghanistan. Most of them hail from the provinces around Bamiyan - especially Wardak and Ghazni provinces," he said.
MrSher-e-Khuda said Tuesday's bombing was about fighting discrimination by "Afghanistan's ruling Shia elite".
When challenged on the tactic of murdering dozens of innocent worshippers, the militant leader argued it was the only way to counter what he described as "criminal behaviour" by Shias - such as displaying Shia banners in Sunni areas.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and others believe the attack was mounted by one the established militant groups based inside Pakistan.
"Our information and sources show that the Kabul attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi," Afghan intelligence agency spokesman LutfullahMashal said.
Our correspondent says Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is one of Pakistan's deadliest militant groups. As well as being blamed for the killing of thousands of Shias, it has also been linked to a string of high-profile attacks, including the 2002 murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl.
MrMashal said that as far as the National Directorate of Security was concerned, there was no such group as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Afghanistan.
He said the claim was a tactic by Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to create sectarian tensions as the shrine attack had failed in its goal "to create a rift between Sunnis and Shias" in Afghanistan.
The US ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, said it was not clear who carried out the attack.