Attack Is Latest to Jolt a Usually Quiet Afghan Area -- New York Times
CHARIKAR, Afghanistan — The governor of Parwan Province, Abdul Basir Salangi, convened a meeting Sunday morning with his top aides to find out why security had not been improved around his offices, 10 days after reports that a group of suicide bombers was planning an attack.
A former jihadi commander from the war against the Soviets, Mr. Salangi is an imposing figure, and his anger was evident as he dressed down the aides, including the provincial police chief. The intelligence was very specific, he told them: The bombers might arrive in a Toyota Corolla.
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Unknown on Saturday, August 13, 2011
ONLY ONE WELL - U.S. Army 1st Lt. Stuart Barnes and 1st Lt. Shane Smith speak with Kala Hagi Azgar village elders about potential problems in the village and the possible help they could provide in Sharana, Afghanistan, Aug. 10, 2011. Village elders said they were concerned about having only one working well for their entire village. Barnes is assigned to 366th Headquarters Company and Smith is assigned to the Paktika Provincial Reconstruction Team. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Chad Strohmeyer
NATO: 9 Troops Die In 2 Days In Afghanistan -- MSNBC
Roadside bombs kill 2 service members Friday in south.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgent attacks have killed nine NATO service members in the past two days in Afghanistan, where the U.S.-led coalition is mourning the deaths of 30 American troops and eight Afghans in a helicopter crash last week, military officials said Friday.
The Aug. 6 crash was the single deadliest loss for U.S. forces in the nearly decade-long war.
The crash victims' remains were flown to a mortuary at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The Pentagon said Friday that the military's medical examiner's office had positively identified all 30 U.S. troops and two of the eight Afghans, as well as the U.S. military dog that died in the crash. Identification work continues on the other six Afghans, the Pentagon said.
COMBAT GUNNER - U.S. Army Spc. John "Rocky" Montoya scans his sector while on a combat patrol to sweep for roadside bomb triggermen in the Alingar district in Afghanistan's Laghman province, Aug. 7, 2011. Montoya is a M2 gunner assigned to the Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, which serves as a quick reaction force to respond at a moment's notice to unexpected incidents in the province. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane
Secret Peace Talks Between U.S. And Taliban Collapse After ID Of Islamist Negotiator Is Leaked -- Daily Mail
* Only three meetings took place - one in Qatar and the other two in Germany
* Negotiations began before bin Laden killing in May
* Expert: One step forward, two steps back
Peace talks between American and the Taliban, which were being held in secret, have been 'blown out of the water' after details - including the identification of the Taliban's negotiator - were leaked.
In a bitter blow to both parties, Tayyab Agha, Taliban leader Mullah Omar's former private secretary, was outed as the man leading his side's negotiations, which have been halted in their infancy.
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Unknown on Thursday, August 11, 2011
Tayyab Agha, the former private secretary to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, has been outed as the man leading the negotiations. Daily Mail
Secret Peace Talks Between US And Taliban Collapse Over Leaks -- The Telegraph
Secret exploratory peace talks between the United States and the Taliban leadership have broken down after details of the negotiations were leaked, Western diplomats have told The Daily Telegraph.
The breakdown in the talks at such an early stage has led to recriminations and claims that the details of the meetings and the identity of the Taliban's chief negotiator were deliberately leaked by 'paranoid' Afghan government figures.
Absolute confidentiality had been a key condition for the meetings which were held in Germany and Qatar earlier this year between Tayeb Agha, Taliban leader Mullah Omar's former private secretary, and senior officials from the US State Department and Central Intelligence Agency. The meetings were chaired by Michael Steiner, Germany's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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Unknown on Wednesday, August 10, 2011
BATTLEFIELD VIEW - A U.S. Marine MV-22 Osprey aircrew member scans the terrain during a mission supporting U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Aug. 4, 2011. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Michael O'Connor
The Whack-a-Mole Endgame Begins in Afghanistan -- Time
President Obama's surge and de-surge strategy in Afghanistan has landed the United States in a strategic cul-de-sac. As America withdraws troops from remote areas of Afghanistan like the Tangi, Korangar, and Pech Valleys, insurgents are flooding back in to wreak havoc, necessitating US retaliatory raids, redeployments, and stiffening operations to kill insurgents and to protect local Afghan units and villagers, even though some of these Afghan units and villagers may on occasion be in league with insurgents. As the American withdrawal continues, the noose around the cul de sac will tighten, because fewer and fewer forces will be available to cope with the menace posed by spreading hit and run attacks by small decentralized insurgent groups operating in quick time in distant places.
Bodies Of 30 Americans Killed Aboard Copter Are Flown Home From Afghanistan -- L.A. Times
Gen. John R. Allen pays tribute to the slain troops, most of whom were elite Navy SEALs. He said U.S. and coalition forces would "continue to relentlessly pressure the enemy . . . and bring lasting and enduring peace to this historic land."
