Ministry of defense
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Media Analysis section
Media Analysis Executive Summary for
1 -july - 2015
Heavy Clashes Ongoing in Takhar: Officials
Tolo news
Heavy clashes are ongoing between Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents in northern Takhar province, local officials said on Tuesday.
Clashes were sparked in Khwaja Ghar district of the province after military forces launched a clearing operation in the area, district governor, Mohammad Omar Omar said.
"So far ten villages have been cleared of insurgents and the military forces are moving forward to Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province," he said.
The Taliban have control of three villages in the district but the military forces still continue to clear all villages, he added.
However, he said that there were no reports about Taliban casualties.
Insurgents attacked police posts in Khwaja Ghar about four days ago and clashed with security forces in which two policemen were killed.
The Taliban have not yet commented.
Breaking News: Explosion heard in Helmand’s capital Lashkargah
Khaama press
Breaking News: A heavy explosion heard in Lashkargah the provincial capital of Helmand province.
The explosion believed to be a car bomb reportedly took place near the provincial police headquarters around 09:15 this morning.
Helmand police confirm the explosion but provide no further details.
Medical staff at Helmand’s Emergency Hospital say they have received about 40 wounded from the explosion site and most of them are civilians, including women and children.
No group including Taliban has immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
More details soon…
Afghanistan: Generals Put Civilians at Risk
(New York) –
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani should denounce remarks by the chief of the army offering soldiers protection from punishment for war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. Ghani, who is commander-in-chief of the Afghan armed forces, should recommit the country’s security forces to respect the laws of war and put commanders on notice that suggesting otherwise will subject them to disciplinary measures.
The June 14 statement byAfghanistan’s army chief suggesting that the laws of armed conflict do not apply to government troops is just the latest in a series of such statements by senior Afghan military and civilian officials. Disavowing the laws of war encourages abuses by all parties to the conflict and places civilians at greater risk of harm.
“President Ghani should state clearly that abiding by the laws of war is a legal requirement, not a policy option,” saidPhelim Kine, deputy Asia director. “Commanders who reject the laws of war not only unnecessarily risk the lives of civilians and their own troops, but also make themselves subject to prosecution for war crimes.”
On June 14, 2015, Afghan National Army Chief Gen. Qadam Shah Shahimtold troopsduring a visit to the 209th Shaheen Corps in the northern province of Badakhshan that they “no longer have any restrictions to use artillery against the enemy.” He told them: “You have no restrictions on night raids against specific enemy targets. You will no longer be sent to prison for your sacrifices. You will not be interrogated.” Other senior officials have previously issued instructions not to take prisoners and to execute those in custody, acts that are war crimes.
Civilians have suffered high numbers of casualties during recent fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban insurgency. United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) statistics indicate that the use of mortars and shelling hasbecome the Afghan conflict’s leading causeof civilian deaths. During the first four months of 2015 alone, UNAMAdocumented266 civilian casualties – 62 deaths and 204 injured – from mortars and rockets, a 43 percent increase from the same period last year. UNAMAdataindicate that “anti-government elements” were responsible for 73 percent of all civilian casualties from January to April 2015.
Government mechanisms for bringing military personnel to justice for violations are inadequate. For instance, on December 31, 2014, arocket firedby an army unit in Sangin district of southern Helmand province fell on a wedding party, killing 27 civilians and injuring 70 others, including 24 children. Military investigators only questioned two soldiers about this incident and have not publicly released the investigation findings.
Senior Afghan officials besides Shahim have previously advocated potential war crimes. On August 7, 2014, Kandahar police chief Gen. Raziqannouncedthat his troops had orders not to take any Taliban prisoners. “It is my command to all soldiers not to let them live anymore, to eliminate them in any possible way,” he told reporters during a media briefing. On August 13, 2014, the Baghlan provincial police chief Gen. Aminullah Amarkhail announced a similarsummary executionpolicy, stating that: "We have told our soldiers, in order to prevent the release of Taliban from prisons and the judicial systems, that they should be killed and must be punished for what they have done.” That same month, Abdul Khaliq Maroof, governor of Hesarak district in southeastern Nangarhar province, was even moredirect: "I tell all commanders, no matter where they find the Taliban, they should not be brought in alive.” Take-no-prisoner orders by military officers raise the risk of killings of Afghan civilians in combat zones.
Concernsabout captured insurgents being released and returning to the battlefield date back to the administration of former President Hamid Karzai. Shahim’s comments coincide with both a serious intensification of the conflict as well as reports of Taliban atrocities and potential war crimes against Afghan soldiers. The Taliban claimed responsibility for a June 22 attack on the Afghan parliament in Kabul and have made battlefield gains in thenorthernprovince of Kunduz. In April, Taliban insurgents in Badakhshan province allegedlybeheaded28 captured Afghan soldiers.
All parties to the armed conflict in Afghanistan are obligated to abide by international humanitarian law, or the laws of war. The laws of war place restrictions on the methods and means of combat, including the requirement to discriminate between civilians and combatants and otherwise minimize civilian harm. The law also requires the humane treatment of all persons in custody, including civilians and captured combatants. Violations by one party to the conflict do not justify or excuse violations by the other side.
Serious violations of the laws of war committed with criminal intent are war crimes. Commanders who order or otherwise assist, facilitate, aid, or abet the commission of a war crime may be criminally liable. States have an obligation to investigate and appropriately prosecute alleged war crimes by members of their forces.
Foreign donors who fund Afghan military operations have yet to publicly criticize statements by senior Afghan officials advocating possible war crimes. Afghanistan’s international donors, particularly the United States, have spent more than a decade and billions of dollars to underwrite and train Afghan security forces. On January 1 NATO launched itsResolute Supportmission, which will provide advice and assistance to Afghan military at least until the end of 2015. In March the USpledgedto continue providing approximately $4 billion annually for the Afghan military until the end of 2017.