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan—
The remains of the 30 Americans killed aboard a Chinook helicopter that was shot down by insurgents early Saturday were flown home Monday night, as military commanders pledged that the devastating crash would not compromise the overall war effort.
In a statement released early Tuesday, Gen. John R. Allen, who assumed command in Afghanistan only weeks ago, paid tribute to the slain troops, most of whom were elite Navy SEALs. He said U.S. and coalition forces would "continue to relentlessly pressure the enemy . . . and bring lasting and enduring peace to this historic land."
Fallen Troops' Bodies On Way Home After Crash -- CBS News
(CBS/AP)
KABUL, Afghanistan - International military forces worked on Monday to recover every last piece of a Chinook helicopter that crashed over the weekend, killing 30 American troops, seven Afghan soldiers and an Afghan interpreter, NATO said.
Plans were in place for the fallen U.S. troops' bodies to be flown home to American soil on Tuesday morning aboard a military plane destined for Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
The technical repatriation of the troops' remains was to take place at the U.S. Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan later Monday, a military source tells CBS News.
Recovery Effort Under Way After NATO Crash In Eastern Afghanistan -- CNN
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- NATO recovery teams combed through the wreckage of a downed CH-47 Chinook in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, the site of the worst single-day loss of American lives since the start of the Afghan war.
"They're just trying recover everything from the crash at this point," said Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Read more ....
The fatal crash late on Friday in the Wardak province was the deadliest yet in Afghanistan [AFP]
Taliban Helicopter Attack Kills 31 US Special Forces Troops -- The Telegraph
A Nato Chinook helicopter has been shot down by Taliban insurgents, killing 31 American special forces soldiers in one of the worst single incidents in Afghanistan.
The aircraft was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed in the Tangi valley of Wardak province, west of the Afghan capital, Kabul.
A condolence statement from Hamid Karzai said 31 Americans had been killed and seven Afghans, making it the bloodiest incident for the United States and the coalition in the decade-long campaign. Read more ....
Soldiers take positions after racing off the back of a Chinook helicopter in November 2008. A Chinook went down Saturday in the Sayedabad district of Wardak province. (David Furst, AFP/Getty Images / August 6, 2011)
Chopper Crash Kills 31 U.S. Troops, 7 Afghans -- L.A. Times
The helicopter downing, possibly by a rocket-propelled grenade, could be the largest loss of military lives in the course of the nearly 10-year-old war.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Thirty-one American troops and seven Afghans were killed in the overnight downing of a NATO helicopter, President Hamid Karzai's office said Saturday. The Taliban claimed to have shot down the craft.
The deaths are thought to represent the largest loss of military lives in a single incident in the course of the nearly 10-year-old war. Read more ....
More News On Today's Heavy Loss Of Life Among US/Afghan Soldiers
IED Attacks in Afghanistan Hit All-Time High -- National Journal
The number of IED attacks in Afghanistan has spiked to all-time high, U.S. military officials said, because of the free flow of critical bomb-making materials from neighboring Pakistan.
Senior military officials said there were more than 1,600 strikes involving so-called “improvised explosive devices” in June, setting a new record for the long Afghan war, and underscoring the dangers posed by militants operating inside both of the troubled countries. The number of IED strikes in June 2011 is nearly 25 percent higher than the monthly average for the conflict. In May, for instance, there were 1,250 IED attacks.
Analysis: US Military Strategy In Afghanistan Shifts As Forces Draw Down -- Long War Journal
On June 23, President Obama announced that 33,000 US troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan over the next 18 months. This withdrawal has significant implications for the military strategy in Afghanistan.
The military plan for Afghanistan announced by President Obama in December 2009 that formed the basis for the surge of 33,000 troops is no longer in effect, and is being replaced by a new plan. The acceleration of the drawdown has necessitated strategic changes from the original 2009 plan, particularly with respect to troop deployment in the Afghan East. In addition, the originally planned shift from counterterrorism to counterinsurgency in the East will not take place. Read more ....
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Unknown on Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Afghanistan The New Mexico?: Assassinations And The Drug Trade -- Yahoo News/New American Media
In the last few months, the Afghan drug trade has entered a new phase of power struggles that could lead to the sort of violence that plagues Mexicans on a daily basis.
The trigger has been four key assassinations of government officials who were alleged drug barons. Their deaths have already opened the door to significant consequences for Afghanistan’s narco-economy.
More than anything, the assassinations have resulted in a power grab among the stakeholders in the multi-billion dollar Afghan drug trade – Afghanistan produces 95 percent of the world’s opium and heroin. There is now a real threat of death squads, more violence and a breakdown of the community and tribal links that have thus far prevented Afghanistan from becoming another Mexico. Read more ....
Taliban Suicide Bomber Kills 4 in Afghanistan -- ABC News/AP
A suicide bomber blew up his car outside a compound frequented by foreigners just after dawn Tuesday, killing four guards, as two other militants stormed the building in Kunduz city and engaged the Afghan police in a two-hour gunbattle.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault — the latest in a rising number of attacks in northern Afghanistan.