“Foreign donors assisting the Afghan military should make it clear that their support depends on minimizing harm to civilians and holding violators to account,” Kine said. “Afghanistan’s donors need to press the military to end abuses or they may find themselves complicit in future atrocities.”
Afghanistan fighters 'linked to Islamic State in Syria'
BBC news
A senior US commander in Afghanistan has said that fighters allied with Islamic State (IS) are in contact with the militants' Syrian headquarters.
Gen Sean Swindell, leader of the unit training Afghan special forces, said that disgruntled Taliban fighters have established a "franchise".
But he added that IS in Afghanistan is not as serious as in Libya or Iraq.
There have been serious clashes between the new group and the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan in recent weeks.
IS threats
Both sides have ignored appeals for unity and the fighting has spread across several districts in Nangarhar province, not far from the Tora Bora cave complex where former al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden once hid.
Part of the website of the main IS group is now reserved for material about "IS in Khorasan", using an old name for Afghanistan.
A recently posted statement threatens Taliban fighters with death if they do not join IS.
"Why are you fighting with the Islamic State? Do you want to dig your own grave? Do you want to be beheaded, and have your homes destroyed? Do you think you are stronger than those Iraqi militias behind whom the Americans are standing?" it says.
The statement appears to be a rebuff to a direct appeal by the Taliban for unity between the two groups.
In a statement to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Taliban said that there could not be "two flags" in the insurgency in Afghanistan.
It said that it would "result in mujahideen strength being fragmented."
But in contrast, during their offensive in Nangarhar, IS supporters have been seen urging people to kill the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar.
They argue that there is already one caliph - Baghdadi.
Security challenge
The first signs of "IS in Khorasan" were in Pakistan's frontier region in January.
A number of ex-Taliban fighters, including one Afghan commander, pledged allegiance to the new group.
Now, backing up IS threats, pictures of Taliban fighters being both beheaded and shot have appeared on social media in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The new battles are a complex security challenge for Afghan forces in their first summer of fighting without international combat support on the ground.
Gen Swindell said that Afghan special forces are conducting around 130 raids a week.
Only in a handful was there direct support by international troops. Even then, it was not in a combat role but involved advising in command and control centres.
Gen Swindell said that Farah province in the west is also facing threats from the new movement. They were in a "competition for resources" with the Taliban.
The fighting has led to renewed misery for Afghan civilians caught between the two sides.
Thousands of people have fled their homes to avoid the fighting in Nangarhar.
This year has seen more than 4,200 civilians killed or injured across the country. It look as if it will set a dismal new record of the highest casualties by the end of the year, topping even 2014.
Car bomb in Yemeni capital hits mourners, dozens wounded
Reuters
"The explosion was caused by a car bomb which exploded behind the military hospital in the Sha'oub district in Sanaa, which injured 28 people including 12 women in a building where victims of a previous attack were being mourned," a medical source said.
In a statement posted online, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blast, saying it had targeted the area "out of revenge for the Muslims against the Houthi apostates."
Despite the months of Arab air strikes backing up the Houthis' armed opponents in Yemen, the Houthis have not lost ground on the battlefield and have stepped up their exchanges of artillery and rocket fire with Saudi forces along their border.
Yemeni forces launched a Scud missile at a missile base in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Yemeni state news agency Saba quoted the military's spokesman as saying.
"The rocket units in our heroic armed forces today launched a Scud missile at the Al Sulayyil missile base in Riyadh province ... it comes as a response to the crimes of the brutal Saudi aggression," Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman said.
Luqman said the attack hit the base, which is about 450 km (280 miles) south of the Saudi capital Riyadh, but a previous Scud launched by Yemen's forces earlier this month was shot down by Saudi patriot missiles despite Yemeni claims it struck its target.
US Official: Iran Nuclear Agreement Would Be 'Staggeringly Consequential'
VOA news
VIENNA —
A senior U.S. administration official says Iran nuclear negotiators are not looking for a long-term extension to talks that had an original deadline of June 30.
But the official said it would be no "surprise" if negotiators missed the Tuesday deadline by more than two days, noting that what is currently under negotiation is considerably more detailed than the April 2 plan from Lausanne, Switzerland. Thatset the parameters for a final agreement.
The official commented in a Vienna briefing on Monday, the eve of the self-imposed deadline for a comprehensive agreement that would curb Tehran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief.
“This is staggeringly consequential for everybody,” the official said.
"This is incredibly consequential for the national security of the United States. This is quite consequential for the national security of all of the P5+1 partners, the regions, the Middle East, the world and for Iran," the official added.
Negotiators have been tight-lipped about details from the talks, but the sticking points are believed to include access that inspectors from the U.N.'s nuclear agency would have to Iranian sites as well as the pace at which sanctions against Iran would be lifted.
There have also been concerns about managed access – how quickly International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors could be cleared to visit suspected sites.
In Monday’s briefing, the administration official said the world powers engaged in talks with Iran had added a procedure to the plan of action under discussion that would ensure IAEA inspectors would get managed access when they believed they needed it.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry led the delegation that met with Yukiya Amano, the IAEA director general.
As he headed intotalks at the ornate Palais Coburg hotel, Kerry said, "We are just working and it is too early to make any judgments."
When asked if he expected the nuclear negotiators to reach an agreement, he said, "We will see."
Notably absent on Monday was Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.He flew back to Tehran late Sunday but is expected to return to Vienna Tuesday.
Iranian state media reports say his trip home had been planned in advance.
Kerry and Zarif met several times on Sunday. Kerry also met with other officials, including British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
On Sunday, officials from Iran, the U.S. and European delegations acknowledged that talks were likely to continue past the self-imposed Tuesday deadline.